Coloured Souls

How do you define normal? Is it in your use of language? Your religious beliefs? How is it that we can be at the centre of our own universe, yet in orbit in others whilst interacting with entirely different epistemologies, lived experiences and perceived normals? In this episode, we will explore how universal truths are affected by subjectivity as we step into the pluriverse. Support the show

Britain’s education system, a system based on oppression and subjugation, has done little to nothing to positively impact upon the British Caribbean community. From the categorisation of Caribbean children as ‘educationally sub-normal’ to the cycle of exclusions, Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) and ultimately prison, the educational outcomes of British Caribbean children is the lowest of any ethnic gr...

PRUs are an alternative education provision for those who have been excluded from school or are unable to attend mainstream education. This pipeline metaphor is used to identify the process through which students are pushed out of schools into alternative education provisions and then, ultimately, for some, into prisons. Today we will discuss the factors that contribute to the PRU to prison pipeli...

Over the course of my master’s degree, the concept of assimilation came up time and time again and I found myself questioning why that was the case. What is it about assimilation that has troubled so many communities, individuals and institutions? In order to understand this concept, I have been looking at it from a number of angles, in this episode, we will discuss the positionality of being an i...

The ways in which a particular culture formulates its knowledge is intricately bound up with the very identity of its people, their way of making sense of the world and the value system that holds that world view in place. Epistemicide, as the systematic destruction of rival forms of knowledge, is at its worst nothing less than symbolic genocide. In this episode, we will discuss the detrimental ef...

The English language is far from perfect. Not just in the context of being unable to express love in as many ways as some others, but in the stickiness of our titles. Be they diagnoses or racial stereotypes, in this episode, we are going to discuss the impact of labelling and the weight of words on African diasporic shoulders. BBC's London Olympics 2012: 'Nature vs Nurture' Film Sho...

Whilst extreme forms of racial segregation have not been enforced on Britain’s shores, other insidious forms have been integrated into the culture. One such form of segregation operates from very early in the life of many twenty-first century Black Britons; as early as the age of six, school year two, for many children as ‘sets’, ‘streaming’ or ‘attainment grouping’ (Taylor et al. 2018), named by...

In this episode, we seek to explore how modern Britain’s interpretation of diversity manifests with global majority faces leveraged as a method of demonstrating inclusivity in the educational institution whilst their voices are silenced both in the classroom and in the literature of the curriculum. Ultimately, we will unpack the question, is diversity a misnomer used in place of tokenism? I would...

 In the United Kingdom, the month of October is dedicated to Black history; a month to celebrate all of the contributions that black Britons have made to the country. Whilst it is of course an important part of the calendar, there are limits to its potency. In this episode, we will explore the value of black history and try to unpack the question, through the use of black history month, are we sti...

In the final episode of Season one, we dive into the poignant novel The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon in order to discuss how the illusions of Caribbean migrants were shattered upon their arrival and over the course of their settling into the culture of the country. Dabydeen and Tagoe-Wilson state that The Lonely Londoners 'deals with the shattering of the illusion of belonging' (1988,...

The pandemic of 2020 shone a light on a deeply divided workplace: the highly paid, salaried graduate elites on one side, and the workers in dead-end jobs, lacking basic rights or entitlements, on the other. Those who were able to work from home (on average richer individuals) were significantly less likely to be furloughed or lose their jobs. The impact upon the lives of children is just starting...

Throughout history, we have seen language used to discriminate, humiliate and subjugate people of colour. So today, we will explore: Do we subjugate ourselves with our language? **Warning: The 'N' word is used in this episode. ** Just listen to many rap or hip hip artists and you will hear many racial stereotypes flying around along with the extremely prominent use of the ‘n’ word. In al...

On today’s show, we will discuss CRT. What is it? What is its purpose and why do we study it? Should we study it? CRT is a thoughtful and multi-faceted approach to understanding how racism operates across society, including through both individual actions and structural processes that shape the everyday reality in education, the health service, the criminal justice system and politics. I would lov...

On this show we will discuss a topic that is mentioned and covered in great detail throughout the UK in our educational institutions, the media, books and countless films. We will explore how the second world war has affected and continues to affect the curriculum as we seek to explore the question, do we give the war too much coverage in our schools? First and foremost, I am not anti the teaching...

I was reading through the report by Ainscow et al: PRIMARY SCHOOLS RESPONDING TO DIVERSITY: BARRIERS AND POSSIBILITIES (2015) In the report they stated that we need to ask three key questions: - How effective is the English primary school system in responding to pupil diversity? - What are the barriers to progress? - What needs to happen to move the system forward?  So on today’s podcast, we will...

Hello and welcome to season one of Coloured Souls. Here is as brief introduction of what this podcast is all about! The ultimate goal for this podcast is to contribute to and continue the ongoing conversation surrounding diversity, identity, critical race theory and decolonial thought and I would love for you to join in the discussion by emailing me at jamie@colouredsouls.co.uk When we consider th...