Black History Month: Help or Hindrance?

Josie D'Arby's BBC Radio 4 programme this monting at 11am considered the introduction of Black History Month into British schools and asks whether it has been a help or hindrance to the way children understand the past and to how black people relate to the way history is taught in our classrooms.

Is anything really better than nothing?
Imagine year after year of African drumming, the African slave trade, Mary Seacole, MLK and Muhammed Ali. It would drive me mad if I was a student. It would drive me mad if I was a parent whose child had to endure this each year. It drives me mad as a teacher.

There's so much more that can be done - but laziness - or a lack of time and resources - has much to a answer for.

BHM is all well and good if properly contextualised, but without such context I fear that the endlessly trotted out BHM content is turning both black and white students off Black history.

Black British Lives at oxforddnb

see details of Black British lives at http://www.oup.com/oxforddnb/info/prelims/title/preface/#3

and details of Black Britons, 1700-2000 at http://www.oup.com/oxforddnb/info/freeodnb/shelves/sept2010/#black
September’s update adds a selection of 20 biographies of notable black Britons, the first of two sets to extend the ODNB’s coverage of black and Asian subjects over the coming year.

October 2010 Events

SCAWDI exhibition launch on Friday 1st Oct 2010, at the Friend's Institute, Moseley Rd, Bham at 12 noon

Legacies of British Slave-ownership on Sat 9th October 2010, at BMAG, Bham from 10.30am

Brighton Pavillion: The One Show

Interesting take on Brighton Pavillion featured in a 7 min slot on The One Show: Monday 20th Sept. Saw the Pavillion's use as a miliary hospital for the Asian soldiers as an act of propaganda to deter Asians from uniting with Germany during WWI, as the Turkish had done.

Open Heritage W/e Day 2 pt 2: Northampton

I wish I'd gone to the Heritage Fair at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,
Sheep Street, NN1. Like the gathering at the Herbert in Cov, it was a gathering of local history groups. So why were the Jewish, Asian and BH groups segregated into the Guildhall?

Open Heritage W/e Day 2: Northampton

Arrived in Northampton around 11.45am. Went to see the Public Library (closed!) then took the 30 min guided tour of the Sessions House. An excellent, informative, well attended tour. Much better than Coventry! Included a tour of the old prison cells - very unsettling. The bldg was completed in 1678 but had undergone much refurbishment and expansion.
I wondered how many black, Asian & Jewish men and women had experienced hearings in these premises since 1678.

Next was a brief visit to the Guildhall, largely to see the Black History displays. This information seemed so marginalised by its lack of inclusion in the two main museums of Northampton. The books produced by NBHA don't even feature on the shelves of these museums!

The third event was the Jewish Heritage Trail. The tour guide of my group (one of the three tours starting at 2pm) was Don Welsh. He was brilliant - very knowledgeable. No real attention to a black or Asian presence - but I guess it was a Jewish trail.

The visit to the Northampton Museum & Art Gallery was highly disappointing re. acknowledgement of a black/asian presence. The Jewish headstone was on display which gave rise to acknowledgement of a Jewish presence, but not even Walter Tull was mentioned.

On to the Abingdon Museum where there was a much clearer reference to links with black and Asian peoples, notably through Colonial militias during 1700s/1800s, and refs. to Imperial Regts during 1900s. Still no mention of Walter Tull though!

Throughout the day I'd asked about back-to-backs in Northampton and about WWII hostels. No real info. on these aspects was gained. I was referred t the Public Library (Closed) and to the Records Office (Closed) but at least I've got areas to focus on for next time.

Black British History: Open Heritage W/e Day 1

Excellent events attended in Coventry
1. Tour of the oldest part of Coventry's London Road Cemetery - No early black presences have been highlighted but it was my first ever visit so I'll begin to look into it.

2. Tour of Coventry's Town Hall - 1st non-white Lord Mayor seems to have been Sucha Bains, 2004. At least two Asians have held the post since. No one of African-Caribbean presence as yet
Saw where the Citizenship ceremonies take place

3. St Mary's Guildhall - where Mary Queen of Scots was taken for brief period before her execution. No early black presences highlighted as yet.

4. Walking Tour of Coventry, from Old Cathedral (ruins). Guide was informative but held us in one place for too long. I began to faint away (I'd not yet had lunch) and had to leave off the last 20 mins of the tour to take in some sustenance.

5. Attended the exhibits in the Herbert Museum - local history groups gathered with displays etc. Most informative was the Willenhall Group who are also looking at WWII Hostels. This revealed some black presences, notably from Ghana and Iran. Most other goups there had never even considered this aspect of local history.

All in all - a good day

Off to Northampton tomorrow.

Black British History: RIP Jefferson Thomas Sr (1942-2010)

aged 15, Jefferson Thomas was one of the nine black students who integrated an all-white high school in Little Rock, Ark., in 1957 in a landmark confrontation of the civil rights movement.

He died of cancer on Sunday 5th Sept 2010, aged 67.

Laurence Westgaph back on form

Laurence Westgaph's career has recovered following the horrors of 2009. He featured in the BBC documentary programme 'People’s Palaces: The Golden Age of Civic Architecture', presented by Jonathan Foyle. Televised on BBC4 on 6th Sept 2010. Westgaph talked of the Bluecoat charity school founded by Bryan Blundell – built on slave money.

Laurence Westgaph, you're beautiful!