An editathon for Black History Month: citing African scholars on Wikipedia

Wikipedia 'The free encyclopedia that anyone can edit' aspires to provide universal access to a summary of all human knowledge and is one of the first places people go when looking for information, with over 15 billion visitors every month.

Because Wikipedia is powered by humans, it is also vulnerable to human biases and there are huge discrepancies in the site's coverage. Only 18 per cent of biographies are about women and major gaps persist in the percentage of Wikipedia content written by and about black people. There are more articles about the Netherlands than the whole continent of Africa!

This event for Black History Month is jointly organised and run by the Leeds University Centre for African Studies (LUCAS) and Leeds University Library with the support of Wikimedia UK. It will focus on increasing the representation of African scholars and sources across the site. A suite of resources will be provided. We invite you to get involved, spread the word, and continue contributing even after Black History Month ends.

Please sign up for the editathon via our Eventbrite page.

Why not take a look at the Leeds11, Partners & Friends 'Proud To Be' Celebratory BHM programme. It is full of events and activities for you to enjoy across October 2021