‘Rising from the ashes’: the potential of historic black community-led organisations for future black research

Abstract

In 1983, 159 Spon Street in Coventry became the home of the Coventry West Indian Community Association, after twenty-nine years of collective activism and dedicated work for the black migrant communities of the city. The Association was founded in 1954 and was widely recognised across the West Midlands and the West Indies, especially Jamaica, as a successful organisation. They were the home of Caribbean culture in Warwickshire, with dances, dominos, and festivals, but were also devoted to community wellbeing and unification, with annual Christmas parties for vulnerable, low-income families, alongside annual summer trips to British seaside towns. The history of the Association is immense, with visits from Dr. Arthur Wint and Archbishop Desmond Tutu and collaborations with the People’s National Party of Jamaica and the University of Warwick. 

Until 1995, the Centre was not only the home of Caribbean culture and the community, but it was also a space for radical activism and research. The Association contributed largely to the Exodus 85’ festival, which was formed from a partnership between the University of Warwick and the West Indian community of Coventry. The festival included an exhibition, carnival, and events, all of which demonstrated the dedication of these organisations to exploring and sharing the social history of Coventry, and its broader presence in black history. Alongside this, the Centre also provided many educational opportunities for the community, with extra school activities and extra tutorial classes. The Centre was a radical research, community space, and was incredibly successful as such.

However, from the year 1995, the Association faced several decades of difficulties, which led to their near closure in 2018. The physical space had fallen into great disrepair, and its Board was fraught with internal disputes and was drifting away from the community. Luckily, in 2019, the Board was reclaimed by leading figures of the local community, renamed the Coventry Caribbean Association, and under new management. Unfortunately, the Centre is still struggling to regain its status and influence as the home of the black and Caribbean communities of the West Midlands, as well as re-establishing itself as a radical research space. To what extent is this re-establishment possible and can the Coventry Caribbean Association re-join the ranks as a leading community-organised research space, alongside organisations such as the Edinburgh Caribbean Association.

This talk/workshop/paper is an extension of my DPhil thesis, which is focusing on black community histories of Coventry and Warwickshire between the years 1954 and 1995. ‘Here to Live’: black community histories of the West Midlands outer-inner city will analyse the influence of community-led organisations, local groups, publications on black migration, experience, and politics, while introducing the presence of the outer-inner city to our understanding of black urban/rural space. Through my research for this, I have joined the Coventry Caribbean Association and have devoted my public engagement work to its restoration after its decades of poor management and global pandemic disruption. This space and its history are an empowering alternative to our current available research spaces, and spaces like this can be found all over the country.