This summer, following the death of George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter movement surged once more, with a fresh fury and an unprecedented momentum. Another group, The Black Curriculum, found itself carried along by this wave despite, much like the BLM movement itself, having quietly existed long before.
“Even just on social media, we had a huge surge,” explains Eleshea Williams, The Black Curriculum’s Media and Communications Manager, “We went from 1000 followers to 100,000 in a matter of less than two weeks. People are waking up to the importance of curriculum reform, and the importance of education as a way to combat racial ignorance in the UK.”
The premise of The Black Curriculum is simple: offering a robust syllabus of Black British history to UK students that is currently missing in action. The team of educators visits schools (largely in London, but increasingly across the country – now over Zoom) to teach the oft-forgotten or excluded narrative of the British Black experience; from immersive weeks to teacher training, so that the education can be sustainably integrated all year round.
Not, for example, just during Black History Month or a global reckoning on race relations caused by police brutality in the States.
The group’s founder, Lavinya Stennett, was inspired to start the initiative, after realising how thin her education had been regarding her own history – comprised largely of either slavery or American civil rights.
“She came to the conclusion that no one should have to wait until they go to university, and actively seek out their own ancestral history when Eurocentric curriculum is being rolled out,” says Eleshea, who also feels passionately that the Black Curriculum are not only plugging the gaps in our historical awareness, but providing much-needed representation for black students.
“I mean, I grew up in Surrey, and I was the only black person in my whole school,” she says, of why the group are keen to expand beyond the inner-city – typically multicultural – schools they are asked to visit, “The only black people I ever saw in school, unfortunately, and very sadly, were the cleaners. And then we were only learning about black people in the context of slavery. So I wonder what that does to my white counterparts’ perception of black people. It’s incredibly damaging and it’s disempowering for black students like myself, because we begin to think that nothing our ancestors ever did was worthy of being in a history book, which is obviously absolutely not true.”
The syllabus taught by The Black Curriculum is vast and interconnected; spanning Roman times until the present day. One skewered view of black history they are keen to upend, is the notion that black people first came to Britain with Windrush, or that there was only a civil rights movement in America. In fact, Britain had its own Black Panther movement, had its own bus boycott; in Bristol.
“Black people were present in Britain, years before slavery, in Tudor times, in the Roman times,” emphasises Eleshea, “This is something that a lot of people just don’t don’t realise. And I think that’s what a lot of people have begun to do: question their own kind of educational experience, and look back and actually be honest with themselves in terms of how much British Black History did they learn but wasn’t slavery? How much have they really realised about the huge role that British Empire has had with colonialism? Race is implemented in every pillar of society – our syllabus shows that.”
Eleshea details how the syllabus is carefully curated for each age group, but acknowledges the potency of teaching young adults, especially those inflamed and enraged (rightly so) by the violence they see enacted and the systemic racism they are old enough to understand.
“What we think is really important for this age group is that we’re not imposing our own opinion on them, we’re listening to what they want to know, “ she says, “Because these times are very difficult for young black people in the UK. And what’s really important about us is empowering them to use their voice and empowering them with the knowledge that they do matter, and that their history does matter.”
The Black Curriculum staged a masterful and powerful campaign this year, to have Black British History mandated as a part of the national curriculum. Whilst it- briefly- got the attention of the Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, they are currently waiting for further feedback, and a meeting, with Nick Gibb, Minister of State for School Standards.
Eleshea is hopeful that 2020 will be the year that kickstarted serious educational reform. So Nick Gibb, if you’re reading this – give The Black Curriculum a call back. ASAP.