Violinist Aaliyah Booker and Zia Teshome at Highgate Black Women’s Wellness Group

“BLACK women have been ignored under this label of BME,” Zia Teshome, the founder of a new black women’s collective told the New Journal.

Her group, the Highgate Black Women’s Wellness Group, was born out of the unmet, specific needs of black women.

Ms Teshome said: “Black women have been ignored under this label of BME. I feel like their needs aren’t addressed. Their jobs are very public-facing, labour-intensive. Their wellbeing is not taken into consideration, they’re easily punished. There’s lots of institutional racism.

“I live right by Highgate Mental Health Centre. I see lots of black women coming out of there. If they’re ending up like that there’s obviously something missing before they get there.

“We need to come together and heal whatever they’re going through: health needs not being met, racism.”

Just after the second lockdown in 2021, Ms Teshome started after-work weekly meet-ups at the Old Diorama Arts Centre for black women.

With funding and encouragement from Camden Giving she was able to officially launch the collective in March last year. Now the group – an intergenerational mix of about 30 women – meet three times a month.

Ms Teshome organises free events centred around “radical self care”, from hula hooping classes to healthcare talks on how to advocate for yourself in the NHS.

“Black women are five times more likely to die during child birth,” she said. “It’s quite harrowing. Because it’s black women it’s happening to, it doesn’t get the same attention in the press. So I invited one of the academics from Birthrights involved in that research and she gave her feedback on how you can advocate for yourself in NHS.”

Last winter she organised a weekly warm bank on Friday evenings at the Ethiopian restaurant Engocha Cafe in Fortess Road. This summer they visited the V&A, Saatchi Gallery and attended plays as part of the group’s “vacation August” for people who couldn’t afford to go on holiday.

For the new term, Ms Teshome has organised black-owned businesses to showcase their products at Buck Street market and the Crowndale Centre. The group has also visited Black History Month exhibitions.

Ms Teshome thinks the month is “very important”. She said: “It highlights black females in our history and allows them to have their voices heard. We have the iconic Claudia Jones who is from Camden. I’d love to see a statue of her by the Town Hall or where the Google quarter is. I’d love to see a statue of a black woman in Camden.

“We missed the chance to have West Hampstead school named after Beryl Gilroy, which is why I’m very open that my organisation is for black women. A lot of people shy away from that. They want to make it universal like the BME tab. In doing that our needs and issues will never be addressed.”

Specific needs for black women concern misogyny and violence.

She said: “We need to be really honest about [black women] being bigger victims of violence and misogyny. The term misogynoir was invented specifically for black women to address the situation they’re in.”

Those looking to join the group should email highgate.black.women@gmail.com