Race Act 40 Exhibition

On Monday, 28th May, I attended the Race Act 40 Exhibition event held at the Wellingborough African Caribbean Association, based in Rock Street.  

Race Act 40 is an oral history project organised by Northamptonshire Rights & Equalities Council, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, exploring historic racism in Wellingborough.  

The two-year project was supported by the excellent contributions of volunteers who were professionally trained to carry out over 40 interviews, which will now be archived at the University of Northampton.

The event was formally opened by James Saunders Watson, also known as the High Sheriff of Northamptonshire. 

James Saunders Watson, High Sheriff of Northamptonshire.

Suresh Grover, Director of The Monitoring Group, was the Guest Speaker. Suresh Grover has been a Civil Rights Campaigner for over 30 years. He spoke about some of the campaigns beginning in 1976 to the present time.

Suresh Grover, Director of The Monitoring Group.

Seventy nine people attended the event which included displays of Race Act 40's research, and poetry by Tre Ventour, Norma Watson, and Nairobi Thompson. 

Audience Members of RaceAct40 Exhibition.

Here is a link below to my 10-minute radio interview with Suki Somal on BBC Radio Northampton's Mark Dean Show. I come on at 12.35 minutes in (approx), although the whole two-hour show is worth listening to. I like the sprinkling of African and Caribbean sounds - reggae, soca and Afro Beats!

My Interview with BBC Radio Northampton

You have 28 days remaining from today to listen, so I urge you to tune in!

I also shared my experience of racism in the workplace at the Race Act 40 event.

Sharing my experience of racism in the workplace and how
I took my case to a Race Relations Act tribunal and won.

Photographs courtesy of Race Act 40.

Colonial Countryside: Ten New Creative Commissions

Charlecote Park, Warwickshire

10 new creative writing commissions at £1,200 each for 'Colonial Countryside: English Country Houses Reinterpreted.'

About the project

Colonial Countryside is a child-led writing and history project about National Trust houses' Caribbean and East India Company connections. Steered by a child advisory board, this three-year project assembles authors, historians, and primary school pupils to commission, resource and publish new writing. 

One hundred primary children will visit ten National Trust properties and craft new writing, presenting it to live, print, and digital audiences. They will present their work at a conference during the Literary Leicester festival in November 2018. 

The majority of children will be of Caribbean or South Asian heritage and this project will encourage them to think of themselves as public figures who will reshape the national narrative and make this history widely known.

Peepal Tree Press will commission ten authors to write about each participating house. The commissioned work will be published in an illustrated "coffee table" style book containing the ten creative commissions, accompanied by accessible historical commentaries written by experts in the field. Commissioned writers will give inaugural readings and appear at literary festivals and black history events nationwide.

The National Trust has over five million members and the commissioned writing will have a large readership. These ten high-profile commissions are also designed to stimulate a new wave of writing about this topic. In order to resource this, the Colonial Countryside project will create a writers' resource website, delivered by the historical team, and a massive online open course (MOOC), co-produced by children and historians.

The participating country houses are:

1.   Attingham Park, near Shrewsbury

2.   Basildon Parks, near Reading

3.   Buckland Abbey, Devonshire

4.   Calke Abbey, Derbyshire

5.   Charlecote Park, Warwickshire

6.   Osterley Park, West London

7.   Sudbury Hall, Ashbourne, Derbyshire

8.   Wightwick Manor, near Wolverhampton

9.   Penrhyn Castle, Gwynedd, Wales

10. Dyrham Park, near Bristol

About the commissions:

Commissioned writers will be advised by historians who are experts in the field. The participating National Trust properties provide a varied picture of stately homes' colonial links, telling a range of stories about slave-produced wealth, East India Company connections, colonial administrators, Black servants, slave-trading voyages, colonial business interests, Victorian plant hunters, and imperial interior design.

Commissioned writers will receive a fee of £1,200 and an allowance of up to £400 to cover research, travel, and accommodation. They will attend a work-in-progress day at the University of Leicester. Public engagement is central to this project. Social media training is available if required (writers will post social media content on the project's behalf, or the project manager will post approved content on their behalf). In year three of the project, writers may be asked to give an inaugural reading at the country house featured in their commissioned pieces. Commissioned writers will also be invited to attend literature festivals and Black History Month events, with expenses paid.

The commissioned work will be published in an illustrated book by Peepal Tree Press. It is also likely to feature in exhibitions in numerous houses throughout the National Trust's Challenging Histories year in 2022.

