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Learn about the Black History Walks experience on our YouTube channel. We regularly post videos of talks by eminent experts and academics on important Black history topics.

You’ll find our popular Queen Nzingha lectures here, which are presented by African Caribbean female academics and experts in their fields. Previous topics include “The Impact of Hip Hop on White Masculinities” and “White Saviours”. We carefully select content that will educate, inspire and encourage debate.

blackhistorywalks

Information and over 180 videos on Black British and international history which features a black (African) perspective. Each clip has a brief description and sometimes a website where more info can be obtained. New videos added monthly. More information on the website.

Walks, Talks and Films on the African History of London

blackhistorywalks
Explanation and showcase of new online resource to explore African/Caribbean history in London sourced from rare historical documents. Black History walks presents online workshop with the Mapping Black London digital project plus Q&A. The project recentres and recovers the presence of people of colour across the city’s long history. Although Britain’s multiracial heritage is often seen as a post-war phenomenon, its capital has attracted people of African descent since at least Roman times. Mapping Black London offers new insights into this rich past, producing interactive maps, dynamic digital exhibits, curriculum material, and other educational content that allows users to encounter and discover the varied contributions made by Black people to the development of London. https://mappingblacklondon.org/ This session shows a walk-through of how to use the site and demonstration of resources and research methods plus a Q&A session. Other coming events from Black History Walks www.blackhistorywalks.co.uk Black History helicopter tour African Superheroes day James Baldwin Season at BFI Southbank John Pilger season Theatreland Black History walk Black history bus tour The Amazing True Story of John Henry Smythe Black Women Resistance Leaders Black history bus tour How to teach GCSE Black history in schools
The Mission Enter the handler. Ronnie Kasrils’s half-century of activism on behalf of racial equality and socialism is well known in his native South Africa, if far less so outside of it. Born to Jewish parents, Kasrils became radicalized in 1960 by the Sharpeville Massacre, in which at least sixty-nine unarmed black people were gunned down (mostly in the back) by the South African police. Their crime? Peacefully protesting the hated “pass laws,” one of apartheid’s primary enforcement tools. After the massacre, Kasrils joined the South African Communist Party and helped found Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation, or MK), the underground, armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC) headed up by Nelson Mandela. Kasrils participated in MK’s first actions in 1961 and helped lead its efforts in Natal province. As Kasrils told me, despite being ten thousand kilometers from South Africa, London was “so dynamically connected with Johannesburg and South Africa” that it seemed much “closer” than ANC offices in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Lusaka, Zambia. London became “home” to South African exiles (black, Indian, and white), was the headquarters of British finance and mining corporations that invested in South Africa, and served as South Africa’s major transportation link to the world, via ship and plane. To raise global awareness about the horrors of apartheid and increase pressure on the white minority regime, in the late 1960s Kasrils recruited and trained English and other young white radicals (from Europe and four, including Danny Schechter, from the United States). Usually in teams of two, they flew to South Africa, pretended to be tourists sympathetic to apartheid, and undertook missions to remind black South Africans that despite their suffering and the nearly complete destruction of opposition inside South Africa, they did not stand alone. The missions included everything from bold public actions proclaiming support for the ANC to transporting weapons for freedom fighters to helping those fighters sneak into the country. The London Recruits’ mission was not insignificant. Kasrils provides the context inside South Africa: “Post [19]63–64 or so, the Rivonia Trial [that condemned Mandela and seven other activists to life in prison], the arrest of leaders (Mandela and company), the roundup of thousands, people in the prisons and in exile, the underground apparatus in the country absolutely smashed.” The ferocity of the repression resulted in what historians now refer to as the “quiet decade,” when