Author: roots1937

On Sunday, while one member of the Historycal Roots team dragged himself onto a flight to Barbados for another research trip touring the island’s cemeteries, the remaining two thirds of the team traveled to Birmingham for the final event of the ‘They Also Served’ project. What a great event it was!

There were passionate speakers (Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin was particularly forthright in some of her comments), beautiful gospel choirs, dancing, poetry and so much more. The event was hosted by the New Testament Church of God in Handsworth, an impressive building that was, if not quite full, certainly not far off it. Our hosts made everyone feel very welcome.

We were especially keen to hear Dr Angelina Osborne speaking about the historical research that she had led on behalf of the project.

Unfortunately there was so much to pack into the evening that she had to cut her comments a little short – there was so much more to be said. We had helped Angelina with some of her research and it was a surprise and  a real pleasure to see our names among the acknowledgements.

It was a long way to go and a late return to South London but well worth it.

Visit: www.theyalsoserved.co.uk to find out more about the project’s work.

A happy customer at today’s London Radical Book Fair, hosted by Goldsmiths College, University of London:

Tears were shed today in Windrush Square, Brixton, at the ceremony to unveil a memorial to honour black soldiers who fought for Britain in the First and Second World Wars. From where I was standing I could see quite a lot of discreet eye dabbing going on, when I wasn’t busy dabbing my own.

I suspect the main emotion on display was pride. Pride that the huge contribution of black servicemen and women was finally being honoured. It was also certainly an occasion that made me proud to be a Londoner and just being there to witness the coming together of communities in a spirit of love and harmony was a truly uplifting experience.  As long as we stick together, Londoners will never bow to those who mindlessly attack us.

As one of the presenters said near the end ‘only in Brixton could you see the pomp and circumstance of a military marching band / masquerade mash up’. It summed up the whole quirky event in a nutshell.

I hadn’t realised quite how high profile this was going to be, big name speakers included: Sadiq Khan (Mayor of London); Michael Fallon (Defence Secretary); and Lord Herman Ouseley. Rousing though many of the speeches were (even Michael Fallon spoke powerfully and with conviction), it was ‘lesser lights’ who stole the show: the children from a local primary school who sung their hearts out at the end (a memorable day for them as well as for their audience); the singers of the Pegasus Opera company; the drummers and dancers from Gahu Dramatic Arts. And let’s not forget the 100 doves of peace released at the end (we were there to commemorate those who gave their lives in wars that were not of their making), who did a quick formation flight over Windrush Square before being lost among the local pigeon population (a flying, flapping metaphor for integration if ever I saw one!).

Historycal Roots took lots of photos and even tried to film the doves (to no avail, have you ever tried filming birds in flight on an i-phone?!) but will go back for a proper photo of the memorial when it’s a bit less crowded!

A very good afternoon and congratulations to everyone involved in making it happen.

The event featured on local BBC news. With apologies for the picture and sound quality (our daughter filmed the TV screen) you can see the item by clicking here (the cameraman [or woman] succeeded in filming the doves where I failed): ATT00002

It was a real pleasure to bump into Samantha Williams and her pop up multicultural book shop and library at our local ‘big lunch’ street party. She had a really good selection of books on display. Samantha seems to have very similar objectives to Historycal Roots and we look forward to having a longer chat with her in the not too distant future. Why not check her out? You can contact her at: @thisisbooklove on Instagram or Twitter.

        

At historycal Roots we are working on a project to do with pioneering black footballers. We recently visited the offices of Kick it Out for a meeting with Mark Jamieson, Media and Communication Manager, to tell him about our project and to enlist Kick it Out’s support. Mark was very helpful, made some useful suggestions and, since the meeting, has provided us with a number of useful contacts.  This is a big project which we are planning to bring to fruition in the summer of 2018 – watch this space!

We like to think we know a thing or two about black footballers at Historycal Roots so it was a real pleasure, and great surprise, when we attended an event at the Guyana High Commission in London to hear about Andrew Watson, someone we knew little about.

Watson captained the Scotland side that beat England 6-1 in England in 1881, a result that is there in the history books but hardly gets a mention these days. What is truly surprising is that Scotland’s captain that day was Andrew Watson, the son of a white Scottish father and a black Guyanese mother. That isn’t Watson’s only claim to fame as Tony Talburt, author of a recent book about Watson (published by hansib publications), explained to a small but enthralled audience at the Guyana High Commission on 9th March. Buy the book to find out more about this remarkable footballer.

Tony was an enthusiastic presenter who admitted that football history wasn’t his normal focus but he had clearly become fascinated by Watson and hinted that there was still more to be uncovered. It was a pleasure to meet Tony and chat to him after his talk, we may even forgive him for being a Tottenham fan!

Our week at Historycal Roots started with a meeting in Birmingham with Garry Stewart (Recognize Black Heritage and Culture) and finished with an event celebrating the life of Cy Grant. In between we took in a trip to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

One member of the Historycal Roots team has to confess to not being a big fan of the V&A but the free talk exploring black representation in the European galleries covering the period from 1600 to 1815 was far more interesting than its rather dry title implied. The interest was generated in no small part by the guide, Sheba Montserrat. Sheba brought a real passion to the subject.

The V&A were clearly overwhelmed by the numbers who turned up for the tour and had to split the visitors into several groups and conjure up additional  guides. Sheba did seem to be the pick of the bunch though. She introduced us to this rather unhappy looking chap!

The Cy Grant event was hosted by the London Metropolitan Archives in Clerkenwell, London. It was the final event in a series celebrating his life and work. And what a life it was! He served in the RAF in WW2, qualified as a barrister, became one of the first black faces on British television, acted on stage with many of the great actors of his time, appeared in films and was a political activist (playing an integral part in setting up the Drum Centre in North London.  It was particularly pleasing to meet Cy’s widow and his children and to see his old friend Alex Pascall speaking and performing.

Historycal Roots were very pleased to attend a meeting at the Guyanese High Commission in London recently. We were there to meet the High Commissioner and to support Arthur Torrington of The Windrush Foundation. Arthur was seeking to gain the High Commissioner’s support for hosting an exhibition at the High Commission about the life and work of Cy Grant.

Cy, born in British Guiana in 1919, lived a full and varied life: flying with the RAF during World War Two; qualifying as a barrister after the war; before moving on to a career on television, in films and as a singer. He also wrote prolifically and was an activist, playing a leading role in setting up the DRUM Black Arts Centre in London.

The exhibition, ‘The Life and Times of Cy Grant’ is currently on display at Hornsey Library and will shortly be moving to The London Metroplitan Archive in Clerkenwell – well worth a visit if you are in the vicinity.

It was a real pleasure to hear David Olusoga speaking at an event in Brighton on 30th November. The event was hosted by the University of Brighton in conjunction with City Books (Brighton’s ‘largest and liveliest independent bookshop’). David is a lively and engaging speaker but, best of all, thought provoking. Anyone who has seen him on television, most recently in the BBC series ‘Black and British – a forgotten history’, will know how passionate he is about Black history. He takes a very global view and chose examples that drew out how interconnected the histories of different parts of the world are. He quoted Professor Stuart Hall: ‘we’re here because you were there’.

Afterwards David signed copies of the book that supports the series.

On the train journey home I was reminded of another recent BBC series ‘Back in time for Brixton’, which took a modern Black family and showed them what it was like to be Black in Britain from the time of the Windrush up to the present day. What struck me most forcibly about that series was the massive change that post-war immigration has brought about. Change for the better without a shadow of a doubt in my view. I genuinely wonder whether anything since the industrial revolution has changed the shape of British society in quite such a dramatic way.