Out of Many People co-founder honoured in national campaign to mark Black History Month

Out Of Many People co-founder Susan Pitter is among a glittering list of big names and inspiring

community figures being honoured this October as part of Black History Month UK 2026.

Susan is one of 54 people – including Windrush campaigner Professor Sir Patrick Vernon OBE,

Rev Rose Hudson Wilkin CD MBE, the first Black female Church of England bishop, and the late

MOBO Awards founder Kanya King CBE – being honoured in a national campaign to mark Black

History Month.

More than 650 people were nominated by the public as part of the Black History Month (BHM)

Honouring Black Britain campaign for their work and contributions to Black British life.

This year’s theme, ‘Honouring Our Communities’, recognises the people making a difference

through their work, service and commitment to others, with Susan among those profiled in the

Black History Month UK Magazine.

Susan has spent three decades preserving and championing Caribbean and Black British cultural

heritage in Yorkshire. Through exhibitions, projects and events, she has helped raise the profile of

Black storytelling, community narratives, arts and culture across the North of England and

beyond.

These include Eulogy, a 2019 heritage project created with fellow Out of Many People co-founder

Dawn Cameron and Jamaica Society Leeds exploring the city’s first generation Jamaicans; the

hugely popular Rebellion to Romance exhibition in 2022, which explored the lives of second-

generation West Indians growing up in Leeds during the 1970s and 1980s; and Likkle Lit Fest,

our festival of Black literature for children and young adult readers in Yorkshire, held in Leeds

earlier this year.

In 2020, she was also one of eight National Lottery Heritage Heroes whose images were

projected onto Stonehenge in recognition of their work.

“Black history is British history.”

Susan said: “I was surprised to say the least when I found out that I was among those chosen. To

be mentioned in the same breath as so many inspiring men and women, from trailblazers no

longer with us recognised for their remarkable legacies, to people I have looked up to for years

and those doing brilliant work in their fields today, is genuinely humbling.

“I really believe that if we fail to include all our communities in the storytelling of our cities, if they

are not represented fairly, then we fail to tell a true story of our nation. Black culture in its many

forms and genres continues to shape global and British life and culture. Black history is British

history. I am fortunate and proud to be able to play my very small part in championing and

preserving that truth.”

Black History Month UK runs the annual national recognition initiative Honouring Black Britain,

profiling some of those chosen in Black History Month UK Magazine – a national publication that

celebrates Black history, arts and culture across the UK in October. Those being honoured are also included online and in digital and print resource packs that are

being made available to schools and community organisations across the UK.

To read about the Black History Month UK 2026 honourees, go to: digital edition of Black History Month Magazine 2026

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