Page 45 - Urban Kapital New MAY JUNE 2020 ISSUE

// BLACK LEADERSHIP

NEW PROGRAM FOR UK

The very first Black Leadership Programme is now live, Then, The Black Leadership Programme came into
thanks to the collaboration between Nottingham Trent existence. It is worthy of reflection that Nottingham
University and Afua Acheampong, the Vice-President Trent Universities is the very first institution which
Education at Nottingham Trent Students’ Union. launches this project.

The Black Leadership Programme is an occasion to up- Indeed, BAME students must not only have a de-
skill any BAME applicant who wants to stand out from gree, but also some scheme that can make stu-
the crowd to become a future leader. dents develop new leadership skills and enhance
what they already have, the same as every other
The event was launched in January and constitutes a non-BAME student. The NTSU VPE claims that the
day of workshops and other activities throughout the launch of this programme has already started the
academic year to empower the sense of belonging engine by inspiring other UK institutions to adopt
among society. the same project to really make a change.

However, creating this programme was everything but However, even if a lot of support was given to Afua,
easy claims the NTU VPE. she declared that concretising and bringing togeth-
er all the ideas that leaders’ sectors, professors,
Afua came up with this innovative idea by exploring the experts, and students had was everything but easy.
opportunities designed for BAME students at university Indeed, she struggled when trying to ask for advice
in the UK and worldwide. outside the university, because “people are quite
cautious to address inequality, in particular in ed-
She found out that there is a huge gap in societies when ucation because there is a huge progression gap in
looking for black leaders and leaders who are ethni- combating racism which remains steady.
cally diverse. She then investigated more what has
been done in the US, where racism has always been a People are scared of talking about institutional and
Utemquae Porquis
huge plague, but she only discovered that universities societal racism and of any kind of inequality be-
in America have lots of “living communities” or “sexu- cause they are ashamed that this is still the case
al orientations societies” to address and enhance what in 2020”. However, the applications to the Black
is different from the mainstream, but nothing like this Leadership Programme were significant, and this
programme was found. year 40 students will take part in this, meaning that
students and the new generations were very much
MAGAZINE // 44 BAME students, in which every attempt to fill the gap to drive a change.
waiting, but ready, in becoming the future leaders
“So why not create something designed specifically for
between the mainstream society and minorities is put
together?” says Afua.