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Monday - Lost Legends Film - Why is Black History Month important?

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Monday - Lost Legends Film - Why is Black History Month important?

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12 minutes 43 seconds

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3 hours and 34 minutes over 6 episodes
An audio series from The Times observing the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery.

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Listen to ‘1619,’ a Podcast From The New York Times (Published 2020)

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An audio series on how slavery has transformed America, connecting past and present through the oldest form of storytelling.

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Black and British: A Forgotten History  - First Encounters (1 of 4)

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Black and British: A Forgotten History  - First Encounters (1 of 4)

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53 minutes - Hint: view in week 1
Historian David Olusoga explores the enduring relationship between Britain and people whose origins lie in Africa. From the African Romans who guarded Hadrian's Wall in the 3rd century AD to the black trumpeter of the Tudor courts, David uncovers a history that is as surprising as it is revealing.

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Black and British: A Forgotten History - 1. First Encounters

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David Olusoga explores the relationship between Britain and people of African origins.

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Black and British: A Forgotten History  - Freedom (2 of 4)

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Black and British: A Forgotten History  - Freedom (2 of 4)

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59 minutes Hint: view in week 2
In the second part of his four-part series, historian David Olusoga explores the business of slavery and remembers the black sailors who fought for Britain at Trafalgar.

He also celebrates a Georgian boxing superstar and the men and women who crossed continents in pursuit of freedom.

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Black and British: A Forgotten History - 2. Freedom

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David Olusoga looks at slavery and remembers black sailors who fought for Britain.

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Black and British: A Forgotten History  - Moral Mission (3 of 4)

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Black and British: A Forgotten History  - Moral Mission (3 of 4)

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59 minutes Hint: view in week 3
In part three of this groundbreaking series, historian David Olusoga explores the Victorian moral crusade against slavery.

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Black and British: A Forgotten History - 3. Moral Mission

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David Olusoga explores the Victorian moral crusade against slavery.

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Black and British: A Forgotten History  - The Homecoming (4 of 4)

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Black and British: A Forgotten History  - The Homecoming (4 of 4)

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59 minutes

(Hint: View in Week 4)

Historian David Olusoga concludes his series with the three African kings who stood up to empire, an irresistible crooner, race riots in Liverpool and the shaping of black British identity in the 20th century.

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Black and British: A Forgotten History - 4. The Homecoming

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David Olusoga concludes his series with the three African kings who stood up to empire.

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Tuesday -  What is Black History Month and why is it celebrated?

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Tuesday -  What is Black History Month and why is it celebrated?

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A 5 minute read from ITV News

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October marks Black History Month, the annual celebration of the history, achievements and contributions of black people in the UK.

Events celebrating African and Caribbean cultures will take place across the UK until October 31.

While the UK celebrates Black History Month in October, across the world where it originated, commemorations take place throughout February, however both share a common purpose.

The dedicated month was envisioned as a way to counter the perceived invisibility of black people and to challenge the negative stereotypes that were often the only manner black people were pictured in popular culture.

So how was Black History Month formed?

Baroness Lawrence OBE campaigned tirelessly for reforms of the police service after her son, Stephen Lawrence, was murdered in a racist attack. Credit: PA

Black History Month was first launched in London in 1987 where the aim was for the local community to challenge racism and educate themselves and others about the history that was not taught in schools.

Some have argued it was founded partially as a response to the urban riots and racial tensions of the 1980s.

Athlete Tessa Sanderson became the first British black woman to win an Olympic gold medal. Credit: PA

Although at this point, the commemorative month had already been going on in the US for around 20 years and was created by Harvard-educated historian Carter G Woodson, who wanted to challenge preconceptions at the time.

He founded The Association for the Study of Negro Life and History in 1915 which encouraged scholars and historians to research and preserve black history and culture.

In June 1948, the SS Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury Dock in Essex. Credit: PA

In February 1926, Woodson founded Negro History Week, which was done to also coincide with Abraham Lincoln's birthday.

It was later decided that a week was not long enough and, against the backdrop of the civil rights movement and the Black Power Movement, Black History Month was born in 1969.

Why is Black History Month important?

Many believe Black History Month is important now more than ever before, especially in the recent light of the Windrush scandal which saw long-term UK residents denied access to services, held in detention or removed despite living legally in the country for decades .

The issue began because many Commonwealth citizens who had a legal right to come and live in the UK, and who arrived before 1973, were not given documents confirming their status that they had been granted indefinite leave to remain.

A public outcry erupted in April 2018 after this emerged and led to the resignation of then home secretary Amber Rudd.

Members of Campaign group Stand Up To Racism during a demonstration on Whitehall over Windrush scandal. Credit: PA

Black History Month also celebrates the fact that black people have been in Britain for a lot longer than previously thought.

One of the oldest skeletons ever found, who lived around 10,000 years ago, was that of the who had dark skin.

Throughout history black people have always been present in the UK but there has been a lack of representation in the history books.

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What is Black History Month and why is it celebrated? | ITV News

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October marks Black History Month, the annual celebration of the history, achievements and contributions of black people in the UK. Events celebrating African and Caribbean cultures will take place across the UK until October 31. While the UK celebrates Black History Month in October, across the world where it originated, commemorations take place throughout February, however both share a common purpose.

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Local UK Black History Month Events 2020

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Local UK Black History Month Events 2020

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Click on local region

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Black History in Greater London - Official Black History Month events in Greater London for during 2019.

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Black History in Greater London - Official Black History Month events in Greater London for during 2019. Black History Month 2019 is the central point of focus for a celebration of black history arts and culture in London for 2019 #blackhistorymonth #blackhistory #blacklivesmatter #london

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Wednesday - Black History Matters by Don John at TEDxSouthampton

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Wednesday - Black History Matters by Don John at TEDxSouthampton

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17 minutes 51 seconds

Don John is a filmmaker, author and DJ as well as a consultant in the field of community cohesion. He has been a pioneer in the development of ‘Race and Diversity’ issues across the southern region for over 30 years and was the founder and coordinator of Black History Month in Southampton for more than 20 years. In this talk, John explains why Black history should not just be important to Black people. ‘Black Lives Matter’ is only the beginning of a process.