many thought all opposition had been smashed. In the 1960s, like today, some white people hated the growing diversity of England — specifically black people from Britain’s former colonies in the Caribbean. Tory MP Enoch Powell delivered a notorious diatribe in 1968, now known as the “Rivers of Blood” speech. Powell lambasted England’s immigrant black people, fearing they would take over the country. Tom remembers his first meetings with Kasrils, who possessed great charisma and that particular South African accent of English. Using his own MK training and experience in constructing, planting, and detonating explosives as well as carrying out propaganda incidents, Kasrils taught the Bell brothers how to build a bomb in a five-gallon bucket, designed not to injure anyone but to spread ANC leaflets in public places in South Africa, as well as how to rig a cassette player to spread messages via loudspeaker. Their mission was extremely dangerous. Kasrils reminded the brothers, “If you’re caught, you’re on your own and it won’t be good.” (Indeed, though the Bell brothers’ mission went without a hitch, in 1972 several recruits were captured and suffered in a South African prison for much of the decade.) The Bell brothers returned to London where they continued their work in the British anti-apartheid movement. Peter Hain, a South African exile, became the public face of the movement, leading a successful effort to get the South African cricket and rugby teams banned from Britain. Kasrils and others in the ANC operated more clandestinely, as one of the major nerve centers for global organizing against apartheid that grew in the 1970s and exploded in the 1980s, with multiracial democracy finally emerging in 1994. The London Recruits also were committed to this goal. The filmmakers at Barefoot Rascals, a Welsh company, are currently at work on a documentary on the subject, having interviewed most of the surviving London Recruits and undertaken several trips to South Africa to interview activists and witnesses to the recruits’ efforts. Their story deserves a wide audience. Peter Cole is a professor of history at Western Illinois University. He is the author of Wobblies on the Waterfront and Dockworker Power: Race and Activism in Durban and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Black History Walks has over 20 years’ experience managing film exhibitions and talks. The African Odysseys film programme at the British Film Institute is the only one of its kind in Europe. No other cinema offers a monthly showing of Black films plus a Q&A session. The films are always eductaional and anti racist. The programme has proven hugely successful over the last 17 years and has created an impressive archive of general history, film history and recorded Q&As with directors, actors and producers. You can see some of our recorded post film Q&As on our Youtube page here. The African Odysseys programme is now under threat as inexplicably the BFI management wants to make redundant the person who co-founded the programme AND delete the post responsible for the 48 weeks of work it requires to produce AO. Please sign the petition to keep it at change,org look for BFI or African Odysseys
Short video about the amazing Flight Lieutenant John Henry Smythe and his life during and after World War Two. Watch out for our Black History Helicopter Tours in his honour, see below or www.blackhistoywalks.co.uk Black History walks… in the sky! Become a ‘skywalker’ as we fly over London’s famous sites and show the detailed African/Caribbean connections but this time from the air. This special airborne event celebrates the online release of our animated film about the incredible true story of RAF Flight Lieutenant John Henry Smythe; a World War Two hero, prisoner-of-war-survivor, Windrush passenger, lawyer and Attorney General of Sierra Leone. The short film links to the Pearson GCSE History book which features our Notting Hill black history walk. Our 'chopper' will zip over Hyde Park, Tower Bridge, St Paul's Cathedral, Millennium dome and several other famous sites, while exposing and detailing the obvious and hidden Black history in the streets, buildings, railways and waterways. This airborne tour will combine elements of our sixteen walking tours, bus tours, river cruise, canal cruise and Black History Run. We will also reference the GCSE History Migration exam textbook now used by 10,000 pupils in 140 schools, as well as, Black History Walks Volume 1 now available on Audible. Other coming events from Black history walks: Black History canal cruise Black History bus tour Theatreland Black history walk James Baldwin, a retrospective at BFI Southbank John Pilger film season at BFI Southbank Black British Civil Rights, Hackney and GCSE Banned Black Films ,17 years of African Odysseys Lewisham Schools and Black child conference The Little Mermaid's Real Black History and the books to prove it What was James Baldwin doing in Hackney?? African Superheroes Day Fighting the Slave-master walk How Black people won World War 2 www.blackhistorywalks.co.uk
