newsletter young people learn about black · pdf filehuruma peace club is being mentored and...

Newsletter Volume 7, Issue 2 Summer 2009

by Monica Babb: NBHA was invited to facilitate a series of workshops at Oakway

Junior School in Wellingborough for their Black Heritage

After School Club. It was a bit daunting and at the same

time exciting for the three facilitators. Each session had

around 20 children aged between 7–11 years who were

committed to coming and seemed to enjoy the activities

planned for each session. Considering the differences in

ages they all produced very good work according to

their ability and were supportive of each other. There

was a wonderful painting of Nebamun, medals for Mary

Seacole and a large collage of Mansa Musa’s camels on

their way to Mecca.

A party was held and

some elders of the

community were invited to engage the children

in interviewing. They were brilliant and asked the

elders very good questions. The feedback from

the visitors was positive and they praised the " the

well behaved children". The parents were invited

to the party so that the children could show them

their efforts and learn what the Heritage Club had been doing. The facilitators were

happy to share their knowledge of black history and thank the school for inviting

NBHA to work with them.

A special thank you to Ms Clare Wallace and Ms Claire Dorling. "The children involved

in our heritage club thoroughly enjoyed the activities they were involved in. This was

evident in the quality of involvement in the sessions and their enthusiasm when

presenting to a whole school assembly. I had children asking if they could join the

club next time... which in itself is an indication of success. The tea party to finish off the

club sessions was a great idea with visits from elders, friends and families.”

Young People Learn about Black Heritage

Northamptonshire Black History Association would like to invite all members, supporters

and friends to the Annual General Meeting at the Doddridge Centre on Thursday 9

July 2009 from 6.30pm. There will be refreshments, reports and elections as well as

fascinating talks and a musical performance. NBHA is a voluntary members’

organisation and relies on good people like you to continue the vital work.

Annual General Meeting - Thursday 9 July 2009

Nebamun painting

by Heritage Club

Mansa Musa’s Camels by Heritage club

Vol 7 Issue 2 - Summer 2... page 1

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Wednesday, June 24, 2009 12:06

Heroes Day Celebration

Teaching for Diversity

Promotion of the educational resources produced as part of the

Shaping The Future project continues to gather pace. Leaflets

detailing the high quality teaching and learning packs available

are now being

sent to schools

and educators

around the

country.

“Brilliant materials

for both history and diversity” - Alf

Wilkinson, National Subject Lead,

Historical Association

Have you got your copy ?

Call the office today to find out

how to get your free packs worth

£40 (available free to download).

Left to right: June White-Gulley, Phil Vasili,

Monica Babb

by June White-Gulley : On the evening of Tuesday April 28th 2009, Monica Babb and

June White Gulley were invited by Barbados High

Commissioner Mr Hugh Anthony Arthur and other

distinguished Barbadians to the Barbados Embassy

in London UK to commemorate war heroes from

the island.

The evening had a full programme including a

presentation and discussion on Walter Tull by Phil

Vasili, author of the book ‘Colouring over the White

Line’ about the history of black British footballers

and was a guest speaker at the launch of the

NBHA Walter Tull educational resource packs in

Northampton (December 2007).

The star of the night was Mr Victor Richards who wrote and performed “Streets Paved

with Gold” a spoken word piece. In his one man play Victor Richards introduces the

character of Augustus Cleveland Johnson who arrives in London at Tilbury Docks in

1948 on the Empire Windrush.

Victor Richards states: “The story line weaves together a thrilling and informative

picture of the collective experiences of Black British Citizens resulting from their new

experiences.”

Phil Vasili acknowledged NBHA’s efforts to commemorate Walter Tull and asked the

representatives to say a few words. The Walter Tull educational resource packs were

displayed and June White-Gulley briefly spoke about the launch and closed by

informing those present on how he is remembered in Northampton by the monument

on Walter Tull Way. There was a great response to NBHA’s work.


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Volume 7, Issue 2 International Penpals Wanted

Located in an area of Nairobi Kenya, Huruma Peace Club was started by a group of

young people in June 2008 and has been meeting every Sunday since then.

