Dear colleagues,
Just some quick feedback after my telephone meeting with a BCA trustee. The position of BCA remains precarious, though the focus should not be so much on closure but on making it less precarious, i.e. focusing on presenting evidence that BCA are an important organisation that has had an impact on the scholarly community. This will help immensely in the run-up to application for the next round of NPO funding. Certainly, a letter of support from us with the RGS, following on from the letter sent by MPs a few days ago - https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/oct/31/mps-government-secure-future-black-cultural-archives-brixton-london - is welcomed: it would be great if such a letter could say precisely how the BCA has been of benefit to the academic community. 3 or 4 short case studies would I think really add weight to the draft letter, so if anyone has particular stories that could be presented as a short vignette, about how BCA archives have not only supported research, but perhaps have incited new questions or stimulated new research trajectories or even just new academic careers, these would be very welcome. I am also thinking to try to enable a short academic impact evaluation report, so even after we've written the letter, your vignettes and case studies will be very welcome.
All the best,
Pat
Dr Patricia Noxolo,
Senior Lecturer in Human Geography
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences,
University of Birmingham,
Edgbaston,
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK
________________________________
From: Race, Culture and Equality Working Group List [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Patricia Noxolo [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 07 November 2018 08:55
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: FW: Black Cultural Archives potential closure
Dear Ruth and all,
I got this enthusiastic response back from Catherine Souch at RGS (below). From the BCA website, she thinks the risk of closure does not seem to be the primary issue, but that BCA wants to make its future position less precarious by becoming a National Portfolio Organisation, and we can all support them in this. So, a couple of questions:
1. Does anyone who has direct contact with BCA know what their strategy is, so that we can support the approach they want to take? (I will spread this request wider to see what comes back).
2. If the portfolio status is what's required, does anyone know of evidence that would work for BCA?
All the best,
Pat
Dr Patricia Noxolo,
Senior Lecturer in Human Geography
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences,
University of Birmingham,
Edgbaston,
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK
________________________________
From: [log in to unmask] [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 07 November 2018 03:29
To: Patricia Noxolo (Geography)
Cc: Sarah Evans
Subject: RE: Black Cultural Archives potential closure
Hello Pat
A quick response to say I very much hope we can add the Society’s name to this letter. This is an important issue and support needs to be given.
However, I’m out of the office at the moment and need to liaise with people at the Society. Sarah ( E ) has given me some really helpful insights. Give me a couple of days and I will get back to you.
Our understanding based on the website is: https://blackculturalarchives.org/
While BCA, like many other charity organisations serving the needs of our community, faces serious financial challenges after the end of its Heritage Lottery funding, we are not closing.
We are asking that BCA, as the only national institution for Black history and culture in Britain, is made a National Portfolio Organisation along side the mainstream and other cultural organisations supported by the national funding bodies.
As Black History Month comes to an end and during a year when the contributions to Britain of the Windrush generation have been celebrated as well as unjustly dismissed, we believe this is the time for everyone to #BackBCA.
We are grateful for the support of cross-party MPs, BCA Friends, Patrons, Sponsors and especially from the community. Your moral and financial support will help us meet these challenges.
Thank you for backing BCA!
So, the BCA are seeking status as a National Portfolio Organisation – i.e., that they would get guaranteed funding for 4 years from the Arts Council: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/our-investment-2015-18/national-portfolio-organisations#section-2.
So it's going to be a case therefore of demonstrating that it’s a collection of national and international importance, as well as meeting criteria given by the Arts Council as to how to qualify for portfolio status. Do you have those criteria? We did find an older briefing note, but most of what’s available online is for current holders of this status/award. The current cycle runs 2018-2022, so it may likely be a case of applying in the next cycle?
Do you have evidence to hand that the BCA is used in the same way as existing Portfolio Organisations? We might want to add that to the letter.
Best wishes, Catherine
From: Patricia Noxolo [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 06 November 2018 15:28
To: Catherine Souch <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: FW: Black Cultural Archives potential closure
Importance: High
Hi Catherine,
I hope all is well. Members of the RACE group have begun to draft a letter (see below) in response to the news that Black Cultural Archives might be closed. The RACE group would like to be supported by the RGS in sending this letter: is this acceptable?
All the best,
Pat
Dr Patricia Noxolo,
Senior Lecturer in Human Geography
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences,
University of Birmingham,
Edgbaston,
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK
________________________________
From: Race, Culture and Equality Working Group List [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Susanne Seymour [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 06 November 2018 15:21
To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Black Cultural Archives potential closure
Thanks Ruth,
Hopefully some additional examples will be offered.
All the best
Susanne
On 6 Nov 2018, at 15:13, Craggs, Ruth <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
Dear Pat, Saskia, Naomi and others in the RACE group
Susanne and I were thinking that a letter signed by the RACE group (and maybe the RGS too) might be a useful first step if others agreed?
We have had a go at drafting a letter which could be used if the working group think this is a good idea - It is only a first draft so anyone please feel free to add to, amend or edit (I think it would be great to have other examples of how the BCA is used in teaching and research within geography for example). We may well have missed important aspects of the collection’s value and how it is used in what we have briefly jotted down.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YzePhVduSL05rmZrilfptNOixFZtyjZDMPdD714dyws/edit?usp=sharing
If others have different or better ideas of how to respond instead/as well as this that would be great. A letter doesn’t seem very inventive but at least would acknowledge our concern.
