The Black Cultural Archive (BCA) is an organisation that works to collect, preserve and celebrate the histories of people of African and Caribbean descent. Collecting these resources is so important to enable a telling of history through archival materials, enabling enjoyment and knowledge to the community. BCA contains over 2,000 records which reflect the long history of Black presence in Britain including; Roman records relating to North Africa; antique newspapers of the 1700s; pre-colonial maps of Africa; details of African and Caribbean soldiers in both WW1 and WW2; and resistance movements and pressure groups of the twentieth century. With these materials, BCA is able to offer unique learning opportunities to schools, courses etc. to enable society to engage, celebrate and gain knowledge from the archive.  

As as white person I am largely able to visit museums and exhibitions to learn about my history. I am sad this is not largely the case for the black community and my black friends. British history is diverse and our history is NOT white, but our archive, museums etc. are not reflecting this. This initiative goes hand in hand with addressing our education system, we must alter the national curriculum to represent our true society. 

Please do read more about the initiatives and upcoming plans of the BCA and please follow the developments. This is a very important aspect in targeting systemic racism and acting to break apart this structure to our society. I hope you can see the importance of this organisation and the relevance to the Black Lives Matter movement. 

Thank you to those who donate.