Uncover the Caribbean crucial role in shaping the outcome of World War Two and honour Ben Bousquet St Lucian historian/politician
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Ben Bousquet, born 1939, was an incredible historian whose World War 2 research paved the way for groups like Black History Walks 20 years of talks and films on the topic.
Ben co wrote the only book detailing Caribbean women in World war 2, West Indian Women at War with Colin Douglas
This online session will go through some of his many achievements and review his historical work on World war 2 on the 20th anniversary of his passing 20th June 2006
Colin Douglas is the author of World War 2: The Importance of the Caribbean –. Discover untold stories and the crucial role the Caribbean played during the war.
In his book which builds on the research of Ben Bousquet, Colin Douglas highlights the pivotal role of the Caribbean in the Second World War. Without the contribution of Caribbean territories to the Allied war effort in the form of raw materials and personnel, the fate of Britain’s struggle to avoid German invasion would have been uncertain, and an Allied victory significantly delayed. In turn, the conditions created by the Second World War facilitated the Caribbean’s struggle for independence from its colonial rulers, and set in motion a new flow of migration to postwar Britain that has shaped Black British history since.
The Caribbean and the Second World War situates the tense relationship between the Caribbean and its colonial powers in a longer historical context. Drawing on hundreds of archival files and first-hand interviews, Douglas uncovers British racism and the colour bar in the armed forces before, during and after the war. He illustrates how the war directly affected the Caribbean through U-boat attacks, rationing and increased US army presence, as well as exploring the role of West Indians in the RAF, army and naval services. In the postwar period, he traces the link between West Indian military service and the rise in Caribbean migration to a Britain in need of rebuilding
Plus extract from Black History Walks on their Pearson GCSE History exam text book and its Black History coverage and Volume 1
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Other Coming Events from Black History Walks
- African Odysseys: How to Fight Racism at the BFI, British Film Institute
- 50 years of Struggle Professor Gus John films and talks
- Black history Bus tour/ Steam train trip/River cruise
- Frantz Fanon film and talk Weekender
- Black Women and Film Exhibition
- Graphic Novels: Publishing Black History and movies
- Mayfair, Hackney,Notting Hill, Southbank, Trafalgar Square, Regents Canal and Soho walks
- African Women Spirituality @Fulham Palace
- Groundings @Fulham Palace
- Kumba drumming @Fulham Palace.
- I fought the law and I won, a Black judge of 60 years of Equality legislation
- Champion Black Boxers and businessmen in 1800s London: African Odysseys