The Black Cultural Archive: A Seat on the Youth Forum

Community Engagement

Event Planning and Organising

Collaboration

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Microsoft Excel

Introduction

Relaunched in September 2023, Black Cultural Archives’ Youth Forum is an extension of the site's mission to "collect, preserve and celebrate the histories of people of African and Caribbean descent in the UK and to inspire and give strength to individuals, communities, and society."

Kwame Kwei-Armah said all that needed to be said about the Black Cultural Archive (BCA) when he called it, "[BCA] is a goldmine of information about Black cultural identity in Britain".

Our collective comprises of twenty-eight members, each deeply passionate about engaging with the Black British histories stored in the archives and interested in finding ways to further engage our community with these stories. Meeting once a fortnight at our home in Windrush Square, the mission of the Youth Forum is to build community, enrich understanding of Black British history, and to represent the range of Black experiences in Britain – including the experiences of religious minorities, non-Anglophone experiences, those who identify as disabled, and those who identify as LGBTQ+.

The Black Cultural Archive houses a lot which feels fundamental to my experiences as a Black British woman. I want to have a say in how my culture is consumed, understood and depicted. I am honoured to be an active part of the new precedent that a space like BCA sets where those who have lived the stories are also the ones to detail it.

The BCA allows me to play a part in preserving, documenting, and championing African heritage.

Members of the Black Cultural Archives’ Youth Forum, October 2023.

Key Skills Used

A Commitment to have a Growing Knowledge of Black History: Being an active and conscious learner around Black History, culture and social developments in an effort to inform the direction of enacting our mission and educate fellow forum members effectively.

Communication Skills: Exhibiting strong communication skills in order to convey historical information, engage with the larger group, young people, community members and stakeholders.

Community Engagement: Connecting with and engaging all community members and particularly young people. Being approachable, relatable, and capable of creating an inclusive and welcoming environment for all forum members.

Event Planning and Organisation: Being responsible for organising/facilitating events, workshops, and discussions on relevant topics.

Digital Literacy: Proficient in using online platforms and social media to reach and interact with our target audience. I'm also demonstrating familiarity with relevant software and tools is important.

Research Skills: Conducting research on relevant topics, historical events, and figures in order to provide accurate and well-informed content.

Collaboration: Working with the other team members and collaborating with the Black Cultural Archive institution has been key in ensuring the success of the forum.

Public Speaking: Presenting and facilitating discussions has been an valuable skill for communicating effectively and maintaining the engagement of the group and wider community.

Cultural Programming: Developing and implementing culturally relevant programs and initiatives has helped to engage the youth and promote cultural awareness.

Project Management: Regarding meeting our goals, project management skills, including setting goals, creating timelines, and tracking progress, have been useful for achieving our objectives.

Outreach and Networking: Building a network of contacts and promoting the forum to a wider audience has helped increase participation and visibility.

A BCA Youth Forum Meeting (3, Term 1) in Session, September 2023.

Term 1

Meeting 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Collectively brainstormed goals and values for the new BCA Youth Forum

Develop content for BCA's TikTok and documenting our meeting activities via TikTok

Develop the Youth Forum page of the BCA website to become an information hub about the Youth Forum

Begin to streamline our thematic focus for Term 1 by visiting BCA's Genetic Automata exhibition, and talking about which of the following themes would work best to explore as an event within the Youth Forum launch

Research and look through BCA's catalogue to identify relevant archival material that we might want to have a look at

Planning for Youth Forum launch party.