Activist and photographer Anita Israel who lives and works in London, is the former education officer at University of the Arts. UAL is a world-renowned university ranking second in the world for Art and Design. Almost half of their student population are Black, Asian, and minority ethnic people, yet unfortunately UAL BAME students and staff are continuously being underrepresented, underpaid and undermined. In recent events, Anita has used her platform as an activist and photographer to protest and petition against the universities statement that implied they were anti-racist. In this interview, Anita discusses her own racist experiences as well as ones of many others that should be a catalyst for change, not just within the university but within the roots of society as a whole.

You are an activist, artist and photographer - can you tell us about your creative journey and how you got to where you are today?

After the general election in 2015 and the emergence of Jeremy Corbyn as labour leader, I sort of found my voice in politics. I realised the importance of using my influence and my art wherever I could, to advocate on behalf of marginalised groups. I started to attend/photograph protests and began documenting the impact of brexit on millennials within my community. Photography gave me an opportunity to change the depictions of race and use images as a means of empowering the black voice. As my social and political awareness increased, I realised UAL wasn't the free and liberal institution that had been marketed to me. The turning point for me was when I lost a very close friend and fellow black student to suicide at UAL. I was appalled at the universities lack of acknowledgement for her life and I couldn't understand how a university which handles million pound budgets didn't have the resources to support their black students. I knew then, that I wanted to support and encourage other black students to find their voice and stop suffering in silence.

Can you tell us a bit about your photography work?

I observed how our faces had been axed out of pre colonial history and it was important that I used my privilege as an artist to create space for us to exist. The work I make is inspired by my identity and my cultural heritage. The most recent body of work titled ‘Don’t forget to Celebrate’ consists of a series of portraits taken over a three year span at Notting Hill Carnival. The images demonstrate an ownership and comfortability over the black body, signifying a time of celebration, elation and freedom. Whether I’m capturing communities, nightlife or protests I’m always conscious of the social impact I want to be making.

How have you been using photography as medium to help raise awareness for the ‘black lives matter’ campaign?

I have always used my platform as an artist and now as education officer to campaign and reinforce that black lives have always mattered. Being away from UAL has given me a chance to reconnect with my creativity. Over the last three months I’ve been documenting essential business owners and community members in Deptford. The pandemic has evidently exposed the structural inequalities within our society and we’ve seen the highest mortality rate in under resourced, BAME communities. Deptford High street is home to a vibrant african and caribbean community, most of the shop owners and traders are from migrant backgrounds. It’s vital to record the stories of those who are on the front lines; traders, supermarket workers, your local bossman at the shop, mothers, fathers, uber drivers. These are the people who have continued to be in service to our society during the darkest of times. I don't want us to ever forget the sacrifices that have been made, especially by the black community. This is how I choose to raise awareness for my community.

What do you think is the difference between the ‘black lives matter’ protests that have been happening recently and past protests that stand up against racism?

It’s sad that the killing of an unarmed black man must be the catalyst for change, it’s been really tough seeing the mass reposting of black death. The Black Community have been collectively mourning the loss of countless lives for years. I think this hit differently because we were all at home, with no other connection to the outside world and no social distractions.. It certainly feels like white people have finally pulled up to racism and I’m seeing non black friends and colleagues acknowledging their privilege and the significant role they need to play in dismantling racial structures. The last month has been an example of what can be done when society stands in solidarity with each other. Let's be clear, racism is still very much apparent, the outrage on social media means that more companies, institutions and government officials are being held accountable. It’s inspiring to see the younger generation being noticeably more forward thinking and radical in their approach towards activism. We have barely scratched the surface and there is still so much more work to be done.

What lead you to speak out against the the establishment that employs you?