How to apply and the deadline

The commissioned work will be judged by a team of acclaimed writers and historians, and assembled by Peepal Tree Press.

Send your commission entry by email to Dr Corinne Fowler csf11@le.ac.uk. Please attach:

A writer's CV 

This should be no longer than one page of A4, font size 12

A proposal

In no more than 700 words, explain why you wish to apply for the commission. You should cover: * your interest in the topic * your experience * your approach to the commission (including your chosen literary form) * how you will guarantee quality * your experience of social media (please note: this is not a deal breaker but it is helpful to know if you have an author webpage and a social media presence) * confirm your willingness to post project information on social media channels and/or your author website (or have it posted there on your behalf) * your geographical location * your intended audience.

There is no obligation to identify a particular National Trust property from the list above, though winning entrants will be matched with one house, even if the commissioned writer wishes to explore connections between participating properties.

A writing sample

This should be no more than two pages of A4, font size 12 or (in the case of poetry) no more than three poems.

Eligibility: Non-UK writers may apply, though there is no budget for plane travel to England. The Arts Council expects that the majority of writers should be based in England. As a condition of the commission fee, you must commit to participating in public events during 2020.

Deadline: Midnight on 30 April 2018.

Poetanoster: A Collection of Poems

The Attenborough Paternoster, University Of Leicester

The Centre for New Writing at the University of Leicester has commissioned poems to commemorate the Attenborough Tower Paternoster. In my role as Literary Associate, I am currently editing Poetanoster, a collection of poems, the best of which will be published as a pamphlet, together with interviews with porters (in a section called 'Portanoster').

The poems will be archived in Special Collections in David Wilson Library. A forthcoming event will be held with inaugural readings of the poems.

The paternoster is an open lift, with lots of carriages that are continually circulating so you can 'hop on' at any point. Riding up to the top floor gave great views of the university campus and the city.

The Attenborough paternoster was built in 1970 and was one of only three operating paternosters in the UK. It broke down a year ago and will soon be dismantled and replaced with a modern lift. Many have fond memories of this rare and historic lift.

Race Act 40 - Sharing Stories of Racial Discrimination in Wellingborough

Race Act 40 is a Northamptonshire Rights & Equality Council (NREC) oral history project, based in Wellingborough. This two-year project is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and was created to mark 40 years of the Race Relations Act 1976.

The project is conducting research to create a collection of stories using people's memories. Audio recorded as 'Oral History', individuals and communities in Wellingborough and East Northamptonshire can identify if and how the Race Relations Act has been of benefit. The aim is to gather information from people who have directly experienced racism, as well as collating witness observations of racism.

The project also considers the role of local and national organisations which have been supportive, as well as appropriately highlighting any organisations that have been discriminatory in their practice.

What does the research involve?

The study involves taking part in a one-to-one interview with a trained interviewer who is sensitive to the subject matter. Lasting between 30 minutes to 1 hour, further appointments can be made to finish if needed. The interviews are recorded with audio equipment.

Interviews undertaken have reached over 40 and are typed up and stored as an Oral History. The transcriptions reflect natural speech patterns, such as pauses for reflection and local dialect, where possible. It is intended to be read with the recording.

Will other people know what I say in the interview?

The interview will contribute to the heritage of Wellingborough's whole community. Recordings and transcription material arising from this research will be publicly used in articles, reports, and campaigns for racial equality unless stated on the Consent Sheet that you would like to remain anonymous.

What will happen to this research?

You will receive your own copy of the unedited recording and agreed-upon transcription. Public distribution of information will be copyright of NREC. At the end of the project (May 2018), agreed records or artifacts will be kept in the University of Northampton archive so that it is accessible in the future to local people, communities, and academics. Analysis of this research could lead to further projects that enhance the community.

Volunteers

The project has been supported by many individuals including myself. Dr Paul Jackson, Dr Caroline Nielsen and Daniel Jones from the University of Northampton have also supported the project over the past two years as critical friends, promoting volunteer opportunities to history students. The Law Department at the University of Northampton has also supported the project. A student intern was also funded for four weeks through the Santander SME Internship Programme.

Share Your Story

On 15th January 2018, I shared my story of racial discrimination with the project's researcher Jenny Labbon. My interview included incidents of direct racism at school in the 1960s and indirect racism in the workplace in 2003. It was an empowering experience to be interviewed as I had not spoken about these incidents for many years. I also felt a great sense of satisfaction to be participating in such a well-needed project right on my doorstep.