Article by Nadine White in the Independent 26 August 2024 An equality and diversity officer who successfully sued her university employer for discrimination has criticised the sector’s failures to tackle racism in an exclusive interview with The Independent. Nina Rahel, 59, who worked at the University of the Arts London, was forced out of her job of nine years after she pointed out the organisation’s failure to deal with racism complaints or support Black and Asian students, an employment tribunal ruled in July. Shortly after raising these concerns and flagging other issues within the university, Ms Rahel was informed that she was losing her job in a restructuring that yielded additional roles but had no room for her. Speaking out for the first time since a tribunal found she was victimised and unfairly dismissed, the professional described her claim against her ex-employers as a necessary but taxing “David versus Goliath” battle. “I had no choice but to lodge a claim,” Ms Rahel, who is of south Asian heritage and lives in London, told The Independent. “It was so awful what they did, and it was the fact that it happened within the diversity team, too. “I was outraged at being treated so poorly and it didn't make any sense. At the time, I felt like a very lone voice and as though I was losing my mind. “It seemed to be so outrageous that you can have a restructure of the diversity team, and increase the number of staff yet there’s no room for me, despite my years of experience.” Following global Black Lives Matter demonstrations in 2020, Ms Rahel started to raise concerns about the university’s lack of appropriate response, including an inadequate anti-racism strategy and insufficient support for students. In August 2020, Ms Rahel was asked to complete a planning, review and appraisal form which was used to provide employee feedback on issues of wellbeing, achievements, challenges plus more, which would be uploaded to the HR system as required by the PRA policy. In the form, Ms Rahel said the organisation was incapable of giving a correct response to accusations of racism, giving an example of them offering coaching, instead of counselling, to students and staff who experienced racism. However, her form was not uploaded to the HR system by her managerIsabella Chan and no further discussion was had about the feedback. The tribunal heard that Ms Chan chose to “ignore” the feedback. “The environment there was that if you speak out, you’ll be in trouble, and that has been borne out by the treatment that I received. It was so painful,” Ms Rahel explained. In or around December 2020, Ms Rahel’s manager decided to restructure the equality and diversity team but the impact of her proposal had a direct impact on just one member of staff: Ms Rahel. The new proposal mapped out a new role of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) manager for staff and students, which was the same band as Ms Rahel’s role, plus two more junior roles. Ms Rahel expressed her concerns about the redundancy process to the vice-chancellor of the university in April 2021, making complaints of discrimination on the grounds of disability, age and race. However, the process continued as normal in a move that the tribunal panel described as “a convenient way to get rid of the claimant”. Ms Rahel says her experience is reflectre workers are disregarded and the work is not taken seriously. “A lot of the time EDI officers are ignored, undermined, faced with a brick wall and at UAL it was a tick-box exercise,” she said. “They don’t put enough resources in, pay enough attention, educate themselves or they aren’t held accountable for failings when it comes to all forms of discrimination.” Following the restructuring announcement, Ms Rahel was signed off work by her GP and her boss, Ms Chan, denied her request for a reasonably adjusted assessment for the EDI manager vacancy. Moreover, Ms Rahel was offered an interview whilst she was still on sick leave and unable to attend. She later received a letter giving her three months’ notice of redundancy. Despite numerous requests that the recruitment process be paused until she was well enough to interview, up until the date of her dismissal, Ms Rahel was not given the chance to interview for the EDI manager job or the other two roles. This battle has taken a physical, emotional and mental toll, Ms Rahel said, including the loss of sight in her left eye due to type-one diabetes complications; though the professional previously managed her diabetes, the stress of her work situation exacerbated her health issues. It affected her marriage and family life, as well as her capacity to trust future prospective employers. “These people are meant to be committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. How can you treat somebody like this when that's your work, your field? So that hurt. It made me very angry and unstable.” Though Ms Rahel welcomed the judgement and made her feel “
