In September 2017 we were delighted to receive over 40 boxes of material in to the Library’s collections from the Shades of Black Community Project led by Mrs Eunice McGhie-Belgrave. This was to add to a smaller body of material already in the archive from Shades of Black.
Shades of Black began in February 1989 as a response to the Handsworth Riots when five local women met together to discuss what could be done to rebuild the community and take positive action. From this initial meeting to the present day, Shades of Black has carried out a range of successful projects at the grassroots level with the aim of bringing people together and helping community members develop new skills which in turn increases their self-esteem. The newly acquired material is a record of almost 30 years of dedicated community work.
One example of this is the H.E.L.P. Allotments project. Based in Handsworth and established in 1999. It enabled school pupils to get involved in gardening, donating some of their produce to the elderly to celebrate Harvest. The project gained coverage from BBC Gardener’s World and local radio stations as well as immersing many children in the pleasures of growing their own fruit and vegetables.
Shades of Black has also carried out work with a black history focus. In 1999 Mrs McGhie-Belgave and Mrs Hyman obtained funding from Quest Millennium Awards for a black heritage project called ‘After the Windrush: A journey from Paradise to Reality’. The project created exhibitions allowing people to explore the personal experiences of community members who came to the UK from the West Indies in the 1950s. Exhibition venues included Foundry Primary School, Cannon Street Baptist Church, Soho Road Library and Stechford Baptist Church. The archive includes an account by Mrs McGhie-Belgrave of her personal experience of coming to Birmingham from Jamaica in 1957 at the age of 22. It gives details of her first impressions on arriving in the UK, the challenges she faced and overcame and also highlights the racism those moving from Jamaica to the UK were confronted with.
The H.E.L.P Allotments Project and ‘After the Windrush’ Project are just two examples of the many projects documented in the archive which is a rich resource for discovering more about the work of Shades of Black over the years. The collection contains a large body of photographs relating to the projects as well as booklets recording the work that took place. As well as this there is material relating to Mrs McGhie-Belgrave’s life and achievements. These include letters from Mrs McGhie-Belgrave’s mother in Jamaica writing to her daughter in her new home in Birmingham as well as letters from the Royal Household congratulating Shades of Black and Mrs McGhie-Belgrave on the success of specific projects. Mrs McGhie-Belgrave won the Pride of Britain Award 2009.
More information about Shades of Black and its projects are available on the group’s website.
We are happy to receive enquiries about accessing this material. Please use the collection reference MS 2855. As the material has recently been received, it has not yet been box-listed. Please be aware that because of this it may take us longer than usual to be able to answer your enquiry.
The Iron Room 