Award-winning rapper and poet Akala is coming to De Montfort Students’ Union (DSU) to help inspire Black Minority Ethnic (BME) students at De Montfort University (DMU).
*UPDATE: Reserve your FREE ticket for our BME Inspired event featuring Akala here!*
Award-winning rapper and poet Akala is coming to De Montfort Students’ Union (DSU) to help inspire Black Minority Ethnic (BME) students at De Montfort University (DMU).
Akala is renowned for his inspirational guest lectures and speeches – and will be coming to DMU as part of a ‘BME Inspired’ afternoon of events on Wednesday 5 April organised by De Montfort Students’ Union.
BME Inspired is what the executive team at DSU believe is necessary for us to spark a conversation within a safe environment to be able to call out the elephant in the room – the well-publicised BME attainment gap within higher education (HE).
Akala is really well-known for giving educational and inspirational talks. Many know him as an artist, but he is also an educator who loves talking to students and speaking from his background and knowledge of race relations and liberation, especially within the black community.
The event, between 1pm and 5pm, is completely FREE for all DMU students to attend, but you will need to reserve your place here.
BME Inspired will focus on three main themes;
- BME Identity – how students identify as BME;
- BME in HE – discussing the need to liberate higher education;
- and BME in Leadership – expanding on the stereotypes of BME leaders, the barriers they face and how these can be challenged.
Sessions will aim to provide extra support for DMU students, as part of the Officer Team’s goal of tackling the BME attainment gap.
We know that there is a BME attainment gap in HE, but we don’t fully know how extensive it is or why it’s there. So, it’s time to have a conversation and see what can be done.
Other speakers at the event include Aadam Muuse, Black Students’ Officer, and Mostafa Rajaai, International Officer, both from the National Union of Students’ (NUS), plus Éireann Attridge from Cambridge University Students’ Union, Kaushika Patel, project lead for DMU’s ‘Freedom to Achieve’ scheme and Mark Prescod, DMU Senior Lecturer and Student
The event will feature panel discussions as well as Q&A sessions, and while targeted at BME students is open to all at DMU.
You can find out more about BME Inspired, as well as reserve your FREE ticket, here.
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