It is clear how ethnic disparities within the labour market are linked to other disparities in policy such as housing, and influenced by national crises such as the cost of living crisis. Issues within the labour market leads to wage disparity between minoritised communities and their White counterparts.
The Telling Stories event on 22nd November 2022, was a powerful, social and introspective conversation about the art of storytelling. I know this because I was there. It asked critical questions that were extremely thought-provoking about how the UnMuseum project (as it stands today with this name) will tell stories. But it was also a general conversation for storytellers in all modes and forms, as well as an educational one.
A special blog by Gary Thompson of Cables and Cameras!
This blog post recalls my experiences on the day of the conference, sharing what is happening in the archival community in London and throughout the United Kingdom. I also want to express my thanks for the support from The New Black Film Collective and BSWN in giving me the opportunity to attend the conference.
October is ADHD Awareness Month in the UK, a time to celebrate neurodiversity, share lived experiences, and increase understanding of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in both children and adults. It's also an opportunity to address the underdiagnosis of ADHD in female-identifying individuals and especially those from Black and Minoritised backgrounds. Receiving a diagnosis whilst working at BSWN has been a positive yet challenging experience for me. It's also been a learning curve for the organisation. Since my diagnosis, we have taken proactive steps, with the entire team attending neurodiversity training and engaging in broader conversations around neurodiversity.
On Thursday the 19th of January, we joined forces with Allianz Personal to host an exciting series of workshops designed to help business owners unlock the full potential of technology. Guests indulged in delicious cuisine from Jikoni East Africa while listening to engaging presentations from Debra Kaye of LV= and Liam Holmes, Data & AI Innovations Lead at Allianz Personal.
On Wednesday the 23rd of November we hosted a 'Meet the Funder' event at the Coach House where we heard from Lorna Henry, Funding Officer for The National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF). We were delighted to be hosting a fully in-person meeting with our colleagues from the community sector to facilitate networking and exchange of ideas and advice.
This event ‘Telling Stories,’ included a very rich conversation between audience members and panelists about how the UnMuseum space will look and how its content will be presented. This deep discussion also covered how stories in an UnMuseum space should cover represent histories that are not taught in the mainstream – hidden stories – unexpressed stories.
Professor Hakim Adi is the first historian of African heritage to become a professor of history in Britain. He took us on an explorative and educational journey of his research and Black British history through a brilliant presentation. It was a pleasure to listen to Professor Hakim Adi launch his new book, ‘African and Caribbean People in Britain.’
This event ‘Digitisation & Disruption,’ focussed on exploring the opportunities and limitations digitisation in the cultural heritage space with an overarching question: Does digitisation allow us to disrupt the traditional (physical)museum space while navigating issues around copyright and ownership?
The Grenfell Tower tragedy of 2017 lifted the veil over the abundant problems in the Social Housing sector; where a resident warning about serious fire risk within the building was labelled a “troublemaker” by the housing management, and a year later, found himself having to escape with his life in a fire that caused 72 bereavements.
Looking to the future, the collaborators of RACE hope to craft a Charter for Co-Production specific to anti-racist action. Such a charter will outline the values that underpin good, ethical, and equitable co-production. It will also provide a ‘toolkit’ that aims to guide community collaborators and researchers…
I started to get to know Roy more in the mid to late 2010s. It was the Bristol Black Archives Partnership, where members of the - African Caribbean community in Bristol were engaged to raise awareness of the Bristol Record Office and its role as keepers of the city story, in Archives - along with other Museums and Galleries in the Bristol Culture team of the City Council.
Queer existence is Political, and Art is Political. Queerness and Art are intertwined and inseparable. Art can be utilised to disarm the fixed categories of identity that are used to demarcate the boundaries of Race, Gender, and Sexuality; Art can be, and has been, utilised to make visible the nominally invisible – the Queer and Minoritised.
On the 25th of May 2020, 46-year-old George Floyd was pinned down and killed by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin after being accused of paying with a counterfeit $20 note. Floyd’s death sparked worldwide support for the #BlackLivesMatter campaign, as millions flocked to protest during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2020, between April and May 5% out of around 2.6 million adults said they felt lonely often or always. (Ons.Gov, 2020). Now in 2022, one in four adults feel lonely some of or all of the time (Mental Health Foundation, 2022). People from Black and Minoritised backgrounds are much more likely to experience loneliness and encounter issues around mental health because of significant inequalities mainly around employment, finances, and housing (Mind, 2020).
Stephen Lawrence was a Black British teenager who was stabbed to death by a gang of six white youths while waiting for a bus in Eltham on the evening of April 22nd, 1993. As we reflect on the what happened to Stephen Lawrence nearly 30 years ago, we must consider how far we have come and how much further we have still to go and acknowledge the role of every individual in driving real societal change and forging a space of inclusivity and equality.
On this ‘International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade’, we find ourselves reflecting on the recommendations of Project T.R.U.T.H , especially in light of some of the recent photos of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The couple were pictured on Wednesday on one side of a chain-linked fence, with Jamaicans on the other side reaching through to try and shake their hands. They have been met with protests since landing in the country earlier this week over the legacy of slavery.
Not only do we celebrate International Women's Day each year, we also ensure that through our work we support, uplift and, empower women and underrepresented communities everyday of the year! Some of the women from our BSWN team have put together some of their favourite Black and Minoritised, famous female entrepreneurs, writers and activists in this blog. We hope you find very resourceful!
Unlike Generation Z, those in power in the corporate side of the industry and labels aren't as welcoming of Black talents and music, with 63% of Black musicians facing racism and barriers because of their background despite increased representation for these Black artists. This has led to a lot of newer upcoming Black artists taking the independent route, learning from the mistakes of their predecessors which allow them to be successful without the exploitative and restraining challenges that arise from record deals.
My intentions when wearing the hijab have evolved over time, from resistance to society's expectations that women dress a certain way, to yearning for total surrender to Allah, and finally, as an expression of tremendous appreciation. Being a Black Muslim woman and growing up in the Western world has been a journey. I was constantly treated differently from a very young age, first when growing up in Switzerland where the population of Muslims was 5% and parents would advise their children to stay away from me because of my hijab, to moving to England and being faced with constant discrimination at work and in public spaces.
In 1999 my Albanian family decided to immigrate to the UK to seek asylum as Albanians were being ethnically cleansed by the Serbian Army between 1998-1999 because of conflict regarding land, religion and ethnic differences. The conflict first started after the fall of the Ottoman Empire and World War One when British forces incorrectly divided the land leaving millions of Albanians as part of the Kingdom of Serbia.