Currently there are 20 members ages 14-

20. Activities carried out so far include:

community clean-ups, charity work,

reconciliation work between members

and their parents, workshops and training,

and a visit to an exhibition called “Kenya

Burning” on the violence that erupted

after the elections at the start of last year.

One of the founding members Sharon

Wilander Achieng states: “The reason we

started the club was because of the

violence that took place last year, where

there was hatred among different ethnic

groups. Schools were also affected on ethnic lines. We wanted to reconcile the

different groups by taking people from different backgrounds to join the group. The

club is now working well because, through training and discussions and joint activities

there are no more quarrels and people work together well now. Also, in schools there

are no divisions now and people have also realised there are other people who need

help in the community.”

The group has been receiving the NBHA newsletter through contact with the son of

an NBHA member and is encouraged by the interesting and important work being

done. Group members are interested to get penpals and would be glad to hear

from any young people who want to communicate with them. Anyone interested

can contact Sharon through [email protected]

Huruma Peace Club is being mentored and supported by Ngei 1 Development Youth

Group, a youth organization in Huruma, Nairobi, Kenya. Further information can be

found on the website www.ngei1youth.org

Black History Rulers – Huge Demand! Over 9,000 rulers have been ordered by local schools, publicity for NBHA curriculum

materials and the NBHA book,

Sharing the Past: Northamptonshire

Black History will also be sent out.

Members of Parliament, Borough

Councillors and many NBHA

members helped to launch the

Black History Ruler at the Doddridge

Centre, Northampton on 28 March.

Speakers included Ifemu Omari

and Norma Pearson of English

Heritage, the main funding body.

Members of the Huruma Peace Club

Celebrating the launch of the Black History rulers


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Oral Histories of the Black Women’s Movement

by Mia Morris and Tamsin Bookey of the Black Cultural Archive

Black Cultural Archives is a Black-led community organisation established to collect,

preserve and celebrate the history of Black people in Britain. The organisation is

currently engaged in a £6.5m capital project to create a Black heritage centre for the

UK in Brixton, South London, to open in 2011.

The oral history project on the Black Women’s Movement is funded by the Heritage

Lottery Fund as part of the Documenting the Archives cataloguing project which has

seen Black Cultural Archives’ collections fully catalogued to professional standards.

“With a few notable exceptions, the story of the British Black Women’s Movement has

by and large remained invisible, unarticulated and uncelebrated. It deserves a voice

that is as clear, impassioned and committed as the women whose story it conveys.”

Rev Dr Kate Coleman, Birmingham, Baptist Minister

The project captures the oral histories of women involved in the Black Women’s

Movement in Britain. The first national Organisation of Woman of African and Asian

Descent (OWAAD) conference took place in Brixton in 1979. OWAAD served as a

national umbrella organisation for Black Women’s groups up and down the country.

Women have been interviewed who participated in OWAAD or its related groups

during the 1970s and 1980s, or who were inspired by its work. Interviewees have

included women working in the arts, trades unions, churches and local and national

government. So far over twenty women in London, Leicester, Birmingham and

Manchester have been interviewed, sharing their stories and journeys as part of the

movement.

The project was initially funded for just 6 months but has been successfully extended

for a further 12 months until May 2010. During the second phase of the project more

women outside of London will be

interviewed and an exhibition

based on the oral testimony will be

created and toured around the

UK, hosted by partner

organisations.

A steering group of academics,

cultural and heritage practitioners

and activists knowledgeable about

the Black Women’s Movement was

set up and meets regularly to

advise on the oral history project.

There was also huge interest in

volunteering on the project.

Volunteers were trained in oral

history interviewing, transcription

and sound editing, and meet monthly as a group to share experiences.

http://www.bcaheritage.org.uk

Oral history volunteers on a training course photograph by Black

Cultural Archives


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Volume 7, Issue 2

by Elnora Latchman: The struggles of Black communities in Britain over past

generations have been recorded for the education of this and future generations.

The film was made for Channel 4 relating the actual experiences of people who

came to live in Britain during and after World War II, many of whom

served in the armed forces fighting along side or with the British army

and lost friends and relatives in the war. The film addresses four

different communities, Tiger Bay in Cardiff, Southall, Ladbroke Grove

and Leicester.

