Box of delight

“For our society to cohere, to find a successful identity in the 21st Century with a vision to carry us all forward, we need to shake off some of the shibboleths of the past. Otherwise our vision will be unbalanced by a false sense of what Britain has been, by omission of the contributions of far too many of our citizens.” Navasha Wray, Greens of Colour Education Officer, discusses the importance of decolonizing the curriculum and re-examining Britain’s colonial past.

When the statue of slave trader Edward Colston was launched into the Bristol harbour last week, it propelled a discussion of how Britain regards its imperial and colonial past right into the mainstream and out of the corridors of academia.

About time too, say many BAME writers, artists and academics. They have been calling for an overhaul of the way in which the British imperial legacy has been taught and presented in British schools. Britain’s role in promoting slavery and as a colonial power has been glossed over, if not airbrushed out of the history taught in schools. Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests have opened up a welcome space for us all to debate and reconsider the era of colonialism and how we want to address it.

DJs have been the best crate diggers, people who would spend hours flipping thru old vinyl, unknown titles, rare cuts, and sometimes seriously out-of-fashion, embarrassing old records for those brief moments of music that when looped, could be spun into modern magic.  

 

Since the beginning of hip hop and turntablism, the best DJs have been the best crate diggers, people who would spend hours flipping thru old vinyl, unknown titles, rare cuts, and sometimes seriously out-of-fashion, embarrassing old records for those brief moments of music that when looped, could be spun into modern magic.

At the same time, hip hop sampling has also been a minefield for copyright law, so much that modern DJs shy away from sampling lest they spend months and or years seeking clearing rights.

As the #MeToo movement broke a year ago, I waited eagerly for someone to speak out on my behalf – on behalf of the many women across scholarly communication of all ages who like me had been subject to harassment in its many forms. My post here back in February was in part a result of my own anger at the silence, and it’s one of the pieces that has helped us begin this conversation in scholarly communication. I’d like to thank and give huge kudos to ALPSP for not only welcoming this panel, but also for recognizing its importance and making it a plenary session.