unity in diversity
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every voice fairly represented, included and heard.
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The Black British History Seminar Series 2018March - Nov 2018
Islington Town Hall, Upper Street, London, N1 2UD
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2018 marks several major anniversaries including 70 years since the arrival of Windrush, 100 years since the end of World War 1, 50 years since the 1968 Race Relations Act and 100 years of Women having the vote.
Join us for these four upcoming events on Black British History to commemorate these historical events and to celebrate Black contribution to British history, heritage and culture.
Events are inspiring and free. Run in partnership with Islington Council BAME Staff Forum and Black History Walks.
Join us for these four upcoming events on Black British History to commemorate these historical events and to celebrate Black contribution to British history, heritage and culture.
Events are inspiring and free. Run in partnership with Islington Council BAME Staff Forum and Black History Walks.
NEWS |
14/03/2018The Speak Out; our response to the Race Equality Audit |
We ended 2017 with a bang with performances with Anthony Anaxgorou and radical speakers Rashid Nix, Sita Bilani and Stephanie Phillips. The event was a community response to the Race Equality Audit. The Race Disparity Audit (October 2017) commissioned by Thereasa May brought well-known issues and inequalities faced by BAME communities to the spotlight. Most of us, thought the report didn’t offer solutions or explanations to old, persistent and systemic problems.
As it states:
“This analysis helps to understand and assess differences between ethnic groups, and to identify those public services where disparities are diminishing and those where work is needed to develop effective strategies to reduce disparities between ethnic groups.”
At the event the “blind spots” of the Race Equality Audit were highlighted: the fact that Islamophobia is not mentioned at all, along with the absence of any reflective account of how these ‘disparities’ exist and persist were few of the issues raised from the panel. Without context, the report serves as a factual account of disadvantages experienced by BAME people in the UK but still manages to obscure the systemic reasons or give any solutions on how to tackle them. This way in which ethnic and racial differences, are almost presented as “natural” is highly problematic if not dangerous.
Our speakers urged participants to not be a bystander to racial injustices and advocated openly talking to friends, family and wider communities about race and discrimination; the message was clear, we should all be talking about race in conjunction with other factors that marginalise communities.
A community response could look like:
Our response as an equality organisation based on suggestions from the panel and people attending:
#SpeakOut #unityindiversity
Some more reading on the Race Disparity Audit. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/race-disparity-audit
As it states:
“This analysis helps to understand and assess differences between ethnic groups, and to identify those public services where disparities are diminishing and those where work is needed to develop effective strategies to reduce disparities between ethnic groups.”
At the event the “blind spots” of the Race Equality Audit were highlighted: the fact that Islamophobia is not mentioned at all, along with the absence of any reflective account of how these ‘disparities’ exist and persist were few of the issues raised from the panel. Without context, the report serves as a factual account of disadvantages experienced by BAME people in the UK but still manages to obscure the systemic reasons or give any solutions on how to tackle them. This way in which ethnic and racial differences, are almost presented as “natural” is highly problematic if not dangerous.
Our speakers urged participants to not be a bystander to racial injustices and advocated openly talking to friends, family and wider communities about race and discrimination; the message was clear, we should all be talking about race in conjunction with other factors that marginalise communities.
A community response could look like:
- Not being a bystander opening dialogue with friends, colleagues and family about systemic discrimination. Including recognising our own privileged positions.
- Engage and support local, community-led campaigning
- Keep challenging unfair representations of BAME people. Both the Advertising Standards Authority https://www.asa.org.uk/ and the Independent Press Standards Organisation https://www.ipso.co.uk/ accept complaints
- Come to our next event! Every Voice is keen to form and host action groups and to receive ideas for next events towards a more coordinated response. Feel free to pop us an email at info@everyvoice.org.uk or @EveryVoiceUK
Our response as an equality organisation based on suggestions from the panel and people attending:
- We met with the Cabinet Office to share the feedback from the event
- We are supporting community-led campaigns locally
- We are raising awareness through community events and provide spaces to openly discuss racism, discrimination and wider social issues such as housing, poverty and lack of social mobility that overwhelmingly affect BAME people
#SpeakOut #unityindiversity
Some more reading on the Race Disparity Audit. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/race-disparity-audit
NEWS
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28/11/2017
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From Feb - March 2017 we worked with Creative Islington and Mount Carmel School, using music and poetry to engage students in race equality, culture and identity, as part of the Journey Across Cultures project.
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We had an amazing turnout at our screening of the award-winning documentary Generation Revolution
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It was aimed at young people in Islington and followed by discussions of their experiences of race inequality; Stop and Search and what activism looks like for this generation.
Thank you to Platform Youth Hub for hosting; to the directors of Generation Revolution for attending and for Y-Stop and Islington Stop and Search Monitoring Group for presenting. February 2017 |
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In November 2016 - after Black History Month - we hosted our second Youth History Conference, with youth led sessions on Ancient Egypt, History of Migration and contributions of African Caribbean communities to Britain, to mark our year round approach to equality and diversity, as part of our All World History, All Year Round campaign.
Every Voice partners with Chichester University's Young Filmmaker's AwardsWe're excited to be working with Chichester University, The Black Cultural Archives, History Matters and The Historical Association to promote a new, national film competition for all 11-19 year olds, across the UK. We want young people to make their own 5 min films, telling the story of African and Caribbean communities in Britain in new ways. Films can be submitted by individuals, by groups or by a whole class.
The competition will be open from Sep till Dec 2016. All participants will be invited to an award ceremony in 2017 where the films will be showcased and winners announced. The judging panel will include Hakim Adi, Professor of the History of Africa and the African Diaspora; Paul Reid, Director of the Black Cultural Archives and Dina Asher-Smith, British sprinter and history student at King’s College, London. To find out more about taking part yourself or getting your students involved please contact mona@everyvoice.org.uk |
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Watch our 2012 documentary, The Importance of Black History? where it all started.
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Islington passes motion for All World History, All Year Round!
After years of working closely with Islington Council and campaigning on how detrimental a Euro-centric History curriculum is to the attainment, psychology and self-esteem of BME students, Every Voice was excited to see Islington pass the 2015 motion, stating that Black History should be fully integrated into the school curriculum instead of just celebrating BHM. They're the first council to pass such a motion and Every Voice are proud to be leading on its delivery, through our All World History, All Year Round campaign.The motion warned that progress in promoting black history, culture and heritage would be severely limited unless subjects are embedded in the school curriculum all year round. To find out more about this work, contact mona@everyvoice.org.uk
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Work highlights
All World History All Year Round
All World History All Year Round is our flagship educational campaign, supported by Islington Council. It aims to integrate World History into the school curriculum to address the proven attainment gaps, low self esteem and lack of belonging experienced by BAME students, when constantly faced with a Euro-centric curriculum.
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‘It’s no fun being on benefits’: our new report on the human impact of welfare reform
Contrary to what we hear in mainstream media and political debate, being on benefits is not a ‘soft option’. Our 2015 report shows that unemployment and poverty are rarely caused by people not wanting to work. We capture real experiences, exposing the misery endured by residents on benefits and the human impact of the Tories’ cuts to the benefits system.
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Islington Race Equality Forum
Bringing together Islington's voluntary organisations who are fighting inequalities at local level. The forum aims to unite and strengthen the community voice, and create a more equal society in Islington.
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