2024: Update

Below please find comms sent to our email Newsletter on 12/01/2024

Dear all,

We hope you have had an incredible start to this new year, and that 2024 holds everything you hope and desire for it.

It has been a while since we checked in, our last communication let you know that after such a successful Imagination Labs over 2022/23 which saw our 20 inaugural students graduate, we were exploring different routes to continuing the work of the Free Black University.

We were in the process of joining up with another organisation in this space to hold the work, we hoped that this collaboration would be a new beginning for the organisation and for Black education in the UK more broadly. However, due to various reasons we were unable to move forward with the partnership though both organisations still mutually support the work of the other. We hope to work together in other ways in the future.

So, what next for the Free Black University?

Currently the funding landscape is not favourable, and we have not been able to build the infrastructure we had hoped to initially. However, we do not take this as a failure in any sense, we are grateful for the opportunity we have had to impact the lives of so many Black learners across the UK and Europe. This work is emergent, it doesn’t always fit within the confines of organisational structures, and this is the point at which we listen to the heartbeat of the organisation itself, and it is calling us in for a deep rest.

So, we’ve made the decision to temporarily pause all operations. this is not the end of the Free Black University, but a pause. The company will enter a period of dormancy whilst we rethink and re-strategise about what the future may look like, begin exploring other viable funding routes. As well as a pause for all of those involved in the work, things have been incredibly full on since 2020, and it is important that we all breathe and readjust to the world as it is after the unique events of the times in which we were birthed.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to each of you for believing in our vision and working alongside us to bring it to fruition.

During our pause, you can continue to engage with the resources on our website, including the incredible Journal and Audio-Visual material developed by our 2022/23 student cohort.

With love,

The Free Black University Team