With best wishes
Ruth
*** Please note that the Geography Department is now located in Bush House NE Wing, floors 4-6. My office is on floor 6 ***
Dr Ruth Craggs
Senior Lecturer in Cultural and Historical Geography
Department of Geography
Bush House NE Wing Room 6.07
30, Aldwych
WC2B 4BG
King's College London
Tel +44 (0)20 7848 7980
@DrRuthCraggs
orcid.org/0000-0001-6606-1381<http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6606-1381>
Office hours: Mondays 11-12; Tuesday 2.30-3.30, in room Bush House NE Wing 6.07
*** New article: Craggs, R. (2018). Subaltern geopolitics and the post-colonial Commonwealth, 1965-1990. Political Geography, 1-19. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0962629817302688
***Craggs, R. & Neate, H. (2018) Post-colonial careering and the discipline of geography: British geographers in Nigeria and the UK, 1945-1990, Journal of Historical Geography, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305748817301159?via%3Dihub
*** New article: Craggs, R. (2018) The 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, the Windrush Scandal and the Legacies of Empire, The Round Table, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00358533.2018.1476110
From: "Race, Culture and Equality Working Group List" <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> on behalf of Patricia Noxolo <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Reply-To: "Race, Culture and Equality Working Group List" <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Date: Monday, 5 November 2018 08:27
To: "[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>" <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Subject: Re: Black Cultural Archives potential closure
Hi Suzanne,
Let the committee know what kind of action you're planning and we can ask the RGS to support it.
All the best,
Pat
Dr Patricia Noxolo,
Senior Lecturer in Human Geography
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences,
University of Birmingham,
Edgbaston,
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK
________________________________
From: Race, Culture and Equality Working Group List [[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>] on behalf of Susanne Seymour [[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>]
Sent: 03 November 2018 12:09
To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Black Cultural Archives potential closure
Dear Ruth and RACE group
A collective supporting action from the RACE group, supported by RGS-IBG more broadly, would be powerful I think.
One example of the importance of the BCA for Geography students studying outside London would be its use by the winner of the 1st RACE dissertation prize.
Happy to help or support.
Best wishes
Susanne
Dr Susanne Seymour
School of Geography, University of Nottingham
On 3 Nov 2018, at 08:33, Craggs, Ruth <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
Dear all
I wondered if anyone knew of responses being prepared within geography/the academic community more broadly to this news:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/oct/31/mps-government-secure-future-black-cultural-archives-brixton-london<https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fuk-news%2F2018%2Foct%2F31%2Fmps-government-secure-future-black-cultural-archives-brixton-london&data=01%7C01%7CRuth.craggs%40KCL.AC.UK%7Cffe1f12d946f4bd5ca8c08d642f8a44c%7C8370cf1416f34c16b83c724071654356%7C0&sdata=ozVQmlkUEPY%2F5Bi1TSMEAajIb7G%2B2qbE%2FsAToW9XXsc%3D&reserved=0>
[https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/bc64d47fbedb16268fd18d7d434d22b9c30be567/0_0_5760_3456/master/5760.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&s=3e7187a720850ab0c4fa1e6680e39c9f]<https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fuk-news%2F2018%2Foct%2F31%2Fmps-government-secure-future-black-cultural-archives-brixton-london&data=01%7C01%7CRuth.craggs%40KCL.AC.UK%7Cffe1f12d946f4bd5ca8c08d642f8a44c%7C8370cf1416f34c16b83c724071654356%7C0&sdata=ozVQmlkUEPY%2F5Bi1TSMEAajIb7G%2B2qbE%2FsAToW9XXsc%3D&reserved=0>
MPs urge government to secure future of Black Cultural ...<https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fuk-news%2F2018%2Foct%2F31%2Fmps-government-secure-future-black-cultural-archives-brixton-london&data=01%7C01%7CRuth.craggs%40KCL.AC.UK%7Cffe1f12d946f4bd5ca8c08d642f8a44c%7C8370cf1416f34c16b83c724071654356%7C0&sdata=ozVQmlkUEPY%2F5Bi1TSMEAajIb7G%2B2qbE%2FsAToW9XXsc%3D&reserved=0>
www.theguardian.com<https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com&data=01%7C01%7CRuth.craggs%40KCL.AC.UK%7Cffe1f12d946f4bd5ca8c08d642f8a44c%7C8370cf1416f34c16b83c724071654356%7C0&sdata=5rf4GN%2Bk2cgeiAbUXUKlYjatuI1zsw84NnMDOYXooqw%3D&reserved=0>
The UK’s only national heritage centre dedicated to collecting, preserving and celebrating the histories of African and Caribbean people in Britain is at risk of closure because of a funding crisis.
I have been having informal conversations with people about the need to send a strong message of support but it would be good to make sure that we are working together rather than duplicating efforts to send the strongest message possible.
Do let me know if you know of any initiatives so we might link up.
Many thanks
Ruth
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