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Black at Sussex Big Screen Event

Join us for a special evening as part of the Black at Sussex 2026 Conference, bringing together film, conversation and community.

The event will feature a screening of Subnormal: A British Scandal by Lyttanya Shannon exploring the history and lasting impact of the disproportionate placement of Black children within Britain’s education system, and the experiences of those who challenged this injustice. The themes have a particularly important connection to Sussex through the work of Bernard Coard, a Sussex alumnus whose influential writing examined how West Indian children were labelled “educationally subnormal” within the British school system.

Before the screening, Gavin Mensah-Coker, Black at Sussex chair and Associate Professor in English Language alongside and Dr Fezile Sibanda, Assistant Professor in Education will lead a discussion reflecting on the film’s themes and their continuing relevance to education, race, belonging and institutional change.

The Black experience in education is an important part of Black British history, and we invite attendees to join us as we consider what its lessons mean for our communities today.