Streamed live on Aug 6, 2024 PAN-AFRICAN ATTITUDE The UK is in crisis right now, with Black and Brown people attacked on the street, hotels housing asylum seekers set alight and attacked, Muslim women being attacked with acid and even graves of Muslims being attacked by mobs of the far-right. Oh, and we forgot to mention a small child on the streets of Belfast in the Occupied North of Ireland is heard shouting “P*kis out” “P*kis out” as she walks down the street while the mother of the child smiles. How did this happen? How did the UK turn into a place of programs against ethnic minorities? We break this all down with legendary hip-hop rapper and journalist @lowkey. On Pan-African Attitude episode 16. Join us live at midnight East African Time, 10 pm UK time and 5 pm New York Time. Don't miss this one! #uk #minority #muslims #blackpeople #europe #unitedkingdom #lowkey #irish #middlesbrough
There are centuries of Black history across Britain's canal networks. This guided cruise from Camden to Kings Cross and back exposes and explores some of that history. While you gently float your boat along the quiet backwaters of this busy city we discuss: Black scientists and inventors Ancient African engineering The real Bridgerton, rich Black British people of the 1800s The Trinidad connection, canals and capitalism African Americans and Civil Wars Luxuries and classic British culture Racist statues and those who defend them, the BLM connections Caribbbean labour and the British Industrial Revolution World War 2 and UK Nazis Armed Black resistance against white supremacy British sewage in the West Indies Your underwear Plus. During the commentary, we enjoy some 70s/80s/90s classic Soul/R&B while sipping Jamaican ginger beer and share our specially curated historical book list. Other coming events from Black History Walks www.blackhistorywalks.co.uk How Black People Won World War 2, talk James Baldwin blue plaque unveiling The Little Mermaid's real Black history and the books to prove it, talk Fighting the slavemaster : Past and Present Black History Walk Harlem in Mayfair Black history walk How to teach Black history at GCSE level, workshop Theatreland Black history walk Hackney/Secrets of Soho/Trafalgar Square Black History Walks The Gentrification of Peckham and Black urban removal worldwide, talk Under-writing Black history: Lloyds, Human Trafficking and Uprisings Jacaranda Books and Black Female publishers Black History Walks Volume 1 book signing Black History River Cruise/Bus tour
Plaque unveiled at Hackney CVS on Dalston Lane, London. James Baldwin author, poet and activist is a legendary figure in literature and US Civil Rights history. He marched with Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, debated at Cambridge, argued with US presidents and gave incredible speeches. He spent a great deal of time in London and often lent his status to support local anti-racist campaigners. The 18th May 1953, is when Baldwins first book 'Go Tell it on the Mountain' was published. That book launched his stellar career where he produced classics like the Fire Next Time, If Beale Street could Talk and Notes of a Native Son etc. In July 1985, Baldwin visited the CLR James library in Hackney. Hackney council had declared 1985 a Year of Anti-Racism. The library had been re-named after the Pan-Africanist historian and author of the revolutionary 'Black Jacobins', CLR James, due to intense activism by local anti-racist groups. In the early 1980s the Hackney Ethnic Minorities Library Consultative Committee had picketed offices, occupied the Town Hall, lobbied, campaigned and successfully got the libraries to stock Black history books and remove racist literature. On the Friday 17th May 10am 2024 we unveiled a Nubian Jak Blue Plaque to recognise Baldwin's presence and the link to Black British Civil rights. In the weeks preceding and following the unveiling there will be a number of walks, talks, films and workshops about local anti-racist groups of the 1980s as well as reviews of James Baldwin's speeches and books. Look out for a fantastic season of events and an exhibition about the HCDA (Hackney Community Defence Association) and their incredible story of fighting police brutality and corruption. See Hackney Library website for details or Instagram. We Remember HCDA Exhibition was at Hackney Archives