Margins to Mainstream: The Story of Black Theatre in Britain

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Today we attended the premiere of ‘Margins to Mainstream: The Story of Black Theatre in Britain,’ a youth-led documentary film at the Royal Court Theatre in Sloane Square.

Margins to Mainstream: The story of Black Theatre in Britain is the latest documentary film produced by Nu Century Arts, Birmingham in partnership with the Octavia Foundation with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The groundbreaking film explores the history and heritage of Black theatre in Britain, examines the different interpretations of ‘Black British Theatre’ as a label and genre and catalogues the incredible contribution of black actors, producers and playwrights to the UK theatre tradition. Featuring previously unseen footage of seminal plays, fascinating interviews with theatre heavyweights, ‘Margins to Mainstream’ tells the story of a dynamic art.

Historians, playwrights, producers and actors that contributed and appear in the film include writer and playwright Courttia Newland, actor Javone Prince, actor, playwright and broadcaster Kwame Kwei-Armah and Pat Cumper, Director of the Talawa Arts Centre. The film was shot at locations including Theatre Royal East, London Southbank Centre, Royal Court Theatre, Old Vic and The Tabernacle.

From Ira Aldridge playing Othello in Covent Garden in the 1830s, to Bashy playing Markus the Sadist in a ‘rap opera’ in 2010; the richness of this story is in its diversity. The film looks at the forgotten treasures and the landmark performances in the huge canon of work that exists. The film is pioneering in its subject and approach, highlighting the battles and the triumphs of Black British Theatre, on its journey from the margins, into the mainstream.

The film was excellent and I truly enjoyed myself. It was good to see the young film makers after the screening during the questions and answer session. This film should be compulsory viewing for all young people. The discussion at the end was interested and reflected previous discussions that we have had regarding owning our own venues and theatres and not being dependent on funding to get projects off the ground. Black History Studies will be screening ‘Margins to Mainstream: The Story of Black Theatre in Britain’ on Wednesday 6^th June 2012 at PCS Headquarters, Clapham Junction.

Launch of ‘Rootical: An Audience with Charlie Phillips’

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On Sunday 29^th April 2012, Black History Studies launched our first DVD titled ‘Rootical: An Audience with Charlie Phillips.’ This DVD was launched a year after its production back in 2011. This is the story of Charlie Phillips, a photographer who documented the social implications of immigration in the 1950s and 1960s in Notting Hill. Charlie has experienced much ignorance with regards to the importance of his work. The working class seems to be excluded from the art world. In discussion with Benjamin Zephaniah and the curator of the Museum of London, they get to the bottom of that issue. Rootical was the winner of the Portobello Film Festival for Best First Film (2006). The film features a discussion with Charlie Phillips and the film director Nike Hatzidimou about his life experiences and photography, a presentation of his work and a Q&A session with the audience.

Charlie Phillips is one of our biggest supporters of the work we do and he always gives us honest and constructive feedback. He is one of the many Jamaican people who have contributed to our story here in the UK. I was introduced to Charlie at an African Odyssey film event where I watched ‘Cuba: An African Odyssey.’ Since then we have remained friends and I have learnt about his life and experiences, which I wanted to share with the world. I don’t believe in waiting for people to die before we venerate people. Here are some facts about Charlie Phillips:

• Charlie Phillips was born in Kingston Jamaica in 1944 and moved to London’s Notting Hill area aged 11.
• He worked in his parent’s restaurant Las Palmas in Portobello Road, London.
• When Charlie was eleven he was given a Kodak Brownie by an African American serviceman and started snapping his friends and family.
• Charlie served as a Galley Boy in the Merchant Navy and has a keen interest in Marine Biology.
• Charlie trained at catering college and did a five year apprenticeship at the RAC in London. He has worked all around the world as a chef.
• Charlie had his first exhibition in Milan in 1972 where he showed photographs portraying the frustrations and difficulties of urban migrant workers.
• Charlie earned his living in Rome as a photographer snapping celebrities such as Omar Sharif, Jimi Hendrix and Mohammed Ali.
• Charlie was the first Black photographer to publish pictures in Italian Vogue in 1971.
• In 1988, Charlie opened the award winning Smokey Joe’s Diner in Wandsworth High Street which received critical acclaim by locals and by the media, appearing in numerous guide books.
• Some of his hobbies include music and travel.
• Charlie is multilingual and can speak Italian, French and Swedish.

