Mixed Race Studies

Mixed Matters: Mixed-race pupils discuss school and identity

Troubador Publishing
March 2011
128 pages
198×127 mm
ISBN: 9781848765719

Denise Williams

Mixed Matters responds to the dearth of literature about the experiences of mixed-race pupils in British schools. It seeks to examine how much credence schools should give to pupil identities when one parent is white British and the other is of black British/Caribbean heritage, as well as offering practical advice on how to improve the educational outcome of mixed-race children.

More often than not, mixed-race pupils are simply referred to as black and tend to be encompassed in a larger, more diverse group of black pupils, but the increased presence of mixed-race pupils in schools needs to focus the efforts of education professionals to address issues of race, ethnicity and culture.

Mixed Matters is essential reading for all educational professionals who want to get to grips with the issues that face mixed families and the pupils themselves as they share their personal experiences of what it is like to be them in the British schooling system. The young people featured in this book challenge some of the commonly held assumptions made about them – especially regarding their aspirations.

This book contains some resources that can be used to support work with mixed-race pupils as well as initial training and professional development of teachers. The book also details the approach of Mix-d, formerly the Multiple Heritage Project, in organising youth conferences and training youth facilitators of mixed-race to lead their peers in discussions about school and identity.

Bringing the Mix-d: Experience to Leicester College: A Good Practice Guide to Meeting the Needs of Mixed Heritage Students in Further Education

Multiple Heritage Project
May 2010
26 pages

Leicester College was successful in gaining funding from the LSC [Learning Skills Council] for a specific action research project to work with a group of mixed heritage young people on their issues, and to produce this good practice guidance, other resources and staff training. The College advertised for a consultancy to undertake the work and subsequently commissioned the Multiple Heritage Project  (MHP) based in Manchester, as they had wide ranging national experience and a proven track record in this area. This is their report.

…Mix-d: on the margins of FE

Mix-d: [mixed heritage] students are the focus for this good practice guide because the data shows that they increasingly occupy stereotypical positions in society and institutions, are a growing group and are rarely, if ever, acknowledged in educational research. The small amount of research that exists suggests that mix-d: people are often expected to choose one racial identity at the exclusion of another, or are seen as occupying a ‘confused’ middle space.

At the same time, mix-d: people are often heralded as the embodiments of a culturally diverse and post-racial society. As the numbers of mix-d: students entering FE increases, their absence from current race equality policies and invisibility within the curriculum are causing education practitioners to analyse more closely what is currently being offered to those who identify as mix-d:.

Although race is a social construct, the “politics” of race—and the part racism plays—is a regular and unavoidable feature of life for many and should not be confused with ethnicity which simply means belonging to a human group ie White British people also have an ethnicity.

Limited research in the area of mix-d: students suggests that there is a significant number of younger people in this group who are failing to have their needs met. Indications in this area of work are that socio-economic factors, family structure, stereotyping and lack of appropriate terminology can hinder any positive moves forward.

There seems to be a dearth of policy in this area and low levels of awareness regarding this growing group. Some professionals appear reticent to address issues concerning race and ethnicity and still frequently struggle with appropriate terminology. It is time that targeted and focussed research addressed the presence of this growing population…

Read the entire report here.

Bradley Lincoln of  Multiple Heritage Project (mix-d™) Guest on Mixed Chicks Chat

Mixed Chicks Chat (The only live weekly show about being racially and culturally mixed.  Also, founders of the Mixed Roots Film & Literary Festival)
Website: TalkShoe™ (Keywords: Mixed Chicks)
Episode: #138 – Bradley Lincoln
When: Wednesday, 2010-01-27 00:00Z

Bradley Lincoln, Founder
Multiple Heritage Project (now mix-d™)
Manchester, United Kingdom

Bradley Lincoln is the founder of the Multiple Heritage Project.  The Multiple Heritage Project exists for a number of reasons.

• Firstly, a growing population of young people are being marginalised, expected to choose one racial identity at the exclusion of another and rarely given a voice on the subject.
• Secondly, many professionals lack confidence in dealing with issues of appropriate terminology and thus are unable to empower these individuals.
• Thirdly, lone parents/carers of mix-d children can feel isolated without a full understanding of their child’s racial heritage or access to communities where they could get more information.

Mixed race, mixed racism and mental health (Sponsored by the National Mental Health Development Unit)

Thursday, 2009-10-29, The Kings Fund, Central London

People in Harmony is offering a rare opportunity to hear from a range of experts about the impact of mental health on young people and families of mixed race. The keynote speakers will be Professor Suman Fernando, London Metropolitan University, formerly a consultant psychiatrist in the NHS and now a highly respected international academic and advisor on mental health and race; and Melba Wilson, Director of Equalities at the National Mental Health Development Unit.

For more information, click here.

Mix-d: uk (Photography Exhibition)

New Walk Museum & Art Gallery
2009-10-17 through 2009-12-31

Opening Times:
Monday – Friday: 10:00 – 19:00
Saturday: 10:00 – 17:00
Sunday: 11:00 – 17:00
Closed: 24th, 25th, 26th, 31st December.

Address:
53 New Walk
Leicester
LE1 7EA
 
Telephone: +44 (0)116 225 4900
Email: museums@leicester.gov.uk

Looking at mixed-race identities on its own terms. The exhibition puts people from mixed-race backgrounds at the centre of the discussion, looking at the subject through their shared, similar and sometimes completely different experiences.