on April 4th but will return in the future. Also look out for events celebrating Adiaha Antigha the amazing Hackney activist who set up Hackney Community Voluntary Service in 1995 This unveiling was brought to you in collaboration with: Black History Walks, Hackney CVS, Hackney Libraries , Jacaranda Books, Hackney Archives, Nubian Jak, WaywivWordz and Penguin RandomHouse. For more on Black British Civil Rights see our book, 'Black History Walks in London Vol 1' available from Jacaranda Books This plaque is produced by Nubian Jak and sponsored by Black History Walks. Correcting the lack of historical blue plaques to Black people Blue Plaques are associated with English Heritage but according to their own research only 4% of their 900 London plaques represent Black and Asian people, the percentage of Black people in London is 40% https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/a... In 2016 they set up an initiative to find evidence for more diverse plaques. B.A.S.A, the Black and Asian Studies Association has been submitting names and lobbying for more Black people on plaques since the 1990s. Out of 900 English Heritage plaques in London, only 18 are about Black people or just 2%. Their blue plaque scheme goes back to 1866. English Heritage is a body that was set up in 1983. Their budget is around £180 million. The Nubian Jak charity has unveiled 95 plaques and two statues honouring African/Caribbean people. They were established in 2006 and do not have even 1% of the English Heritage budget. Black History Walks other coming events www.blackhistorywalks.co.uk Black History Bus tour Black History River cruise Fighting the Slave-master walk Regents Canal walk and cruise Harlem in Mayfair walk Trafalgar Square walk The Little Mermaid's real Black history and the books to prove it African Superheroes Day How to rip off Black historians
See London's African/Caribbean history from 1000 feet up as we hover over London landmarks and connect the hidden Black history dots Black History walks… in the sky! Become a ‘skywalker’ as we fly over London’s famous sites and show the detailed African/Caribbean connections but this time from the air. This special airborne event celebrates the online release of our animated film about the incredible true story of RAF Flight Lieutenant John Henry Smythe; a World War Two hero, prisoner-of-war-survivor, Windrush passenger, lawyer and Attorney General of Sierra Leone. The short film links to the Pearson GCSE History book which features our Notting Hill black history walk. Our 'chopper' will zip over Hyde Park, Tower Bridge, St Paul's Cathedral, Houses of Parliament and several other famous sites, while exposing and detailing the obvious and hidden Black history in the streets, buildings, railways and waterways. This airborne tour will combine elements of our sixteen walking tours, bus tours, river cruise, canal cruise and Black History Run. We will also reference the GCSE History Migration exam textbook now used by 10,000 pupils in 140 schools, as well as, Black History Walks Volume 1 from Jacaranda Books now available on Audible. The trip departs from an airfield one hour from central London. Exact meet point sent on booking. www.blackhistorywalks.co.uk Other coming events from Black history walks: Black History canal cruise Black History bus tour Theatreland Black history walk James Baldwin, a retrospective at BFI Southbank John Pilger film season at BFI Southbank Black British Civil Rights, Hackney and GCSE Banned Black Films ,17 years of African Odysseys Lambeth Schools and Black child conference The Little Mermaid's Real Black History and the books to prove it What was James Baldwin doing in Hackney?? African Superheroes Day How Black people won World War 2 www.blackhistorywalks.co.uk Tags
From Akalamusic 2017
Aug 6, 2024 #jamesobrien #police #uknews James O'Brien delivers a scathing analysis of the far-right riots currently occurring across the UK. More than 420 people have been arrested following nationwide unrest, which was sparked by the spreading of misinformation following the deaths of three girls in Southport after a knife attack. Dozens of police officers have been injured from the outbreak of violence, with people throwing bricks, wheelie bins, and petrol bombs. The Prime Minister has chaired an emergency Cobra meeting to plan a response with senior ministers and police representatives. Listen to the full show on Global Player: https://app.af.globalplayer.com/Br0x/... #jamesobrien #police #uknews #ukpolitics #riots #protest #farright #southport #uk #LBC LBC is the home of live debate around news and current affairs in the UK. Join in the conversation and listen at https://www.lbc.co.uk/ Sign up to LBC’s weekly newsletter here: https://l-bc.co/signup Transcript