These are just a few facts about this remarkable man. He has an amazing collection of photographs that he would like to archive. Profits from the DVD sales will go towards ‘The Charlie Phillips Archive Fund’ to preserve his wonderful collection.

To purchase the DVD, please go to http://www.blackhistorystudies.com/shop/ or you can pick up a copy at any of our events.

Images of Black Women Film Festival 13 -15 April 2012

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Black History Studies had the pleasure of being an official partner for the Images of Black Women Film Festival which took place over the weekend of 13-15^th April 2012.

The Images of Black Women (IBW) Film Festival has been running for 8 years as one of the only advocates for change in the representation of Black Women in Film. Over 3 days, the festival presented the best of challenging cinema, offering alternative images of a figure still very much invisible. The Images of Black Women (IBW) Film Festival is a portal for groundbreaking and forward-thinking film making and debate.

I had the pleasure of attend two out of the three days to watch some amazing films. The first film I watched was Jessie Owens which is about the athlete’s historic participation in the Olympic Games of 1938 in Berlin in which he won four gold medals. The images of Hitler’s annoyance that his theory of Aryan supremacy were being rubbished by the achievements of Jessie Owens were amusing to see. This film is a must see for all the family. I watched Yelling At the Sky which was an emotional watch for me and very thought provoking. As a former Youth Worker, I have seen and worked with young people who had gone through similar experiences like the main character. The tissue came out a few times during this film!

Listen to my interview taken on the night.

I was invited to be on the panel for the ‘African Women Filmmaker’ to speak about the tension between modern life and traditional Africa values along with the filmmaker Yaboe Badoe. I watched three films on the Sunday section of the programme. Mwanza The Great by Rungano Nyoni was excellent. I loved the way the film was put together and the young characters in the film played their roles well. I would love to see them on the big screen again. Playing Warriors was a bit like Sex in the City but more entertaining. I enjoyed the film and could relate to the issues addressed the film by the characters. Anchor Baby, what can I say. I loved this film and I was not expecting the film to end the way it did but you have to see it for yourself, brilliant. As a mother, the ending was heart wrenching. I am not going to spoil it, you have to see it for yourself.

Listen to an interview with Sister Hya after the event.

I would like to commend Sylviane Rano IBW Co-founder & Director, the IBW Team, Sis Hya and Bro. Icha of JetBlack Inc for their hard work on this event. I was unaware that Sylviane Rano did not get any external funding for this event and was self funding this event from her own resources. This is a similar situation to Black History Studies who are a self-funded organisaton. But sadly, this is what we have to do to get our films showcased. Thank you for your hard work, I can’t wait for next year!

Charmaine

Check out www.imagesofblackwomen.com

Emancipation, Slave Ownership and the Remaking of the British Imperial World’ Conference

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On Friday 30^th March and Saturday 31^st March 2012, I attended the Neale Lecture and Colloquium in British History on ‘Emancipation, Slave Ownership and the Remaking of the British Imperial World’.

The colloquium aimed to present the findings of the Legacies of British Slave-ownership project and engage with current work exploring the importance of slavery and slave-ownership in the re-making of the British imperial world after abolition in 1833.

The colloquium began with an introduction to the LBS project, which has been investigating what happened to the 20 million pounds of compensation money paid to British slave owners after 1833, and gave an introduction to the online Legacies of British Slave-ownership Encyclopaedia which will be ready in Summer 2012. The database will contain the identity of all slave-owners in the British Caribbean at the time transatlantic enslavement ended. It is interested that 45% of people on the database are women.

