Black | Learning | Achievement | Mental Health | We promote a truthful dialogue of Blackness through the analysis of history and active community outreach.
In our blog for
@RunnymedeTrust
we explain why banning the use of Black British English (BBE) in UK schools reinforces negative perceptions and stereotypes which are harmful to Black students.
Support our campaign to end linguistic injustice in schools✊🏿
Makai Williams, 11, from Hackney, east London, has created The Notorious G.I.G Children’s Block Party that aims to inspire a generation through the world’s first hip hop, Afrobeats, and self-development event for children under 12.
BIG HIM UP WE LOVE TO SEE IT 🖤
Glasses frames are usually designed with white people’s nose features in mind - a high narrow bridge. Belgium based designer Ackeem Ngwenya and business partner, Shariff Vreugd, started Reframd. Their design technology creates frames for lower nose bridges and wider nostrils.
🎉Wishing Diane Abbott a happy 70th birthday, a phenomenal woman who was the first Black Woman MP in the UK! We're proud of her achievements, despite the challenges she’s faced! She paved the way for Black Women MPs, and we're excited to see more Black Women in Parliament! 🙌🏾✨
📢📢URGENT: Any young person from Pimlico Academy that is facing a potential exclusion for protesting please get in touch with us.
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We can provide free representation at this disciplinary meeting. Hello
@blamcharity
.co.uk
🇲🇱 What a historic moment! Mali has broken free from its colonial past by replacing French as the official language with 13 indigenous Malian languages! 🎉 A powerful step towards embracing their own cultural heritage.
We have created a resource for Black British children (KS2, 3&4), looking at Racial Wellness, Black Britishness and more!
It is available for schools, organisations and parents/carers. Email us at info[@]blam[uk].org
Any Black child/parent that has been subject to Strip searches in schools please contact our advocacy team!! We work regularly on challenging unlawful and anti-Black decisions taken by schools!!
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Email us here hello
@blamcharity
.co.uk
Today marks the first anniversary of the tragic and wrongful killing of Chris Kaba at the hands of the police. To this date we are still awaiting justice and an honest account of what happened that fateful day.
Congratulations to Daniel Kaluuya for his Bafta win. Winner of the Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton, in Judas and the Black Messiah
#blackexcellence
WOW we love the finished cover art for
@prisonculture
@dreanyc123
book NO MORE POLICE: A Case for Abolition, illustrated by Naimah Thomas.
Out August 30! ➡️
Have you heard of the singer Janet Kay? An icon in the lovers rock genre, and a singer with an outstanding voice, her popular track "Silly Games" reached the number 2 on the British charts in the summer of 1979!! 🖤
BLAM UK is pleased to confirm that none of the young people at Pimlico Academy will be excluded from school, for fighting institutionalised racism using their right to protest. We are now sharing this open letter we drafted with
@blkprotestlegal
to Pimlico Academy last week.
Currently, Black history doesn’t feature in the national curriculum, meaning it is not compulsory to be taught in UK schools, BLAM UK have made it our mission to campaign against this!
Our Grounded Project continues to fight for Black narratives to included in schools
Today we held our first in-person Teacher Training for the new term at Wanstead High School. We delivered our session to 160 staff. We looked at Anti-Racism, Critical Race Theory and Decolonised Pedagogy.
We at BLAM stand in solidarity with the lady who was assaulted at the Peckham Hair product shop. This truly is a wake up call, it is heartbreaking, shocking and traumatising to see a young Black woman mishandled in such a way.
DID YOU KNOW ?
The UK has one of the highest numbers of permanent school exclusion in Europe. In places Like Portugal, Spain and Italy school exclusion does not exist as a legislative option.
📚 its super cool and exciting to discover the grand opening of 'Melanin Magic,' a fantastic black-owned bookstore! 🎉 This empowering space provides a safe haven for Black children to indulge in the joys of reading. 🖤
The founder of
@wokebabiesuk
, a monthly subscription box “filled with Black children’s books and activities”, has opened a bookstore in south London. Kelly-Jade Nicholls says Melanin Magic will be a “hub for children featuring great books, learning resources, and Black-owned
We mourn the loss of the four angels who were lost to the to the Collingwood Road, Sutton fire.
