The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE (Race Archives and Community Engagement) Centre
An introduction to the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE (Race Archives and Community Engagement) Centre, part of the University of Manchester’s Special Collections. Written by Maya Sharma, Joanne Robson and Annie Dickinson.
Who we are
The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE (Race Archives and Community Engagement) Centre is an open access library specialising in the study of race, migration and diversity. We have a unique set of library and archive collections that relate to race and ethnicity, racism, race relations, and the histories and experiences of Black, Asian, ethnic minority, refugee and migrant communities and people (the global majority).
We work with our sister organization, the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Education Trust, on a shared Vision: an inclusive, equally represented and racially just society; our mission is to make global majority history, heritage and culture more visible, supporting excellence in research and learning through ethical and inclusive practice.
Our objectives include:
- Increase access, relevance and quality of research, teaching and collections.
- Create opportunities for enjoyment, inspiration, understanding and knowledge of Black, Asian, ethnic minority, refugee and migrant (global majority) history, heritage and culture.
- Increase the skills and confidence of community groups, researchers, academics, students and young people.
- Change the sectors we work with so they adopt more ethical and inclusive ways of working.
The Centre was established by Lou Kushnick, Professor of Sociology at the University of Manchester, in 1999. His vision was for a collection that would not only have huge research value, but also be instrumental in celebrating cultures and combating racism. This vision underpins all the work we do today.
Badge Collection, GB3228.35, AIU RACE Centre
The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre’s collections are an important and integral part of the University of Manchester’s Special Collections. However, our Centre and the archive and library collections are based in Manchester Central Library as part of the Archives+ partnership. This means that our collections are held and catalogued separately and must be accessed in a different way than the rest of the University’s Special Collections.
Read on for more information about our collections and how to access them.
Our Library Collections
Our open access library is located on the Lower Ground Floor of Manchester Central Library and contains extensive secondary reading and primary resources telling the story of race, migration and diversity in Manchester, the UK and the USA.
The library is an inclusive and friendly space used by independent researchers, students, academics and community groups.
The area includes eight work spaces, with power points to support use of digital devices, and four public PCs. The study space is always popular and is available on a first come first served basis. There are also a number of soft seating options in the library space for browsing the collection.
The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre Library shares the lower ground floor space with Manchester City Library. City Library includes the Central Library lending collection and additional public PCs.
The Library Collection is made up of a unique collection of:
- Academic publications
- Community produced books, pamphlets and DVDs
- Oral history recordings and transcripts
- Teaching resources
- Fiction
- Poetry
- Art and photography books showcasing the visual art and craft traditions of African, Caribbean and South Asian cultures
- Children’s books and resources
We use a unique classification system for our library. This was designed to make a specialist collection like ours as easy to use as possible, and to reject the racist ideas that the Dewey system perpetuates.
The different sections of the library are clearly signposted making it ideal for browsing and discovering. The library is organised into the following subject areas:
History (HI)
Politics (PO)
Culture and Identity (CU)
Arts, Media and Sport (AR)
Housing (HO)
Immigration (IM)
Health (HE)
Welfare (WE)
Gender and Family Studies (GE)
Education (ED)
Employment (EM)
Local Studies (MAN)
Fiction (FIC)
Source Guides have been produced that give an introduction to individual subjects and include lists of resources available both in the library collection and online. Source Guides include:
- Hip Hop
- Pan-African Congress 1945
- ‘Honour’ — Based Violence and Forced Marriage
Accessing Library Collections
The library is open any time that Central Library is open and we staff our enquiry desk at the following times:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 9.30am — 12.30pm and 1.30pm — 4.30pm, Thursday 1.30pm — 4.30pm. Every third Thursday the desk is closed for staff training.
About two thirds of the collection is loanable. Reference only material can be studied anywhere within Central Library.