The conference was attended by academics from around the world and it was noted by the few members of the Black community in attendance that there was a lack of academics or teachers from the Black community attending the conference. I met the lovely Dr. Heather Cateau from the University of West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Claudia Marquis from University of Auckland and Dr. Artwell Cain from the National Institute for the Study of Dutch Slavery and Its Legacy in Amsterdam.

At the conference, I finally got to meet one of our Facebook friends Kevin Buckle who I had communicated with regarding the contributions of people with disabilities to World History and making Black History accessible to all. Kevin is deaf and he had two interpreters Jacqui and Ezra, who worked very at the conference. I have the upmost respect for BSL interpreters following this conference as the speakers were talking so fast and they had to interpret all the information for Kevin. Ezra and I had a good conversation over lunch about BSL, African Identity and Nigeria.

The conference was very informative as it shows that Britain still benefits from the enslavement of Africans to this day. During 1830-1870, the enslavement of Africans had an impact on the formation from modern Britain as the economy of Britain changed to a corporate economy. Governors of the Bank of England owned two plantations in Grenada and at least 20-25% were either former owners or sons of owners of enslaved Africans. Owners who profited from the trade in enslaved Africans invested their profits in railway contracts during the railway boom.

The conference spoke about the 20 million pounds of compensation money paid to British slave owners after 1833. Rothschild founder, Nathan Mayer Rothschild used slaves as collateral in a bank deal with a slave owner and James William Freshfield, founding partner of Freshfields, acted as a trustee in deals involving Caribbean plantations. Rothschild organised the government loan used to compensate owners in the 1830s. The £20 million compensation package, which was used to persuade owners to finally end slavery, was equal to 40 per cent of state expenditure at the time. Africans did not receive any payments, were ridiculed and thought not fit for freedom.

I found out during the 1820-1830s, former West Indian plantation owners moved to Australia and enslaved the Aborigines there. This is a rarely spoken about part of history which I will investigate further.

After emancipation, the system of indentured servitude starts in India as an alternative source of labour. Indians suffered the same conditions as Africans under chattel slavery as it took 4-5 weeks to travel by ship from Calcutta to the Caribbean (Trinidad, Guyana, Surinam).

Dr Verene Shephard from the University of West Indies and Vijay Teelock from (University of Mauritius) gave good presentations on ‘Reparation, Restitution and the Historian’. The reparation movement in Mauritius has moved at a fast pace due to political will and financial backing.

I was overjoyed that I had the opportunity to meet Verene Shepherd as she is an inspiration to me as a historian and I am aware of her work as I have over 6 of her books in my collection. She is a lovely lady, very approachable and humorous. I asked her to sign my Women in Caribbean History book and also gave her a copy of ‘The Great and Mighty Wall’ children’s book as a gift from Black History Studies.