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Black History Matters | Don John | TEDxSouthampton

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Witness Black History - BBC World Service

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Witness Black History - BBC World Service

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Interviews with people who were there at key moments in black and civil rights history.

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BBC World Service - Witness History, Black history - Downloads

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Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race

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Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race

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by Reni Eddo-Lodge

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'Every voice raised against racism chips away at its power. We can't afford to stay silent. This book is an attempt to speak'

*Updated edition featuring a new afterword*
The book that sparked a national conversation. Exploring everything from eradicated black history to the inextricable link between class and race, Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race is the essential handbook for anyone who wants to understand race relations in Britain today.

THE NO.1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS NON-FICTION NARRATIVE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2018
FOYLES NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR
BLACKWELL'S NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR
WINNER OF THE JHALAK PRIZE
LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION
LONGLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR A BOOKS ARE MY BAG READERS AWARD

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Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race

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'Every voice raised against racism chips away at its power. We can't afford to stay silent. This book is an attempt to speak' *Updated edition featuring a new afterword* The book that sparked a national conversation.

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White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism

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White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism

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by Robin DiAngelo

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DiAngelo, R. & Sensoy, Ö. (2008). "But I'm shy!": Classroom participation as a social justice issue.

Sensoy, Ö. & DiAngelo, R. (2017). " Diverse Candidates Encouraged To Apply...": How Faculty Hiring Committees Reproduce Whiteness and Practical Suggestions for How They Can Change. Harvard Educational Review.

Thurber, A. & DiAngelo, R. (2017). Microaggressions: Intervening in three acts. Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work.

DiAngelo, R. & Sensoy, O. (2014). Calling in: Ways of speaking, thinking, seeing: Cultivating humility, curiosity, and vision in service of anti-racist practice. Journal of Understanding and Dismantling Privilege, 4(2).

Sensoy, Ö. & DiAngelo, R. (2014). Respect differences? Challenging the common guidelines in social justice education. Democracy in Education, 2(1)

Matlock, S. & DiAngelo, R. (2015). " We put it in terms of "not-nice": White anti-racist parenting. Journal of Progressive Human Services, 26(2).

DiAngelo, R. & Sensoy, Ö. (2014). Leaning in: A student's guide to engaging constructively in social justice content. Radical Pedagogy, 11(1).

DiAngelo, R. & Sensoy, Ö. (2014). Getting slammed: White depictions of cross-racial dialogues as arenas of violence. Race & Ethnicity in Education, 17(1) 104-128. DOI:10.1080/13613324.2012.674023.

Matias, C. & DiAngelo, R. (2013). Beyond the face of race: Emo-Cognitive Explorations of White Neurosis and Racial Cray-Cray. Journal of Educational Foundations, 2(1).

DiAngelo, R. (2012). Nothing to add: The role of white silence in racial discussions. Journal of Understanding and Dismantling Privilege, 2(2), 1-17.

DiAngelo, R. (2011). White Fragility. International Journal of Critical Pedagogy, 3(3).

Schroeder, C. & DiAngelo, R. (2010). Addressing Whiteness in Nursing Education: The Sociopolitical Climate Project at the University of Washington School of Nursing. Advances in Nursing Science, 33 (3) 244-255.

DiAngelo, R. & Flynn, D. (2010). Showing what we tell: Facilitating anti-racist education in cross-racial teams. Journal of Understanding and Dismantling Privilege, 1 (1) Article 2.

DiAngelo, R. & Sensoy, Ö. (2010). " OK! We get it! Now tell us what to do": Why we can't just tell you how to do critical multicultural education. Multicultural Perspectives, 12 (2) 97-102.

DiAngelo, Robin J. (2010). Why Can't We All Just Be Individuals?: Countering the Discourse of Individualism in Anti-racist Education. InterActions: UCLA Journal of Education and Information Studies, 6(1), . Retrieved from: http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/5fm4h8wm

DiAngelo, R. & Sensoy, Ö. (2009). We don't want your opinion: Knowledge construction and the discourse of opinion in the equity classroom. Equity & Excellence in Education, 42 (4) 443-455.

Sensoy, O. & DiAngelo, R. (2009). Developing social justice literacy: An open letter to our faculty colleagues. Phi Delta Kappan. 90 (5), 345-352.

DiAngelo, R. (2006). The production of whiteness in education: Asian international students in a college classroom. Teachers College Record. Vol 108(10), (p. 1960-1982)

DiAngelo, R. (2006). My class didn't trump my race: Using oppression to face privilege. Multicultural Perspectives. Vol 8(1), (pp.51-56).

Sensoy, O. & DiAngelo, R. (2006). I wouldn't want to be a woman in the Middle East: White female student teachers and the narrative of the oppressed Muslim woman. Radical Pedagogy. Vol. 8 (1).

DiAngelo, R. & Allen, D. (2006). My Feelings Are Not About You: Personal Experience as a Move of Whiteness. InterActions: UCLA Journal of Education and Information Studies. Vol. 2, Issue 2, Article 2. http://repositories.cdlib.org/gseis/interactions/vol2/iss2/art2

DiAngelo, R. (1997). Heterosexism: Addressing internalized dominance. Journal of Progressive Human Services, Vol. 8(1), (pp.5-22).

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DiAngelo, R. & Sensoy, Ö. (2008). "But I'm shy!": Classroom participation as a social justice issue. Sensoy, Ö. & DiAngelo, R. (2017). " Diverse Candidates Encouraged To Apply...": How Faculty Hiring Committees Reproduce Whiteness and Practical Suggestions for How They Can Change. Harvard Educational Review. Thurber, A. & DiAngelo, R.

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Thursday: What is the Windrush Generation?

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Thursday: What is the Windrush Generation?

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BBC

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On 21 August 2018, the then-Home Secretary Sajid Javid announced that - after a review of 11,800 cases - 18 members of the Windrush generation who could have been wrongfully removed or detained would get a formal apology from the government.

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After World War Two, thousands of people moved to the UK from the Caribbean - and they were known as the Windrush generation.

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In the wake of the First World War and demobilization, the surplus of labour led to dissatisfaction among Britain’s workers, in particular seamen. This was arguably the key factor that led to the outbreak of rioting between white and minority workers in Britain’s major seaports, from January to August 1919.

