October is the month in which the UK celebrates its diversity, the achievements of its black population and increases awareness of the lack of minorities in many aspects of society and so, for the past 30 years, October has been celebrated as Black History Month. In our mathematics community, the lack of minorities is an even stronger issue than in other fields and this goes from the lack of black mathematicians ever awarded a Fields Medal, to more tangible things, such as the lack of any black mathematicians as Head of a Mathematics Department, the scarcity of black Professors or with a high Academic position, the low numbers of black researchers and more. Therefore, we decided to also celebrate October as Black Mathematician Month, hoping to increase awareness and celebrate the diversity in our field by promoting the works of black mathematicians, trusting that by doing this, we create a community that is more open and inclusive.
Black Mathematician Month has been supported by many institutions, including University College London, the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, the London Mathematical Society, the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences, the Turing Gateway to Mathematics, Imaginary, the Museum of Mathematics, Chalkdust, Aperiodical, The Mathematical Association, Plus Magazine, and more. Here you can read more about why we need to celebrate Black Mathematician Month: https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2017/oct/02/why-were-adding-black-mathematician-month-to-our-calendars
We have been collecting experiences and articles related to black mathematicians and they are worth reading, for instance, the struggle of Dr Jonathan Farley being forced to resign to his position at Vanderbilt University by the Ku Klux Klan in 2002, how Olubunmi Abidemi was working on her PhD in Mathematics being surrounded mostly by male colleagues and other experiences. Hopefully, these articles highlight the need for celebrating Black Mathematician Month. You can find them here: http://chalkdustmagazine.com/black-mathematician-month/
To celebrate the ending of the first Black Mathematician Month, we will have a Closing Ceremony on Monday 30th October, at 6 pm in the UCL Harrie Massey Lecture Theatre (25 Gordon St, ground floor). There will be a talk by Dr Nira Chamberlain, Vice President of the IMA, about black heroes in mathematics and it will be followed by a wine reception in the UCL Maths Common Room (25 Gordon St, room 502). It would be great if you could join us and celebrate with Nira and with us the end of Black Mathematician Month. You can get your free tickets here.
Also, the ceremony will be streamed live, in case you cannot make it. The link will be published during that day on our social media:
https://www.facebook.com/chalkdustmag/
https://twitter.com/chalkdustmag
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