A black and white aerial image of a crowdof people, some with placards, during a Black Lives Matter protest.

This year’s Black History Month comes at a time when the Black Lives Matter movement is at the heart of global protests at the discrimination that black people around the world face.

The parallels between this wave of international activism and the global Pride movement that stemmed from the 1969 Stonewall uprisings are stark.

Both started life as protests against the mistreatment of the marginalised in America. Both demand social and legislative reform. Both have become global movements, involving activists and allies from every walk of life. And both have black people at the heart of their origin stories.

Join us at this Imperial College London–LSE collaborative event, hosted by their respective LGBTQ+ and BAME staff networks, as we examine the link between protests like Pride and Black Lives Matter and their role in bringing about revolutionary change. Featuring four fantastic discussion leaders:

  • Christopher Joell-Deshields, Director of Community Engagement, Pride in London
  • Chloë Davies, Head of PR & Partnerships, MyGwork, the global recruitment and networking hub for Lesbian, Bi, Trans and Gay professionals
  • Reg Amoah, Diversity & Inclusion Advisor, EMEA, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP 

  • Dr Armine Ishkanian, Associate Professor in Social Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science and Executive Director, Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity programme

Tune in to hear our discussion leaders apply their own experiences and knowledge as activists and/or of social activism as we explore such questions as:

  • How do protests become successful social movements? 

  • What measures should we use to determine if a protest has been successful? 

  • How important are catchy protest slogans? 

  • How do activists’ experiences of inequalities such as race and sexuality shape the ways in which they organise and mobilise? 


The event will be moderated and will include time for questions at the end.

For more information about the four staff networks hosting this event, see:

  • Imperial 600 – for LGBTQ+ staff, students and their allies at Imperial College London
  • Imperial as One – an advisory group and staff network, made up of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) staff at Imperial
  • EmbRace – LSE’s BME staff network
  • Spectrum – for all LSE staff, LGBTQ+ and allies
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