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During the #LIF2019 In:Visible Women week, we created interesting discussion and activities about race, working with a number of partners. The Liverpool 1919 Race Riots served as a starting point for these.

Our dual-heritage day encouraged and supported people of mixed-Irish heritage to share stories about their experiences of growing up or living in Liverpool, whilst considering their connections to Ireland (and other parts of the world), too.

We discussed 'miscegenation' and the growth of hate-speech terminology, considering how language is misused to support political fear-mongering. It interested us to compare what happened then with what has happened in modern society in relation to racism towards Irish and other groups.

Undertaken with Black History Month and Creative Organisations of Liverpool ( COoL), Writing on the Wall (WoW) were the lead. Together we fundraised for a series of events and activities from Arts Council England, using grant support the Liverpool Mayoral Fund. Delivered in October 2019, the work included a brilliant film project that looked at the Liverpool 1919 Race Riots.

Expertly filmed and edited by First Take it featured movement and performance work directed by Tmesis Theatre, and music from Pagoda Arts; a voiceover from WoW and Black History Month Director Madeline Henegan and performers from across the city.

The film upholds the need to be vigilant against racism and shows how history repetition can be avoided. We share this film with you and encourage you to post it as widely as you can.

This is the amalgam of five short films. If you wish to view the short films individually, you can do so using the following links.

We'd like to thank everyone involved in 2019's Black History Month and look forward to returning with more work in 2020.

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1919 Liverpool Race Riots - a film - Liverpool Irish Festival

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During the #LIF2019 In:Visible Women week, we created interesting discussion and activities about race, working with a number of partners. The Liverpool 1919 Race Riots served as a starting point for these. Our dual-heritage day encouraged and supported people of mixed-Irish heritage to share stories about their experiences of growing up or living in Liverpool, [...]

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The boycott drew national attention to racial discrimination in Britain, and the campaign was supported by national politicians, with interventions being made by church groups and the High Commissioner for Trinidad and Tobago.

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The Bristol Bus Boycott of 1963 arose from the refusal of the Bristol Omnibus Company to employ black or Asian bus crews in the city of Bristol, England.

In common with other British cities, there was widespread racial discrimination in housing and employment at that time against "coloureds". Led by youth worker Paul Stephenson and the West Indian Development Council, the boycott of the company's buses by Bristolians lasted for four months until the company backed down and overturned the colour bar.

The boycott drew national attention to racial discrimination in Britain, and the campaign was supported by national politicians, with interventions being made by church groups and the High Commissioner for Trinidad and Tobago. The Bristol Bus Boycott was considered by some to have been influential in the passing of the Race Relations Act 1965 which made "racial discrimination unlawful in public places" and the Race Relations Act 1968, which extended the provisions to employment and housing.

Background
Bristol in the early 1960s had an estimated 3,000 residents of West Indian origin, some who had served in the British military during World War II and some who had emigrated to Britain more recently. A large number lived in the area around City Road in St Pauls. They suffered discrimination in housing and employment, and some encountered violence from Teddy Boy gangs of white British youths. This community set up their own churches and associations, including the West Indian Association, which began to act as a representative body.

One of their foremost grievances was the colour bar operated by the Bristol Omnibus Company, which had been a nationalised company owned by the British government since 1950, and operated through the Transport Holding Company. Although there was a reported labour shortage on the buses, black prospective employees were refused work as bus crews, although they were employed in lower paid positions in workshops and canteens. The Bristol Evening Post and the Western Daily Press both ran series on the colour bar, which was blamed by company management on the Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU), which represented bus workers. Local union officials denied that there was any colour bar, but in 1955 the Passenger Group of the TGWU had passed a resolution that "coloured" workers should not be employed as bus crews. Andrew Hake, curator of the Bristol Industrial Mission, recalled that "The TGWU in the city had said that if one black man steps on the platform as a conductor, every wheel will stop."

The bus workers' concern, apart from racism, was that a new competitive source of labour could reduce their earnings. Pay was low and workers relied on overtime to get a good wage. One shop steward said, "people were fearful of an influx of people from elsewhere (on the grounds it) would be reducing their earnings potential."

Boycott
Four young West Indian men, Roy Hackett, Owen Henry, Audley Evans and Prince Brown, formed an action group, later to be called the West Indian Development Council. They were unhappy with the lack of progress in fighting discrimination by the West Indian Association. Owen Henry had met Paul Stephenson, whose father was from West Africa, and who had been to college. The group decided that the articulate Stephenson would be their spokesman. Stephenson set up a test case to prove the colour bar existed by arranging an interview with the bus company for Guy Bailey, a young warehouseman and Boys' Brigade officer. When Stephenson told the company that Bailey was West Indian, the interview was cancelled. Inspired by the refusal of Rosa Parks to give up her seat on a bus in Alabama and the ensuing Montgomery Bus Boycott in the United States in 1955, the activists decided on a bus boycott in Bristol.

Their action was announced at a press conference on 29 April 1955. The following day they claimed that none of the city's West Indians were using the buses and that many white people supported themIn an editorial, the Bristol Evening Post pointed out that the TGWU opposed apartheid in South Africa and asked what trade union leaders were doing to counteract racism in their own ranks. When reporters questioned the bus company about the boycott, the general manager, Ian Patey, said:
"The advent of coloured crews would mean a gradual falling off of white staff. It is true that London Transport employ a large coloured staff. They even have recruiting offices in Jamaica and they subsidise the fares to Britain of their new coloured employees. As a result of this, the amount of white labour dwindles steadily on the London Underground. You won't get a white man in London to admit it, but which of them will join a service where they may find themselves working under a coloured foreman? ... I understand that in London, coloured men have become arrogant and rude, after they have been employed for some months."

Support
Students from Bristol University held a protest march to the bus station and the local headquarters of the TGWU on 1 May, which attracted heckling from bus crews as they passed through the city centre, according to the local press. Local MP Tony Benn contacted then Labour Opposition leader Harold Wilson, who spoke out against the colour bar at an Anti-Apartheid Movement rally in London. On 2 May local Labour Party Alderman Henry Hennessey spoke of the apparent collusion between bus company management and the TGWU over the colour bar. On 3 May, the ruling Labour Group on the city council threatened him with expulsion, despite his honourable service of over forty years.

