27th Walter Rodney Lecture: Weds 28th October 2010

Just days after the early death of David Thompson, the near 49 year old PM of Barbados, on Wednesday 28th October 2010, the annual Walter Rodney Lecture, held in the Ramphal Building at the University of Warwick, was given by P J Patterson, former PM of Jamaica. Patterson had served as PM in 14 years of unbroken service. The event was well attended.
I’d not heard Patterson speak before. I don’t think I’d even seen him speak on TV news or in documentaries. Patterson did not look 75 years old, but he is. Though his speech was relatively slow and ponderous, he did not sound 75 years old. His bearing was of a man in his 50s: tall and erect. It was only when he moved to take his seat, after standing at the podium for nearly and hour, that he showed signs of age.
Patterson’s talk, introduced by Trevor Burnard of the University’s recently renamed Caribbean Centre, began by celebrating the “clarity & compelling force” of the late Walter Rodney & outlining his personal links with the man. Patterson also praised the University for its dedication to Rodney by holding the annual lecture, which began in 1984, just three years after the assassination of Rodney.
The progress in JA, since 1991, was outlined. For example in 1991 44% of Jamaicans lived in poverty. By 2006 only 15% of Jamaicans lived in poverty. Patterson then drew attention to Rodney’s stance on migration in relation to the people of the Caribbean, notably through Rodney’s book ‘How Europe Underdeveloped Africa’. Patterson saw migration as beginning with the “transplanting of African forebears” and the “ruthless decimation” of a population, no doubt a euphemism for ‘enslavement and forced transportation.’ Reference was made to the way in which ruthless Africans, lured by the profits that slave trading could bring, abandoned traditional industries. In the view of Patterson, development means self-sustaining growth. A further setback to the development of African and Caribbean industries, therefore, was (and is) the desire for European/American goods/services and their “false prestige” at the expense of indigenous goods/services.
There was more than one reference to the damaging ‘brain-drain’ vicious cycle effect of “unmanaged and unco-ordinated patterns of migration” including the transmigration between the Caribbean islands (including Cuba) and South American countries. For most countries, 35% of emigrants have achieved a tertiary level of education. However, with regard to the Caribbean, the figures are as high as 40% to 70% of emigrants being educated to the tertiary level. Though Patterson interpreted this as being tantamount to ‘global poaching’, no real suggestions were made as to how this can be reduced in scale, even though it meant that, in addition, the social fabric of Caribbean countries was under threat especially since a large proportion of the emigrants were women, often leaving behind ‘back-home’ children. However the ‘remittances’ these emigrants sent back to the Caribbean have two effects: on the one hand they contribute to a ‘dependency culture’, especially considering that they, in many cases, total more than most of these Caribbean countries receive in foreign aid (7-19% of GDP). But on the other had, such in-coming funds barely countered the loss suffered as a result of emigration.
‘Swallow migrants’ was a new term on me, apparently relating to the seasonal migration of Caribbean workers within the more prosperous Caribbean islands and across to North America and Canada.
With reference to the Asian, Oriental, Jewish & Arab presence in the Caribbean, I found myself wondering what Rodney’s views were on this and what proportion of the educated emigrants consisted of Caribbeans of non-African ethnicities.
I wondered to what extent patterns of ownership had changed, since independence, with regard to land, properties, businesses and what the implications of this were in terms of what development could take place within the Caribbean.
There were brief accounts of how the two world wars had affected the Caribbean, especially world war two. Samuel Selvon’s ‘Lonely Londoners’ was highlighted as Patterson explored the social & cultural implications of migration and the way in which ‘the cult of migration’ transcended class and colour. This prompted reference to Rodney’s ‘Groundings with My Brother.’
I was disappointed that when Patterson talked of what the Caribbean had exported to other countries, his focus was on music, sport and Mary Seacole. These are not the aspects that are lacking in the Caribbean. What the Caribbean is losing are doctors, nurses, teachers, lawyers, scientists, entrepreneurs, ICT specialists. Perhaps that is why Patterson was careful not to praise such emigrants?
Because Caribbean countries face similar problems Patterson stressed that their unity could enable common solutions. However Patterson did not mention crime and corruption though I did wonder what steps were being made to counter these aspects that may contribute to the push-factors the prompt educated Caribbeans to emigrate in the first place.
Though he made reference to climate change, Patterson gave no real examples of what Caribbeans were doing to alleviate or at least counter the negative effects of climate change, for example floods, deforestation, health, hygiene. I wanted to hear about the extent to which the Caribbean was making use of technological developments such as solar power, wave power, wind power, etc.
Following Patterson’s 50-minute talk a member of the audience questioned him about the appropriateness of celebrating Rodney, in the light of recent accusations against Rodney’s life and work. Patterson deflected the question on the grounds that he’d had no access to such reports and so was unable to comment. Nevertheless, Patterson asserted, the way in which Rodney was assassinated could never be justified.
All in all, it was a thought-provoking, worthwhile event. I’m glad I made the effort to attend.

