Decolonising your reading list

At a time when the arts are in flux and we have the opportunity to make big changes to the industry, it is important for us to begin to dismantle the hegemony of the British theatrical canon and expand it to include a multiplicity of identities, stories, practices and voices - all of which engage with and interrogate Britain’s colonial past.

What does the Pan-African archive look like? Sound Like? Feel like? Where does it begin and where are its limits? How is the archive expressed within our own cultural frameworks? Our work explores these questions. Our exploration is creating something beautiful. We are changing our narrative. History is healing. We cannot decolonise what was never ours to begin with - but we can always create. When we face the past we understand the present. In understanding the present, we shape our future.

Academics for Black Survival and Wellness (A4BL) is a personal and professional development initiative for Non-Black academics to honor the toll of racial trauma on Black people, resist anti-Blackness and white supremacy, and facilitate accountability and collective action. A4BL also is a space for healing and wellness for Black people.