Launch of “How the West Indian Child is Made Educationally Sub-normal…”

The 50th-anniversary Internet launch of “How the West Indian Child is Made Educationally Sub-normal …“, was held on the 31 March 2021, with a panel comprising with Bernard Coard, Jeremy Corbyn MP and other invited guests.

In How the West Indian Child is Made Educationally Sub-normal in the British School System: The Scandal of the Black Child in Schools, first published in 1971 by New Beacon Books, Bernard Coard examined the enforced educational inequality and institutional racism in the UK. Fifty years on Coard reviewed his work.

The launch of this anniversary edition included presentations from:

David Neita – Poet and lawyer

Paul Mackney – Former Gen Sec University and College Union. Worked in ESOL, Further, Adult and TU Education

Jacqui McKenzie – International Human Rights Lawyer, Lecturer, Founder of “The Learning Cube” Supplementary School

Chris Searle – Taught in schools internationally. The former Head teacher of a comprehensive school in Sheffield. Journalist and lifelong educator and activist.

Kehinde Andrews – Author of “New Age of Empire – How Racism and Colonialism Still Rule the World”.

Baroness Christine Blower – Labour Member of House of Lords, Former Gen Sec National Union of Teachers

Jeremy Corbyn MP – Former UK Labour Party Leader, Leader of Opposition 2015 – 2010

Minkah Adofoh – Community activist for over 40 years. One of the founder members of Afruika Bantu Saturday School in 1997. To empower children and parents of African heritage against education exclusion and failure

Bernard Coard – Educator, author of “How the West Indian Child is Made Educationally Sub Normal in the British School System”

In his original and current editions, Bernard Coard describes how “educationally subnormal” (ESN) schools unjustifiably and disproportionately labeled Black children, especially those from the Caribbean and (in some cases disabled and white working-class children) as “mentally subnormal”.

This edition contains a foreword by Jeremy Corbyn MP, Labour Party Leader and Leader of the Opposition from 2015 to 2020, with contributions from Paul Mackney, former General Secretary of the University and College Union, Professor Hubert Devonish of the University of the West Indies (Mona) and others.

Bernard has also contributed an update to the booklet in the chapter entitled 30 Years On with a chapter, 50 Years On, from Professor Devonish.

The original text was also republished by the late Buzz Johnson at Karia Press, with a foreword by Herman Ouseley, and prominently featured in Tell it Like it is: How Our Schools Fail Black Children (2005), edited by Brian Richardson.

Bernard Coard shared the following points with the meeting under the heading of: –

Goals of Community-Based and Initiated Supplementary Education of Caribbean-Origin Children in Britain

This is to more systematically develop and implement, to as high a degree as possible, a creatively/imaginatively developed curriculum focused on achieving five main goals/objectives:

A strong sense of IDENTITY, of HISTORY, of CULTURAL HERITAGE; and of SELF-WORTH, SELF-CONFIDENCE, SELF-BELIEF.

Building on these…

Strongly developed: –

a.SELF-CONTROL and

b. CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS; [Impulse Control and Strategic Thinking and Acting].

Building on 1 & 2 above.

Providing a wide range of MARKETABLEand REVENUE-GENERATING SKILLS; starting with CORE SKILLS, then building on these in several directions; [BUILDING CAPACITY for quality employment and/or self-employment].

Building on #1, 2, & 3, above.

Training and Encouraging AN ENTREPRENEURIAL OUTLOOK: training in SPOTTING/SEEING, and SEIZING, OPPORTUNITIES, not just for wide-ranging revenue-generation possibilities, but for any and all possibilities for enhancement of the Community in a wide variety of ways. [COMMERCIAL Entrepreneurship, as well as SOCIAL Entrepreneurship].

And finally, through applying, through practical exercises undertaken by the students in these schools.

Helping to STRENGTHEN EXISTING SOCIAL CAPITAL, and BUILD MORE SOCIAL CAPITAL.

a. AMONGST THE STUDENTS’ AGE COHORTS/ GENERATION, and

b. IN THE COMMUNITY as a whole.

QUESTIONNAIRE and Q&A

A questionnaire was circulated to obtain feedback from the launch. It was promised that an anonymised summary of the returns will be published afterward on this page Because of the numbers attending the launch we were unable to host a live Q&A session. However, we asked for questions to be put to the panel via the questionnaire, which will also be responded to afterward with the anonymised answers also published on http://grenada-forwardever.net/archives/358

NOW PUBLISHED

Cover of How the West Indian Child... — The cover of the new How the West Indian Child…

How the West Indian Child is Made Educationally Subnormal in the British School System: The Scandal of the Black Child in Schools in Britain is now available from: –

New Beacon Books: 76 Stroud Green Rd, Stroud Green, London N4 3EN. Phone: 020 7272 4889. Web address https://www.newbeaconbooks.com/contact,

Bogle-L’Ouverture Publications: Please call/WhataApp +44 (0) 20 8579 4920 or email eric@huntleysonlone.com.

Grenada – Forward Ever: At £10 each, including postage within the UK please: –

Pay for copies to BMJ Law, a/c No: 7651 9871, sort code: 09-01-27. Create a unique reference number.
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Thanks