The Black History Showcase 2022 is a collection of art inspired by and promoting the contribution of African/Black people to the world through, education, philosophy, culture, arts and the many various areas of human activity. Brought to you by JoinHer Network & ACSONI, the unique and interactive exhibition ran from 19th October until 26th October 2022 and was hosted by Golden Thread Gallery in Belfast. Entry was free to the public.
Thank you to our diverse blend of local and international visitors for patronising the gallery and viewing our installation.
“True Facts” online Global Community Dialogue hosted by ACSONI & JoinHer Network as part of their Black History Month Showcase series of events in October 2022 @ with Dr. Jahlani A. H. Niaah – Lecturer/Coordinator University of West Indies & Mutabaruka of ‘The Cutting Edge with Mutabaruk’a . Dr. Jahlani A.H Niaah and Mutabaruka put forth their respective grounds for reparatory justice, cultural fortitude and many other themes surrounding the upliftment and organisation of African people at home on the continent and abroad around the world. Here you will see and hear about the long standing links between Ireland and The Caribbean, Jamaica in particular, exploring the legacy of the British Empire, religion and economic marginalisation steeped in racism and world hegemony. Themes including the importance of ownership of natural resources including the land, fresh water, arable land etc were discussed among many other related topics around Black Ourstory, the present and the future for our collective global community.
“Arts Heritage” Online Global Community Dialogue hosted by ACSONI & JoinHer Network as part of their Black History Month showcase series of events in October 2022 with Professor Mhoze Chikowero, Department of History UC Santa Barbara. In this reading Professor Chikowero discusses ‘States of Dis/armament: Reading State-making in Africa’s recent History’. A stimulating and honest account of the militaristic exploits of the British empire under the guise of introducing Christianity, civilisation and development to Africans on the continent.The talk interrogates issues such as the weaponisation of culture, religion and education to subjugate an entire people and their descendants. The discussion includes powerful images from Professor Chikowero’s book ‘African Music, Power, and Being in Colonial Zimbabwe’ published by Indiana University Press.
In October 2022 ACSONI engaged with Malone Integrated College in an effort to normalise Black History in the educational curriculum
of Northern Ireland. In line with the NMNI’s decolonisation of their collections, ACSONI is in support of the decolonisation of the education system and the organisation was delighted to engage with Malone Integrated College through their Year 8 Educationalist Ms. Niamh Cuffe who contacted ACSONI to enquire about any available resources for engagement during Black History Month. The enquiry coincided with ACSONI’s partnership with NMNI in the Global Voices Local Choices project.
The NMNI pulled out all the stops for this Year 8 school visit to Ulster Museum in Botanic with a bespoke tour of the Inclusive Global Histories exhibition by NMNI’s Curator of Modern History Tríona White Hamilton.
The young people were engaged, inquisitive and full of unique and poignant observations. Thanks to Triona Hamilton White of NMNI and Niamh Cuffe of Malone Integrated College and special thanks to the wonderful young minds who were inspired and inspired us.
A representative of ACSONI enquires of the NIHRC regarding the recently released Lucy Michael Report on Inequalities experienced by Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic & Traveller People in Belfast. Alyson Kilpatrick Chief Commissioner of NIHRC took one for the team!
National Museums NI, in partnership with the African and Caribbean Support Organisation Northern Ireland (ACSONI) and Northern Ireland Museums Council (NIMC), are among 10 UK museum applicants successful in a grant from the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund, which is awarded by the Museums Association. Their project titled, ‘Global Voices, Local Choices’ has secured a grant of £80,187, and will support a dedicated post for 18 months.
The partners will be working to engage marginalised communities availing them a fair opportunity for their community representatives to assert their right to make choices relating to National Museums NI’s World Cultures collections and how they are interpreted. The project will bring diverse cultures and perspectives into Northern Ireland’s local and national museums and will be a learning experience for all partners and participants.
Hannah Crowdy, Head of Curatorial at National Museums NI said:
“We are delighted to be awarded this funding which will enable better community engagement with our collections through a dedicated post. Our ‘Global Voices, Local Choices’ project will raise awareness and understanding of these collections, and how a decolonisation approach can be implemented in a fresh and inclusive way through creativity.
“Recognising the failures of the past, this will be an opportunity of us to deliberately include present marginalised global voices and learn from the expertise within marginalised communities, as we seek to devise a new approach for connecting people with collections, which have a complex legacy but present significant opportunities for promoting understanding and respect and supporting good relations.”
ACSONI quote: Dr Livingstone Thompson, Chair of ACSONI said:
“ACSONI is pleased to be associated with this project. It is only in more recent times that the need to do justice to the memory and heritage of ethnic minorities communities has been appreciated. For centuries, colonial nations gave themselves the right to tell the stories about the life and experiences of people from colonised contexts. The remnant of this self-proclaimed right is preserved in the presence of artefacts in museums and the narratives perpetrated about them. There is growing awareness that this self-proclaimed right must not only be questioned but also that the narratives need to changed and reckon more with what the true owners of these sometimes-ill-gotten artefacts have to say.
This project will give such an opportunity to address errors, injustice and failures relating to the acquisition of artefacts, the stories that are told about them and who is best to tell these stories. It will and ought to explore how the history can be upended so that those who were treated as footnotes in the stories of others can come to tell their own stories.”
Siobhan Stevenson, Director at Northern Ireland Museums Council said:
“Northern Ireland Museums Council are delighted to be partners in this project and will be keen to work with our member museums to engage them and their local communities in this journey of mutual learning and understanding. In sharing collections and creative responses to them, in public museum spaces across Northern Ireland, the project will help to raise awareness of the rich complexity and diversity of cultural heritage and identities in this place, and in doing so will help challenge misconceptions and promote empathy and understanding.”
Due to popular demand Professor Mary Frances Phillips, scholar-activist, public intellectual, and Associate Professor of African Studies at Lehman College, City University of New York and Ericka Huggins, a leading player in the Black Panther Movement, former political prisoner, and human rights advocate will be hosting an online Community Link with members of the public, representatives of sector organisations and local activists. Join in to share your experiences, knowledge and glean as much as you can from these impactful African-America leaders.
ACSONI is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Women In Activism – One World, Myriad Problems