To borrow from our library collection, you will need to join Manchester Libraries. This is separate from your University of Manchester library membership, and is free to anyone who lives in the UK. You can search for material in our library via the RACE Centre Spydus landing page (you can filter results by ‘Type: Bibliographic’ to view library collections only).
Our Archive Collections
Our archives are recognized for their depth and breadth: they document the experiences of Black, Asian, ethnic minority, refugee and migrant communities in Manchester, some centuries or decades old, others more recently arrived. They represent some exceptional primary and secondary source materials and many of the archive collections include oral history recordings.
It’s not only the content that is significant but also the way in which the collections have been created. In many cases collections have been collected and archived in partnership with community organizations, through the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Education Trust. Communities are encouraged and supported to capture their own histories, deciding what they want to record and share. Archive catalogues are usually co-created with donors, putting communities firmly in control of how they tell their stories and assign significance and meaning to their stories.
Some of our archives tell the stories of people who played crucial roles in their communities and the broader community in general. Elouise and Beresford Edwards, for example (who came from Guyana to Manchester in 1961) successfully challenged racism in the courts, supported Caribbean communities to organize and fight racism, as well as working tirelessly to foster a greater knowledge and recognition of Black history and experience both within and outside Manchester’s Caribbean communities.
Other archives relate to anti-racist activities or movements, telling the stories of resistance and resilience. The Tandana (Asian Youth Movement) collection documents the development of Asian Youth Movements in the North of England, in the late 70s and early 80s. A substantial amount of the collection relates to to local and national anti-deportation and defence campaigns including the Bradford 12, Newham 8 and Newham 7 campaigns supported by the Bradford and Sheffield groups.
Further material relates to campaigns against racism, racist attacks, police harassment, workers’ rights and solidarity campaigns. The archive contains papers relating to immigration, police monitoring, racism in schools and ethnic minority organisations. There is also information concerning employment and training, community support, cultural events, and related newspaper cuttings and publications. There is a wealth of materials here, capturing the social and political context and illustrating the wide-spread attacks on communities, as well the racist policing they endured.
Tandana Archive, GB3228.6, AIU RACE Centre
Accessing Archive Collections
If you are interested in viewing archive records please first look at the collection catalogue and identify which records you are interested in. Find more information and the link to search our catalogue on the Archives page on our website.
Then email us with your request at rrarchive@manchester.ac.uk. We will respond as quickly we can and explain what access we can offer. You will need to study archive material in the Central Library Search Room, more details can be found here.
Accessing our collections online
As a contemporary archive with many living donors, some of the archive records within our collection have restricted permissions and are not suitable for open digital access (though are often available for research purposes). This, combined with our limited capacity, means we currently have only selected highlights of records for general digital access. However the collections which you can find listed below provide a good snapshot into the themes, subjects and overall diversity of our collections.
- Extracts from some of our oral history collections can be listened to online via SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/aiucentre
- Publications of the Commission of Racial Equality (1976–2007) can be viewed at: https://www.jstor.org/site/manchester/ahmed-iqbal-ullah-race-relations-resource-centre/
- Online publications that relate to our archive collections can be searched at: https://aiucentre.wordpress.com/ and https://www.racearchive.org.uk/blog/
- Video collections that reflect our community engagement work can be viewed at: https://www.racearchive.org.uk/videos/
- Commission of Racial Equality publications and the badge collection can be viewed online using LUNA (The University of Manchester Library Digital Collections)
Other Activities
Through the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Education Trust we work closely with local communities: running oral history projects, hosting events and exhibitions, and working with schools. Our activities include:
- Working with global majority community groups to collect life histories, photographs and documents so their histories are preserved and shared.
- Supporting schools and teachers to develop an anti-racist curriculum.
- Creating resources for use in school and community settings.
- Organising events, exhibitions and activities to share knowledge of the contributions of global majority communities to British history.
Additional Resources
For further information please visit https://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/aiu-race-centre/
Please contact rrarchive@manchester.ac.uk for help or enquiries about accessing our collections.
