Anti-Racist Toolkit
Northern Ireland programme
Background
In the summer of 2022 the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust’s Northern Ireland programme began to research the unique features of the racial justice movement in Northern Ireland. The purpose of the research was to help JRCT gain a better understanding of the context surrounding racial justice in Northern Ireland to help inform its grant making in this space.
JRCT wanted the following questions explored:
• What are the differences/ complexities surrounding the context of racial justice within Northern Ireland, as distinct from the rest of the UK?
• Who are the main contributors to the anti-racist cause, operating at a systemic and trans-local level in Northern Ireland?
• Who are the emerging voices of the anti-racist movement in Northern Ireland who don’t yet have a significant platform?
• What are the main goals of the individuals/groups that make up the anti-racist movement in Northern Ireland?
• What gaps exist in the infrastructure of the anti-racist sector/movement in Northern Ireland?
• What are the main sources of funding for anti-racist work in Northern Ireland?
The report produced the following findings:
The context of racial justice in Northern Ireland has distinct challenges, including the continued presence of paramilitarism and its control of communities.
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The main contributors and emerging voices in the racial justice space have a diverse range of backgrounds and approaches, but some similar challenges, including the accessibility of funding or engagement opportunities.
If JRCT wants to contribute more within this space, it could benefit from reimagining and reframing its understanding of ‘systemic impact,’ with increased consideration given to the connection between grassroots service delivery and the systems that people exist within. Systemic interventions include policy work, advocacy and awareness-raising, collaborative practice, transformative justice, direct action and work to advance and celebrate the contributions of minoritised communities, including through the arts.
Funding is very limited, and independent grant-makers like JRCT are not widely perceived as likely sources of income for smaller organisations.
There are a number of infrastructure gaps in pursuit of racial justice, including a lack of spaces to collaborate and build the sense of a movement for racial justice.
Actions
JRCT’s Northern Ireland programme has committed itself to the following changes in order to respond to this report:
We recognise the importance of harnessing the skills and experiences of racially minoritised people in systems of power in Northern Ireland. We will look to support more organisations led by racially minoritised people to untap their key insights and move beyond service delivery into systemic interventions with broader impact.
JRCT aspires to being not just non-racist, but to being anti-racist. The Northern Ireland programme will convey the same expectation to its grantees. Questions will be asked about this at application stage, as well as in grant monitoring, as standard. Our aim is not to pass judgement, but to find ways to move forward together.
We realise that we all need help and support to make progress in this area. The programme will therefore seek to resource antiracist learning and development opportunities.
The Northern Ireland programme staff and committee members will commit to making time to discuss and review the progress JRCT is making in the area of addressing systemic racism in Northern Ireland. Racially-minoritised people should be involved in those discussions. 01 06 02 07 03 08 04 09 05
JRCT recognises that change often comes about not through heroic individuals or single organisations, but through diverse yet connected movements. The Northern Ireland committee will therefore commit itself to thinking ‘big picture’ in reviewing applications and grants, helping to create and sustain not just individual organisations but an eco-system working for racial justice. Where possible, this could be considered in partnership with other funders.
Diverse voices are challenging systemic racism in diverse ways in Northern Ireland. Our research recommends that the Trust revises how it understands strategic/ systemic interventions, and what it funds in this area. The research specifically mentions the arts and the seed-funding of individuals as areas through which the Trust could achieve further impact. The Northern Ireland committee will consider how it can respond to these recommendations.
A gender lens will be applied in considering all the recommendations above to ensure that the outcomes of any intervention involve gains for women from racially minoritised communities.
We acknowledge that our Northern Ireland programme has not been as accessible as we would have liked it to be. We have now made it explicit in our policy that we want to support anti-racist work. Next, we will work with colleagues in other JRCT programmes to make our application process more accessible to marginalised or minoritised groups.
We will seek ways to resource opportunities for information sharing and collaboration between diverse organisations operating in the anti-racist space.
Collaboration: Offers to grantees
We recognise that social movements thrive when diverse organisations collaborate with one another. However, our research highlighted this as a gap in the infrastructure of the anti-racist movement in Northern Ireland.
We would therefore like to further support our grantees to collaborate or partner with others, in order to cultivate ideas, share learning and strengthen networks of relationships in this field.
Grant uplifts can be spent on any reasonable costs associated with the activities outlined here. To apply, please submit a short explanation of the work you want to do, along with a basic budget via email. Please get in touch if you have any questions.
We would like to offer two levels of support, that will be appropriate to different grantees:
Facilitation grants
Eligibility
Your organisation is a current JRCT grantee that is established in the field of anti-racism. You have at least one existing stream of work that is explicitly focused on combatting racism.