May they rest in beautiful and perfect peace.
👼🏽👼🏽👼🏽👼🏽🖤
#SouthLondon
The New Cross fire took place on this day in 1981, 43 years ago! A memorial service took place this morning at St. Andrews Brockley church in rememberance of all those who lost their lives. 1/7
⚠️PIMLICO VICTORY ⚠️ BLAM and
@blkprotestlegal
have helped to ensure that NO student involved in the protest at
#PimlicoAcademy
will be excluded for challenging the school’s discriminatory policies. The fight to end institutionalised racism continues!
With the report on Police strip searches circulating, now is the perfect time for us to publish our radical approach to strip searches and how to resist and support young people.
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This guide is for Parents, Youth Worker & teachers
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Download our guide:
We can provide advice and representation at school exclusion panels and meetings.
We accept self-referrals and referrals from professionals.
Parents may feel apprehensive when asked to attend appeals and meetings alone. Our advocates will support you !
NEW: The Scandal of Pupil Referral Units
Black parents told me they are being tricked into sending their boys to PRUs.
My investigation is on the front page of this month's issue of
@TheVoiceNews
📰✍🏾🔥
One of Jamaica’s most influential feminist thinkers was Una Marson. Marson was the first Black woman to be employed as a radio producer at the BBC, where she recorded several significant interviews.
Sunday's Google Doodle was designed by UK-based artist Sarah Madden.
🛍️ Are you looking for Black-owned hair shops in London? Look no further! Here's a list of stores to meet all your hair needs. Show your love and support for local Black-owned businesses. 🖤👩🏾🦱🪮💼
#BlackOwnedLondon
Incredible lesson plan and teaching resources for any teachers who are engaging their classes with
@ClintSmithIII
‘s book ‘How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America’.
From modelling for ASOS, to creating her own line;
@EvaApio_
collabs with ASOS sister brand, LabelRail, to create a new collection inspired by LA nights. 🌃 A huge milestone for one of the most recognisable Black women in the fashion sphere, Eva Apio! ✨
#BlackGirlMagic
Cherry Hartley, was among the first of the UKs Black bus conductors in Bristol! Celebrating her 90th birthday, it’s amazing to learn about her story! 🚌🎂📖
WE ARE SEEKING A RESEARCHER! 📚
• 7 hours pw, flexible hours
• £500 PCM
• 7 month contract
REQUIREMENTS
• Well-versed in Anti-Black racism
• Written/researched Black experiences in UK
Apply by 14th November 6 PM with CV & cover letter sent to hello
@blamcharity
.co.uk.
Call out!
We are looking for parents/carers or teachers who have witnessed discrimination in schools against BBE.
Get in touch at jamilaxblamuk
@gmail
.com
In partnership with HSBC bank, Stormzy is offering another round of scholarships to an additional 36 students to study at Cambridge University! By 2026 a total of 81 students will have been supported by these scholarships!! What a fantastic opportunity!🖤
Stop what you’re doing and help us wish our founder, director, boss lady and superwoman
@fufuisonme
a veryyyy happy birthday!!
She truly is an inspiration to us and we love having her around. More life 🖤🖤
It is widely understood that Black communities and Black people in the UK are overpoliced and underprotected by the criminal justice system as we are more than ten times more likely to be stopped and searched than our white counterparts.
Read more on our blog ⬇️
The practice of policing and shunning Black languages is known as Anti-Black Linguistic Racism. The term, coined by Dr
@aprilbakerbell
, refers to the linguistic persecution, dehumanisation, and marginalisation endured by Black Language (BL) speakers.
Trailblazer Diane Abbott made history as the first Black Woman MP. We honour all her achievements and stand against the intolerable abuse and misogynoir she has endured.
#ProtectBlackWomen
🚨🚨BREAKING NEWS: On 6th April 2021, we sent an urgent communication to a UN Body urging them to condemn Race Report, and inform other human rights mechanisms within the UN about it. The UN have responded:
We offer a 🌟free🌟 education advocacy service, to ensure that those who are the most vulnerable in society can still access justice.
