The Guardian launches six-day black history timeline in print and online to mark the Black Lives Matter movement

The Guardian is proud to announce it will publish a black history poster series in the Guardian newspaper today and from Monday 13 - Friday 17 July, documenting key historical moments and the Black Lives Matter movement of the past decade.

The poster series and the accompanying data interactive, celebrates some of the greatest stories almost never told: stories of world-shaping individuals – from emperors, to writers, freedom fighters and inventors. A timeline which shows that, from the Romans onwards, Africa’s story has been intertwined with Europe’s and others around the world.

The wallcharts series was first devised by Gaverne Bennett and the Guardian’s deputy opinion editor, Joseph Harker, in 2008 to celebrate Black History Month. They have now refreshed the series to highlight the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement of the past decade and capture recent events including the death of George Floyd in the US and the fall of the Edward Colston statue in Bristol.

Joseph Harker, deputy opinion editor, the Guardian, said:

“In 2008, when the Guardian first printed the wallchart series which we’re updating this week, the 60th anniversary of the Empire Windrush was being celebrated. The name of that ship lives on in the present, now synonymous with the scandalous treatment of a generation of migrants.

“Today, the death of George Floyd has provoked deep global soul-searching about racial equality. As the tearing down of slavery and confederacy statues shows, for all of us to understand where we are, and how we got here, it’s clear we need to understand our history. And that must include the contribution of Africans and their descendants to the story of Britain, and the world. This wallchart series celebrates some of those stories: of world-shaping individuals and momentous events.

“This is not about creating a separate history; it is about adding to the history we are already familiar with. A story which shows that, from the Romans onwards, Africa’s story has been intertwined with Europe’s and others around the world. It’s a story well worth knowing.”

Katharine Viner, editor-in-chief, the Guardian, said:

“There’s a big gap in public understanding of black history, as the Black Lives Matter protests have highlighted. We hope the wallcharts and interactive will be used by families, schools and teachers who are looking to discuss the movement and how it connects with British and world history.”

The wallcharts will be promoted across the Guardian website, there will also be a full-page advertisement in the Guardian newspaper today and videos across social media this week.

In recent weeks Guardian journalists in the US, UK and around the world have reported on the Black Lives Matter movement, the debate on monuments to slavery, and the broader social and political questions they raise with clarity, authority and calm. The publisher has given voice to protesters calling for justice, given readers facts and powerful perspectives about the grim response from the Trump administration.

The Guardian has a strong record of reporting on racism and systemic inequalities. The Guardian’s reporting on the Windrush scandal, and on racial bias in Britain more generally have been vital. Four years ago, Guardian US launched The Counted to investigate the lives of every person killed by the police in the US in 2016, and more recently our Fight to Vote series has revealed worrying efforts to suppress the votes of people of colour in this year’s presidential elections. In Australia, the Guardian tracks the deaths of Indigenous Australians in custody and its wider coverage of Indigenous affairs has been widely recognised. More recently, the Guardian has asked questions about whether and how coronavirus is disproportionately affecting ethnic minorities in the US and the UK.

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For more information please contact:

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Guardian News & Media (GNM) publishes theguardian.com, one of the world’s leading English-language newspaper websites. Traffic from outside of the UK now represents around two-thirds of the Guardian’s total digital audience. In the UK, GNM publishes the Guardian newspaper six days a week, first published in 1821, and the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper, The Observer.