Core as an organisation is committed to equality, inclusion and creating better lives for all. We condemn the brutal killing of African-American George Floyd and stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement protesting his killing and wider injustices. Core stands with the Black community and other BAME communities against all forms of racism, whether overt, insidious or structural, and we encourage our members, staff, volunteers, and supporters to do the same. Racism and discrimination are faced by BAME community members every day, and the mental health sector is not immune from these scourges.

We therefore encourage our members to engage with members of the BAME community, whether colleagues or service users, to understand their reality and to understand the challenges they face on a day-to-day basis. It is essential that we as an organisation take it upon ourselves to research more into these issues. The onus should not always be on people of colour to educate others on these issues.

There are no easy answers, but Core continues to engage our membership and continues to learn in order to address this issue, as we have done over the last 28 years and will continue to do so into the future. Core pledges to actively work with our members to stand with the Black community and other BAME communities against all forms of racism, to be anti-racist, and to do everything we can to bring about a positive change. Through our social media platform and on our website we shall continue to show our support and help spread awareness of these important issues, including a mixture of learning resources, events, and opportunities. We also understand that in light of what has happened, it can be quite traumatic, triggering and deeply upsetting, so if you have been effected in any way, do get in touch with your membership manager, where we will be able to offer you support remotely, ensure you are heard and most importantly listened to.

Learning Resources

Black Cultural Archives

‘Black Cultural Archives is the only national heritage centre dedicated to collecting, preserving and celebrating the histories of African and Caribbean people in Britain.‘ The subject guides offer an introduction to key themes in the collection: https://blackculturalarchives.org/subject-guides

Black History Buff

Podcast and blog about black history, covering a wide range of topics, historical figures and events. https://www.blackhistorybuff.com/

About Race with Reni Eddo Lodge

Podcast: ‘Featuring key voices from the last few decades of anti-racist activism, About Race with Reni Eddo-Lodge looks at the recent history that lead to the politics of today.’ https://www.aboutracepodcast.com/

Gal-dem

gal-dem is a new media publication, committed to telling the stories of women and non-binary people of colour. With our online and print magazine, we’re addressing inequality and misrepresentation in the industry through platforming the creative and editorial work of our community across essays, opinion, news, arts, music, politics and lifestyle content. https://gal-dem.com/

Black British Films

List published by Into Film https://www.intofilm.org/theme/86#resources

Black Lives Matter

‘#BlackLivesMatter was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. Black Lives Matter Foundation, Inc is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy, we are winning immediate improvements in our lives.’ https://blacklivesmatter.com/

Whitechapel Gallery

Whitechapel Gallery’s list of events and resources collated in response to the Black Lives Matter movement (click through to the google doc for loads more resources) https://www.whitechapelgallery.org/about/blog/black-lives-matter/

Black revolutionary texts

A google drive of texts featuring writers such as Angela Davis, Malcolm X and WEB Du Bois available free online or to download https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/18y0_2wm85L113fVWYdgljq9uuIlmlbl3

Black History Month Library

A google drive of texts featuring collections such as Afro-futurism, Black Feminism/Womanism, and speeches as well as folders of work by prominent black writers, available free online or to download https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0Bz011IF2Pu9TUWIxVWxybGJ1Ync

Events and Opportunities

Black Artists Grant

‘The Black Artists Grant is £500 given out monthly to a black artist in – the UK. The BAG is no-strings attached financial support to help the selected artist in whatever they want – be that make new work, buy equipment or materials, travel, research, visit exhibitions or conferences, or to even just cover some life expenses. This is specifically for Black artists; not politically black, not POC or BAME.’ https://creativedebuts.co.uk/bag/

Black History Walks

Whilst they are not currently able to run their walking tours of London, Black History Walks are producing a monthly newsletter with information about online events and talks about black history. http://www.blackhistorywalks.co.uk/index.php

UK Black Pride

The annual celebration of and for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people of African, Asian, Caribbean, Latin American and Middle Eastern descent has been postponed until further notice, however Amnesty International, UK Black Pride, Stonewall and ParaPride have joined to bring celebrations online https://www.ukblackpride.org.uk/.
Press release here, more info to follow:  https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/lgbti-pride-celebrations-continue-inside-new-online-festival-announced

Black Thrive

Black Thrive are currently running weekly community zoom drop ins (see also metal health support for more info) https://www.blackthrive.org.uk/events-page/

Autograph Gallery opportunities page

Autograph, a gallery committed to enable the public to explore identity, representation, human rights and social justice through work produced by artists who use photography and film, is regularly updating a page with artists funding opportunities. https://autograph.org.uk/blog/artist-opportunities-during-covid-19/

Mental health organisations & support

Black Asian and African Therapy Network

‘We are the UK’s largest independent organisation to specialise in working psychologically, informed by an understanding of intersectionality, with people who identify as Black, African, South Asian and Caribbean.’ https://www.baatn.org.uk/

Liberate

‘Liberate is the #1 meditation app for the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color community’, and is free to use https://liberatemeditation.com/

Black Thrive 

‘Black Thrive is a partnership between communities, statutory organisations, voluntary and private sector https://www.blackthrive.org.uk/. They work together to reduce the inequality and injustices experienced by Black people in mental health services. They address the barriers which lead to poorer outcomes across a range of social factors, such as education, employment, housing, and so on, all of which may negatively impact one’s health and wellbeing.’ Based in Lambeth.

Black Minds Matter

‘Our mission is to support in making mental health topics relevant and accessible for all black people in the U.K.  We aim to fulfil this by connecting black individuals and families with  professional mental health services across the U.K. We have created a fund that will go towards covering the cost of any services that you might feel you could benefit from.’ https://www.blackmindsmatteruk.com/

Support UK Black-owned businesses

Here a directory of Black-owned businesses you can support in several different categories: beauty brands, clothing and accessories, food and drink, home décor, boutiques, and beyond. Continuously updating and adding more national and non-London local businesses. https://www.thestrategist.co.uk/article/black-owned-uk-businesses.html