THE NEXT SEASON OF BLACK HISTORY LUNCHTIME CONVERSATIONS STARTS ON FRIDAY 16TH APRIL 2021
See below for the link to the next session of Black History Lunchtime Conversations - Season 3 (April - July 2021)
Friday 16th April at 12.00 noon in UK / Nigeria - please check time in other parts of the world.
- details to follow of the session with the link
Black History Lunchtime Conversations ‘Season 1’ October – Dec 2020
The first series of sessions brought together a range of presenters with academic or community research backgrounds from Wales, Scotland, England, Nigeria, Jamaica, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, as well as authors, poets and others who tell the stories and challenge our thinking. The range of topics evolved week by week, initially covering some of the research topics covered by Belong Nottingham, Learning Links International and David Alston’s research into ‘Slavery and the Highlands’.
Then we started to involve others to extend discussions, including Prof Sati Fwatshak from Jos University in Nigeria, and Prof Sir Geoff Palmer who is based in Scotlnd. Belong Nottingham had HLF funds to support experimenting with Zoom and other social media, Learning Links International was not successful in gaining Black History Month / Arts Council funding in Wales, so we worked to develop this project on a voluntary basis. Thanks also go to Yasus Afari, from SenYAcum, in Jamaica for his ongoing support.
The ‘Season 1’ sessions covered: (presenters highlighted)
Session 1 - Dr Morgan Dalphinis, author of 'Caribbean and African Languages', spoke about his new book on St. Lucien Language and Culture.
Session 2 – Simon Ferrigno from Belong Nottingham introduced the research undertaken to find out more about David Livingstone and the Africans who assisted him, with further discussion about Henry Morton Stanley's role in the 'Scramble for Africa' linking with Welsh community researcher, Gwyneth Kensler.
Session 3 – Liz Millman from Learning Links International introduced research undertaken with the family of Rev. William Hughes on ‘Creating opportunities for Africans in Wales - Rev William Hughes and the students of the African Institute’, with support from Salamatu Fada from the North Wales Africa Society
Click here for the film produced by Learning Links International about the story (10 mins)
Session 4 – Caroline Sansome and Liz Millman from Learning Links International introduced the work done by Community Research Volunteers on the NLHF project “From Sheep to Sugar” in Wales in 2019 to explore the story of the production of the fabric ‘Welsh Plains’ for use in the slave trade.
Click here for the 'From Sheep to Sugar' website: www.welshplains.cymru - with Welsh/English options and films.
Session 5 - David Alston made a presentation about his research for his book 'The Highlands and Slavery' Also Jamaican Yasus Afari spoke about ‘Recognising the Role of artistes in telling the stories of Black History’.
Session 6 – Fashion designer, José Hendo, introduced her work with Bark Cloth, which she uses as part of her fashion and design projects, to link history with current usages of Bark Cloth. Welsh National Poet, Ifor ap Glyn, presented his Windrush poem.
Session 7 - Prof Sir Geoff Palmer, a campaigner for many years in Scotland to get the stories of Scotland’s role in the Slave Trade told openly, in conversation with Jamaican poet Yasus Afari. Also introducing Prof Sati Fwatshak, from Jos University in Nigeria, presenting the work of African historian and authors.
Session 8 – Introducing Dr Jim Thakoordin's story of life back in Guyana, his interest in the history of plantation slavery in Guyana, as well as recognising his efforts to challenge the racism he found on coming to the UK and his work with Enrico Stennett.
Liz Millman introduced the NAIDOC Week celebrations which are held across Australia to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Session 9 - Prof Chris Evans from University of South Wales, author of - 'Slave Wales - the Welsh and Atlantic Slavery 1650 - 1850' spoke about his interest in ‘Wales and the Slave Trade’. And we welcomed Dr Hilary Robertson Hickling – to share memories of her husband Prof Fred Hickling, author of 'Psychohistoriography - a post colonial pyschoanalytic and psychotherapeutic model' - who spoke and wrote about 'European-American Psychosis' in relation to his work on Cultural therapy. Mfikela Jean Samuel also introduced ”International Talent Outreach”.
Session 10 - "Dr Livingstone, I presume?" - Revisiting the UK-DRC Sharing History” continued with with contributions/talks from scholars, experts, historians, storytellers from both sides, the Congolese and the British. Local Denbigh researcher, Gwyneth Kensler, arranged for Tim Jeal - author of 'Stanley' to talk about what Stanley hoped for when he started to work on the Congo for King Leopold, based on his extensive research of the recently released papers which enabled him to write the book. Norbert Mbu-Mputu spoke about "The new UK/DRC Common History, Re-Visiting and Links: Challenges and Opportunities". Ya Kil – shared his approach to using Hip Hop and Rap to get the message over with discussion about ways to engage young people / others in finding out more about Black History
Session 11 – "Dr Livingstone, I presume?" continued with an introduction to the work of Chief Thomas Bikebi and with Richardo Mulinda talking about Stanley’s link with Uganda.
Session 12 - Special Event to reflect on the Black History Conversations of the last few weeks, with an update and views by Prof Geoff Palmer on challenging racism, a progress report by artiste Mifikela Jean Samuel on ‘International Talent Outreach’ and input from Prof Sati Fwatshak and Dr Jim Thakoordin talking about Black History themes to take forward in 2021.
Thanks also goes to all those highlighted, and also Chris Campbell from the South Wales Jamaica Society, as well as Lesley Evans and Caroline Sansome from the North Wales Jamaica Society who are developing the Black History Book Club and Dr Salamatu Fada from the North Wales Africa Society. Thanks go to Mfikela Jean Samuel, our BHM Artist in Residence!