Manchester Libraries celebrate Black History Month

Exhibitions, live music, talks, theatre performances and storytelling are all part of Manchester Libraries’ celebration of this year’s Black History Month.

Black History Month has taken place every October for more than 35 years, across the UK.

This year’s Manchester programme includes a special exhibition to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the death of Ahmed Iqbal Ullah, a 13-year old boy who was murdered in 1986 while defending younger Bangladeshi children from racist bullying.  

The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Education Trust – named in his memory – was awarded a grant by the Heritage Lottery Fund to explore ‘The Legacy of Ahmed’, building an oral history and documentary archive.

The exhibition will share the history of the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Memorial School, built by Ahmed’s mother in their home village in Bangladesh and of the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre, at the University of Manchester. The Legacy of Ahmed exhibition will be at Central Library from Monday 10 October - 3 January 2017.

Also at Central Library, photographers Charlie Phillips and Ian Johns will be talking about a selection of their photographs of black communities at a special event, hosted by the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre (Thursday 6 October, 5:30pm).

A Bollywood style Punch & Judy show, ‘Punjeet and Judy-Gee’, uses an upbeat, hilarious combination of traditional and modern elements to update the much-loved tale of Mr Punch for today’s multi-cultural Britain (Saturday 15 October - Withington Library, 11am – 12.30pm / Arcadia Library, Levenshulme, 2:30 – 4pm).

Other events include a talk from the author Ray Costello, who has written many books about black history - including ‘Black Tommies’, which explores the role of black soldiers in World War I (Tuesday 25 October, 6pm, Manchester Central Library).

And from 10 October. exhibitions will be held throughout Black History Month at libraries including Moss Side Powerhouse, Gorton Library - and Longsight Library & Learning Centre, where the work of young local artist Isaac Caton-Greasley will be displayed.