Aug 6, 2024 Latest Shows Support their work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-de... In the biggest antitrust case in decades, a federal judge ruled Monday that Google illegally maintains a monopoly over the online search industry, using its market dominance to shut out competitors and limit user choice. "Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly," Judge Amit Mehta of the U.S. District Court for D.C. wrote in his ruling. What remedies will be demanded by the government is the next stage of the lawsuit, which is also likely to be appealed all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, says antitrust expert Matt Stoller. But the ruling is certain to have far-reaching effects in Silicon Valley as Big Tech firms face increasing scrutiny over their business practices. "The question has been: Who runs this country?" says Stoller. "Is it a small group of people that make choices about what we can see online, or is it the public, through competition?" Stoller is research director at the American Economic Liberties Project and author of Goliath: The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy. YouTube thumbnail image: Anthony Quintano/Flickr Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET. Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe
Jul 30, 2024 Full Length Roots to Routes Episodes Nuakai Aru is a dual-heritage Jamaican-British award-winning film director and author focused on human history and wellbeing, with three decades in martial arts and a lifelong quest for self-knowledge. Through his classes, films, art, and writings, he imparts his accumulated knowledge and wisdom. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction What is it like to grow up mixed race? Finding identity as a dual-heritage child. What was your experience as a child with divorced parents? Are innate skills and talents passed down through generations? 18: Where did your curiosity come from? 20:24 What it's like going through a near death experience Does the education system make us less curious? The downside of trying to integrate as an immigrant. 34:30 Why do black and mixed race people conform to their stereotypes in society? A message for the next generation 🎧 LISTEN for FREE : Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/57V4... 📱SOCIALS INSTAGRAM: / anandsworld TIKTOK: / ananddattanipodcast LINKEDIN: / anand-dattani 🎙️ ABOUT THE PODCAST This show explores how the stories of our previous generations influence our upbringing, our modern views on culture, and ultimately where we've ended up today. Each episode features a guest who has dedicated to having a particular impact on the world, including authors, artists, entrepreneurs, activists, keynote speakers, and more. 🙏 LEAVE A REVIEW If you listen on Apple Podcasts, it'd be great if you could leave a review - the bigger the show gets, the bigger the guests get! https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast...
#BritishArmy #BBCNews 3rd August 2024 A black female soldier who fronted British Army recruitment campaigns has spoken for the first time about how years of racist abuse and bullying made her life whilst serving “a living hell”. Kerry-Ann Knight, 33, took her case to a UK employment tribunal and accepted a substantial settlement from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) last month. She says when her complaints weren’t taken seriously she began secretly recording conversations - including one where laughter could be heard after a white male soldier said “just [expletive] tar and feather her, it’s what they used to do in the old days”. Mrs Knight and the MoD settled before a final judgement was made, after the Army agreed to making a public apology. Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1rbfUog For more news, analysis and features visit: www.bbc.com/news
#jamesobrien #riots #LBC In one of his longest monologues of all time, James O'Brien goes in on the public figures who 'incited' the riots and made a 'career plan' of 'feeding bile into the public bloodstream for decades' about people born elsewhere. He dismisses claims that these rioters have 'legitimate concerns' about immigration and questions 'how robust should we be with the people who have given permission to these racists?' His comments come amid a weekend of violence, which saw more than 420 people arrested at riots across the UK. Two hotels being used to house asylum seekers were attacked on Sunday, with protesters in balaclavas attempting to set the buildings ablaze. Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper has promised that rioters and those 'whipping up' hatred online will face a "reckoning" for their actions. Listen to the full show on Global Player: https://app.af.globalplayer.com/Br0x/... #jamesobrien #riots #LBC #nigelfarage #crime #police LBC is the home of live debate around news and current affairs in the UK. Join in the conversation and listen at https://www.lbc.co.uk/ Sign up to LBC’s weekly newsletter here: https://l-bc.co/signu
