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Black Heritage of Hull - Our History

The Black Heritage of Hull is a voluntary organisation to support Black Lives, amplify Black voices & provide anti-racist consultancy, training, collective events and access to the arts. We work with individuals, communities and organisations that are struggling to ensure change due to being embedded within white supremacist systems.

 

How we began…

The Black Heritage Collective was originated in 2020 during the global pandemic. There were in fact 2 pandemics happening at the same time, COVID 19 and the fight against racism. The shift that started from the murder of George Floyd signified a point of exhaustion for Black people.

 

One of the co founders of the Black Heritage collective felt it necessary to reach out to others after questioning her then 31 years of existence as a woman of Black Heritage in Hull, to see if others felt the same, why and how we navigate to feel listened to in our everyday lives.

 

Supported by others she held an open public discussion in Queens Gardens for people of colour to seek out  the barriers that needed to be overcome. The conversation was clear, Black people were being ignored, unvalued and in cases abused by the systems they live within as well as by individuals in the community. Children were being bullied and stranded without support, the elderly were dying and families were disenfranchised in their grief unable to return their loved ones back home. The event made local news with 12 attendees after being simply advertised on social media.

 

The BHC grew to try and meet the needs of the community and was voluntarily organised by 6 people of Black heritage. Meetings took place with core sectors such as Policing, Fire & Rescue, Local Authority projects and other voluntary organisations and the BHC were influencing meetings through representation. However representation is only the beginning and the personal commitments of members meant the collective needed to disband. Image shows a Black woman with afro hair walking with a megaphone in her hand that she is shouting into.

 

Two of the BHC members continued work in the area of racial inclusion and accessibility, each working with people from the ages of 11 - 25. Working in both the statutory and voluntary sector, the pattern that followed caused for the need of further work in between, because they were still victim to the systemic barriers and subconscious bias that faced them, it meant they saw the need for training amongst professionals and a further push on creative collaborations because true anti racism is a hard topic to digest.

 

Together and singularly they worked to produce and co curate cultural community projects, exhibitions and music events alongside their employment and the delivery of training and decided to invest into being women leaders of a Black organisation because of the unearthed need for Black leadership in this sector for real change and commitment.

 

Why we are committed as a collective…

The origins of the collective came from the insurgence of global recognition for racial equality. From the first discussion in Queens Gardens, Hull to today; The collective essence began from never having access to truly Black led support, with guidance and mentorship from those who look like us and have been through what we have been through. It was then we knew we had to create it for ourselves. Representation is just the start and we aim to be only represented but listened to, across the city of Hull and nationwide.

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