When the team behind the Black British Voices Project launched their online survey in May 2021, they hoped it would provide a ‘voice’ for Black Britons to share their experiences and views on what it was like to be ‘Black and British’ in 2021. 

At the close of the national online survey on 7^th November, the team claimed that the validated number of 11,495 survey responses makes it ‘the largest known sample size for a bespoke national survey on Black Britons’.

Through the report, we can use the information to transform the perception of Black people in this country and help share a reliable version of Black British life with policy and decision makers

Principal Research Investigator from the University of Cambridge, Dr. Kenny Monrose said he was ‘delighted’ with the response as it demonstrated that this type of community research was ‘long overdue’.

The national survey was launched earlier this summer as part of a wider research project investigating the “evolution of Black British identities”. 

The Black British Voices Project (BBVP) is a partnership between the University of Cambridge’s Sociology Department; Britain’s only national Black newspaper The Voice and black-led consultancy I-Cubed Ltd.  Their aim was to provide an up to date and authentic portrait of Black Britishness – and British Blackness – for the 21st century.

The team behind it say the research would give Black people in the UK an opportunity to “define themselves in an autonomous way” for the very first time.  

The survey questions were built from focus group sessions conducted at the end of last year and covered issues from business and religion, health to media, youth, disability, policing, media, education and more – and was open to anyone from 16 years, who identified as Black or Black-Mixed race.

For Dr Monrose, one of the central aims of the research was to understand the “changing nature of Blackness in contemporary Britain and start to document how people were really feeling about key issues”. 

In particular, it was an unprecedented opportunity to hear from Black people all across the UK – and provide people living in Scotland, Wales and other regional cities “an opportunity to share their experiences”.

Alongside the national online survey and focus groups, Dr. Monrose also conducted over 40 in-depth qualitative interviews with Black people across British society and said that “through the report, we can use this information to transform the perception of Black people in this country. This will help share an authentic and reliable version of Black British life with policy and decision makers”. 

Another important aim of the project, according to Dr Maggie Semple, OBE, Co-CEO of I-Cubed Ltd is the access to authentic data and importance of ‘changing the narrative’ on how Black people are perceived.  

Dr. Semple said that “ for too long there has been commentary about black people that they have not directly contributed to.  The research will set a different tone about what it means to identify as black in the UK today”.

Paula Dyke, Project Lead at The Voice Newspaper and JN Group said that “over the last two years thousands have taken to the streets to protest and grassroots campaigners continue to do impactful work, but let’s be clear – there is still so much more to be done to create meaningful change for our community, especially to support the younger generation.  According to Ms. Dyke, “young people sometimes struggle to find a voice to share their frustrations, aspirations and challenges.   This research was intended to provide a platform for them to do just that – and a chance for us listen and then act”.

The research project has been backed and supported by numerous community groups and corporate partners including The JN Group, M&C Saacthi and ITV.  

The analysis and report from the Black British Voices Project will be published in 2022.   

For more information, visit www.bbvp.org