What is the Positive Images Project?
Positive Images is an education project which seeks to present positive images of black and minority ethnic communities. This is intended to be an inclusive programme, and the active participation of the wider white community is also essential to its success; the whole point is to bring people together and to celebrate the diversity of our communities in the 21st Century.
Positive Images works in secondary schools in Gateshead in the first instance, but does expand its activities to other schools within the North East where deemed appropriate. Work also takes place with youth groups and adult learning groups based within Gateshead.
The themes and topics covered will vary depending upon the nature and context of the work being carried out, but generally speaking the emphasis will be upon challenging negative racial stereotyping fueled by ignorance and misinformation, and replacing it with facts and a more positive outlook relating to different cultures and people from within our wider society and our local communities. The Education Product section of this site further details the nature of the education development work.
In addition to the education development work, Positive Images has also organised cultural diversity events at a local community level which again seek to further develop the wider aims of the project itself. Following on from this an arts development initiative has also been undertaken which involved the recording of musicians/singers/bands from divergent cultural and faith groups from within the region. This is a powerful example of celebrating cultural diversity via the medium of music and examples of this recording and further information relating to it is illustrated in the projects section of this site.
