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Liverpool man’s journey from being semi-literate to Cambridge award winner
A Liverpool man has received an award from one of the most prestigious establishments in the UK.
15 students received the Vice Chancellor’s Social Impact award celebrating their achievements, plus an additional special recognition award. Malik Al Nasir, a third year PhD student in history at St Catherine’s College, Cambridge, received this year’s Global Impact Award.
The 2003 Vice Chancellor’s Social Impact Awards presented on May 4 was organised by the Cambridge Hub and are in their fifth year. Those nominated are assessed by a panel of judges from senior leaders at the University, student leaders and the CEO of the Student Hubs.
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Malik told the ECHO: “Receiving the vice chancellor’s awards for Global (Social) Impact is an incredible honour. This is considering at 18 years old I had no qualifications and I was semi-literate.
“I was fortunate to have a mentor in Gil Scott-Heron who helped me become literate through poetry and enabled me to unlock my potential. I’m using this platform to create policies and legislative changes that will facilitate unlocking the potential of others.”
Achievements that led to Malik’s award include his research at Cambridge into his slave owning family history (part of the Sandbach Tinne sugar dynasty) which is making global headlines. This resulted in a two-book deal with a major publisher, Harper Collins. Projects that have risen from this research include an award winning documentary from the Royal Television Society.
Malik’s work adds to the debate and further highlights the intersectional disadvantages Black people have to go through to be able to compete with their peers. From navigating the care system to institutional racism and much more.
In his first year at Cambridge he published his memoir ‘Letters to Gil’ charting his experiences in the care system and his journey from semi-literacy to the academia of Cambridge. To add to his portfolio, Malik has made representations to the United Nations Working Group of Experts for People of African Decent.
He said: “It was formed by the OHCHR to monitor the level of compliance that countries have to eliminate racial discrimination. They talk to civic society about discrimination across policing, employment, afro hair discrimination and more.”
He helped develop a bill to amend The Higher Education & Research Act 2017. It sets out to widen access to Black people in higher education due to an under representation in Black professors and senior academics.
The Vice Chancellor who presented Malik’s award, Dr Anthony Freeling said: “It’s wonderful to present these awards to students who have shown such commitment and dedication to social impact. The winners have demonstrated that innovation and perseverance can go a long way in making a positive impact on society. Their accomplishments serve as an inspiration to us all.”
Malik’s supervisor, Dr Hank Gonzalez, University Assistant Professor in Caribbean History said: “Malik came to our faculty with the most prestigious possible endorsement, the protégé of Gil Scott-Heron, and continues to do honour to Gil’s legacy. Malik is a remarkable student and a very special presence.
“He is a public intellectual unlike anyone I have met. His book ‘Letters to Gil’ is winning well-deserved recognition and demonstrates why he is such a leading voice on the Black human rights predicament, in the UK specifically, also around the world. His research engagements reached far and wide in his hometown Liverpool, and beyond.
“I have never had a student like him and this award is fitting recognition for his ground-breaking research, which has turned the gargantuan Sandbach Tinne sugar dynasty from an ignored topic into a major new field in its own right.”
For information on award winners visit University of Cambridge HERE
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