Environment Matters to Us Too! Communities, 'Race' and Class

This year the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience (CAWR) will be hosting a special event to mark Black History Month. Black History Month has its roots in the USA in the early 20th century. The genesis of the idea was put forward in 1926 by Carter G Woodson a Black American Historian and known as ‘Negro History Week’ with the notion of encouraging the teaching of Black History in public schools in the USA. Woodson viewed the teaching of Black history as a key in ensuring the physical and intellectual survival of Black People within broader society.

Hence, Black History Month was conceived as a political act in terms to address the invisibility of Black History within the school system and the public sphere more broadly. On crossing the Atlantic to the UK, in 1987, Black History Month is celebrated throughout October and has evolved as a means of recognizing and celebrating the histories and cultures of Black and ethnic minority communities. The event hosted by CAWR aims to remember the political act of Carter Woodson that marked its beginning, and will provide an opportunity to develop an understanding of the environment from an often invisible minority in the UK.

The event will draw attention to what is rendered visible when ‘the environment’ is defined broadly and embedded within wider systems of power and oppression. The session will consider struggles that have led to racial advances witnessed in the UK and encourages thinking about ways in which we can continue to work together for improving health and wellbeing outcomes for black communities and an inclusive understanding of the environment.

The session brings together academics, community activists, students and people living in local communities, offering a safe and informal space for dialogue.

• 10.30am Arrival: tea, coffee, refreshments
• 11am - 1pm: Setting the context - What is missing from discussions on the Environment?
  • Panel discussion:
  • Paul Grant, Wolverhampton University: When Memory Dies
  • Gurnam Singh, Coventry University: Environmental Activism, Direct Action and White Privilege

• 1pm – 2pm Lunch
• 2pm - 4pm: Researching from the margins: Black communities, health and well-being.
  • Panel discussion:
  • Dr Jenny Douglas, Open University: African-Caribbean women health and well-being
  • Dr Geraldine Brown, Coventry University: Tenancy failures amongst young males from African and African-Caribbean communities
  • Yvette Brown, University of Worcester: Black men, mental health and oppression
• 4pm-5pm Tea, coffee, cake

Enquiries

For enquiries please contact Moya Kneafsey and Geraldine Brown

apy034@coventry.ac.uk, hsx520@coventry.ac.uk

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