I was tired of UAL being performative with their anti racist agenda, knowing first hand how exhausting it is to navigate white supremacy at this university. For example black and brown cleaners have been subjected to unfair pay and forced into precarious work by the university. This year alone, three cleaners have quit due to bullying. Black staff are the most underrepresented and underpaid demographic at this institution. In a report I published in 2019 about the experiences of black students and staff, a BAME staff member stated “ being on the brink of burn out multiple times and questioning why I’m working here.” If we observe the facts we know that BAME (there is no breakdown of race) students are 21% less likely to achieve a 2:1 or a first despite making up almost half of the student population. Students have reported being on the end of microaggressions, tutors are teaching blackface and openly using the ‘N’ word in class. UAL presents a liberal and diverse front when in reality they are actively dismissing the experiences of their marginalised staff and students. Sadly complaints of racism are rarely upheld by the university, there are no consequences for tutors/students who are racist. I couldn’t accept the hypocritical statement knowing that so many black students are leaving UAL with increased mental health problems.

Have you experienced personal racial issues as a member of staff at UAL?

In March I organised a student led occupation in support of our BAME staff and against institutionalised racism at UAL. Since then, I have been unfairly excluded from meetings and key decisions that are being made concerning students. My team has witnessed the Dean Of students, Mark Crawley, use his privilege to disable me in meetings on several occasions and have said and done nothing. I’ve been shouted at in meetings by UAL’s senior management for simply raising student concerns. Work became an isolating and uncomfortable experience a long time ago. I just had to keep reminding myself how important it was to be a voice for all the marginalised students.

Unfortunately my experiences of racism are not unique and thanks to online platforms such as @ualtruth, we are seeing an outpour of black students and staff sharing their lived experiences. I have had to single handedly represent each and every black student at UAL rather than the university and the Students Union placing anti-racism, accessibility and mental health at the top of its radar. The onus is on the (black/disabled) officer to work on these race related issues. The university has done little to take on board the race and equality work as a priority or at the very least highlight and accredit the work to BAME staff. This pattern of ‘subtle racism’ has simply been normalised and often black students and staff are too afraid or too traumatised to raise serious concerns.

What permanent changes are you hoping to achieve through your activist work and at UAL in particular?

Since the release of my statement, the ACS president, Armani Sutherland and I have petitioned the university to act upon a list of demands, we now have almost 10,000 signatures, over half of UAL’s student population. Some of our demands include:
- Implementation of mandatory face-to-face anti-racism, racial diversity and cultural & racial sensitivity training for staff
- Fast tracking the process for complaints regarding racism, race discrimination and cultural insensitivity.
- The Employment of five new councillors of colour trained in mental health and ensure that all councillors have anti-racism training.

To Further decolonise the curriculum by including mandatory black guest lecturers from different cultural and socio-economic backgrounds from different industries sectors. In a recent meeting when I asked why our emails, our petition and my statement had not been responded to. Nigel Carrington (the vice chancellor) told me “these things take time” and that “they are aware of the changes that need to be made”. When I asked for a meeting he told me “the university would respond”. It’s clear our voices are not being heard or respected. Ultimately we want the university to prove it is indeed anti-racist by committing to meet the list of actions outlined in our petition. We do not accept UAL capitalising off the black lives matter movement and an apology should be issued for the careless statement.

You can sign the petition using the link below:
https://www.change.org/p/nigel-carrington-we-want-an-end-to-racism-at-ual

How important is activist work within communities in terms of helping the overall issue?

We cannot forget that there is a fight for equality right here on our doorstep. An article by Dawn Duhaney on GALDEM sums it up quite nicely “We need to acknowledge as a society that the far right isn’t always an extremist group featured on TV documentaries. Far right rhetoric exists in the mainstream right now, amongst our elected politicians and even potentially in our own families, friendships and social circles.” Structural inequality and colonialism are embedded in the DNA of this country. The evidence is conclusive, there are significant disparities in government resources, health care and aid as it pertains to black and ethnic minority groups. We all have an individual duty to be actively anti-racist within our every day lives but I ask that our white and non black allies keep that same energy and advocate for us every day not just when black death is a trending hashtag. This is not a personal attack on whiteness but instead a call for white folk to step up and share the work. Find out about local causes, research policies and lobby your government officials, support local black owned businesses, start an open conversation and be receptive to constructive criticism. Use your privilege to advocate for black people in underrepresented spaces simply checking in on your black neighbour.