With this project we we wish to initiate the documentation and understanding of the history trajectory of anti-racist activism in Belgium. We particularly center the anti-racist struggles driven by the lived experiences of racialized activists with roots in North or Sub-Sahara Africa. The historical narratives and struggles of racialized activists prior to the 2000s have remained uncharted within the history and social science books.
We wil try to respond to the following research questions: what were the mains claims of racialized anti-racist activists before the 2000s? what strategies and objectives did they pursue? what were the socio-political contexts in which their mobilization and organization unfolded? How did they conceptualize racism and anti-racism? Can we speak of different 'waves' of anti-racism in Belgium? The project was set-up by Professor Ilke Adam, in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Bambi Ceuppens (Africamuseum) and Dr. Fatima Zibouh (Brussel2030). The project will not only result in a written account on the stories of the pioneers of anti-racist activism but also in the creation of a website that features video testimonies and different types of archival material (forthcoming at firstwaves.be).