If you know a Black child facing an unfair exclusion then please email us at hello
@blamcharity
.co.uk.
Learn more:
Celebrating Black Briton, Michael Abbensetts, who will be honored with a blue plaque in Kilburn! As a groundbreaking playwright, he became the first to be commissioned for a British Television drama series, providing meaningful representation and giving voice to Black Britons.
Remembering the Ogoni Nine 27 years on
27 years ago today, a group of 9 activists from Ogoniland, Nigeria were executed. With conversations around climate change and Nigeria growing- it's essential to remember the history of Black people’s resistance to corporate extractivism
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At BLAM UK we are taking this moment to remember the Black women that have been victim to state and Gendered violence who never received the outcry of masses and their names and cases remain unknown
#sayhername
Blessing Olusegun
Joy Gardner
Valerie Forde
At BLAM UK we fight for linguistic justice! We wrote an open letter to
@tes
: in response to their article ‘Slang Safeguarding Risks’. We are strongly urging them to remove the article and to provide training on language discrimination! ✊🏾
Read more here
Get ready for our upcoming event BLACK RHYTHMS: BLAM MUSIC EXTRAVAGANZA! 🎶
Come and celebrate Black History Month with us on Friday 27th October!! 💃🏾✨
PLEASE SHARE, LIKE & RETWEET!! 🖤
🎼🎶🌟Grab your tickets here:
The policing of Black children and Black girls hair specifically is part of the ongoing violence of institutionalised anti-Blackness within schools. It is a culture rooted to in conformity to the white norm and is a form of spirit murdering our children.
My child is banned from the school playground/canteen for her hair, its neatly braided in a natural colour, I gave them a lesson on the history of black womens hairs cultural significance of braiding, they chose violence,
@BishopChalloner
has a racist hair policy!!!
Our Open Letter to Ark All Saints Academy about the banning of Black British English (Slang). We are calling for the immediate removal of the Ban. Join us and our 100 Signatories in supporting this letter!!
Christmas comes once a year, but history is forever...
1- On 25th December 1831, one of the largest Jamaican slave revolts took place. Tens of thousands took part in a rebellion against the heinous treatment of the white Jamaican plantocracy
A big congrats to our boss lady
@fufuisonme
for being shortlisted for the Legal Aid Newcomer in the 2023 Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year awards!
#LALY23
🥳🥳🥳
We have 3 new roles for our new project called ”Implementing the UK’s Legal obligations when it comes to teaching about Empire, Race and Black History”.
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We are looking for two community researchers to support this project and a project worker.
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Deadline 12 July 9pm.
Calling GCSEs Tutors based or willing to travel to Lambeth! One of our clients has been permanently excluded months to their final GCSE exams. We need your help to support them with this final hurdle.
The fact that Pilates was rebranded into a workout for healthy/wealthy yt women is...
Joseph Pilates created Pilates in a prison for sick prisoners. AND it was his understudy, Kathy Stanford Grant (a black woman) that refined it. She was an acclaimed choreographer.
“Brixton has been changing for the worse. A wave of gentrification has erased Brixton’s cultural history, pricing out many of the working-class communities that have lived in the area for decades.”
#ReclaimBrixton
#HondoTower
#FightTheTower
#SaveNour
➡️
📣📣We are hiring a Youth Project Worker and a Curriculum developer to support us on our Black History in school projects.
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Interested in teaching KS2/ KS3
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Love researching and teaching Black history?
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Apply now!! Hello
@blamcharity
.co.uk
We stand with Chris Kaba's friends and family in demanding that the
@metpoliceuk
give us the answers we deserve surrounding his murder. This institution needs to be held accountable for its actions and we won't allow them to silence us!
At the UN Symposium yesterday, BLAM UK Advocate & Researcher gave evidence about the ongoing discrimination Black-British English Language speakers continue to face in the education system and our campaign to end the criminalisation of Black languages.
#WGEPAD
#UN
We wish to honour the late, great Jessica Huntley on her 96th Birthday ✊🏾👑
Community activist, political reformer, race equality campaigner, advocate for women's rights - these are just a few of the titles held by this incredible woman. Her legacy will continue to live on!