Tony Benn, Fenner Brockway and former cricketer Learie Constantine also condemned the bus company. Constantine was then serving as High Commissioner for Trinidad and Tobago. Constantine wrote letters to the bus company and Stephenson and spoke out against the colour bar to reporters when he attended the cricket match between the West Indies and Gloucestershire at the County Ground, which took place from the 4th to 7 May. The West Indies team refused to publicly support the boycott, saying that sport and politics did not mix. During the game, local members of the Campaign Against Racial Discrimination (CARD) distributed leaflets urging spectators to support the action.

The local branch of the TGWU refused to meet with a delegation from the West Indian Development Council, and an increasingly bitter war of words was fought out in the local media. Ron Nethercott, South West Regional Secretary of the union, persuaded a local black TGWU member, Bill Smith, to sign a statement which called for quiet negotiation to solve the dispute. It condemned Stephenson for causing potential harm to the city's black and Asian population. Nethercott launched an attack on Stephenson in the Daily Herald newspaper, calling him dishonest and irresponsible. This led to a libel case in the High Court, which awarded Stephenson damages and costs in December 1963.

The Bristol Council of Churches launched a mediation attempt, saying
"We seriously regret that what may prove an extended racial conflict arising from this issue has apparently been deliberately created by a small group of West Indians professing to be representative. We also deplore the apparent fact that social and economic fears on the part of some white people should have placed the Bristol Bus Company in a position where it is most difficult to fulfil the Christian ideal of race relations."

This in turn was criticised by Robert Davison, an official at the Jamaican High Commission, who stated that it was "nonsense to describe a group of West Indians as unrepresentative when no representative West Indian body existed."

At a May Day rally, held on Sunday 6 May in Eastville, local Trades Council members publicly criticised the TGWU. On the same day Paul Stephenson had organised a demonstration march to St Mary Redcliffe church, but there was a poor turnout. Some local West Indians said they should not ripple the water and, according to Roy Hackett, they may have feared victimisation. The dispute led to what has been described as one of the largest mailbags that the Bristol Evening Post had ever received, with contributors writing in support of both sides of the issue.

Resolution
The union, the city Labour establishment and the Bishop of Bristol, Oliver Stratford Tomkins, ignored Stephenson and tried to work with Bill Smith of the TGWU to resolve the dispute. Learie Constantine continued with his support for the campaign, meeting with the Lord Mayor of Bristol and Frank Cousins, leader of the Transport and General Workers Union. In addition, he went to the Bristol Omnibus Company's parent, the Transport Holding Company, and persuaded them to send officials to talk with the union. The company chairman told Constantine that racial discrimination was not company policy. Negotiations between the bus company and the union continued for several months until a mass meeting of 500 bus workers agreed on 27 August to end the colour bar. On 28 August 1963 Ian Patey announced that there would be no more discrimination in employing bus crews. It was on the same day that Martin Luther King made his famous "I Have a Dream" speech at the March on Washington. On 17 September, Raghbir Singh, a Sikh, became Bristol's first non-white bus conductor. A few days later two Jamaican and two Pakistani men joined him.

Aftermath
In 1965, the United Kingdom Parliament passed a Race Relations Act, which made "racial discrimination unlawful in public places." This was followed by the Race Relations Act 1968 which extended the provisions to housing and employment. The enactment of this legislation has been cited by some as having been influenced by the Bristol bus boycott. Robert Verkaik, Legal Affairs Correspondent for The Independent newspaper, said "Few doubt that without Mr Stephenson's efforts it would have been difficult for Harold Wilson's Labour government to bring in Britain's first anti-discrimination laws." In 2003, as part of Black History Month, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a programme about the boycott.

Unite, the successor to the Transport and General Workers Union, issued an apology in February 2013. Laurence Faircloth, the union's South West secretary said of the union's stance at the time, "It was completely unacceptable. I can well accept the sense of injustice and pain that has been felt because [of] what happened in Bristol all those years ago."

In 2009, Stephenson was awarded the OBE for his part in organising the bus boycott. Bailey and Hackett were also awarded OBEs.

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The Bristol Bus Boycott of 1963 - Black History 365

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The Bristol Bus Boycott of 1963 arose from the refusal of the Bristol Omnibus Company to employ black or Asian bus crews in the city of Bristol, England. In common with other British cities, there was widespread racial discrimination in housing and employment at that time against "coloureds".

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Black Classical Music: The Forgotten History

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Black Classical Music: The Forgotten History

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Broadcasters Lenny Henry and Suzy Klein celebrate black classical composers and musicians across the centuries whose stories and music have been forgotten in a 90-minute special.

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Broadcasters Lenny Henry and Suzy Klein celebrate black classical composers and musicians across the centuries whose stories and music have been forgotten in a 90-minute special.

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BBC Four - Black Classical Music: The Forgotten History

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Broadcasters Lenny Henry and Suzy Klein celebrate black classical composers and musicians across the centuries whose stories and music have been forgotten in a 90-minute special.

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by Miranda Kaufmann

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Britain’s First Black Policeman

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John Kent - Britain's First Black Policeman

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The dates of John's police career are surprising, 1835 to 1846. The story began with John's father Thomas landing at Whitehaven in the mid 1700's where he was 'considered' a slave by the Senhouse family of Calder Abbey, West Cumberland.

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Walter Tull was both a professional footballer player and a soldier during World War One. Walter had to give up his career as a footballer to help out in the war, but he then became recognised as the first black officer to lead white British soldiers into battle.

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Walter came from a mixed-race family. His mother, Alice, was a Folkestone local. His father, Daniel, moved from Barbados to England. He married twice and had six children.

After Daniel's death in 1897, Walter's stepmother had to move Walter and his brother Edward to an orphanage in East London.

The city was busy and noisy. It was very different to the farms and countryside Walter was used to.

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Who was Walter Tull and what were his achievements during World War One? Find out in this year 5/6 primary history guide from BBC Bitesize.

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2 minutes 43 seconds

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Mary Seacole KS2/KS3 Educational Animation

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Learie Nicholas Constantine, Baron Constantine, MBE (21 September 1901 – 1 July 1971) was a West Indian cricketer, lawyer and politician who served as Trinidad's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and became the UK's first black peer.

