To celebrate Black History Month, Part W are sharing suggestions of resources to educate ourselves in the fight against racism and inequality, and to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of Black people to the design and built environment industries. 

The following list of resources is by no means exhaustive. This is just a start. If you find this useful, please do share widely. If you have suggestions for this list, please email us

·      Watch: Black Females in Architecture’s ‘Decolonising Architecture’ talk

·      Read: @sound_x_advice’s advice and social commentary exploring social inequality

·      Watch: Increasing Diversity in Architecture panel discussion for the AJ100 Festival  

·      Read: Works by emerging design writers, N.A.W. focuses on Black and minority ethnic writers who are under-represented across design journalism and curation.

·      Mentor/Mentee: with FLUID Diversity Mentoring Programme designed to address the retention and development of talented practitioners from diverse backgrounds for management and leadership roles in the built environment. 2022 applications are now closed but worth putting in your diary!

·      Read:  Afterparti’s zine series by the architecture-infused collective that explores big ideas about contemporary urban space through the lenses of identity and race

·      Peruse: The Women in Architecture Timeline celebrating queer, Black and indigenous women with a timeline of architects centred on these women and their place in history. 

·      Explore: Topple the Racists a crowdsourced map of statues, street names, schools and other institutions named for slave traders and other traders involved in the triangular slave trade

·      Watch: @_designcan_’s short films as part of their campaign for an inclusive design industry 

·      Attend: SHUBZ at SOAS on 11.11.22, SHUBZ acts as a collective performance of resistance within institutions of power

·      Read: Ethnicity, Race and Inequality in the UK: State of the Nation a report by racial justice organisations and researchers on how race inequalities are present in sectors in society including housing and the arts.

·      Learn: about The Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust’s work

·      Explore: UAL Decolonising Arts Institute challenging colonial legacies and disrupting ways of seeing, hearing, thinking and making 

·      Read: Panic! It’s an Arts Emergency research on social inequality in the arts commissioned by Create London, Arts Emergency and Barbican 

·      Explore: “How to begin designing for diversity” by Boyuan Geo and Jahan Mantin of Project Inkblot 

·      Explore and support: Nabil Al-Kinani’s Privatise the Mandem

·      Read: Jools Walker’s writing on inclusive cycling in cities: “It’s not enough when those who have the power are not factoring in the needs and concerns of marginalised groups and those who don’t cycle. It’s not enough when these groups aren’t reflected by those who sit on these decision-making boards.” 

·      Read: the full Sustrans report which takes a data driven look at travel inequities

Wider Society

·      Explore: Colour of Power which graphically illustrates the lack of Black representation in the upper echelons of the UK’s most powerful institutions

·      Watch: @theblackcurriculum’s IGTV series “Black British Women” and support their campaign to #teachblackhistory365 in schools around the UK.

·      Shop: with Black Women’s Directory which provides easy access to businesses owned by Black women

·      Listen: to Black Objective’s podcasts  

·      Read: Let’s Change the Rules: New Economics Foundation research and suggestions for policy change to create a more equitable society 

·      Read: Migrants in Culture research report compiled by a network of migrant cultural workers organising for a cultural sector that is open and accountable to migrants, people of colour and others impacted by the British government’s Hostile Environment policy

·      Explore: Our Migration Story: The Making of Britain a teaching resource on the long history of migrants’ presence and belonging in Britain 

Allyship

·      Consider: @mireillecharper‘s 10 steps to non-optical allyship 

·      Engage: with It’s Nice That’s list of resources for supporting the Black Lives Matter movement in the creative industries.

·      Step up: against racism and violence within your organisation with recommendations from Sheree Atcheson (Peakon’s Global Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion)

·      Read: ACAS’s ‘Unconscious Bias’ paper about unconscious bias and how to avoid it 

Books to read

·      When Ivory Towers Were Black (Dr Sharon Egretta Sutton) The untold story of how an unparalleled cohort of ethnic minority students earned degrees from Columbia University's School of Architecture during the Civil Rights Movement.

·      Me and White Supremacy (Layla Saad) 

·      How to Be An Antiracist (Ibram X. Kendi) 

·      Blonde Roots (Bernardine Evaristo)

·      The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House (Audre Lorde) 

·      Your silence will not protect you: essays and poems (Audre Lorde) 

·      Recitatif (Toni Morrison) 

·      Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race (Reni Eddo-Lodge) 

·      Black and British: A Forgotten History (David Olusoga) 

·      Natives: Race & Class in the Ruins of the Empire (Akala) 

·      White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism (Robin Diangelo) 

·      Teaching to Transgress, bell hooks

·      Women, Race and Class, Angela Y. Davis