If you live in Wellingborough and have suffered racial discrimination or have witnessed or challenged it, and would like to participate in Race Act 40 by sharing your story, you can email: Jenny@RaceAct40.co.uk

My Fro & Me: Hair Stories from Women of Colour

We used Black Dolls from Diverse, Brixton, London. 'To speak, hold a doll. '

On 28th November 2017, I participated in My Fro & Me: Hair Stories from Women of Colour, a discursive exploration of Afro-textured hair, culture, and identity. The event also explored Eurocentric ideals of beauty on our stage and screens, and discrimination within the context of women and Afro-textured hair. 

Ayesha Casely-Hayford facilitated the event, held at the Cottesloe Room in The Clore Learning Centre at the National Theatre in South Bank, London.

Cottesloe Room, Clore Learning Centre, National Theatre.

The event was a sell-out; over 50 likeminded women of colour, including a sprinkling of white women and men, proved an excellent dynamic for an inspiring and thoughtprovoking discussion.

Readings from Hair Power Skin Revolution included the poems:

'I am my hair' by Fiona Mckinson
'Happy ending' by Zakia Henderson-Brown

For the full details, check out Ayesha's insight

For National Theatre publicity information

To read the Guardian article: 
Weaving tales: Barber Shop Chronicles & theatre's wave of black hair shows

Ayesha Casely-Hayford, Martina Laird and Sian Ejiwumniole Le Berre - My Fro  & Me

Ayesha Casely-Hayford's Bio:
Ayesha is an actress and employment solicitor specialising in discrimination. She is an award-winning voice artist and chair of the board of trustees of The Act For Change Project, which campaigns for greater diversity in the live and recorded arts. Ayesha also created 'Afro Archives A Performer's World', a project exploring the experience of women of colour with Afro-textured hair working in the performance industry.

Colonial Countryside: English Country Houses Reinterpreted

On 31st July, I joined the Centre for New Writing at the University of Leicester as a Literary Associate as part of a new initiative to mobilise child historians to develop new audiences for cutting-edge research about British country houses' Caribbean and East India connections.

This is a child-led history and writing project led by Dr Corinne Fowler at the University of Leicester. The three-year collaborative project entitled, 'Colonial Countryside', will encourage primary pupils aged 10 to engage with country homes with the help of historians and writers. Peepal Tree Press will publish and resource new writing, stimulating widespread interest in this neglected aspect of British history.

You can listen to an interview with Dr Corinne Fowler on Leicester Radio below:

The Centre for New Writing team is kick-starting the initiative by crowdfunding a pilot event with Colmore Junior School in Birmingham, working with Kenwood and Harewood House.

The crowdfunding will pay for 20 children to visit country houses and related archives. It will also fund a historian and a writer, plus pay for a podcast narrated by the children, who will recount their experiences.

Dr Corinne Fowler, Director of the Centre for New Writing, said, "Children make great researchers. They ask different sorts of questions to adults. This project will be led by children, who introduce parents, children, teachers, and country house visitors to a wide range of colonial connections. The aim is to encourage children to think of themselves as future leaders and historians in the field."

In the second phase, 100 primary pupils will visit 10 local country houses. They will explore the archives with an historian and work with a writer to produce pithy personal essays which will be communicated to live, print and digital audiences. Peepal Tree Press will also commission 10 high-profile writers to produce new creative work about each of the 10 participating houses. The books will be sold in the bookshops of those houses. The children will attend a conference with panels and keynotes, but where only children speak. There will be a child-only advisory board, and children will co-produce exhibitions, a massive online open course, and they will participate in the training of heritage professionals.

Power of the Pen: Identities and Social Issues in Fiction and Nonfiction

The University of Iowa's International Writing Programme is running a free (yes, free!) massive open online course (MOOC). Power of the Pen: Identities and Social Issues in Fiction and Nonfiction will focus on writing about identities, communities, and social issues in fiction and nonfiction.

This MOOC will:

• Encourage you to write both fiction and nonfiction
• Encourage you to explore the intersections between the two genres
• Encourage you to explore the intersections of individual, community, and global identities
• Encourage you to examine the effect of current social issues on individual, community, and global identities
• Foreground the principles of short and long-term fiction
• Foreground the principles of three forms of nonfiction: literary journalism, memoir essay, and personal essay
• Support your experience of creative and cultural exchange with writers around the world!

Opened: May 15, 2017 - there is still plenty of time to participate.

All I can say is that each week the course continues to blow me away, not just with the quality of the well-established and award-winning writers that share their expertise in the weekly videos but with the excellence of the whole course in the way it has been so well constructed and delivered.

I encourage you to take a look and sign up!


Onward!