The Multiple Heritage Project based in Manchester has developed this thought-provoking exhibition under the leadership of Bradley Lincoln.
 
The Multiple Heritage Project has successfully brought the thoughts and feelings of the mixed race community into the public realm.
 
Partnering a mixture of photographic images taken by Richard Milnes together with brief captions explaining how the individuals regard themselves.

A powerful view of many different faces, of different ages, describing their shared identity in very different ways.
 
Providing the viewer an understanding of how diverse mixed raced backgrounds are, and the terminology chosen by the people themselves. Prompting the viewer to question how they would like to be described.
 
Not just a collection of images, the exhibition places people of mixed race backgrounds at the centre of the discussion and looks at the subject through their shared, similar and different experiences.

Specialist mixed-race training event

Mix-d: Professionals,

The Multiple Heritage Project is proud to present two specialist mixed-race training events for Black History Month 2009, in Manchester and London.

Are you a professional working with young people?
Want to really understand the complex issues around ‘mixed-race’?

If the answer is yes, then come and join us:

• Manchester: (on 2009-10-06 from 09:00Z to 12:00Z) – Lancashire Cricket Club
• London: (on 2009-10-21 from 09:00Z to 11:30Z) – North London Business Park

Who Should Attend?
Professionals working with young people, whether in education, criminal justice service, looking after care, youth work and foster care.

Aims of the day:

• Learn more about our work with young people across the country.
• What young people have to say on the subject.
• Six things to understand when developing positive racial literacy.
• Input from three leading specialists.
• Do’s and don’ts for developing student voice.
• Creating an action plan for your organisation.
• The ‘latest’ street terminology.
• Useful books and resources.
• Free DVD from our 1st National Youth Conference.

Key Speakers:
Bradley Lincoln, Dr. Chamion Caballero, Denise Williams

For more details visit: www.multipleheritage.co.uk

Mixed Race Organisations in the UK: Joint Statement
2009-09-13

People in Harmony in consultation with:
Multiple Heritage Project
MixTogether
Sputnik
Inheritance Project
Planet Rainbow Project
MOSAIC Black and Mixed Parentage Family Group
Intermix
Starlight Black Child Mixed Heritage Group

As a coalition of mixed race organisations we seek to advance the social well being of people, couples and families of mixed race.  One of our main objectives is to influence and improve ways in which public services such as education, health, social care and criminal justice are delivered to the mixed race population though discussion and debate, research, campaigns and the arts.

In the past mixed race people, couples and families have frequently been portrayed as occupying a problematic position in our social fabric and life.  They have been described as marginal, isolated, and confused, burdened with identity problems, and disadvantaged in their life chances. In the last decade or so much fresh thinking has shifted the ground from that of problematising our various communities to celebrating their diversity.  New cultures of human rights, equality and diversity, and the positive duties expected of our public bodies have created an environment in which our coalition is seeking positive engagement with the various sectors in society, including government, voluntary bodies and NGOs, and the private sector: we are uniquely placed to share our knowledge and experience and to represent the interests of this community. We are aware, too, that disadvantage and discrimination persist, some of which is mediated by differences in socio-economic position across our different communities, and we seek positive change to ameliorate these drawbacks…

Read the joint statement here.

“Who Am I? Mental Health & Dual Heritage” Conference Report

At GMCVO, ST. THOMAS CENTRE
Ardwick Green North, Manchester, M12 6FZ
This event was held on 2009-06-10, from 08:00Z to 13:00Z

Programme:

Mixed Heritage Children and Young People: Issues and Ways Forward was a conference held in London, England on 2009-04-29 and hosted by the Ethnic Minority Achievement Service Cambridge Education @ Islington.

Featured speakers:

Leon Tikly, Professor
University of  Bristol

Bradley Lincoln
Multiple Heritage Project, Manchester

Featured Presentations:

Making Mixed Race Children Visible in the Education System

Jane Daffé, Senior EMA Consultant
Nottingham City, LA

Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing: A study of ‘Mixed Experiences’
…‘In junior school I remember feeling very popular. I had a large group of friends and we had all been brought up in the same area although our parents may have been from elsewhere. I went to the same high school as a lot of the girls in this group but they all spilt up and joined different groups that already existed within the school e.g. the Jewish girls joined a group of Jewish girls, the black girls joined a group of black girls etc. I wasn’t a ‘member’ of any of these groups and I didn’t want to be’
Dinah Morley

‘I had an attitude like I don’t know what to do I’ll just get on with things…I kind of changed my attitude like I was just saying well I can only be me …and it made things easier in a way’…

Improving the Educational Environment for Mixed Race Children
Professor Leon Tikly
University of Brsitol

Mix-d: uk: A Look at Mixed-Race Identities

Pelican Press, Manchester, United Kingdom
September 2008
32 pages
ISBN: 978-0-9559505-0-6

Bradley Lincoln, Editor & Designer

Richard Milnes, Photographer

Mix-d: uk is a publication looking at mixed race identities from the Multiple Heritage Project [now mix-d] and the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Education Trust. It celebrates the UK’s diverse Multiple Heritage population through portraits of people of mixed background. This beautiful book is a positive representation of this growing population with personal quotes reflecting the multiple heritage experience.

You may order the book here.