DID YOU KNOW?
In the UK, a staggering 1 in 4 black children rely on free school meals during term time. As parents, we understand the importance of ensuring our kids have nutritious meals throughout the year. Discover places where kids can eat for FREE or at a discounted rate 🖤
Be sure to catch
#TribalMark
directed & produced by Skepta this weekend in London Everyman cinemas! The premier will feature a showing of the film + a live Q&A! If you live in Birmingham, Bristol or Manchester you can catch the film next week!
Reframd uses the image clients can take on their phones to analyse things such as “head width, bridge height, pantoscopic tilt, temple length, and more”. This helps to build a comfortable tailor-made pair of frames for the individual.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Sasha Johnson at this time. We know all too well the cost that comes with organising for Black liberation. We are met with state violence and racist violence.
#BlackLivesMatter
Our founder had a great session with
@AspiringHeads
. She spoke about understanding how racism causes Black trauma and advocated for the provision of healing spaces within the school setting for this. She also spoke about the need to centre Black joy as a means of resistance.
We are upset & disgusted to learn that a Black girl was strip searched on school premises. Schools are complicit in the over policing & under protection of Black students as they are an extension of the carceral state. This is why we focus on education.
The second event in a series of educational events by the London Metropolitan Archives Radical Voices: Yesterday - Today.
Curated by Ife Thompson (
@fufuisonme
),
@Aleemagray
,
@mikaimikai_
and Zerritha Brown
#RadicalVoices21
Free ticket here:
@blackfilmarchve
created by
@mayascade
is a living register of Black films. In its current iteration, it showcases Black films made from 1915 to 1979 currently streaming.
The project aims to show the full power of Black imagery in film. ✊🏿🎥
On June 22 1948, thousands of West Indian migrants arrived in Britain. Their impact is still felt till this day and their contributions to Black British culture cannot be denied. We wish to take a moment to honour those of the Windrush Generation
#WindrushDay
We took a trip to the Horniman Museum to see their Hair: Untold Stories exhibition and were surprisingly impressed with their representation of Black hair
This case is a reminder that institutional racism still runs rampant in the public sector. It is heart breaking to here Richard's mother say "I cried out to the police, they didn't support me". The police need to be held to account for their inaction.
Join us as we call for the dismantling of anti-Black systems of oppression and policing in education that harm our baby brothers and sisters each day.
Education must have abolition and transformative justice NOW. ✊🏿🌸
#ProtectBlackChildren
#DignityinEducation
#ChildQ
Happy first
#WorldBookDay2024
to us.
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If you are a Parent or a Primary School Teacher make sure you grab a copy of ‘Global Black Narratives for the Classroom.’📗📗📗📗
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#BlackHistory
🛒
Today we are looking forward to the premiere of Steve McQueen's Small Axe. The first Film to be aired today is Mangrove, on BBC One at 9pm. Check out our Blog on The Mangrove 9 to learn more:
Revolutionary Black British Women is this years theme for
#IWD2020
. Let's continue to elevate our narratives and contributions to race and gender equality in Britain.
Join us on the 11th March!
BLAM UK ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THAT WE ARE RELEASING A 2 VOLUME BOOK!
Global Black Narratives in the Classroom! 📕📕
Our book is a practical classroom guide keen on ensuring Black history and narratives are centered and included all year!
Tell a teacher to tell a teacher!
📢We still have over 20 spaces on our Free, February Zuri Therapy sessions.
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This is a 4-week Group session on Racial Wellness for Black people in the UK, led by 3 Black Therapists!!
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Sign up Below:
🚨🚨BIG ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨🚨
We are publishing a book!
Global Black Narratives in Schools is practical guide for Primary School Teachers doing classroom lessons, keen on ensuring Black history is centered and included all year.
Pre-Order Now!
RIP Benjamin Zephaniah, a renowned poet and activist, has contributed to the Black community in several ways. Key aspects include using his poetry to address social issues, advocating for racial equality, and promoting education and awareness about Black history and culture!
🖤That being said this is a wake up call for us to continue to support Black-owned businesses especially in the realm of Black hair and products. Check out this blog post with a list of Black hair shops to support: