BLACK & ETHNIC MINORITY EXPERIENCE (BE-ME) PROJECT


BE-ME was established in 1998 with the mission to record and preserve the experiences of African-Caribbean and South Asian people who settled in Wolverhampton in the 1950s and 1960s and has developed an archive of over 100 video and audio interviews with respondents from Wolverhampton’s black and Asian communities. The website, contains a large selection of the archive, as well as a series of on-line learning packages created in partnership with local schools, Wolverhampton College and the University of Wolverhampton.

In conjunction with Gazebo Theatre-in-Education Company BE-ME has also developed ‘Home’an interactive educational CD-rom. ‘Home’is designed to introduce teachers and school administrators to the value of theatre in education and local archive projects for teaching the PSHE and Citizenship curricula. The CD-rom traces the story of a drama production, entitled ‘Home’, from its development as a script, its production in primary schools across the region and reception in the classroom. ‘Home’is a compelling story relating the experiences of minority ethnic peoples settling in Britain from the 1940s to the present day inspired by the BE-ME project. The Home CD-rom features, interviews with the production team, clips from live performances of “Home”across the Wolverhampton and Walsall region, footage of workshops and activities, downloadable activity sheets for teachers and student responses to the production.

To order copies of ‘Home’contact Raj Chahal at BE-ME on tel: 01902 716055/ e. raj.c@light-house.co.uk or see www.be-me.org