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Before 1944 it was common for West End hotels to refuse accommodation to black people. In 1943 this happened to Learie Constantine, one of the world's most distinguished cricketers. He sued the hotel and won his case. As CLR James put it, he revolted 'against the revolting contrast between his first class status as a cricketer and his third class status as a man'. His legal victory was a turning point in the struggle against the humiliating forms of colour bar in Britain.

Learie Constantine was born in Trinidad in 1902. his father, an overseer on a cocoa estate, was a keen cricketer. Learie's performance in three first class matches won him a place on the West Indies team, and he came to Britain in 1923. As a batsman, so powerful were his strokes, he was likened to a blacksmith. He was also a devastating bowler. His fielding was near perfect - his performance at Lord's in 1928, where he took 100 wickets and made 1,000 runs - led to an invitation to turn professional and join the Nelson team in the Lancashire League.

He settled in Lancashire with his wife and daughter. Black people were a novelty there, and they had to endure rudeness, anonymous letters and general curiosity. But they stuck it out, eventually winning the respect, admiration and friendship of the locals. CLR James was their lodger for a while, and helped Constantine write his first book, Cricket and I, in 1933. And during his nine years with the Nelson team, it won the league championship seven times.

In 1942, while working in a solicitor's office, Constantine was asked by the Ministry of Labour to become a temporary civil servant in its welfare department, with responsibility for the West Indian technicians who had come to Merseyside factories. His organisational ability, personal prestige, experience of Lancashire and racial background made him the ideal person to deal with the absorption of West Indians to the Merseyside industrial and social scene.

In 1943, he was given four days' leave to captain the West Indies team against England at Lord's. Prior to his arrival he was told by the Imperial Hotel there was no objection to his colour, so he paid a deposit, but when he arrived at the hotel it was made clear that he and his family were not welcome. Constantine brought an action against the Imperial hotel for breach of contract.

The judge who heard the case accepted without hesitation the evidence of Constantine, and rejected that given by the defendants. In the witness box, Constantine bore himself with modesty and dignity, dealt with all questions with intelligence and truth. He was awarded 5 in damages. This decision did not end the colour bar in British hotels - in 1946 two Sikh VCs were refused admission to a West End restaurant.

Constantine became a popular broadcaster, and was awarded the MBE in 1945, was called to the Trinidad bar in 1955, and served as Trinidad and Tobago's high commissioner from 1961 to 1964. He was knighted in 1962 and made a life peer - Baron Constantine of Maraval and Nelson in 1969. He died in 1971.

In his book The Colour Bar (1954), he summed up his experience of Britain and the British thus:

Almost the entire population in Britain really expect the coloured man to live in an inferior areadevoted to coloured peopleMost British people would be quite unwilling for a black man to enter their homes, nor would they wish to work with one as a colleague, nor stand shoulder to shoulder with one at a factory bench.

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100 Great Black Britons - Lord Leary Constantine

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Before 1944 it was common for West End hotels to refuse accommodation to black people. In 1943 this happened to Learie Constantine, one of the world's most distinguished cricketers. He sued the hotel and won his case.

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Noor Inayat-Khan | A Woman of Conspicuous Courage | Commonwealth War Graves Foundation

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Its in the final column

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David Olusoga in Conversation: Black History Matters

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David Olusoga in Conversation: Black History Matters

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FREE Online Event - Wed 7 Oct 2020, 19:30 - 20:30 - Booking in advance required.

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This is a live online event. Bookers will be sent a link to join in their confirmation email.

The murder of George Floyd in the US reverberated around the world. It gave way to an explosion of protest, and a closer examination among historians of the systemic racism in the way the African diaspora is described. Cultural institutions around the world are examining their own legacy within the history of colonialism and imperialism. Join historian David Olusoga in conversation for his personal perspective on how we memorialise, teach and write about racism, and why black British history matters.

Professor David Olusoga is a British-Nigerian historian, broadcaster and BAFTA award-winning presenter and filmmaker. He is Professor of Public History at the University of Manchester and a regular contributor to the Guardian, Observer, New Statesman and BBC History Magazine. The author of several books including Black and British: A Forgotten History and A House Through Time, he was also a contributor to The Oxford Companion to Black British History. In 2019 he was awarded the OBE for services to history and community integration. David's new children's book, Black and British: A Short Essential History has recently been published.

The British Library is a charity. Your support helps us open up a world of knowledge and inspiration for everyone. Donate today.

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David Olusoga in Conversation: Black History Matters

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This is a live online event. Bookers will be sent a link to join in their confirmation email. The murder of George Floyd in the US reverberated around the world. It gave way to an explosion of protest, and a closer examination among historians of the systemic racism in the way the African diaspora is described.

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The African who transformed Anglo-Saxon England

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The African who transformed Anglo-Saxon England

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When a Libyan cleric called Hadrian arrived in Canterbury in AD 670, Anglo-Saxon England was a wild and semi-pagan land. Within a matter of years, it was the driving force behind a remarkable renaissance in learning. Michael Wood reveals how this little-known “man of Africa” helped lay the foundations of English culture.

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In recent years our eyes have been opened to black histories in Britain before the Windrush generation, stretching back through the world wars, on to the Victorian era and beyond. The numbers were small, but the presence was significant, as the black characters in Elizabethan and Jacobean plays show.

Much further back, there were Africans in Roman Britain, from Mauretania, today's Morocco and Algeria. Among them was Victor, the former slave of a cavalry soldier called Numerianus, who is described as "natione Maurum" ("of the Moorish nation") on a second-century AD tombstone from modern-day South Shields.

Then there's near silence. In the thousand years between the end of Roman Britain and the first British overseas explorations under the Tudors, people of colour are far less visible. Their stories cause barely a ripple in the waters of British history. One such story exists just below that surface - rarely impacting on public consciousness. But it is immeasurably important all the same.

Writing in 731, the English historian Bede introduces his readers to a "vir natione Afir", "a man of African race". Perhaps a Berber (or Amazigh), this man was a leading light in one of the most significant cultural movements of the past 1,400 years - a teacher of extraordinary influence on English history. This man was born in north Africa and spent the last 40 years of his life in England. He is buried here. But he had a good old Roman name: we know him as Abbot Hadrian the African.

