Words of Colour Productions executive director Joy Francis explains why she felt it was time to challenge the underwhelming image of Black British love relationships by forming a partnership with former publisher and director of Write on Track Patsy Antoine-Isles to launch an innovative new online project.
In February 2014, I joined forces with Write on Track director and former Tamarind Books commissioning editor Patsy Antoine-Isles to launch the UK’s first *Black Britons, Dating and Relationship **survey.
The survey is the central plank of a two and a half year project which includes focus groups, one to one and telephone interviews with black men and women to uncover and clarify what Black Britons really think about love, dating and relationships in the 21st century. The data gathered will lead to the creation of a series of eBooks in 2016, and the launch of a social media platform to spark debate – online and offline. The project is currently being self funded by Words of Colour Productions.
Words of Colour is looking to secure 500 survey responses by the end of June 2015, host 10 focus groups, and conduct 20 telephone interviews.
Dating is a multi-billion pound global industry, but very little is known and understood about the Black British dating and relationship experience. Are we getting married? What is our experience of online dating? What relationship advice did we get from our parents? How is the younger generation faring in their quest for love? And what cultural barriers do we face?
Black people’s love lives are often under scrutiny in a way that doesn’t reflect their realities. We have yet to see authentic representations of ourselves and our relationships on a consistent basis in adverts, films or books. When we do see ourselves in romantic situations, it’s often from an American perspective. Words of Colour would like to start filling in that incomplete picture.
Time for a change: Joy Francis and Patsy Antoine-Isles
The response to our launch has been incredibly positive. We did a series of regional BBC radio interviews, including the Kevin Philemon Show on BBC Radio Gloucestershire and Caribbean Scene with Devon Daley on BBC Radio Derby. The Voice did an article on the project. Even dating sites, such as Dates 4 Us, interviewed us for a piece on Black Britons and marriage.
In the wake of the coverage we decided to expand the project and extend the survey deadline. We have attracted 300 responses so far, mostly collected during the first two months, post launch. The survey has been reopened so if you missed out the first time you now have another chance.
You can fill in the survey here
It will help our research immensely if you answer all of the survey questions. This will allow us to gain as complete a picture as possible. That includes your age (we are sure you look fantastic on it), where you are based and your racial/cultural heritage.
I hope the project will spark a major discussion on relationships among Black Britons. The plan is to get us talking more openly to each other about our lives, our relationships with our parents and what we did and didn’t learn about relationships from them.
It’s also about putting us on the map and positively influencing how we are written about and portrayed because our lives and relationships are just not being reflected meaningfully in the mainstream media. If anything, African American relationships seem to define who we are but we have our own stories to tell.
Patsy Antoine-Isles wants the project to leave a legacy for the next generation. “Maybe we need to think of this information as a memory box for our children. I don’t know where this survey will take us, but if our men and women understand each other better as a result then that can only be a good thing.”
Focus groups and interviews
If you are Black British, aged from 18 to 55 plus and are interested in taking part in the focus groups or one to one interviews, which will run from February to July 2015, please email your full name, age and mobile number to [email protected]. Your details will be treated in the strictest confidence.
If you would like to host a focus group for us, then email Joy Francis at [email protected].
*Black British refers to British people of Black African and Caribbean heritage.
**You must be 18+ to participate in this survey.
Picture credits: Cupidslibrary.com, Metrodate.com, Blackdoctor.org and Kiss100.co.ke