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Black History Month 2026 UK: theme and how to mark it

World · By SpikeToday ·

A bronze statue of a man in a suit and hat and a woman in a dress, holding hands, inside a station hall
The National Windrush Monument at London Waterloo station. Photo: Matt Brown, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Black History Month runs through October 2026 in the UK. This year's theme, from the organisers of Black History Month UK, is "Honouring Our Communities".

What the 2026 theme means

The organisers say the theme is "about people", not places or postcodes. It asks Britain to notice the everyday contributors whose work holds communities together but rarely gets recorded: volunteers, teachers, nurses, carers and local organisers. They trace that tradition from the earliest Black presence in Britain through the Windrush generation to today.

The question behind the theme is simple: whose work do we value, whose stories do we tell, and who have we overlooked?

Why October?

The US and Canada mark Black History Month in February. In the UK it has been held in October since the first celebration in London in 1987, which makes 2026 the 40th Black History Month in the UK (Historical Association).

Ideas for schools and workplaces

Three community builders to learn about

Brixton Library, a stone building with a clock tower, on a sunny square with trees
Brixton Library on Windrush Square, south London. Photo: Colette Lambeth, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.

Themes of recent years

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