British Media and the Caribbean

Yesu Persaud Centre for Caribbean Studies, Warwick University
Tuesday, 26th October 2010
Maya Jaggi (freelance writer, mainly for The Guardian and The TLS) gave a talk on: "The British Media and the Caribbean", 5.00pm, Venue: Humanities H0.52,

I had considered myself to be well-read and 'on the ball' when it came to non-UK writers. An internet trawl of some of the work reviewed by Jaggi, from 1998 to October 2010 proved me wrong. Jaggi certainly has the ideal job: being paid to read, review and interview in relation to such a breadth of published materials by writers from the near and far.

However the title for the talk was misleading. The focus was solely on literature produced by Caribbean writers - whether diasporan or 'continental'.

Jaggi outlined the various 'era' in the literature of Caribbean writers: pre WWII, literature of the 70s, 80s, 90s
She acknowledged the often patronising reviews which sought to exoticise the writers and their works. Condemining the works as 'political' by writers with 'chips on their shoulders' was the other approach. Both approaches were based on nonchalant racism/ignorance and made glaring omissions in terms of the contexts in which the works were written. Reviewers would evoke false comparisons with other black writers yet fail to acknowledge how other influences (literary, historical, etc) were being made use of. As a result such reviews were based on dubious judgements and therefore lacked authenticity.

Jaggi also spoke of the was a cultural and historical amnesia in relation to reviewing Caribbean literature, so that no sense of progressions/development could be arrived at. As such each generation of writers suffered from 'perpetual newness'.

Then there was the way in which reviewers wanted the works to 'represent' certain things, even while they failed to see the universal in the particular details. It is such blinkers that prevent such reviewers from seeing the common humanity in the works by Caribbean writers.

There was reference to works in translation and the implications of this.

The overall message seemed to be: don't be too anthropological about the works by Caribbean writers, but don't ignore it either.

I wondered to what extent black and white readers 'read' books in the same ways. eg. How different are the reviews of the same works by different reviewers - based on level of education, 'race' , gender, age and class

Just what is good reviewing practice?

I had expected, given the title of the talk, to hear something about the Caribbean impact on Western literature eg. topics covered, use of dialect, phonetic writing, approaches/outlooks

I wondered how the representation of 'black' characters/countries had changed over the years, and if so, in what ways, and based on what factors.

My Alter Ego: Ignatius Sancho

On 18th October 2010, Soweto Kinch presented ‘My Alter Ego: Ignatius Sancho’, a 15 minutes broadcast, 15:45 on BBC Radio 4. It was an intelligent programme in which Kinch explored the life of Ignatius Sancho & certain parallels with his own life: his engagement with education, his passion for music and his relationship with his heritage. The programme was illustrated with readings from Ignatius's letters (by Burt Caesar?) and musical compositions. It was produced by Karen Gregor.

Lemn Sissay presentation on BBC Radio 3

Why I Don't Hate White People is a recording made at a community centre in Salford, in which Lemn Sissay presents a humorous, rollercoaster investigation into race.

Marcus Garvey display - Bham Central Library

Excellent, informative panels on loan from kalunga111@gmail.com
Over 25 well-presented panels

Legacies of British Slave-ownership: One day workshop, Bham 9th Oct 2010

Gas Hall Conference Room, BMAG
The event was attended by around 50 people.
The day began with an outline of the project by Catherine Hall.
Key findings: slave compensation totalled £20 million and involved 30% of state expenditure.
Over 25,000 individual payments were made. 4% of the claimants were based in the W.Mids.
55% of these claims were for less than £500. Exceptions include John Gladstone (ancestor of PM Gladstone) who was awarded £1,100.
45% of all claimants were women, who had been left annuities in wills
2,500 claimants got over £500 and were absentee owners, living in the UK & Ireland
Many claims were contested (by multiple claimants) for periods of up to 30 years. In such cases the claims were paid to courts for the courts to adjudicate.

Catherine Hall presented a case-study outline of the Caribbean-British links within the various branches of the Barrett family, over a period of at least 300 years

Keith McClelland gave an overview of the records in terms of areas, genders, extent of 'property' etc. He indicated areas of research to come, eg.
- Commercial links
- Cultural links
- Imperial legacies
- Military links
- MPs/Politics
- Physical legacies

Nick Draper focussed on the records in relation to the W.Mids, highlighting the Hodgsons of Shropshire, the Flowers of Lichfield etc.

After a coffee break Malcolm Dick outlined the work he had done on Slavery & Anti-slavery in the Midlands. He indicated the contradictory stances that existed within and among those wih slave links. He also considered abolition in relation to motives, origins and activties.

Andy Green focussed on Race and Empire in Post-emancipation Bham, largely in relation to George Dawson.

After lunch David Callaghan gave a very comprehensive outline of Scawdi's 'History Detectives' project.

The open discussion sessions were surprisingly useful, giving opportunities for participants to talk about personal areas of interest/discuss common issues & priorities for the future.

I'm looking forward to the launch of the records online.

Scawdi: History Detectives (2010)

The 37 page publication is a useful addition to the growing body of material related to Black British History. There are one or two typos re. dates and the spelling of names eg. Boscawen is listed as Boscowen. In addition the book would benefit from having a contents page, an index page and a map of the region which also specifies boundary changes.

