TUESDAY 26 JANUARY 2021, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM — Black Cultural Archives (BCA) has selected the cultural historian, community leader, and political activist Ansel Wong CBE as the new Chair of the Board of Trustees from January 2020. In his new role, Mr Wong – alongside the roster of trustees – will work with BCA’s core staff team to continue its successful work towards its mission and realise its 2030 strategy.


Born in Trinidad and UK based since the 1960s, Ansel Wong is a cultural champion and political activist, influential in many organisations particularly in the UK Black community. He is the former Chair of the Notting Hill Carnival Trust and co-founder of Elimu Mas Band. He led a group of staff to get October designated as Black History Month, and currently serves on the Windrush Commemoration Committee. He is also an educationist and academic, and in a wide-ranging career has worked at senior levels in various organisations in the public and charitable sectors.


The current Chair, Dawn Hill CBE, will be standing down at BCA’s January AGM. Ansel will officially take the post on from then. Dawn has been part of BCA’s governance since 1981 when she worked alongside its founding Chair, Len Garrison. She became Chair of the charity in 2012.


During her time as Chair, Mrs Hill chaired the first HLF funded project, ‘Archives and Museum of Black Heritage’ in partnership with Middlesex University. This established a basis for the Raleigh Hall Capital Development Project, which she further chaired from 2005. This gave BCA its first bricks and mortar home, a national Heritage Centre, opened in 2014 at 1 Windrush Square in Brixton.


She has been steadfast in putting BCA on a strong organisational path and is confident of its growing success. She leads the BCA initiative to aid victims of the Windrush Scandal via pro bono legal surgeries in partnership with McKenzie Beute and Pope immigration lawyers. Her leadership has invaluably helped BCA create a strong foundation for the future.


On his appointment, Mr Wong said “This year feels like a sea change in the development and momentum of the Black communities in the UK. The BCA is part of this reawakening and I am both proud and delighted to have been entrusted with building on the foundation created by Dawn Hill and her Directors and leading the BCA on its journey to achieve its mission and, for me, be the first port of call to access, learn and celebrate the Black presence in the UK.


Of the appointment, BCA Managing Director Arike Oke said, “From a strong field of candidates for the Chair role, Ansel stood out. He is the perfect person to take BCA into the future, as a thriving community resource, an influential national archive, and on to international renown for our mission to preserve, document and celebrate the histories of people of African descent in the UK. Dawn Hill has contributed indelibly to BCA and I’m indebted to her guidance and support to date. I’m excited to work with Ansel in the next phase of BCA’s journey.”


Of her tenure, Mrs Hill said, “I played a part, with the support of many others, as I had an overwhelming belief that the history of Black people and their contribution to the UK had to be preserved, promoted and celebrated. I am proud to be leaving BCA as a successful organisation and have every confidence that Ansel will be a brilliant Chair.”


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Editor’s Notes


● Ansel Wong CBE, Dawn Hill CBE and Arike Oke are available for interview. Please email marketing@bcaheritage.org.uk to arrange.

● Ansel Wong CBE will begin his post on Monday 28 January 2021

● A full list of BCA’s Board Members can be found on the BCA website at www.blackculturalarchives.org.uk/people

● Black Cultural Archives is the home of Black British History, conceived in 1981 as a monument to hold space for the histories of people from across the African diaspora in British culture and history. We use our mission to collect, preserve and celebrate the histories of people of African and Caribbean descent in the UK and to inspire and give strength to individuals, communities and society. Our HQ is 1 Windrush Square in Brixton, London. At our HQ we run a series of gallery exhibitions, educational programmes and public engagement events. We provide free access to our unique set of archives, museum objects and reference library.