RATIONALE 

Although there has been an increased recognition of the complexities of white supremacy and its associated systems, few organisations have been prepared to tackle head-on, racialised hierarchies which place black people at the very bottom, if only in fantasy.

But in the same way that terms and acronyms like BAME or ‘people of colour’ are attracting criticisms for their homogenising effect which invisibilise or negate realities like complicity and intersectionality; white supremacy is a caste system. And those with proximity to whiteness all things being equal, are afforded more safety, protection and easier access to structures of power.

For black people, the existence of that pyramid has both psychic and material consequences which of course affect all aspects of life, including work.

These consequences are therefore invariably shaped by anti-blackness.

Defining anti-blackness

Anti-Blackness may be defined as the beliefs, attitudes, practices that exclude, and marginalise people of African descent whether carried out at individual, institutional or societal levels.

Anti-Blackness is founded on the imaginary of blackness as the antithesis of  ‘whiteness’.

At the core thus, of anti-blackness lies colonial formations and myths which include that of primitivity, dangerousness, immorality, untrustworthiness and intellectual deficiency which give birth to particular ways of relating to the black object.

It is these formations that deny those imagined to be connected to some phantasmagorical notions of Africa, their humanity and dignity and which consequently position blackness as inherently inferior, pathological and/or dysfunctional.

These ways of seeing, perceiving and even experiencing those racialised as black, as problematic are so ubiquitously anchored in the ways, social actors thus organisations operate, they go without question; they have become the norm. And more often than not today, are expressed covertly in micro-ways which have massive macro effects physically, psychically, institutionally and socially on everyone.

And that everyone indeed includes everyone…whilst it may be tempting to make racism a black and white issue, we know anti-black dynamics can be reproduced within non-black communities of colour. We also know that internalised racism/anti-blackness can cause tensions within black groups, horizontal violence and ‘identification with the aggressor’, as displaced/misplaced violence can be dished onto fellow black bodies.

What does it all look like, at work?

Many will struggle to make links. But lived experience does not lie, not at collective level. Black people say they feel surveilled. The data tells us they/we are policed via over-discipline, and that our/their work is often over-scrutinised, sometimes even before entering the workplace … in ways that our/their non-black peers’ are not. Black surveillance is clearly more than a ‘feeling’.

Black people say our/their intelligence continued to be routinely doubted.

Empirical evidence tells us black leaders tend to have their authority challenged more than their white counterparts…and tend to be assumed to be in less senior roles routinely. Their/our intelligence is thus routinely doubted, we could go on. We will…

Much of this – largely Fanonian thinking, is not new (the evidence might be). Yet rarely is it applied to the workplace. In this training, we will do just that. Using both theory and empirical findings.

Our aim is to zoom in on the ways anti-blackness is implicated in the functioning of your organisation.

We take it as a given that institutions as microcosms of society, will be racialised and hierarchised organisms.

Including, in terms of team functioning and dynamics.

In terms of institutional processes and procedures.

In terms of organisational culture.

Which will cumulatively reproduce beliefs, attitudes, practices which will exclude, other and marginalise people of African descent.

In other words, we want to think together about the ways in which anti-blackness may express itself within various levels of your organisation’s functioning and help you think of ways it may be countered, resisted, repaired and learnt from. The data is clear, when it comes to the stratification of society, and resource allocation we know it’s simply not only a matter of merits and talents, let’s think together about the influence of anti-blackness and what we can do to reduce it to a minimum.

FORMAT & LOCATION

The course is delivered in person in Milton Keynes, we anticipate at our head Office (100 Avery Boulevard).

However, an alternative venue in Milton Keynes is possible, depending on demand.

Zoom attendance is possible.

This is a challenging and interactive weekend.

The weekend course will make use of short PowerPoint presentations, small group discussions, relevant videos, workshops and Problem Based Learning (PBL) sessions.

We can deliver this course directly to your organisation.

CONTENTS

This is a challenging course intended to get people to think.

It takes a multidisciplinary approach to the subject matter by chiefly bringing insights from group analysis and psychoanalysis and integrating them with findings from sociology and psychology.

The emphasis here is on providing the building blocks necessary to help learners to name, resist and do things differently.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

This course will be of high relevance to all those with staff management and supervision responsibilities and to those interested in tackling inequality, injustice and oppression in the workplace. Black employees and black leaders may also find it particularly useful as by completing the course attendees will acquire;

*The ability to describe antiblackness and the ways it affects the workplace

*The ability to recognise and disrupt common anti-black dynamics within teams

*Sensitivity to antiblack dynamics within non-black communities of colour and proximity dynamics

* A thorough understanding of the ways antiblackness is reproduced within different levels of organisational functioning

*A thorough understanding of the impact of anti-blackness on people racialised as black

*A thorough understanding of the impact of anti-blackness on organisations

*An appreciation of the effects of hierarchisation and racialisation on organisational processes

*An appreciation of the effects of hierarchisation and racialisation on leadership

*Anti-racist tools and practical solutions to support black leaders

*An appreciation of the effects of hierarchisation and racialisation on organisational culture

*Chances to reflect, test and practise with peers and colleagues skills taught on the weekend

FEES

STANDARD RATES

Early bird: £325 (until 01/12/2024) –  standard: £399 online or in person (including VAT)

NEW RATES FOR RACE REFLECTIONS MEMBERS 

We are piloting the following internal rates

Race Reflections DEVELOPMENT and ANTI-RACIST MEMBERS: FREE (Please get in touch if you would like to book a place if you have been a member for more than a year, an online spot is guaranteed, in person spots are subject to availability).

ALL OTHER Race Reflections Members: £150 (Please get in touch for your code, if you have been a member for more than a year). NEW PRICE

If you are not a Race Reflections Member and are planning to apply for a membership, please use the form below, we will get in touch and try to help.