Early church fathers

So how did a north African, born in the early seventh century, end up changing the course of English history? The story begins in the land of Hadrian's birth, Libya, where for many generations people of Greek descent had mixed with locals, and from where some of the early church fathers hailed. Bishop Quodvultdeus (died c450) was another north African man of the church to journey to Europe (albeit two centuries earlier). Quodvultdeus's haunting face may be preserved in a beautiful mosaic from the catacombs of San Gennaro in Naples.

Hadrian was perhaps raised in the coastal town of Apollonia, which had at least four Byzantine churches in his day, and a great Roman palace whose dramatic seashore remains have been excavated by archaeologists. Years later, he reminisced with his students in England about the beautiful bird that he called 'porphyrion', the African purple gallinule, which roamed the courtyard gardens of a north African ruler's palace. Perhaps he had seen this place as a young man.

Apollonia had been rebuilt in the sixth century under the great Byzantine emperor Justinian, but the Arab invasions of the seventh century brought that world to an abrupt end. The nearby city of Benghazi fell to Arab armies in 642. Maybe the collapse of Byzantine rule forced Hadrian into flight. Whatever the reason, he soon made his way to southern Italy.

After crossing the Mediterranean, Hadrian became an abbot on Nisida, a picturesque island in the Bay of Naples (now joined to the shore by a causeway). Evidently he was a man of some standing and high reputation. He went on diplomatic trips to Gaul and may have acted as a Greek-speaking interpreter for Emperor Constans on his visit to Italy in 663. At any rate, by the late 660s Hadrian's reputation was such that Pope Vitalian asked him to take over the vacant archbishopric in Britain. It's an amazing idea when you think about it: a north African abbot and scholar being sent to "the outermost edge of the world", where as Pope Gregory had said, the tribes till recently "worshipped sticks and stones".

At first Hadrian refused to take the job, and he suggested Andrew, the abbot of a nunnery in Naples. But then he proposed a more senior man, a friend with whom his name would be forever linked: Theodore of Tarsus. Theodore was a Greek originally educated in Syria at Antioch and Edessa, from which he had fled during the Arab invasion of Syria. Now in Italy, he was living in semi-retirement with the Syrian exile community at Tre Fontane, a still idyllic cluster of churches south of Rome's walls.

Theodore agreed to go. He arrived on 27 May 669, serving as archbishop of Canterbury until his death in 690. Hadrian joined him the next year, and whatever his initial doubts, stayed for the rest of his life. Together the two men would go about putting into effect one of the most significant teaching programmes in British history.

England's happiest time

The nearly 70-year-old Syrian and 40-something Libyan made a formidable teaching partnership. And, soon, the school they established in Canterbury became famous Europe-wide. "They went everywhere and did everything together," says Bede, writing in 731. "It was the happiest time since the English first came to Britain."

As Bede's words suggest, in the course of their work, Hadrian and Theodore travelled all over England, "visiting every part of the land". One of their councils in 684 was held at Twyford beyond Hadrian's Wall (today a picturesque village by the East Coast mainline stop at Alnmouth). But they lived and worked in Canterbury - building a library, devising courses, giving lectures, and training the next generation of priests, administrators, artists and writers. One of these, Aldhelm, could proudly announce himself as "the first among the Germanic peoples to master the intricacies of Latin verse".

Bede says Hadrian spoke both Greek and Latin, and his exceptional language skills come out in surviving glossaries and teaching notes where we can see him riffing between those two languages and Old English. Bede also tells us that some of his pupils got to know Greek as well as their own language.

England was a wild and semi-pagan land, and in their baggage Hadrian and Theodore carried manuscripts and teaching aids to try to revive learning, which had stalled since St Augustine's conversion mission of 597. North Africa was a powerhouse of early Christianity, home to great authors like Tertullian and Cyprian. Hadrian may well have brought with him to England copies of many key African texts: manuscripts such as the Commentary on the Apocalypse by the sixth-century north African writer Primasius, which survives today in Oxford's Bodleian Library. It's possible that Hadrian's baggage also contained the British Library's unique fragment of a collection of the letters of St Cyprian of Carthage, who was martyred in 258.

Bawdy riddles

Hadrian's influence on his adopted country may explain why the saints of Naples and Campania feature so strongly in Anglo-Saxon England. Even the Lindisfarne Gospels, one of our most famous manuscripts, contains Neapolitan feasts, like St Januarius and the anniversary of the dedication of the famous church of St Stephen in Naples in c500. Hadrian was surely responsible, too, for Anglo-Saxon knowledge of African saints, like the murdered Restituta, whose body, legend said, had miraculously floated across the sea from north Africa.

Hadrian also introduced his classes in Canterbury to the elegant Latin riddles of the the late Roman writer Symphosius, who was probably also African. Simple games of deductive reasoning, the riddles are terrific teaching aids. Hadrian's student Aldhelm was inspired to devise longer versions, and from that moment riddles really took off in English culture; Bede, Tatwine, Boniface and Alcuin tried their hand.

Later, a tradition of riddling in the vernacular developed, which became more risqué as time went on: an early testimony to the bawdy humour of the English. Some have wonderful vignettes of the natural world, others have the saucy observations of Donald McGill's seaside postcards. Through this mix of vigorous colloquialism, earthy views of sex and excruciating puns, you can trace a line all the way through English culture. And it all began with Hadrian.

Recent discoveries are adding to our knowledge of Hadrian and Theodore's teaching. Their Latin and Greek glossaries, translations and biblical commentaries are still being identified in later manuscripts. Others include medicine, metrology, philosophy, history, Roman civil law, poetry and the art of rhetoric. Parts of a major unknown commentary on Latin grammar were recently identified in Reims. A manuscript in Milan contains a copy of a student's lecture notes, taken while sitting in Theodore and Hadrian's classes in Canterbury, explaining the meaning of biblical texts, and the placenames, landscapes, customs, flora and fauna of the near east. "Melons?" says Theodore at one point, "They are like cucumbers, only bigger: in Edessa some come so big that you can hardly load two on one camel!"
Listen: Susan Oosthuizen explains why we should be reassessing what we think about the Anglo-Saxons, on this episode of the HistoryExtra podcast:
In notes in Berlin and St Gallen in Switzerland, Hadrian is quoted explaining the Latin word larum (wrongly translated in an earlier teaching text) with the Old English word for seagull, meaw (a word still used in some northern dialects). So he could and did teach in the vernacular.

