We are proud to announce the launch of the Black British Voices Project Report 2023 today, Thursday 28th September 2023, at the Houses of Parliament. The project is a collaboration between Cambridge Sociology, the Voice newspaper and I-Cubed Consultancy. It is the largest ever research initiative conducted with Black British communities.
The report released today contains data supplied by over 10,000 Black Britons about their lived experiences across 16 areas including Education, Disability, Criminal Justice Healthcare, LGBT rights, Religion and many others. The report’s findings demonstrate the deep-rooted impact of systemic racism on Black British communities and its psychological impact related to identity and belonging.
Professor Manali Desai, Head of the Department of Sociology, said, ‘I am incredibly proud of the careful, sensitive and hard work that has resulted in such a detailed and important report. This offers us one of the most comprehensive views into the marginalization of Black British people in practically every area of life. It is impossible to ignore its findings.’
Dr Kenny Monrose, the Project’s lead researcher at the University of Cambridge, said, ‘The whole thrust of the report was to give Black people the opportunity to speak about their lived realities and provides reliable and authentic data that can be used for educational purposes and to inform policy recommendations.
‘The Department of Sociology has been incredibly courageous in supporting this report, from its conception, and having the support of the Office for the Vice Chancellor has really made a difference too. We also have to recognise the Cambridge Sociology students as well who have contributed to this research behind the scenes.’
Maya McFarlane, a sociology PhD student at the University of Cambridge who worked on the project as an undergraduate and MPhil student, said, ‘As a Black sociology student here at Cambridge, the BBVP is something I am immensely proud to say I've been a part of. For centuries, sociological thought has been produced about Black people, but rarely has it been produced by us, or for our interests. The gravity of this project cannot be understated.’
Dr Monrose added, ‘There are many more factors to explore going forward and this is not the end of the process. This is the beginning of a serious and forthright conversation about the unequal outcomes that members of Black communities face in Britain, with the obvious long-term goal of trying to create a more equitable and even-handed society.’
Article on the report’s findings on the University of Cambridge website.