By Chadwick Jackson
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It was Saturday the 23rd of February. I was at BOM Lab – a multidisciplinary art space where local artists from all disciplines can come and pose a creative question and rigorously investigate it – in an open forum workshop. I’d dragged myself in late and found myself surrounded by familiar faces. Florence Okoye had organised a #DigitalWhilstBlack workshop. Florence has a background in Physics, and is a UX Designer in London's museum sector, so if there is anyone on this planet that knows how to take some boring stuff and find a way to make it engaging, lively, and riveting, it was going to be Flo.
Perspectives and heated opinions were shared on ideas about Blackness, which felt a little contentious, until I realised, we were a prime example of what the question was posing. A lively debate curated by the internet, and a micro community of artists, academics, musicians, illustrators and thinkers had come together to figure some stuff out. One Twitter account that kept being cited throughout the day 'NatalieIsOnline'. It was without a shadow of a doubt one of the first Black Thought events I had left feeling optimistic, there was something completely different about the vibe. I went into the weekend with more questions than answers. My mind was buzzing for days.
Birmingham Opera Company who I had been engaging with approved permission to go and hand out some leaflets at an event at the Midlands Art Centre. ‘Urban Roots of Creative Black Culture Gender, Music and the Body’ had a keynote speech from the esteemed Professor Carolyn Cooper. Suddenly it occurred to me the significance of Florence's #DigitalWhilstBlack conference on Saturday.
Space.
We as Black People are constantly seeking a space to be ourselves in the purest form, a place where our identity is not caricatured, misinterpreted or seen as provocative. We just want to be. Another wave of inspiration hit. I was now in second gear and my mind was truly in curiosity mode. I’d heard from one of the sponsors of the event that Dr Noxolo was organising the 5th ‘Annual Society for Caribbean Studies Postgraduate Conference’, and yet again the effortless and stylish Professor Carolyn Cooper was delivering a keynote speech. I begged my business partner to let us attend. It was very early but we made it.
As we were leaving the train station, we were greeted by PHD Scholar Rita Gayle, Connie from Decolonise the Archive, and Professor Carolyn herself. Though it was first thing in the morning, we were at it full pelt: politics, ideas, jokes, and memories. At the venue, Professor Carolyn took her jacket off to reveal a striking red outfit, and prepared her slides and opening remarks. I took a few pictures, and put them on my social media.
@NatalieIsOnline took one of them, writing "I stan for this presentation title". As the day went on, it gathered traction.
As I write, the end result was 47,200 likes and 12,800 retweets. The picture had well and truly gone viral.
Once the conference was over, myself and my business partner went for dinner to have a debrief – we had become so overwhelmed by the past few days. After the meal, we bought a bottle of wine and went to McDonalds for dessert. Drinking the wine through straws – not advised – I explained to Jasmine that I had met more Black Oscar winners than Black Professors. We were in disbelief; it was a sincere existential moment. I decided to see if I could bring two professors together for a talk before Professor Carolyn Cooper left to go back to Jamaica. Unfortunately, Professor Olivette Otele had no slots in her diary until October, just a brief insight into the workload these Ladies are managing within The Academy.
We’d intended to have this In Conversation on International Women's Day, but clashing diaries made this impossible. We over at BRMTWN Co and DeadHorse PR decided to reach out to Natalie for help and support to which she duly obliged. It was hectic and chaotic – a brutal masterclass in stakeholder management. Then it clicked! Dr Joy White, an emerging scholar in the field of Inner-City Culture, Creativity and Entrepreneurialism, with a focus on Grime Music. I asked her to follow me on Twitter and DM’ed her the finer details to which she said yes.
A group email ensured time and schedules matched. Natalie pushed and plugged the event to the Nth degree, we shared and retweeted where we could. The day had arrived, and myself and Jasmine had travelled up from Birmingham with filming equipment and hopes for the best. The event kicked off with a lot of curious young Black Brits watching on in awe as scholars dissected music from a sociological, economical and a political context. It was an enthralling space to be in. The event was skilfully mediated by Natalie, and Carolyn and Joy were in their element.
There wasn’t an empty seat in the house, and I mean it from the bottom of my heart when I say that this was one of my proudest achievements to date. In a fortnight, I had consumed much information, folded it, navigated old skillsets, and joined up with new collaborators to make a wonderful evening possible.
Thank you to all the people who came out and asked their honest and curious questions, Natalie, Dr Joy White, Professor Carolyn Cooper, The Cube venue and last but no means least, my business partner, Jasmine Morrison.
This is the start of magical, tangenital conversations that we want to instigate and be a part of.
With Gratitude
Chadwick Jackson