Bristol’s platform for Black history, culture, creativity and community storytelling
Bristol Black History Month is a Cognitive Paths project and serves as the city’s public platform for Black History Month activity, cultural visibility, events, storytelling and community-led content.
We honour, document and amplify the heritage, creativity, leadership and lived experiences of Black communities across Bristol. Our work is rooted in community, but it is also about legacy.
Rather than treating Black History Month as a single annual moment, we see it as an ongoing responsibility to preserve, elevate and protect the narratives that shape our city.
BHM is built on the understanding that Black history is dynamic and evolving. It lives in families, neighbourhoods, music, places of worship, local businesses, youth work, activism, education, sport, food, fashion, art, film, media and everyday acts of leadership.
Our purpose is to bring these lived experiences into public view, ensuring they remain accessible and central to Bristol’s shared cultural memory.
Our foundation
BHM originated from a zero-funded civic agreement with Bristol City Council to coordinate the city’s Black History Month publication and event listings. While that initial agreement recognised the importance of Black History Month in the City, it provided no operational funding. The responsibility for securing resources, producing the publication, promoting events and supporting the wider programme sat with the delivery team.
Since 2016, the Bristol Black History Month magazine has developed through collaboration between Gary Thompson and Cognitive Paths. What began as a practical response to the need for a citywide directory has grown into a wider community media platform, archive and storytelling project.
This foundation matters. It demonstrates that BHM has been built through Black-led commitment, creative labour, community trust and direct investment from Cognitive Paths. It also shows why reliable, long-term support is needed if Bristol is serious about valuing Black history, Black creativity and Black-led cultural infrastructure.
Our progress
Over the years, BHM has moved beyond its origins as a printed guide or events schedule. It now operates as a living archive of Bristol’s Black cultural journey, supporting community-led content, commissioning creatives, listing events, connecting partners and maintaining a permanent record of the people and organisations shaping the city.
Through the Annual Archive Edition, digital storytelling and community features, BHM records the historical context, current realities and future aspirations of Black life in Bristol. The platform creates space for established leaders, emerging talent, artists, business owners, educators, campaigners, young people, cultural workers and community organisers.
This work goes beyond representation. It is about narrative ownership. It ensures that Black communities are not only included in external accounts of history, but are active in shaping how their histories, contributions and futures are documented, shared and understood.
Our future
Looking ahead, BHM is developing into a year-round hub for Black history, diverse content, creative commissioning and community-led storytelling.
Our aim is to build a platform that supports Black and racially minoritised creatives, grows audiences, creates paid opportunities and helps civic, cultural and public sector partners build meaningful, evidence-informed relationships with communities.
This vision sits within a wider regional moment. Across the West of England, the creative sector is increasingly recognised for its role in economic growth, job creation, cultural identity and community wellbeing. For that growth to be meaningful, it must also be representative. It must open routes into work, support freelancers, commission diverse talent and ensure that Black and racially minoritised creatives are central to Bristol’s creative economy.
Through BHM’s community networks, creative pool, magazine, digital channels and public platform, we help stories reach wider audiences. Through Cognitive Paths’ production, communications and data-led approach, we support partners to understand who they are reaching, where gaps exist, and how campaigns can be shaped with communities rather than simply delivered to them.
For public sector organisations, cultural institutions and civic partners, this creates a practical route to reach audiences that may not engage through traditional communications. It also creates a more ethical and effective way to invest in Black-led content, commission creative talent, support community storytelling and contribute to a more representative creative sector.
