Four

The following text is narrated by Husseina Hamza, founder of Red Ribbon Living Well, in collaboration with Erick Obanda and Adetunji Omotosho. It refers to the organisation's history in relation to one of the locations on the “We are Here… We are on the Move” Route. In order to see the full list of places, as well as the texts and videos related to them, please access the Route page

October 2021 – June 2023, Activism

During Covid we did not have a meeting place. Our members who live with long term conditions were told to shield so they could not leave their houses. Due to some of our members’ immigration status, they had no recourse to public funds. We picked up the pieces supporting our members with food and vouchers, and we organised access to health care services. We also began to document the health inequalities faced by Black African and Caribbean communities while visiting our members at home and in hospitals. We maintained our Friday meetings online, providing internet data when needed so that everyone could participate.

Joyce Jacca, community organiser and co-founder of the Deptford People’s Heritage Museum, invited us to come to the Pepys Resource Centre and we were able to stay even though we had no money. We were offered snacks, tea, and Kenyan Fanta, and during lockdown we were the only group allowed to come to the space as we were classified as vulnerable. At Pepys we found our ground and we identified the main issues we needed to address stigma, housing and homeless, poverty and food scarcity.

Joyce also introduced us to Dr Janna Graham and Professor Jorella Andrews from Goldsmiths' Department of Visual Cultures. We took part in many online events including 'How Do Women Survive a Pandemic?' which was developed by the museum, Goldsmiths staff, and students on the Goldsmiths BA Curating programme. In this event we did a creative project in which we all shared favourite or significant objects as a way to find common ground across our different background.

About Red Ribbon Living Well

Red Ribbon Living Well (RRLW) is a community-led voluntary organisation supporting individuals affected by and living with HIV, mental health and family survivors of domestic violence in Lewisham and surrounding areas. The group was founded in 2009 by members who recognised the need for peer support in the community, and it has grown from its grass-roots beginnings. More information can be found on: redribbonlivingwell.org