The Cardiff section looks at the difficulties faced by people settling in a

typical Welsh port town. Uniting these people was a sense of Britishness

which had been taught through their colonial education which gave

them a sense of equality with their white English peers. The community in Southall

describes experiences of racism from the National Front. It looks at discriminatory

policies in all areas of life from education to airports and shows the determination of

African Caribbean, African and Asian people to fight for human dignity and respect.

We hear stories from those who heeded the call to help the mother country in the

Ladbroke Grove section. It includes the personal accounts of racist attacks and the

consequent efforts to build a close supportive community and demonstrate the

talents of the various cultures and abilities are wonderful to hear. From Leicester we

hear about racist abuse suffered at work and the refusal of Trade Unions to accept

Asians and West Indians as members. It was a great surprise to discover that Enoch

Powell oversaw the recruitment of workers from the commonwealth as health

minister. Despite all this, the immigrant community did not give up on their hope for

better education and better economic prospects for their children.

This film shows how far the Black community has come in the fight for equality and

argues that we must continue to be vigilant and to make our voices heard whenever

and wherever racism raises its ugly head. The film is on sale now from the Institute of

Race Relations and can be bought from the website

(http://www.irr.org.uk/2008/november/ha000017.html)

Struggles for Black Community - DVD review

Commemorating Mary Seacole

In June 2009 the winner of the competition

to create a statue to commemorate Mary

Seacole was announced.

This ceremony was preceded by a church

memorial service at St Mary’s Catholic

Church, followed by a Royal College of

Nursing Fundraising Lunch at Kensal Green

in London.

Picture: Members of Mary Seacole Memorial

Association, June White-Gulley, NBHA

Trustee, at the memorial service and wreath

laying ceremony.


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NBHA On The Road!

NBHA members and supporters recently travelled to

Coventry and London in search of Black History

education and fun.

On Saturday 28 April 2009 our group set out for the

Herbert Art Gallery and Museum in Coventry, where we

were hosted by NBHA Committee member Anne-Marie

Sandos. The Gallery is situated alongside the famous

Cathedral,

destroyed

during the War and rebuilt as a peace

monument. Some Northampton visitors

toured the Cathedral while others began

their day with an African drumming

workshop.

Our visit coincided with a special

exhibition commemorating the Trans-

Atlantic slave trade and the different

forms of oppression that continue around

the world today. Artist Romuald Hazoume

has created an installation which includes

an artwork representing a slave ship, a photographic exhibition, and a film about

motorcyclists who transport petrol illegally between Nigeria and Benin. Deeply

impressed by this exhibition, we next created our own artwork: a large painted

banner which will be on display at the NBHA Annual General Meeting on 9 July at the

Doddridge Centre, Northampton.

On 17 May NBHA supporters made their way to the British Museum in London. This was

a first visit for many people, and we found the size

and scope of one of the world’s greatest

museums very impressive - and exhausting! There

was just time for lunch and a quick exploration

before nineteen of us joined a special Black

History tour led by the well-known historian Robin

Walker.

Author of When We

Ruled and other

popular textbooks,

Robin Walker is now

a free-lance educator running his own Black Studies

company. He led the Northampton group through the

African and Egyptian galleries, exploring a selection of

Black History treasures. From the Benin Bronzes to the

Ancient Egyptian sculptures, Robin explained how

African artefacts have often been misinterpreted by European colonisers. The tour

was an exciting and stimulating introduction to major debates over the African past.

Herbert Art Gallery and museum

Getting creative–banner making at The Herbert

The steps of the British Museum -

travellers prepare to explore

Discovering the fascinating objects


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Volume 7, Issue 2 Remembering an Education Pioneer

Northamptonshire Black History Association continues to work in a productive

partnership with the University of Northampton. During 2008-09 a record number of

students successfully completed Black History courses at the University. Associate

students from the local community joined full-time undergraduates to study three

evening courses, jointly delivered by University lecturers and expert speakers from

NBHA.