My main concern about the book is that so much of the pioneering work in Black History, of recent years, especially in the W. Mids, is not being acknowledged.

From time to time various projects are funded to promote Black History, but until current and future projects begin to acknowledge and make links with the projects of the past & present, I fear that they too will become the forgotten and unacknowledged projects of the future.

The criteria for the funding of such projects should insist on an acknowledgement of similar projects of the past & present, within the region & nationally. Only then should such projects be funded, if they can demonstrate how they can add to the history and move things forwards, rather than repeating more of the same.

Perhaps the recent econic climate may make such criteria more likely. Unless this occurs no REAL progress in Black History will be made.

Scawdi: In the beginning...

'Scawdi: In the beginning...' (2007) is a power-packed read.
However I've been unable to find any details on Scawdi's "vibrant tapestries - entwined heritage" project, referred to on pg 17
and I could find no information re. some of the images used:
1. the photograph on pg 6
2. the photograph on pg 12
3. the photographs on pg 20 & 21
4. the photograph on pg 25

Boulton's Soho House, B'ham

The British iron industries boomed on the back of slavery - chains, padlocks, fetters, the metal used in ship construction (slave ships were sheathed with copper), and hundreds of thousands of firearms that were shipped to West Africa to exchange for African slaves. In addition, all the tools used on the slave plantations were manufactured in Britain. Matthew Boulton developed extensive business dealings with the plantations from his factory at Soho in Birmingham.
Along with James Watt, Boulton developed new steam engines that were sold to the sugar plantations, which used steam power to replace the traditional wind, water or horse power - and so needed fewer slaves. Although Boulton was an abolitionist, there were many iron manufacturers in the Midlands who objected to the abolition campaign, who argued that their business depended on the trade to and from Africa (for slaves) and with the slave plantations. Soho metal industry supplied the equipment for the slave ships, and exports to Africa and the plantations.
Commercial interests conflicted with principles. Matthew Boulton and James Watt were businessmen and were keen to do business with West Indian slave owners. This is despite the fact that from 1776 the Society of Friends (Quakers) in England and Pennsylvania had officially required its members to free their slaves. They explored the prospect of selling steam engines to slave plantations in the Caribbean and in 1783 Boulton had entertained Mr Pennant, a notorious slave owner who owned huge estates in Jamaica and sought steam engines for his plantations there. In the Boulton & Watt collection, there is a printed map of the City of Kingston, Jamaica, by Major John Bonnet Pechon, Engineer, 1809. [Ref: MS 3147/5/1479]
In 1790 Samuel Galton recommended to John Dawson, a Liverpool-based slave trader, that he should contact Boulton and Watt and about supplying steam engines for Dawson’s sugar works in Trinidad. The latter wrote to Boulton and Watt on 9 November 1790:
"Sirs, I have been considering of the conversation Mr Galton & I had respecting the merits of the Steam Engine as I am going to have some Sugar Works erected in the Island of Trinidad & wish to have your Ideas & the opinion of experienc'd people how far it would be practicable to erect them on that plan: the want of Wind & Water the principle on which they are at present work'd, retards the progress so very much, particularly in crop time, That if an engine could be invented with a certainty of answering the purpose, the Rolers so contriv'd that if possible to have a greater effect in the pressing of the Cane than what is at present used but I must observe to you that without wood fire will answer the same purpose as coal, the undertaking would be very hazardous, Coals could not be laid in at that island for less than 71/6 pr Chaldron, the duty being 15/6.
I shall thank you to give me every information of the practicability of this scheme for could it be made to answer, a large field would be open in that quarter of the Globe, the King of Spain having granted a loan of a million Dollars to the Inhabitants of Trinidad for the purpose of erecting Sugar Works & purchase of Slaves which I am to have the supplying of. Should be happy to give every encouragement in the introduction of such a plan with yourself & I can engage the Governor will do the same.

Your reply will oblige Sir

John Dawson"

Boulton and Watt’s reply to Dawson does not survive, but their partnership supplied steam engines to plantations in the West Indies.

Launch of Scawdi's Black History Exhibition

The launch of Scawdi 'History Detectives' exhibition was impressive.
Clive Harris gave a brief talk.
Professionally produced, informative panels are supported by a number of publications:
'History Detectives: Black people in the West Midlands, 1650-1918' - 37 pages of well illustrated details of a selection of biographies which outline the true social history of the region.
'Scawdi: In the Beginning' - 27 pages of well illustrated information
I can't wait to get down to reading these booklets!

Boulton's Soho House, B'ham

Finally managed to visit the former home of Boulton. Aside from Bham Back to Backs and Stoneleigh Abbey I've not toured a lot of properties. The contrast between the three properties is very telling.
Unfortunately the guide was not very knowedgeable. Still the property itself revealed a lot. Re. Black British History - only a small panel relating to Equiano's Bham visit and the minting of commemorative abolition/emancipation coins. At least the Equiano book was on sale.
The main purpose of my Bham visit was to attend the lanch of the Scawdi 'History Detectives' exhibition. No one at Soho House, including the two black staff, had any knowledge of Scawdi, let alone today's launch.