'Anti-Racist Action in Arts & Wellbeing – Black Men & Mental Health’ Roundtable - Resources

Resources from our ‘Anti-Racist Action in Arts & Wellbeing – Black Men & Mental Health’ roundtable

Delivered in partnership with Isaac Samuels, Hameed Khan, and Elkin (Lived Experience and Co-production Advisors), Flourishing Lives, and the Anti-Racist Action Group (ARAG) in Arts & Wellbeing, the roundtable focused on health inequalities and the lived experience of men from Black and minoritised ethnic communities.

Using Community Reporting methodology and peer-to-peer conversations, we heard directly from Black and Brown (global majority) men about their lived experience of racism, and the barriers that these men face which can prevent them from accessing arts and wellbeing services.

Here are the resources and stories that were shared during the session:

Many thanks again to Isaac Samuels, Hameed Khan and Elkin (Lived Experience and Co-production Advisors)) for designing and facilitating the session.

Many thanks also to the members of our Anti-Racist Action Group (ARAG) in Arts & Wellbeing Services for their help and guidance in the strategic planning and implementation of our inclusive practice workshops, training and roundtables: Leandra Box (Programme Manager at The Race Equality Foundation), Connie Bell (Cultural Producer, Theatre Director & Founding Member of Decolonising the Archive), Christine Goodall (Network Coordinator at the HEAR Network), and Will Nicholson (Co-Founder and co-facilitator of the Southwark Culture Health and Wellbeing Partnership).

About Isaac and Elkin
Isaac and Elkin are passionate about mental health and social justice. Both have a long history in working to amplify the voices of the excluded, marginalised and global majority communities. They are collaborating on this piece of work to highlight and centre the inequalities that men from Black and minoritised backgrounds experience on a daily basis. They will do this through hosting a brave space to have conversations and broaden knowledge amongst those who share their passion to address these challenges. At the heart of all their work is co-production and they will be using story telling as a means to create this space for reflection and change.

About The Anti-Racist Action Group in Arts & Wellbeing:
The Anti-Racist Action Group in Arts & Wellbeing is a group of representatives from arts, wellbeing and race equality charities – including Flourishing Lives, HEAR Network, Race Equality Foundation, Decolonising the Archive, and Southwark Culture Health and Wellbeing Partnership – who partner with ethnically and culturally diverse organisations, facilitators, community groups, participants and people to share their knowledge, expertise, learning and lived experience to support the wider arts and wellbeing sector to explore anti-racist action, and develop wider engagement in the arts and mental health. The aim is to facilitate conversations, deepen understanding and identify opportunities for change.

This roundtable was the third session in a series of workshops and roundtables kindly funded by The National Lottery Community Fund which will support Flourishing Lives and the Anti-Racist Action Group to explore a range of topics, issues and anti-racist actions over the next 2 years to help advocate for inclusive practice across the arts and wellbeing sector.