Open letter to the Board of Trustees of Black Umbrella concerning the dismissal of Rasheed Araeen Print E-mail 4 comments Open letter to the Board of Trustees of Black Umbrella, concerning the dismissal of Rasheed Araeen as executive director, and the consequences of this action for the future of Third Text , as well as for Third Text Africa. On the 25th June 2012 Rasheed Araeen, founding editor of Third Text , sent an email to a number of persons associated with Third Text . The letter detailed his dismissal as executive director of Black Umbrella, the non-profit organisation founded by Araeen which established Third Text as its flagship project. Araeen’s letter contains many serious allegations about the conduct of the board of trustees of Black Umbrella, particularly its chairperson, Ziauddin Sardar. In summary, these include Sardar’s interference in the day-to-day running of Third Text , and his sowing of divisions between Araeen and...