Black History Month 2026 at The European University Institute

This year marked the 6th year of Black History Month (BHM) at the European University Institute (EUI) and my first year as Co-coordinator, alongside my colleague, friend, fellow academic baddie and multi-faceted girly Gildelen Aty-Biyo. 

This initiative was launched in 2021 by researchers of African descent who believe in the need to make Black European history visible, to simulate reflections on race and identity and to address the structural imbalances that continue to shape the experience of Black people in Europe. BHM at EUI contributes to the broader initiative of Black History Month Florence (BHMF), a cross-institutional network for Black cultural production that promotes the diversity of Afro-descendant cultures in the context of Italy. 

This year’s events explored Black identities in Europe through poetry, music, film, literature and pop culture.

From Silence to Action : the Racial Load - A Poetic Journey in Double Consciousness

Drawing on her book La Charge Raciale (The Racial Burden), Douce dibondo, essayist, poet and journalist, explored the concept of the racial load/burden - the daily cognitive and emotional labour of navigating society as a racialised minority. She was joined in discussion by Anna Doumbia, PhD researcher in Law at the Université de Nanterre, on the mechanisms that shape and enable the perpetuation of the racial load. This was then followed by a collective exchange with participants which touched on themes of afrofuturism, strategic alliances, resistance, dignity, african cosmologies etc.

European Capitals and the Black Atlantic - A Musical Journey into Black Europe

Through this exhibition, Gildelen Aty-Biyo took us on a musical journey, illustrating the place of music in black identity construction and resistance movements throughout Europe. The exhibition’s posters will soon be available online and you can check out the accompanying playlist here: https://lnkd.in/dS-dfJeX.

Thickening Blackness : Tracing the Invention of Contemporary Black Identities in France

Analysing cultural work from the past decade - literature, art, music, documentaries etc - Dr. Sophie Marie Niang, Lecturer in Cultural Policy at King’s College London,  gave a lecture aiming to trouble the understanding of blackness in continental Europe as a thin identity, constituted by a common experience of oppression and exclusion, instead arguing that it is a thick identity encompassing a shared culture, shared histories and shared reference points, using the case study of France. 

To deepen your exploration of these themes, check out: 

• Douce Dibondo, La Charge Raciale - Vertige d’un Silence Ecrasant
• Paul Gilroy, The Black Atlantic : Modernity and Double Consciousness
• Sophie Marie Niang, On Flamboyance: Refusal and Worldmaking in Rébecca Chaillon’s Carte noire nommée désir, Modern & Contemporary France (2025).

Thank you to Black History Month Florence/The Recovery Plan, the European University Institute, Our speakers - Douce Dibondo, Anna Doumbia and Dr. Sophie Marie Niang - and my Black History Month colleague Gildelen Aty-Biyo for a wonderful BHM 2026 !