History is a collection of stories. Some visible, some not. We want to make all stories visible. How? By changing who tells these stories.

Don't Settle is a new project that will champion all kinds of stories and make space for the whole community when representing history. Young people will be uncovering stories that have been neglected in museums and change the way decisions are made.

To launch this project, we're teaming up with BLAB to host 'Where's My Past?'. Do you feel your cultural past is represented in museums? Join us for an evening of open discussion with artivists and museum professionals about these issues and how we can move forward together to make change, as well as a new piece by slam poet Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan.

Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum

Millennium Point, Curzon St, Birmingham B4 7XG

22nd February 2019

Doors open at 6.10pm

Event starts at 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

At BLAB X Don’t Settle you can expect to:

• Hear from key heritage decision makers and artivists discussing issues surrounding representation in museums.

• Enter into live conversation with speakers to share your thoughts and questions.

• Engage in a thought-provoking performance from celebrated poet Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan.

• Experience how your voice can impact the stories of local communities.

• Learn how to get involved with Don’t Settle over the next three years.

Speakers include:

• Dr Kehinde Andrews - Professor. Author. Founder of Harambee.

• Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan - Writer. Spoken Word Poet. Speaker.

• Rachael Minott. Curator. Museums Association Trustee. Artist.

• Yasmina Silva - Poet. Activist.

About the speakers:

Dr Kehinde Andrews @kehinde_andrews

Dr Kehinde Andrews is a professor of Black Studies at Birmingham City University and the author of ‘Back to Black: Retelling Black Radicalism for the 21st Century’. Kehinde led the development of the Black Studies course and is Director of the Centre for Critical Social Research; founder of the Harambee Organisation of Black Unity; and co-chair of the Black Studies Association. The Black Studies cluster at Birmingham City University is the main academic partner of Don’t Settle.

Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan @thebrownhijabi

Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan is a writer, spoken-word poet, speaker, and educator. She is invested in unlearning the modalities of knowledge she has internalised, disrupting power relations, and interrogating narratives around race/ism, gender(ed oppression), Islamophobia, state violence, knowledge production, and (de)coloniality. She holds a BA in History from Cambridge University, and an MA in Postcolonial Studies from SOAS and regularly writes, speaks, performs and workshops on Islamophobia, racism, feminism, and poetry both nationally and internationally.

Rachael Minott @rachaelminott

Rachael Minott is a freelance Jamaican-born artist and curator. She champions collaborative practises and challenges the concept of neutrality in public spaces. Previous curatorial work has been with Birmingham Museums Trust, London Transport Museum, Reading Museum and the Robert Sainsbury Library. As an artist she has taken part in the 4th Ghetto Biennale in Port au Prince, Haiti 2015 and the Jamaica Biennial 2017. Rachael was recently elected to the Museum Association Board of Trustees and is currently curator of Anthropology at the Horniman Museum and Gardens.

Yasmina Silva @yasmeeener

Yasmina Silva is a poet and activist. Intersectionality features greatly in Yasmina’s work both in academia and the arts and it aims to deconstruct the world around to empower marginalized identities, teach love and express the frustrations that come with activism. She holds a BA in Policitcal Economic and an MA in African Studies from the University of Birmingham. Yasmina looks to celebrate the beauty of womanhood, blackness and the diversity of cultures in the world. Having had the privilege to live in several African countries, she is an advocate of African unity and progression with ambitions of promoting social development through the arts starting with her home country of Guinea Bissau.

About the projects:

BLAB:

BLAB (BackLash Against The Bland) is a series of live, interactive, accessible conversation based events in secret locations across Birmingham, designed to ask the most difficult questions about the arts and the arts industry. Join the conversation on the day and hear guests as they try to answer your questions and engage you in a discussion on the topic of the day: “Where’s My Past?”

Don’t Settle:

Don’t Settle will empower young people to develop the skills and confidence to engage meaningfully and strategically with heritage organisations to co-create, deliver and evaluate innovative youth engagement structures. Young people will explore the notion of reclaiming spaces, exhibitions, and ultimately historical narratives through art. Exploring the impact of industrialism and empire on heritage, they will connect that to their heritage and their communities in order to create structures, processes, and projects which future-proof heritage for the communities of tomorrow.

Don’t forget to tell us what you think:

#wheresmypast

Instagram: @_wedontsettle

Twitter: @wedontsettle

Website: beatfreeks.com/dont-settle

This event is wheelchair accessible.