In 1982 the BBC show Ebony became the UK’s first Black news and current affairs TV magazine programme. It was presented by the pioneering Juliet Alexander. Previously a journalist at a time of great racial unrest, she worked on The Guardian and The Sunday Times, as well as co-presenting Black Londoners on BBC Radio London with Alex Pascall. <br /><br />In this panel speakers including Maxine Watson (Producer, Commissioning Editor) and Gillian Joseph (Sky Newscaster) talk about Alexander's pioneering career and discuss clips from Granada Reports, Ebony, Black Britain and John Craven’s Newsround that encapsulated the achievements and progress of Black women in broadcast journalism. <br /><br />The session host is author Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff.<br /><br />This event was part of African Odysseys at the BFI<br />Black History Walks has over 20 years’ experience managing film exhibitions and talks. The African Odysseys film programme at the British Film Institute is the only one of its kind in the country. No other cinema offers a monthly showing of Black films plus a Q&A session. The programme has proven hugely successful over the last 15 years and has created an impressive archive of general history, film history and recorded Q&As with directors, actors and producers.<br /><br />You can see some of our recorded post film Q&As on our Youtube page
Dr. Cecil Belfield Clarke was born in Barbados in 1894 and on winning an island scholarship came to London in 1914 to study medicine. In 1918 he graduated from Cambridge University, became a qualified surgeon and then set up his medical practice at 112 Newington Causeway, Southwark. He worked as a doctor, serving the local community for over 40 years and London for over 50. During that time he served as a doctor and medical professional in Africa, the Caribbean and throughout the UK.<br /><br /><br />Entry in the London Post Office Directory, 1924 <br />Clarke was one of the founder members of the League of Coloured Peoples (LCP) which began in 1931. The organisation was set up to achieve a number of objectives with a focus on racial equality and civil rights for Black people in Great Britain. Clarke was an active member but was also associated with other Pan-African causes, including as the first chairman of the House Committee of Aggrey House, a hostel for students from Africa and the Caribbean. Clarke was diplomatic and this enabled him to be an effective communicator between the politically left and right of the Pan-African movements of the 1930s and 40s, so much so that he was a mediator during the planning for the Conference on the African Peoples, Democracy, and World Peace held in London in July 1939.<br /><br />Clarke hosted many LCP events at his home and was a good friend of author and American civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois, with whom he continued correspondence right up to the 1960s, supporting many of his civil rights causes. Many of Dr Clarke’s letters to Du Bois can be read at the Special Collections and University Archives, at the University of Massachusetts Amhurst. The letters reveal the great affection and respect Clarke had for Du Bois and the importance of continuing the civil rights message. In one such letter dated 4th July 1929, Dr Clarke encloses his annual subscription to The Crisis magazine which he felt was his “duty” as “one of the few coloured Drs practising in London”. He kept the magazine in his doctor’s surgery waiting room and it proved to be a popular read. The Crisis is the official magazine for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) co-founded by W.E.B Du Bois and is still operating.<br /><br />League of Coloured People’s conference attendees, from The Keys, vol.4, 1936. Dr Cecil Belfield-Clarke is in the middle of the back row. <br />What may be little known about Dr Clarke is that he formulated the early mathematical dosage for paediatric medicine known as ‘Clark’s rule’. He was the first black District Medical Officer for London in 1936 and the Belfield Clark Prize, which first began in 1952 at St Catharine’s College, Oxford is still awarded to students in Biological Natural Sciences Tripos examinations.<br /><br />Sources<br />Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries<br />The Keys magazine (Southwark Local History Library and Archive).<br />Matera, M., Black London: the Imperial Metropolis and Decolonization in the 20th Century, 1st ed., University of California Press, Oakland, California, 2015.<br />St Catharine’s College, Cambridge University.
