Written by Alieh Amuntung (pictured to the right side of the main image)
Hello everyone, I’m Alieh, Programme Manager at Rekindle School Manchester. Although I’ve been part of Rekindling Nello James through my position at work, this is a project I would have 100% wanted to be part of regardless given its history and the meaning it holds for a community I belong to and care so deeply about. The Steering Group has become a gathering point for memory, reflection, and determination.
When I first joined the project, I thought we’d be talking mostly about history, archives, dates, maybe restoring a building. But as the conversations unfolded, it became clear that this isn’t just about what was but about what still matters.
What Community Means
Each time we meet as a group, I’m reminded that community isn’t a fixed thing. It’s built and rebuilt, moment by moment, through care and courage. Listening to elders speak about the early days of the Nello James Centre.. the drumming, the youth clubs, the laughter, the debates. I could feel how much intention lived inside those walls. The space wasn’t just a community centre, it was a home to many for possibility and hope.
And yet, so many of those spaces have been lost. Buildings that once held generations of Black joy and resistance now sit empty, renamed, or replaced. The loss isn’t just physical, it’s emotional and generational. When a Black-led space disappears, the stories attached to it risk vanishing too. We’ve seen this happen all too often, with other pillars within African and Caribbean communities being taken and erased without any consideration or conversation.
Fighting for Space and Voice
In our steering group sessions, we’ve often talked about what it means to fight for space, not only literal buildings, but the right to be heard, remembered, and recognised. I’ve learned that heritage work isn’t about nostalgia, it’s an act of resistance. It’s saying… we were here, we still are, and our stories matter.
There’s something powerful about hearing people who lived through those days speak in the present tense, and it always starts with we !!
We built, We organised, We loved, We created.
Their words pull the past into now. They remind me that the fight for space is also a fight for belonging. And if we are silenced, we risk erasing ourselves and our own history. If we owe anything to ourselves and our communities, it’s to keep our legacies alive and remembered.
Why Heritage Matters
Projects like Rekindling Nello James make visible what’s too often hidden: the long threads of care and community that have held Manchester’s Black history together. Through interviews, writing, and gatherings, a collective memory is being pieced together and not to trap it in the past, but to make it live again.
I’ve come to see this project as a form of radical care: listening deeply, recording truthfully, remembering respectfully. For me, that’s how I best pay homage by carrying forward the same fight and courage that built these spaces in the first place.
Looking Ahead
Working alongside the Steering Group has been grounding. Each session, I hear stories that stretch across decades, but I’m also left asking myself: how do we ensure that spaces like Nello James don’t just become history, but legacy?
I don’t have all the answers, but I do know this.. when we gather, share, and remember, we make the invisible visible again. We keep the spirit of Nello James alive, not just in bricks, but in every act of community we continue to build.
Join us: Want to get involved or share a story connected to the Nello James Centre? Email Project Lead, Bianca at: bianca@rekindleschool.org