What role does black critical thought play in the UK's creative industries?

Women Reading- Eartha Kitt

There have been many significant changes in the UK's creative industries in recent years regarding ushering in the new era of Black Critical Thought. From 2013 to 2018, several art institutes in the UK organised several events to forgo the conversation on the rising of Black Critical Thought in the UK. It is essential to question whether such events represent a call to action for the growing concerns of Black Critical Thought or if they are viable vehicles for intellectual politics of race in the UK, especially those managed by Goldsmiths University - Stefano Harney and Fred Moten, Black Studies, or those presented by the Showroom London - Grammars of the Fugitive's Denise Ferreria De Silva, 'Reading the Dead'.

The majority of speakers at these events come from top-tier areas of the country that have already achieved significant recognition in US Black Critical Thought. Due to the growing interest in the subject, they were invited to the UK. Particularly in light of the current topic of discussion, a pattern of this kind deserves close attention. How does this impact the UK's growing interest in Black Studies in the art sector? What is the UK's position within the given spectrum?

'Critical Thinking as an Educational Idea' by David Hitchcock states that critical thinking involves identifying and analyzing problems, clarifying meanings, gathering evidence, analyzing evidence, inferring conclusions, considering other relevant information, and making a decision. From an educational and societal perspective, critical thinking has been viewed as integral to development. Modern education relies on cognitive analogy and the assimilation of knowledge. Critical Thinking is an essential part of the design industry and plays a significant role in its growth. According to David Hitchcock in his research paper, 'Critical Thinking as an Educational Ideal', the concept of critical thinking is a combination of individual experiences and lessons learned from life.

The rise of Black critical thought in the US has been much more successful than in the UK, which invariably raises the question of why. The trend of Black creatives from the UK settling in the US for better career prospects has been observed in recent years. A number of well-known black creatives, such as Campbell Addy, Edward Enningful, and Mowalola Ogunlesi, relocated for better opportunities, despite having plausible career outcomes (Vogue, Black Creatives, 2022).

Another aspect that requires a closer redress is that a set of discourses and concepts regarding the question of ‘blackness’ originating from the field of Black Studies have recently found their way into UK arts institutions and marginal spaces of race and cultural politics within the British academy, which have led to a need for further redress. This contrasts with the relative lack of attention paid to new developments in Black Studies by more established disciplinary formations in the British academic community. Among these formations are Philosophy, Critical Theory, History, English Literature, Sociology, Media, and Politics.

The most condescending aspect of the scenario is determining whether the US' growing influence on Britain's growing school of black studies will help Britain grow or stagnate. A concern arises from the fact that the given chain of events highlights the overall affinity towards plausible change in a scenario, which could be conducive to the growth of Black Critical Thought in the UK, seems to overshadow the matter.

As one might expect, the problem is much more complex than it appears. The systematic barrier to the rise and growth of Black communities in the UK has long been racism. It is necessary to examine the historical development of race, higher education, and left intellectualism in Britain from a theoretical, political, institutional, and social perspective. In order to determine what one understands, it is imperative to introduce the concept of Black Cultural Studies retroactively.

Though Stuart Hall and Paul Gilroy initiated the concept, it extends far beyond their efforts. At this stage, it is essential to understand that it is almost impossible to grasp the emergence of Black Cultural Studies without conceiving it as a delayed outcome of several decades of Black political mobilisation in Britain since the 1950s. The critical development that has affected the growth of Black Cultural Studies was the rise of Black British Feminism. It is essential to recognise at this point that the terms 'Black British Cultural Studies and 'US Black Critical Thought' are not absolute descriptors. Our exhaustive picture of the US Black Critical Thought is not entirely satisfying. However, the socio-political context of the UK still gives some context to the overall outcomes of such studies. In other words, it implies that in the context of a scenario in Cultural Studies and left intellectualism in Britain, where little theoretical development had taken place on race and blackness since the end of the 1990s (due to a combination of New Ethnicities empiricism, the depoliticisation of Black British Cultural Studies within the humanities, and few coherent theorists of race outside of exceptional artists.), US Black Critical Thought served a particular need among young British students and artists of color seeking to name the dynamics of race they were encountering. As a result of its institutional form, black thinkers trained within the American academy described above provide a means for those entering higher education and the arts in the UK to begin thinking about race and blackness.

In comparison with its American counterpart, Black Studies in Britain have a limited amount of previous research. Black Cultural Studies has traditionally been underrepresented in Britain, but it has been promoted and cultivated for many years in the US. The UK, on the other hand, is barely hanging on. Proposed changes are difficult to visualize without discord, so translating them is difficult. However, an elevated platform would make reaching more visible spaces easier for the British cohort of students and artists. In Britain, Black Critical Thought is rarely taught formally.

Interestingly, the UK has long lost its battle to successfully foster Black Critical Thought in the US, as could be further substantiated by the fact that the US has developed institutions serving specifically the African-American community, but what are the provisions in the UK for such provision? Some of these universities are historically Black colleges and universities, such as Howard University and Spelman College.

A few canonical thinkers or artists are institutionally recognized in the UK, where race and blackness have been marginalized. Black faculty are scarce in the humanities, and there are few courses or research centres focusing on race, diaspora, and blackness.

While there are several questions and speculations concerning the impact of Black Cultural Studies in the US on Black Critical Thinking in the UK, it is too early to determine the impact of the US counterpart of Black British Arts or the UK university sector and its disciplines. As an alternative to racial and cultural studies' preconceived inhibitions, there are a variety of modes and forms of thinking and practice. The deciphering and understanding of the essential Black texts and thinkers is still in its infancy.

As a result of this entire discussion, practitioners are encouraged to focus on contributing to the growing need for diverse Black British thinkers in the creative industries. A more comprehensive participatory approach involving the Black community in art and design requires both ends to participate. In order to accomplish this, both the tutor and the tutee need to be aware of the subject matter in general. Consequently, established Black creatives must come forward to inform the world of the impact the 'Black Community' can have in the field of art and design. Black scholars are needed in the British academic community to maintain their responsibility to develop relevant knowledge. Eventually, this can serve as a blueprint for the arts for the next generation of Black Britons.