Celebrating UK Black History Month 2020

30 OCT 2020

In celebration of Black History Month in the UK, our Firmwide Black Network (FBN) sponsored a series of events for our people throughout October addressing the events following the murder of George Floyd earlier this year, as well as highlighting professional and cultural achievements within the Black community, and celebrating diversity and history.

Kene Ejikeme and Kyle Williams, co-heads of the FBN, said: “We have all witnessed a significant increase in the discourse around racial equity internally at the firm, within our families and local communities, as well as around the world. It is truly a time for change, and this call-to-action ran consistently through the diverse roster of events hosted by our FBN. It’s been an eventful year, to say the least, with plenty to celebrate and plenty more to challenge ourselves on.”

To commemorate what this year has meant for our Black community and allies, we were pleased to welcome in the month with a special virtual performance from award-winning Nigerian singer and songwriter Tiwa Savage, performing her song “Celia’s Song” taken from her 3rd studio album “Celia”, out now.

Transcript

Some of the events that took place over the course of the month are highlighted below.


Talks at GS with Bernardine Evaristo, Author of Girl, Woman, Other

In a session moderated by Kathleen Hughes, global head of the Liquidity Solutions Client Business, Bernardine Evaristo, renowned author and winner of last year’s Booker Prize, as well as the British Book Award’s Author of the Year and Fiction Book of the Year, discussed her novel Girl, Woman, Other. The session also covered her longstanding career and being a Black woman author in the literary industry. Watch Video
 


Policing, Policy and Collective Action

Kyle Williams, head of the EMEA Corporate, Finance and Consumer Banking Legal Group, moderated a panel with Sayce Holmes-Lewis, founder and CEO of Mentivity, Halima Begum, director of Runny Mede Trust, and Katrina Ffrench, CEO of Stopwatch; recipients of the firm’s Fund for Racial Equity in EMEA. The session focused on how policing impacts Black communities and the ways organisations are driving change through policy and direct action on this issue. Watch Video
 


Cook-a-long with Joyce K

Celebrity chef Joyce K delivered a live cook-a-long where participants learnt to cook jerk chicken (cauliflower for the vegetarians) and hear from Joyce about her career in the industry.