We are proud to be a host venue for a powerful project capturing the responses of Leicestershire people to the Black Lives Matter movement. You can come and visit the exhibition up until Friday 29th of October at The Y Theatre Tuesday and Wednesday, 2pm until 4pm and also for one hour before any shows. Our theatre is at 7 East Street, Leicester.
The Black Lives Matter Too! Project was co-curated by Leicestershire County Council’s Participation team and Opal 22, an arts organisation which empowers members of the Black community to become more active participants in heritage and culture. The organisations worked together with local people and dedicated volunteers to capture their lived experiences of racism and its effects, as well as exploring solutions for challenging racism.
Individuals and organisations were also asked to pledge to make positive changes in support of Black Lives Matter – with all the material gathered during the project being brought together in a powerful exhibition which ran at Charnwood Museum earlier this year and which can still be viewed online in virtual form – including more than over 40 video testimonies from local people – at Community Curators.
Paul Brown, CEO at The Y said: “We are delighted to be hosting this incredible exhibition. We want to support as many people as possible to access it and learn from the experiences of local people. The Y has formed a “Responding to #BLM” group with other YMCAs in the region to listen to the voices of black staff and service users, share experiences and build trust within our charities. We hope this exhibition will help others to reflect and generate their own ideas for positive change.”
Our Pledge
The Y have made a commitment to appoint a Trustee with lead responsibility for Equality & Diversity, who will report to the Board of Trustees annually. All staff at The Y will participate in an external Equality & Diversity perception survey and The Y will continue to provide training for all staff (at all levels) on Equality & Diversity.