Statement on The Tragic Death of Professor Jason Arday

Saturday August 15th, 2026

BCA Statement on The Tragic Death of Professor Jason Arday

“The whole community at the Black Cultural Archives sends deepest condolences to the family, friends and loved ones of Professor Jason Arday. At the heart of this tragedy is a young man who had overcome so much, who was a father, a husband, a son and who was always one of us. Let us hold that at the heart of our thoughts and actions. Our love and prayers are with his family. May he finally rest in the peace he was so cruelly denied in his all too short lifetime.  

We, as a community of racialised peoples, feel this loss so deeply, because we know that this could happen to any one of us - the violence of racism takes so many different shapes and forms. We know the history of the exhibition of Black people, the parading of Black people and the way that we are used in the service of other people’s agendas. The cage does not always have bars. In a world where clicks are more important than compassion, where headlines come at the expense of an individual’s mental health, and where institutional duty of care is not always afforded Black people, we demand accountability.

Our communities are threatened at every level, from our children being strip searched at school (a place where they have the right to feel safe), to our ‘achievers’ being publicly vilified, hounded and driven to take their own lives or else into extreme mental health crises.

To misquote Zora Neale Hurston, Jason “such as you were, you were a precious gift”. May you rest in eternal power.”

Ends