Copied and anthologised, carried abroad by missionaries and itinerant scholars, fragments of these teaching notes are found in later medieval libraries all over Europe. Through them we can hear the voices of perhaps the most influential teachers in the medieval western tradition.

In later times, Theodore and Hadrian were seen as the founders of the educational system of the west. A medieval writer traces the scholarly pedigree of Europe from them through the Carolingian Renaissance of the eighth and ninth centuries down to "modern times", transmitting the knowledge of the Latin and Greek worlds to the far west - and of course, on to us. In the 21st century we have seen the tragic refugee traffic across the sea from Libya to Italy, and from Syria through Turkey to Greece: the very routes Hadrian and Theodore took more than 1300 years ago. Their tale shows how refugees from Syria and Libya helped lay the foundations of the culture of Britain and Ireland.

As archbishop of Canterbury, it was Theodore who got most of the credit. But Hadrian, his brilliant, loyal, self-effacing partner, was every bit as influential - and was maybe even greater in scholarship. As the poet and teacher Alcuin put it in York a century later, our English culture's roots came from four great strands: the wisdom of Greece and Rome, the Hebrew tradition -"and the light that came out of Africa".
Michael Wood is professor of public history at the University of Manchester. He has presented numerous BBC series, and his books include The Story of England (Viking, 2010)This article was first published in the October 2020 edition of BBC History Magazine

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The African who transformed Anglo-Saxon England

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When a Libyan cleric called Hadrian arrived in Canterbury in AD 670, Anglo-Saxon England was a wild and semi-pagan land. Within a matter of years, it was the driving force behind a remarkable renaissance in learning.

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In July 1981 race riots broke out on the streets of Liverpool. It was the first time that British police used CS gas to control civil unrest in mainland Britain.

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In July 1981 race riots broke out on the streets of Liverpool. It was the first time that British police used CS gas to control civil unrest in mainland Britain.

In July 1981 race riots broke out on the streets of Liverpool. It was the first time that British police used CS gas to control civil unrest in mainland Britain. Witness has been hearing from a man who took part in the riot.

(Photo: Lines of police with riot shields face a group of youths during riots in the Toxteth area of Liverpool, July 1981. Credit: Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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BBC World Service - Witness History, Race Riots in Liverpool

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In July 1981 race riots broke out on the streets of Liverpool. It was the first time that British police used CS gas to control civil unrest in mainland Britain. In July 1981 race riots broke out on the streets of Liverpool.

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In 1963 a small group of British black activists started a pioneering protest against racism within the local bus company in Bristol. It had specified that it did not want to employ black bus drivers. Inspired by the example of the US Civil Rights Movement the boycott ended in victory and led to the passage of Britain's first anti-discrimination laws.

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Witness History - The Bristol bus boycott - BBC Sounds

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Catch up on your favourite BBC radio show from your favourite DJ right here, whenever you like. Listen without limits with BBC Sounds.

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Through 2020 and 2021 the Covid pandemic highlighted the obstinacy of racism at all levels of society and its impact on Black lives.

Educators dealt with shocking levels of child food hunger and inequities in access to IT and education.

Only the actions of Black figures such as Marcus Rashford, Lewis Hamilton and Ashley Banjo forced the Government into action.

With 45% of Black children living in poverty, and the higher number of deaths and illnesses of Black people especially key workers caused by an unscrupulous virus, it has been particularly hard for Black parents, pupils and educators.

With Black members,colleagues and allies we rolled out the Anti-Racist Framework. So far 1500 members have been trained, with surveys showing it is used and appreciated in many schools. In July 21 The Hamilton Commission recommended that all schools should be encouraged to use in

One lesson from a year of crisis is that we need a more inclusive, racially literate education system that embraces effective anti-racism.

Black Manifesto

Podcasts which inspire us to learn and unlearn

Listen and share these monthly podcasts featuring conversations with pioneering Black women within arts and culture.

Finally, Ivy Scott (Easter Region Black Organising Forum Member) has compiled an anthology of poems and short articles from Black Educators called the Mountains we Climb, and she wrote this poem, which is so pertinent to so many of us.

Ode To A Special Friend

Each of us have a story or special memory of a person who died. In this poem I imagine my friend talking to all of us about her legacy to us. Knowing her she would not want us to cry or weep, but to celebrate her life and her dedication to serving God. She always talked about the rapture and she knew she has served her Lord diligently so would be joining him in heaven. She strived to ensure that we all gave our lives to the heavenly father.

A Glorious Day

Just close your lovely eyes and you will see

All the wonderful memories you shared with me,

The times I prayed with you,

Sharing laughter friendship and food,

Often lending a listening ear,

Trying to soothe away your tears.

Don't cry for me, I'm gone,

To the land of my living Lord

To sit at my saviour's feet,

Rejoicing on this glorious morn.

Throughout my life, I gave my best,

Supporting those who needed rest,

Or a helping hand,

I journeyed the extra mile with pleasure,

To make life a worthwhile measure.

I have left you skills untold,

In hospitality, kindness and worship,

Without expectations of returns,

Cause God provided me trebly in turn.

If I brighten your day with holy readings

From my father's treasure chest,

Share them with your heavenly sisters and brothers.

Today I journey to a place of love,

Where the sun shines brightly above,

So, wipe away your shiny tears,

Do not weep for me,

I've gone to meet my Lord in heaven,

There are no fears here,

In this place called paradise above.

Ivy L. Scott, © May 2020

Dedicated to Elva Didier, a Windrush Elder who died in 2020

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Through 2020 and 2021 the Covid pandemic highlighted the obstinacy of racism at all levels of society and its impact on Black lives. Educators dealt with shocking levels of child food hunger and inequities in access to IT and education. Only the actions of Black figures such as Marcus Rashford, Lewis Hamilton and Ashley Banjo forced the Government into action.

