Black Education Movement and Black Supplementary Schools Movement

IDENTITY STATEMENT AREA

Reference code(s): BEM

Title: Black Education Movement and Black Supplementary Schools Movement

Date(s): 1969 - 1980s

Level of description: Fond

Extent and medium of the unit of description: 2 archive boxes and c.10 files

CONTEXT AREA

Name of creator(s):

Administrative/Biographical history: The Black Education Movement (BEM) arose in response to the racial discrimination and marginalisation of black children within the UK education system. Black parents formed committees in North London and elsewhere to combat the institutionalised racism inherent in the schooling system. One of the strategies developed was the provision of supplementary schools which covered traditional subjects but also provided curriculum materials that featured information about the history and cultural heritage of black peoples of African, Caribbean and Asian descent, and helped students to establish and maintain their ethnic and cultural identities. The first supplementary schools were established in 1969 by John La Rose in Haringey and the Reverend Wilfred Wood in Shepherds Bush, London. The work of the Black Education Movement then spread to other parts of London and other cities in the United Kingdom.

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer: Material in the GPI archive collections has arisen out of the independent cultural, educational and political activities of GPI trustees and the work of associated political organisations and campaign groups involved in social movements and black activism in Britain and in other parts of Europe since the early 1960s.

CONTENT AND STRUCTURE AREA

Scope and content: This collection includes papers relating to the early years of the Black Education Movement and the administrative papers and teaching materials of the Black Supplementary School Movement. Many papers focus on the campaigns against 'banding' within the UK education system, whereby African Caribbean children were wrongfully placed into the low attainment band within mainstream schools or into special schools for children with learning difficulties.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

System of arrangement:

CONDITIONS OF ACCESS AND USE AREA

Conditions governing access: Currently there is no public access to the collections, but reference access (by appointment) will be possible from 2003 onwards. In the interim all research enquiries should be sent to the George Padmore Institute by post, fax or email c/o: George Padmore Institute, 76 Stroud Green Road, London N4 3EN, United Kingdom. Telephone: +44 (0)20 7272 8915. Fax: +44 (0)20 7281 4662. Email: info@georgepadmoreinstitute.org.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Language/scripts of material: English

Physical characteristics:

Finding aids: Printed list

ALLIED MATERIALS AREA

Existence and location of originals:

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DESCRIPTION CONTROL AREA

Recorder's note:

Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions: 28 November 2001

Interest: Black

Specific group:

Subjects

Protest movements

Schools

Interethnic relations

Ethnic groups

Education

Communities

Personal/Corporate names

Black Education Movement

Places

London, United Kingdom