Black Women Then and Now: Chalkhill Community Centre Saturday October 28th

 

Autumn events from Brent Libraries – including some important history!

 A guest post from Philip Grant

I’ve heard from my friends at Brent Culture Service (that’s Libraries, Arts & Heritage) about their autumn programme. There is a whole range of events, both online and “live”, that will appeal to people of all ages, from activities to talks, theatre, music and film, and most of them are free! You can check out the details here, but there are a couple which are particularly interesting to me.

 

A black British sailor at the Battle of Trafalgar, 1805.

 

You may think that Black History Month is nothing to do with you, or that it’s just for “black” people to learn about “their own” history. If so, I hope you will change your mind. In history at secondary school in the 1960s, it was never mentioned that the sailors involved in famous battles won by the British navy were not all white. Over the past decade, since retiring, I’ve discovered some amazing stories of the part played by people of colour in “British” history, and there is still more that I can learn. That’s why I’ve signed up for these two online talks.

 

Arthur and Frederick in their navy uniforms, 1918.

 

I have an interest in naval history, partly because my grandad and his brother Fred were both in the Royal Navy during the First World War. The free online talk, “Uncovering the History of Black British Mariners”, on Tuesday 19 October at 6.30pm, is one I’m looking forward to. I never realised that some of their shipmates may have been “Black British Mariners”, but the faces below make that a possibility.

 

 

Some faces from the “Black Poppies” talk.

 

The First World War is still producing some stories we didn’t learn at school, even over 100 years since it ended. I’m sure that “Black Poppies – Britain’s Black Community and the Great War”, another free online talk, on Armistice Day, Thursday 11 November at 6.30pm, will add some fascinating details to that list.

 

Although I don’t know who most of the people shown in the image above are, I do recognise the face of Sergeant William Robinson Clarke (bottom right). He got his pilot’s licence and “wings” in the Royal Flying Corps (soon to become the RAF) in 1917, and I found out about him some years ago at a Wembley History Society talk, “Pilots of the Caribbean”, and an RAF Museum exhibition of the same name.

 

William Robinson Clarke’s Royal Flying Corps pilot’s licence record card, April 1917.

 

Our WHS talk was by Mark Johnson, and I’m surprised that Brent Libraries don’t seem to have a copy of his book, “Caribbean Volunteers at War” – I hope they get one soon! As well as this WW1 pilot, there were around 500 “Pilots of the Caribbean” who flew in the RAF during the Second World War. One of them has a Wembley connection, because it was here, in 1948, that he won Jamaica’s first Olympic Games gold medal! You can read his story here.

 

Another First World War hero, with a Wembley connection, who I first came across while researching for the British Empire Exhibition’s 90^th anniversary, was a Nigerian. You can read about Sergeant-Major Belo Akure’s bravery here.

 

I hope I’ve whetted your appetite for some of the events that Brent Culture Service have organised for all of us to enjoy this autumn. Please take a look at the programme, to see which ones you and your family fancy, and sign up for the ones that interest you!

Philip Grant

Windrush, War & Welfare October 25th Brent Civic Centre

TICKETS HERE

Exciting Black History Month events coming up in Brent and Harrow

Guest Blog from Kwaku

This is to remind you that Harrow Mayor Cllr Nana Asante will be hosting an extra African History Season event at her Parlour this Friday Oct 25, 5-7pm: From Martin Luther King To Paul Stephenson in 1963. From Race Riots In Chicago To Cardiff in 1919. How Far Have We Come? with Chicago jazz musician Ernest Dawkins talking about the US history behind his band's latest compositions, and Kwaku giving the UK experience during the corresponding period. So if you are aware of, or interested in hearing more about the impact of Martin Luther King's 'I Have A Dream' speech, don't miss this event!

Motivational speaker Andrew Muhammad aka The Investigator will be doing his thing on Tuesday Oct 29, 6.30-8.30pm at Word Power: Together We Can! in the Harrow Council Chamber, which includes a creative workshop for young people: www.harrowBHM.eventbrite.com.

Tuesday's event will be in memory of the recently departed Jessica Huntley, an inspirational octogenarian, community activist, wife and business partner of Eric Huntley, both of whom have been special guests at our previous events.

On Saturday Oct 26, 7.30pm, the Mayor will be in the London Borough of Brent of Brent for the The Group @ St John's Black History Dinner, where after a lovely meal (I can vouch for that, as I was there in the summer & enjoyed the meal!), I'll be talking about education and overcoming obstacles. If you don't want to hear me, come for the food anyway, and support a worthy community project - it is an austerity-friendly £5 adults (£3 children)!

Peace,

Kwaku

Black History Month

Brent Council denies proper place for Black History

"This is Black History - the school system made it a mystery"

Black History Month has been a central focus of the educational calendar in Brent for many years. Every year it is accompanied by special events in the libraries, curriculum work in schools and usually a competition in different age categories for local children.

The aims are to:

• Promote knowledge of the  Black History , Cultural and Heritage
• Disseminate information on positive Black contributions to British Society
• Heighten the confidence and awareness of Black people to  their cultural heritage.

This year Black History Month was launched at a special event Black History Live! at Wembley Stadium.and Oakington Manor Primary  is hosting a Culture Fest on October 8th which 1,000 people are expected to attend.

Disconcerting then to read that Brent Council will no longer separately recognise the event from next year. In a a move with parallels to the Council's muddled festivals policy Black History Month will be subsumed into:

'Word Watch! which is a celebration of books and reading also drawing on other events such as Halloween, Diwali and Children's Book Week. Word Up! will be applauding the achievements of Black British people.'

 It is unclear from the press report where this decision emanates from but it clearly fails to recognise the significance of Black History Month which originating in North America in 1926 was campaigned for in the 1970s by figures such as Ealing black bookshop owners Eric and Jessica Huntley and Alex Pascall pioneer broadcaster of Black Londoners. It was a cultural and political campaign which both tackled the racism that ignored and denied black history and the need for black children in the diaspora to be aware of their roots and heritage. At its best it was internationalist and tackled issues of colonialism and imperialism.

It may be hard to believe now but when I started teaching in North Westminster in 1975 in a small Church of England primary school in Paddington, in a school of 90% black children there were no books even showing black people, let alone covering their history. I remember a child being astonished when I used a 'reader' which portrayed black children - some schools imported the Ladybird Sunshine Readers published for Caribbean schools for this purpose but the setting didn't match the locality of urban schools. When I introduced a book about Oloudah Equianno I remember a child turning to me and saying in hushed tones, 'I didn't know black people could be famous!'

Backed by community demand, local education authorities such as the Inner London Education Authority started to produce their own materials, albeit with a rather 'home made' feel. As these materials became popular publishers themselves reacted and higher quality publications were produced.

Early attempts at covering black history and black culture were often clumsy and stereotyped, despite being well-meaning and encountered the accusation  of tokenism and exotica - the 'saris, samosas and steel bands' approach. A much sharper edge developed where issues such as discrimination, oppression and struggle were recognised.

Unfortunately that Brent statement linking Black History with Halloween and Diwali (!) brings us back to the earlier model and there is a real danger of dilution. Their decision needs to be challenged.