Asking difficult questions

FACE exists to demand acknowledgement of the contribution of Black culture and creativity, to history, society and of course to fashion. In 2021 FACE is asking…

How inclusive and diverse was your education and did anyone measure it?

Joining with Council for Higher Education in Art and Design (CHEAD) this year, to lobby the National Student Survey (NSS) we are proposing the following additions to the 27-point questionnaire, which does not mention race or culture as part of the evaluation. Face wants students to reflect on the following…

I felt able to study a diverse, unbiased and inclusive curriculum

I was taught by a diverse, unbiased and inclusive teaching body

I felt part of a diverse, unbiased and inclusive culture

FACE encourages every member to ask the difficult questions. Some such as…..

Why are you asking us to help you fix a broken system you created?

Have been asked over and over. Some white academics have admitted they don’t know what to do, some have asked for help but as FACE members have pointed out, if there were more Black academics in the system, there would be no need to decolonise the curriculum. Black academics are much more likely to include both Black and white perspectives and address a spectrum of identities. Other questions such as…

How will you fast track people of colour into leadership positions?

And…

Why don’t you allocate paid time and recognition to your staff members of colour for all the extra networking activities you require under you new BAME/EDI/ Workplace Inclusion committees?

Not to mention the obligatory Pride, Black History month, International Women’s Day voluntary duties?

These are examples of the questions white academics can start asking now too in support of their Black colleagues. FACE welcomes all feedback. Let us know the responses you receive from your institution by contacting us here. We’d love to see progress on these key points and to know that some institutions are stepping up.

Over the other side of the world many more questions need asking after white nationalists encounter zero police restraint as they illegally storm Capitol House, when a black gathering attempting the same activity would have been sniped from the roof, Toni is also asking a vital question see her twitter film.

“How come you can’t handle these white terrorists? Yet you can come into McDonalds and mace children. I know because I was there. Why didn’t you fuck those white people up like you fucked us up all summer during our non-violent BLM protests?”

Follow Toni here

Lawy

er Aimee Vanderpool also asks. How did white nationalists get into the chamber to wave their confederate flags as police stood by, yet in 2017 the same Capitol police forcibly removed people in their wheelchairs and others with disabilities, protesting the withdrawal of health funding that would put their lives at risk.

Follow Aimee @girlsreallyrule here

We stand with Toni, Aimee and all Black and Brown colleagues. Join us here at FACE. Look for details on our contact page.

Text by Caryn Franklin from conversations with FACE co-founders Sharon Lloyd and Pascal Matthias.