This year’s ’Black History’ Interruptions! continued purely online in response to the challenge of a global pandemic. The concept was the same … to challenge colonial framings of Black History as being separate to history.

Dr Javeria Shah

From 26 – 29 October Central’s Learning Skills programme, in collaboration with the Centre for Race, Education and Decoloniality at Leeds Beckett University, was pleased to present the second annual series of events for ‘Black History’ Interruptions. 

‘Black History’ Interruptions was designed to challenge ideas of segregated histories and the normalisation of the absence of Black History from the curriculum and our national consciousness.  The programme of events aim to disrupt these concepts by offering platforms for a variety of co-located ‘interruptions’ across London and Leeds. 

This was the second year that ‘Black History’ Interruptions was hosted by Central and Leeds Beckett University, and the first year that the programme of events took place purely online. 

The Leeds portion of the programme was a featured presentation of Speak Woman Speak’s dramatic production of Soledad & Betto, followed by an artist discussion and Q&A with Speak Woman Speak’s Carmen Martorell and Leah Francis, as well as Dr Shona Hunter. 

The London portion of the programme, hosted by Central, was an African Storytelling Workshop with Griot Chinyere Nwaubani, an artistic director, Griot storyteller, writer, expedition and night walk leader, performance director, creative facilitator and lecturer. 

‘Black History’ Interruptions is part of an ongoing research collaboration between Central’s Dr Javeria Shah and Dr Shona Hunter from Leeds Beckett University. 

Dr Javeria Shah is Central’s Inclusion Specialist, the Programme Leader for the Learning Centre, a Lecturer on the MA Acting for Screen course and the founding Chair of the School’s Global Majority Staff Network.  She is also an engaged activist and artist and the founder of the Social Performance Network

Dr Shona Hunter is a Reader in the Carnegie School of Education at Leeds Beckett University as well as their Programme Director for Research Degrees and a member of the Centre for Race, Education, and Decoloniality.  She is also the founder of the White Spaces Network. 

Of this year’s events, Dr Shah and Dr Hunter said: 

‘This year’s ’Black History’ Interruptions! continued purely online in response to the challenge of a global pandemic. The concept was the same … to challenge colonial framings of Black History as being separate to history. It was a real honour to host Speak Woman Speak in a performance and Discussion event, and Griot Chinyere for an interactive African Storytelling workshop, which included participants from far and wide, including Barbados. This programme is an example of some of the collaborative work that Dr Shona Hunter and I are engaged in to try and open conversations and a critique of whiteness. I look very forward to seeing what we come up with next year. In the meantime, the Learning Skills Programme continues to engage in projects to expand critical perspectives and voices and the inclusion of Black history, context, and contribution isn’t just an October thing for us, it’s all year round!’ - Dr Javeria Shah 

‘This second year’s ‘Black History’ Interruptions! extended conversations on the interconnected personal, intellectual and emotional dynamics of history and the globalities of coloniality - personal, community and gendered exorcisms of colonial trauma via the retelling of related histories. We were touched and changed by our engagements with Black woman led theatre collective Speak Woman Speak and with Griot Chinyere. Next year I look forward to further deepening and expand this important collaborative effort with Dr Javeria Shah to continue to extend our learning and decolonising challenge.’ - Dr Shona Hunter  

You can find out more about Dr Shah and Dr Hunters’ ongoing collaboration and their work on this year’s ‘Black History’ Interruptions by listening to their interview on Series 2 Episode 1 of the Discover Central podcast

Share this page

Tags