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Rediscovering Black Portraiture through the Getty Museum Challenge

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Rediscovering Black Portraiture through the Getty Museum Challenge

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by The Iris blog part of Getty

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As COVID-19 closed in on the United Kingdom in mid-March, opera singer and BBC broadcaster Peter Brathwaite was abruptly left with time he didn't want: all of his upcoming performances were canceled until August. He kept busy practicing and researching for future shows, but was still "twiddling his thumbs a bit." But then he came across the Getty Museum Challenge-an invitation to recreate a famous work of art using props from around your home; a fellow opera singer had posted a photo on Twitter of herself as Johannes Vermeer's Girl With a Pearl Earring. Braithwaite thought, what can I recreate?

While browsing for images, he found A Black Servant, England, an 18 th-century painting by an unknown artist. "I've got some clothes that are that color," he thought, "and I could take the photo in my window." Substituting a stuffed sheep for the dog, he faithfully emulated the rest of the painting, from the draped green curtain to the smile on the subject's face.

That was the first of more than fifteen art recreations B rathwaite has posted on Twitter, each one featuring a Black subject. He wrote, "Rediscovering #blackportraiture through @GettyMuseum challenge" in each caption-an acknowledgment of his public goal to remind people that Black subjects do exist in portraiture, and that their stories deserve to be told. The photos are also part of a personal endeavor: to connect with his own ancestors through Black portraiture.

"The Getty challenge is a process of rediscovery," Brathwaite said. "I hadn't seen many recreations of pieces of art with Black people before I started to do it myself. And it's an acknowledgment of what a great challenge it is in the way it's opened up a whole new world of creativity and culture for me."

Two weeks before he discovered the challenge, Brathwaite had started researching his family tree, particularly his relatives who lived in Barbados and the West Indies. Although he unearthed portraits of white ancestors, he found no images of his Black ancestors; a consequence of having a Barbadian, West Indian background, one that was mixed race both consensually and by force. He also came across one white ancestor who had argued in court that slavery was "the only option" for Black people.

"That's very hard to take," he said.

Brathwaite saw the art recreation challenge as an opportunity to explore his own story and honor his Black ancestors, who hadn't had the opportunity to sit for a portrait. Brathwaite's subjects ranged from noblemen of high status to servants portrayed as exotic "accessories." But rather than precisely imitating the details of each painting, he took liberties that further connected him with his own heritage and empower his subjects.

He altered the paintings to include traditional Caribbean clothes, tools, and food; a book of Barbados folk songs; African hair products; his grandmother's patchwork quilt, and his grandfather's cou-cou stick (reminiscent of a cricket bat, it's used for cooking the Barbados national dish). He even altered the expression on his subject's face or body position. For example, he made a subtle but powerful change in his recreation of Albert Schindler's Portrait of a Gardener and Horn Player in the Household of Emperor Francis I.

"Just so there's no doubt this person is subservient, a picture of presumably his master is pinned to the wall," said Brathwaite. "So when I recreated this one, I put the picture of my ancestor on the wall and I decided to alter the look. It's slightly ambiguous in the original painting whether he's looking out the window or at this picture, but I decided to fix my gaze on my ancestor. Things like that shift the balance in what has overwhelmingly been a series of images showing Black people without power."

Once he posted a photo on Twitter alongside the original painting, the conversation began. Commenters delighted in Brathwaite's recreations and pointed out details; his inclusion of Barbados cane sugar, his cheeky decision to swap out a chess piece for a Jenga block. Some recommended other paintings he could recreate, while others told him he helped them see a painting in a new way and expressed appreciation that he's bringing often-overlooked Black portraiture to life.

Brathwaite pointed out that there's a misconception in the U.K. that Black history began in England in the 1950s, with Caribbean immigrants known as the Windrush generation. His recreations lay bare the fact that Black people have been a part of the fabric of the U.K., and Europe as a whole, for hundreds of years; but their stories aren't always told.

While he awaits the re-opening of theaters and performance venues, Brathwaite continues investigating his family tree and finding additional artworks to recreate. He's also working on a new musical project that will feature music of enslaved communities, resurfacing their songs in much the same way the Getty challenge inspired his resurfacing of Black portraiture.

"I never imagined recreating art would be as expanding as it has become for my mind and my knowledge of paintings," Brathwaite said. "To get inside a painting in this way, to physicalize it, is a really useful way to gain a different perspective on a work of art."

"Once you've put yourself in a painting," he said, "you view it very differently."

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Rediscovering Black Portraiture through the Getty Museum Challenge

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As COVID-19 closed in on the United Kingdom in mid-March, opera singer and BBC broadcaster Peter Brathwaite was abruptly left with time he didn't want: all of his upcoming performances were canceled until August. He kept busy practicing and researching for future shows, but was still "twiddling his thumbs a bit."

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Peter Brathwaite is a musician who has taken on the #gettymuseumchallenge His focus has been on re-surfacing black portraiture, most of which has not had as wide an audience as it is getting now.

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REDISCOVERING BLACK PORTRAITURE THROUGH THE GETTY MUSEUM CHALLENGE.

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REDISCOVERING BLACK PORTRAITURE THROUGH THE GETTY MUSEUM CHALLENGE.

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by Peter Brathwaite

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"As COVID-19 closed in on the United Kingdom in mid-March, opera singer and BBC broadcaster Peter Brathwaite was abruptly left with time he didn't want: all of his upcoming performances were canceled until August. He kept busy practicing and researching for future shows, but was still "twiddling his thumbs a bit." But then he came across the Getty Museum Challenge-an invitation to recreate a famous work of art using props from around your home"

- the iris (Getty Museum Blog)

THE PORTRAITS (#83 images ~ FROM THE 13th cENTURY THROUGH TO THE 21ST)

Click on images to expand and read captions.

"The medium also affords genuine opportunities for education: Opera singer and writer Peter Brathwaite has highlighted African diaspora figures in European and American art."

- Art in America

REDISCOVERING BLACK PORTRAITURE SERIES Credits:

Curation: Peter Brathwaite

Photography: Sam Baldock

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Click on images to expand and read captions. Curation: Peter Brathwaite Photography: Sam Baldock

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Good Luck