The Green and Black Ambassadors inspiring change

The Green and Black Ambassadors project emerged from a Ujima Radio debate, held during Bristol’s year as European Green Capital in 2015. It was a year of events that many saw themselves excluded from, and as such there was a real need to invite more diverse voices into the debate about creating environmentally sustainable communities in Bristol.

The first Green and Black Ambassadors are Zakiya McKenzie and Jazz Ketibuah-Foley. “As volunteers of
Ujima Radio, we both were already a part of discussions on the marked exclusion of ethnic
minority Bristolians from events around the city,” Zakiya says. “PolicyBristol and The Cabot Institute at the
University of Bristol, along with Bristol Green Capital Partnership, aligned with Ujima to further the
theme of this work. The ambassadorship pilot scheme was born and here we are.”

The first Green and Black Ambassadors are Jazz Ketibuah-Foley and Zakiya McKenzie. Credit: Chris Bettles

As part of the pilot phase of the project, Zakiya and Jazz undertook research into the inclusivity of Bristol’s environmental sustainability movement and identified a huge need to challenge the decision-making that was taking place.

Armed with this knowledge, they set out to find funding and support to conduct further research. Their hope was to encourage stronger dialogue and engagement with green issues across black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities, ensuring that more people than ever had a voice in the city. Across radio shows, magazine articles, events and social media, they engaged more than 20,000 people across Bristol and beyond, as well as sharing ideas with 17 different organisations across the Green Capital Partnership.

The Green and Black Ambassadors, along with other Ujima Radio volunteers, attended many public events to get their message heard

“This work is important because it does not see diversity as a box to be ticked. It truly sees Jazz and I as
repositories of knowledge to be integrated into discussions around the city,” Zakiya says. “We often found
ourselves in meetings with the mayor and members of the city council, CEOs of big businesses and heads of
Bristol’s utility companies.

“It also challenges the idea that being ‘green’ is a white and middle-class position. In many cases,
people from ethnic minority backgrounds have long-standing traditions that are environmentally
friendly, yet are just a way of life. Our research with different communities in Bristol, through in-depth
interviews, a photography exercise, focus groups, a radio show on Ujima and online, sought to
evidence this.”

Although the pilot project made a massive impact and successfully highlighted the need for BAME integration within decision-making roles, there is still so much more that needs to be done to shape the community long-term. “The transformation to a more diverse and socially-just environmental sustainability movement will require long-term and widespread engagement,” says ambassador Jazz Ketibuah-Foley. “What we need to do now is work together to shape our learnings so far into practical solutions for the city”.

For more information, catch up on the the radio shows hosted by the ambassadors at www.bristolgreencapital.org/greenandblackambassadors or to get involved email contact@bristolgreencapital.org.

The Green & Black Ambassadors pilot project was enabled by seed funding from Bristol Green Capital Partnership CIC and The University of Bristol Cabot Institute Innovation Fund, with support from Up Our Street who hosted the ambassadors for two months. The project received additional funding from the UK National Environment Research Council and the European Research Council  as well as receiving significant in-kind support from all project partners, contributors and other supporters.

Main photo by Shawn Sobers.