As we prepare to mark Black History Month 26, we do so in a UK where Black communities are once again being pushed to the front line of political scapegoating. Far-right activity is growing, support for parties like Reform UK is rising, and the language used to target migrants and racialised people is being normalised in public debate. In 2026, we are still living with the everyday realities of a hostile environment – from racist policing and workplace discrimination to deepening health inequalities – while online disinformation and culture-war politics accelerate division and fear.

But we’re not powerless. We’ve seen, locally, what organised community resistance can achieve. In Liverpool, a strong coalition of arts, culture and community organisations successfully prevented Reform from marching through L8 toward the Women’s Hospital under a “Mass Deportations” slogan,  a vivid reminder that collective, creative opposition works.

Black history teaches us that the struggle is not abstract – it is lived, fought for, and passed down. From the 1919 race riots that terrorised Black communities in port cities, to the mobilisation against Mosley’s fascists, to the National Front in the 1970s and the Battle of Lewisham in 1977, progress has never been inevitable. It has been organised. Defended. Won.

The challenges are real — but so is the answer Black communities have always shown: creativity, solidarity and collective action remain powerful tools against hate, division and fear.

We will be launching our Black History Month 26 programme and the latest series of Smalltalk soon! Read last year’s articles here: