What Is Black History? A workshop with King Simpson

This interactive workshop invites participants to look beyond familiar narratives and explore the richness, complexity and diversity of Black history.

Through historical sources, artwork, maps, discussion and guided reflection, we’ll uncover stories that are often overlooked, from African centres of scholarship and the Haitian Revolution to Black presence in Britain long before Windrush.

Together, we’ll consider how history is shaped by what we choose to remember, what we are taught and whose stories are given space. We’ll explore how these narratives shape identity, belonging, and how Black children and young people understand themselves and their place in the world.

This is an opportunity to question assumptions, broaden our understanding and reflect on how we can preserve and share a fuller, more inclusive account of the past.

Participants will leave with new perspectives, practical ways to continue learning and a digital resource guide to support further exploration beyond the workshop.

Because Black history is more than a single story, a single struggle or a single month, it is an essential part of our shared history.

Date: Saturday 31 October

Time: 11am - 12:30pm

Venue: Afrori Books, North Road, Brighton, BN1 1YD

Price: Free

Accesbility: the venue is fully accessible.

King Simpson is a BAFTA-nominated storyliner and executive producer at the beginning of his career, blending a love of creative narrative with a strong commitment to social values and trauma-responsive impact. With several years’ experience in writing short stories and collaborating with charities, King uses his valuable foster care experience as the driving force behind his advocacy. After shadowing film outlets like Sticker Studios (co-founded by Luke Brookner), King has developed his craft across both creative and social spaces. King uses thought-provoking material/discussion to challenge the status quo of care-experienced people and draw attention to the determinants of broken attachments. His mission is to encourage healing through visual art and storytelling.

Brighton & Hove Fostering is a local authority fostering service for Brighton & Hove City Council. We support foster carers to provide safe, stable and nurturing homes for children and young people who are unable to live with their birth families.

We are committed to ensuring that children in care grow up with a strong sense of identity, belonging and connection to their culture and heritage. To help achieve this, we are particularly keen to hear from people from Black and Global Majority communities who can help children maintain important links to their backgrounds and communities.

By increasing the diversity of our foster carers, we can better meet the needs of the children and young people in our care and ensure they feel seen, understood and valued.

Find out more about fostering with Brighton & Hove City Council

This event funded by the Brighton & Hove Fostering Team and in partnetship with Writing Our Legacy CIC.

Writing Our Legacy is an ACE National Portfolio Organisation 2023-28 funded by Arts Council England.