Highlights included sixteen Special Studies on subjects ranging from Rastafarianism to

the history of Indian soldiers in the First World War and the stories of Victorian

entertainers. Thanks are due to all our visiting speakers, including Cliff Pereira, chair of

the national Black and Asian Studies Association. His lecture on ‘Bombay Africans’

opened up the little-known subject of the East African slave trade and its role in both

African and Indian history.

Monica Babb attended a thanksgiving service at St Marys Church West London to

commemorate an educational pioneer in Barbados.

Mr Louis Lynch (1916 – 1969) was the founder and principal of the Modern High School,

Roebuck Street, Barbados, West Indies. He lived from 1916 to 1969. He was an

Educator, Philanthropist, Member of Parliament 1961 and 1966, City Councillor and

Mayor of Bridgetown in 1962. It was very difficult to gain entrance to the grammar

schools on the islands. He had the foresight to open a fee-paying school on the island.

This meant that the poor working class could access higher education. The education

Mr Lynch provided gave everyone a chance to learn and develop their potential.

Mr Lynch was a very strict disciplinarian and using the same curriculum the examination

results were comparable to those of the grammar schools. He and his teachers

prepared the pupils academically, spiritually and socially.

Monica Babb says “I remember going

in single file every Ash Wednesday to

St Michael’s Cathedral in Bridgetown.

On Graduation Day there was always

a performance of one of William

Shakespeare’s plays. Sports day at

the Oval, Kensington was an exciting

day out for the pupils and competitors

alike.”

The Right Reverend Dr John Holder,

Bishop of Barbados and a former pupil,

was invited to London to give the sermon. His Excellency Mr Hugh Anthony Arthur, High

Commissioner for Barbados in London and also a former pupil attended the service. Mr

Elkin Neblett, the treasurer of the Modernites Association (London) attended the school

when I was there. Unfortunately the school did not survive after Mr Lynch’s death but

there is a Louis Lynch Foundation Trust set up in his memory. The Barbados chapter will

be having their celebrations in August 2009.

Black History at the University

Left to right: Monica Babb, His Excellency Anthony Hugh


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3-5 July Northampton Cultural Library Festival: Featuring a Womens Writing

workshop, Performance Poetry, Young Persons Writing and Childrens

reading. Must be booked in advance.

Delapre Abbey, London Road, Northampton, NN4 8AW

For more information: 07738 386 261 or [email protected]

9 July NBHA Annual General Meeting

Doddridge Centre 6.30pm

3 Sept Consumer Behaviour of Northamptonshire Caribbean People

Historical Association - Details to be confirmed, contact George

Watley [email protected] or 01604 892512

10-13 Sept Heritage Open Days - NBHA at the Guildhall, details to be confirmed

24 Sept NBHA Full Committee Meeting - Doddridge Centre, 7pm.

Volume 7, Issue 2

Where can you find us?

Northamptonshire Black History Association is based at

Doddridge Centre, 109 St James Road, Northampton NN5 5LD

Phone: 01604 590967 Email: [email protected]

Website: www.northants-black-history.org.uk

Please contact us at this address for further information on all NBHA’s plans and

activities, and please come and join in!

Forthcoming Events

Interested in getting involved in NBHA?

On 3 September at 745pm, George Watley will address the local branch of the

Historical Association at the University of Northampton. The topic will be:

Northamptonshire Caribbean people pre-1980: construction of identity through

consumer behaviour. This is the first presentation as part of the three-year project on

the consumer behaviour of Northamptonshire Caribbean people c.1955-1980. For

further details, please contact: George Watley: [email protected]

or 01604 892512

Here are some ways to support the Northamptonshire Black History Association and its

future work:

• become a member of NBHA today - contact the office for a membership form

• encourage your organisation to become a corporate member

• read the NBHA Newsletter, and contribute your own news/ photos/ suggestions

• Join NBHA’s ongoing work, for example by helping to develop schools’ materials in

Black History; studying University/NBHA courses on Black British History; taking part in

NBHA social events, meetings and outings.

Consumer Behaviour of Northamptonshire

Caribbean People 1955-1980

heritagelottery fund


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