Dr. Cecil Belfield Clarke was born in Barbados in 1894 and on winning an island scholarship came to London in 1914 to study medicine. In 1918 he graduated from Cambridge University, became a qualified surgeon and then set up his medical practice at 112 Newington Causeway, Southwark. He worked as a doctor, serving the local community for over 40 years and London for over 50. During that time he served as a doctor and medical professional in Africa, the Caribbean and throughout the UK.<br /><br /><br />Entry in the London Post Office Directory, 1924 <br />Clarke was one of the founder members of the League of Coloured Peoples (LCP) which began in 1931. The organisation was set up to achieve a number of objectives with a focus on racial equality and civil rights for Black people in Great Britain. Clarke was an active member but was also associated with other Pan-African causes, including as the first chairman of the House Committee of Aggrey House, a hostel for students from Africa and the Caribbean. Clarke was diplomatic and this enabled him to be an effective communicator between the politically left and right of the Pan-African movements of the 1930s and 40s, so much so that he was a mediator during the planning for the Conference on the African Peoples, Democracy, and World Peace held in London in July 1939.<br /><br />Clarke hosted many LCP events at his home and was a good friend of author and American civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois, with whom he continued correspondence right up to the 1960s, supporting many of his civil rights causes. Many of Dr Clarke’s letters to Du Bois can be read at the Special Collections and University Archives, at the University of Massachusetts Amhurst. The letters reveal the great affection and respect Clarke had for Du Bois and the importance of continuing the civil rights message. In one such letter dated 4th July 1929, Dr Clarke encloses his annual subscription to The Crisis magazine which he felt was his “duty” as “one of the few coloured Drs practising in London”. He kept the magazine in his doctor’s surgery waiting room and it proved to be a popular read. The Crisis is the official magazine for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) co-founded by W.E.B Du Bois and is still operating.<br /><br /><br />League of Coloured People’s conference attendees, from The Keys, vol.4, 1936. Dr Cecil Belfield-Clarke is in the middle of the back row. <br />What may be little known about Dr Clarke is that he formulated the early mathematical dosage for paediatric medicine known as ‘Clark’s rule’. He was the first black District Medical Officer for London in 1936 and the Belfield Clark Prize, which first began in 1952 at St Catharine’s College, Oxford is still awarded to students in Biological Natural Sciences Tripos examinations.<br /><br />Sources<br />Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries<br />The Keys magazine (Southwark Local History Library and Archive).<br />Matera, M., Black London: the Imperial Metropolis and Decolonization in the 20th Century, 1st ed., University of California Press, Oakland, California, 2015.<br />St Catharine’s College, Cambridge University.<br />Share this:
Testimonies to Baroness Ros Howells and her incredible legacy of fighting for human rights and equality in Britain.<br />Baroness Howell has had an outstanding career in the fight for racial equality in Britain<br /><br />Director of the Greenwich Racial Equality Council in 1994, Baroness Howells was created a Life Peer in 1999. Educated in London and in the United States, she was the first black woman on the GLC'S Training Board and the first female member of the Court of Governors of the University of Greenwich. She served as Vice Chair at the London Voluntary Services Council. She worked with the the Carnival Liaison Committee and the Greater London Action in Race Equality, campaigning for justice in the field of race relations. She is a trustee of the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust.<br /><br />She was at the forefront of the fight against the labelling of Black children as Educationally Sub Normal in the 1970's and took on racism in the financial sector and within the House of Lords itself.<br /><br />This session hears from some of the many people she helped and worked with speaking on her impact and legacy.<br /><br />This event took place courtesy of her daughter Anne. It was organised by Mia Morris OBE and Juliet Alexander with the support of Black History Walks
Ignatius Sancho was a British writer, composer, business owner, and abolitionist. He was celebrated in the late 18th-century as a man of letters, a social reformer and an acute observer of English life. Sancho was a former Enslaved African who advocated for abolition through prolific letter-writing and became the first person of African descent to cast a vote in a British general election.<br /><br />The portrait is loosely based on a painting by Thomas Gainsborough painted in 1768 and was commissioned by Bankside BID for the Frost Fair mural trail curated by us at Lawless Studio<br /><br />Between 1600 and 1814, it was not uncommon for the river Thames to freeze over for up to two months at a time. During this time Britain and the entire Northern Hemisphere was locked in what is now known as the ‘Little Ice Age’. British winter was more severe than it is now, and the river was wider and slower, further impeded by the 19 piers of the medieval Old London Bridge. Harsh winters often brought with them famine and death, but enterprising Londoners decided to make the most of it and set up the Thames Frost Fairs. Between 1607 and 1814 there were a total of seven major fairs, as well as many smaller ones. The Frost Fairs would have been quite a spectacle, full of quickly constructed shops, pubs and ice-skating rinks and at one fair an elephant was led across the river just below Blackfriars Bridge.<br /><br />Ignatius Sancho was born in 1729 and died in 1780. He lived in Greenwich as a child then later in Blackheath. During his lifetime a Frost Fair occurred in 1739–40 so it's likely he would have attended this fair as a child, given his close proximity to the Thames. <br /><br />Shot by Louis Thornton
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