Leading black theologian and broadcaster Dr Robert Beckford is to deliver the seventh annual Claudia Jones Lecture, organised by the National Union of Journalists' Black Members Council.

Tomorrow's event will see the acclaimed BBC and Channel Four broadcaster explore how understanding "whiteness" offers an important strategy for community cohesion and democratic inclusion.

Part of London's Black History Month events, the lecture is being sponsored by the Mayor of London who donated the use of City Hall, and will be begin at 7.30pm.

The annual lecture is held in memory of Claudia Jones, who founded and edited the West Indian Gazette, the first Black newspaper in Britain, which campaigned for an independent and united West Indies, justice for blacks in Britain and world peace.

She died in 1964, aged 49, due to a heart condition and tuberculosis.

Dr Beckford said: "It is a great honour to be asked to deliver the Claudia Jones Memorial Lecture. The black community, especially the black church, needs to be more socially engaged and it needs to fight more vigorously the battles that black people face."

Lionel Morrison, chair of the NUJ's Black Members Council, said: "It is a privilege to have Dr Beckford deliver the 7th annual Claudia Jones Memorial Lecture. He's community-focused and like Claudia Jones has strived to educate and empower people in his life, work and journalism."

To attend the free event call 020 8539 7913.