Maggie Semple OBE will be talking at Foyle’s bookshop

Freedom Rising: The Art of Owusu-Ankomah
The October Gallery, Holborn
Until October 4
• Be quick for this one! The exhibition is a celebration of a lifetime of work from an artist who has exhibited internationally and collaborated with Georgio Armani to raise funding to treat Aids in Africa and reposition African art on the global stage. It displays the best of Owusu-Ankomah’s work, which created a “powerful visual language, based on the interplay of monumental human figures and dense symbolic environments”.

Robert Owens (above)
Jazz Cafe, Camden Town
Saturday October 4
• House music vocalist Robert Owens celebrates 40 years in the game. He will be performing with a full live band. There will also be a DJ set by house music singer-songwriter Makin’ Moves.
Owens started his career in Chicago in the late 1980s, and went on to make hits like I’ll Be Your Friend and Mine to Give.

Cashblack Market
Hawley Wharf, Camden Town
Saturday October 4
• The open-air marketplace has more than 40 black-owned businesses booked in. Cashblack are a cashback platform supporting black-owned businesses. Products sold include fashion, beauty products, arts and crafts, games and food and drink.

Stella Dadzie
Hawley Wharf,
Camden Town
Thurday October 9
• A launch event for the book A Whole Heap of Mix-Up – it’s free event and includes conversation with its author Stella Dadzie, readings, and guest performances from writer Sandra Agard and spoken word performer Cherie Taylor Battiste.

Joshua Barak
Earth Theatre, Hackney
Saturday October 11
• Ugandan artist Joshua Barak is a multi-instrumentalist and has found success globally. He sold out the Jazz Cafe last year and now he heads to east London.

Dr Maggie Semple and Jane Oremosu
Foyles, Charing Cross Road
Sunday October 12, 3pm
• The authors of My Little Black Book: A Blacktionary, discuss the evolving language of race. They will bring insights from their work and discuss complex issues in an accessible manner. There will also be a book signing where viewers can meet the authors.

In conversation with Aamna Mohdin
Islington Central Library
Wednesday October 15
• Talk with he Guardian’s first community affairs correspondent about her coverage of the refugee crisis, and own experience. She travelled to Calais in 2015 to report from the frontline of the refugee crisis and has since released her first book Scattered which investigates the costs and consequences of displacement. 6.30pm start.

COBO Comedy Shutdown
Top Secret Comedy Club, Covent Garden
Thursday October 16
• A Black History Month special with Slim (Live at the Apollo, Russell Howard Hour), Diesel (BBC New Comedy), Prince Abdi (Comedy Central, ITV) and Kyrah Grey (Netflix, Comedy Central Live). It begins at 6pm-7.30pm.

Unapologetically Me
Chop Chop London Hair Salon, Camden Town
Thursday October 16
• Kaye Sotomi will show his film on the “complex relationship that we have with our hair, exposing the bias of beauty standards and their professional impact on self-identity”.
This free event will also include music, networking and a panel discussion linking 2025 Black History Season theme “Standing Firm in Power and Pride”. The event will run from 7.30pm-10pm.

A Black History Celebration with Light Project Pro International
The Exchange, Holloway
Until Saturday October 18
• Special community event with Black enterprise cultural market, an art exhibition, performances and presentations by residents.

Billy Cobham
Union Chapel
Saturday October 25
• The drummer who previously performed with Miles Davis and the Mahavishnu Orchestra, will be performing with a live band (Gary Husband on keyboard, Rocco Zifarelli on guitar,
Michael Mondesir on bass and Bjorn Arko on saxophone). Doors at 7pm.

The Big Draw Festival- ‘Drawing with Light’
Camden Town
Thursday October 30
• The road from Camden High Street up to Hawley Wharf will be lit up by a parade of dancers. Light, both worn and projected, will be co-ordinated with sounds, music and voices. This event will run from 4pm-8pm. It should be spectacular and is not to be missed!