Honouring our communities – this and every month
The Square Mile has always been shaped by people from across the world. Their talent, enterprise, and ideas have helped make the City of London one of the most successful and dynamic places on the planet.
That success is reflected in the numbers. The Square Mile generates almost £113 billion in economic output each year, equivalent to more than 4% of the UK total, all within little more than a single square mile.
Black History Month gives us an important opportunity to celebrate the diversity that underpins that success: to recognise the role Black communities have played in shaping the Square Mile, reflect on the stories that have shaped our City, and strengthen the networks that will help determine its future.
This year’s theme for Black History Month, ‘Honouring Our Communities’, is particularly fitting. Across the City, businesses, cultural institutions and professional networks are opening their doors, sharing their platforms and bringing people together through events that shine a light on those who have opened doors, challenged barriers, broken new ground, and created opportunities for others.
The Black History Month Gala
A key feature of the City of London Corporation’s Black History Month programme is our annual Gala, hosted at Guildhall earlier this month. The Gala celebrated Black professionals across financial and professional services, bringing together trailblazers from across the Square Mile. Through music, performance, food and conversation, it explored the communities and places that have shaped Black music, and its enduring influence on British culture and society.
The Gala also marked the premiere of an exhibition celebrating the artists, sounds and cultural movements that have shaped Black British music in the Guildhall Crypt
Supported through the Destination City Partnership Fund, the exhibition combines physical and digital content to showcase the creativity, influence and impact of Black British artists.
The Fund’s support will help to extend the exhibition’s reach beyond the Gala through displays at the Guildhall Library and Shoe Lane Library throughout October, while its digital content will feature on the billboard at the UBS building for the duration of the month.
These events form part of a wider programme taking place across the Square Mile throughout October to commemorate Black History Month.
Culture Mile Black History Walking Tour — The City Belonging Project
Always, Already There – The Afrodiasporic Avant-Garde Incubator Project — The City Belonging Project
Running through this activity is Black in the Square Mile, part of the family of networks within the City Corporation’s City Belonging Project. It is a network that supports Black professionals across the City, creating opportunities for people and organisations to connect, share knowledge, raise visibility and participate in City life.
The City Belonging Project is a key part of our wider Destination City programme. Destination City is about strengthening the Square Mile as a world-leading place to live, work, learn and explore. That ambition is not simply about attracting more visitors or creating new experiences. It is also about ensuring that the City feels open, welcoming and relevant to the communities that contribute to it.
The City Belonging Project is helping translate that ambition into action. By connecting businesses, staff networks, and communities, it is creating opportunities for people from different backgrounds to meet, collaborate, and take part in everything the Square Mile has to offer.
Much of this activity is being delivered through partnership, which sits at the heart of Destination City, which recognises that lasting progress cannot be achieved by any one institution acting alone. It requires businesses, cultural organisations, professional networks to work together, share their reach and create opportunities.
Black History Month, and the wide range of events that are honouring the Black community, demonstrates what that collaboration can achieve. But our commitment cannot begin and end in October.
The Square Mile is at its strongest when everyone can contribute to its success. Let us use this month not only to celebrate that contribution, but to build the connections and opportunities that will sustain it throughout the year.