Lloyds Bank Inclusion and Diversity Division Event, 'A Mile in My Shoes'

Fri, 26 Oct 2018 12:17:00 GMT

On October 23rd 2018 I was invited to speak at a Black History Month event organised by Lloyds Bank Inclusion and Diversity Division. The event had the title, 'A Mile in My Shoes: Putting the 'B' into BAME', and it was held at Chatham House in St James's Square in London. My paper was entitled, 'Windrush, Brexit and the Racialised Language of British History'. 150 Lloyds staff and guests were invited to hear a range of talks that reflected on the difficulties of a distinctively black history finding its voice in modern Britain and what this might mean for people of colour working within an organisation like Lloyds. As the one white person invited to speak, I thought that it was beholden upon me to talk about the continuing effects of white privilege and how this phenomenon is currently evident within the Brexit debate. This same theme was prominent in lots of the questions asked at the 'Question Time'-style roundtable, where the audience asked the panel members whether they believed contemporary Britain was moving closer towards or further away from racial equality.

Other speakers at the event were my colleague Shahnaz Akhter, Daphne Kasambala, Bernadette Romain-Barton and Patrick Vernon.

Rethinking the Market » Activities and Outputs (tag [Black History Month])

Lloyds Bank Inclusion and Diversity Division Event, 'A Mile in My Shoes'