Purpose of the grant
You will facilitate a space to encourage collaboration/ shared learning around anti-racism across Northern Ireland. This might take the form of:
• Convening discussions to address a specific issue;
• Networking opportunities for organisations or activists operating in this field;
• Training sessions to support antiracist learning;
• Developing and sharing tools and materials that raise awareness of the need for anti-racism work.
• Something else that brings diverse groups or individuals together around anti-racist practice.
Value
Up to £5,000 per grantee organisation involved in the collaboration (ie £10k for partnership of two JRCT grantees, £15k for partnership of three grantees etc.).
Participation grants
Eligibility
Your organisation is a current JRCT grantee that does not currently work in the field of anti-racism.
Purpose of the grant
You will participate in some form of learning about anti-racist practice. This might take the form of:
• Participating in one of the spaces funded through a Facilitation Grant;
• Accessing anti-racist training;
• Organising anti-racism workshops facilitated by others working in this field;
• Purchasing books or other learning materials (examples below);
• Other actions appropriate to your situation.
Value
Up to £500 per grantee.
For now…
If you’re just getting started in your anti-racist journey, you might choose to spend some time accessing one or more of the recommended resources listed below:
Podcasts
Videos
• Understanding Structural Racism (Othering and Belonging Institute)
• Everyday racism: what should we do? (The Guardian with Akala)
• 5 ways to disrupt racism (The Racial Justice Network)
• How to deconstruct racism, one headline at a time (TED Talk with Baratunde Thurston)
• The Urgency of Intersectionality (TED Talk with Kimberlé Crenshaw)
• (Explicit) Where You From? / The Breakup / The Long Goodbye (Riz Ahmed)
• (Explicit) Black (Dave)
• About Race with Reni Eddo-LodgeFrom the author behind the bestselling Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race (http:// renieddolodge.co.uk/books/) comes a podcast that takes the conversation a step further. Featuring key voices from the last few decades of anti-racist activism, About Race with Reni EddoLodge looks at the recent history that lead to the politics of today.
• Be Antiracist with Ibram X. Kendi - Be Antiracist imagines what an antiracist society might look like and how we all can play an active role in building one. Dr. Ibram X. Kendi is the author of How to Be an Antiracist, the book that spurred a nationwide conversation redefining what it means to be antiracist, and in this podcast, he guides listeners how they can identify and reject the racist systems hiding behind racial inequity and injustice. Alongside notable guests, Dr. Kendi continues his journey towards building a just and equitable world and proposes how we can all help create it with him.
• Seeing White with John Biewen and Dr. Chenjerai KumanyikaJust what is going on with white people? Police shootings of unarmed African Americans. Acts of domestic terrorism by white supremacists. The renewed embrace of raw, undisguised white-identity politics. Unending racial inequity in schools, housing, criminal justice, and hiring. Some of
this feels new, but in truth it’s an old story. Why? Where did the notion of “whiteness” come from? What does it mean? What is whiteness for?
• Empire with William Dalrymple and Anita Anand - How do empires rise? Why do they fall? And how have they shaped the world around us today? William Dalrymple and Anita Anand explore the stories, personalities and events of empire over the course of history.
• Reboot Republic with Rory Hearne - Reboot Republic is the innovative Podcast that delves beyond the headlines and soundbites and pulls up the roots of our Social Crises to unearth progressive solutions (check out Episode 312, Hope and Courage: How to Counter Hate and Fear
Books
• Northern Ireland and the Crisis of Anti-Racism: Rethinking Racism and Sectarianism (Chris Gilligan, 2017)
• Racism and Anti-Racism in Ireland (Ronit Lentin and Robbie McVeigh, editors, 2002)
• Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire (Akala, 2019)
• Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race (Reni EddoLodge, 2018)
• Me and White Supremacy: How to Recognise Your Privilege, Combat Racism and Change the World (Layla Saad, 2022)
• Black and British: A Forgotten History (David Olusoga, 2021)
• We Will Not Cancel Us: And Other Dreams of Transformative Justice (adrienne maree brown, 2020)
• What White People Can Do Next: From Allyship to Coalition (Emma Dabiri, 2021)
Articles and papers
• Understanding Racism: Defining Racism in an Irish Context (Irish Network Against Racism)
• Ten Things You Can Do About Racism in Ireland (Irish Network Against Racism)
• Islamophobia: A Form of Cultural Racism (Tariq Modood)
• Countering and Dismantling Islamophobia: A Comprehensive Guide for Individuals and Organisations (Institute for Social Policy and Understanding) Courses
21-day racial equity habit building challenge (America & Moore)
Anti-Racist Toolkit
Northern Ireland programme
Contact
The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust
Phone + 44 (0)1904 627810
Website www.jrct.org.uk
Email enquiries@jrct.org.uk
Registered Charity 210037