In our own words

This chapter is based on the authors’ reflections on co-ordinating creative work, associated zine workshops, and launch as part of The House that Heals the Soul, a 2017 exhibition at the Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) in Glasgow. It focuses on personal experiences of co-organising Yon Afro Collective: In Our Own Words, as co-founders of a Black women-led collective of women of colour in Scotland (Yon Afro Collective). The authors reflexively draw upon this case study to examine issues regarding the encounters of Black women and women of colour in relation to arts and cultural spaces in Scotland and to emphasise the need for their narratives to be archived, creatively expressed, and publicly acknowledged. Whilst Yon Afro Collective: In Our Own Words was organised at a low cost and with the support of the CCA, it is important to recognise that many other Black women and women of colour do not have the unpaid time and financial resources to draw upon as part of such processes. It is imperative for creative and cultural organisations to identify and action ways to support the co-ordination of events and activities which offer Black women and women of colour in Scotland a public platform.