Pragmatic White Allyship for Higher Education Popular Music Academics

Abstract

The world watched the killing of George Floyd from a position of COVID induced captivation. The succeeding global protests and Black Lives Matter movement justly prompted us all to consider our own complicity with the modes of systemic racism which have normalized anti-Black thought and action. The Wonkhe@Home: Black Lives Matter event (July 2020) sought to share pragmatic advice for ‘taking action to tackle racism across HE’, aware of the responsibility for the Higher Education sector to acknowledge its own role in consecrating racist forms of knowledge. This ‘statement’ translates session outcomes for Popular Music Academics (PMA), provoking the ethical imperative to reflect upon individual situational praxis towards White Allyship action. Through consideration of PMA’s typical fields of agency, I make suggestions towards development of anti-racist learning cultures within Popular Music Higher Education.