30 Facts about Harriet ‘Moses’ Tubman

30 Facts about Harriet ‘Moses’ Tubman

1. Harriet Ross was born into slavery in 1819 or 1822, in Dorchester County, Maryland.
2. Harriet Tubman’s birth name was Araminta Ross and her nick name was Minty.
3. Harriet Tubman’s mother’s name was Harriet Green and Harriet Tubman’s father’s name was Benjamin Ross.
4. Harriet Tubman was married to John Tubman when she was about 24 years old. John was a free black man.
5. Harriet Tubman was a disabled person. She had Narcolepsy or sleeping spells. She could fall asleep any time and any place.  This was caused by a severe blow to the head by a 2-pound iron weight thrown at another enslaved African, but it hit Harriet in the head when she was about 12 years old.
6. Harriet believed that her hair, which “had never been combed and … stood out like a bushel basket” might have saved her life.
7. After this accident, she started getting dreams. A devout Christian, she strongly believed her dreams to be indications from God.
8. In 1844, she married John Tubman, a free African American.
9. Harriet Tubman never had any children.
10. Harriet Tubman freed herself in 1851 using the system known as the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses used by enslaved Africans to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause.
11. When Harriet Tubman found out that she had crossed the Mason Dixon Line and she was free, she said, ” I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person now that I was free, there was such glory over everything, the sun came up like gold through the threes, and over the fields, and I felt like I was in heaven.”
12. After freeing herself from enslavement, in Harriet Tubman returned to Maryland to rescue other members of her family.
13. If you were an enslaved person and you would like to escape, someone would sing ‘Swing Low Sweet Chariot’ as a signal and you would be smuggled that night to different safehouses until you reached the North or Canada where you would achieve your freedom.
14. With Thomas Garrett, the well known Quaker abolitionists of Wilmington, Delewre, she aided in liberating over 3,000 enslaved Africans.
15. Harriet Tubman was known as the Moses of her people. ‘Go Down Moses’ is a song she used to communicate her coming and going.
16. In all, Harriet is believed to have conducted approximately 300 people to freedom in the North Canadian territory over a 15 year period.
17. The tales of her exploits reveal her highly spiritual nature, as well as a grim determination to protect her charges and those who aided them. She always expressed confidence that God would aid her efforts, and threatened to shoot any of her passengers who thought to turn back.
18. Harriet Tubman’s husband dies during the Civil War. Harriet later marries Nelson Davis.
19. After the outbreak of the Civil War, Harriet Tubman became a soldier, spy and a nurse.
20. Harriet was successful as a nurse due to her ability to cure men of dysentery by means of native herbs.
21. She was the first woman to lead an armed expedition in the war. She guided the Combahee River Raid, consisting of 300 free African soldiers on 3 gun boats to liberate more than 700 enslaved Africans in South Carolina.
22. Despite this she was later denied payment for her wartime service. Harriet Tubman fought for a military pension, but was only able to win a widow’s pension of $20 a month on account of her second husband’s service.
23. After the war ended, Harriet Tubman helped a biographer publish her life story.
24. Harriet Tubman also was a dynamic public speaker and storyteller. Tubman travelled to New York, Boston, and Washington, D.C. to speak out in favour of women’s voting rights. When the National Federation of Afro-American Women was founded in 1896, Tubman was the keynote speaker at its first meeting.
25. Harriet Tubman helped to organise the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.
26. In her later years, Tubman worked to promote the cause of women’s suffrage. Tubman travelled to New York, Boston, and Washington, D.C. to speak out in favour of women’s voting rights. When the National Federation of Afro-American Women was founded in 1896, Tubman was the keynote speaker at its first meeting.
27. At some point in the late 1890s, she underwent brain surgery at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital as she was unable to sleep because of pains and “buzzing” in her head. She refused to be given anaesthesia. Instead she chewed a bullet during her surgery. She had seen the Civil War soldiers do this when their limbs had to be amputated.
28. Harriet Tubman spent her last years in a home called the ‘Harriet Tubman Home for Aged and Indigent Negro’ which she established in Auburn New York.
29. She died on 10 March 1913 after suffering from pneumonia.
30. After her death, Harriet Tubman was buried in Fort Hill Cemetery in Auburn with military honors.

Harriet Tubman devoted her life towards the abolition of slavery. She is an inspiration to many for her relentless struggle for equality and civil rights. She is one of the most notable figures in history.

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” – Harriet Tubman

 www.blackhistorystudies.com

Open Day at the Harriet Tubman Development Centre and Bookshop

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On Sunday 18^th March 2012, after we returned from our research trip to Portugal, we headed up the M1 to The Harriet Tubman Development Centre and Bookshop where they were celebrating Mothers Day and the life of Harriet Tubman.

Black History Studies was invited to conduct a presentation on the life and legacy of Harriet Tubman which was delivered by Panyin Ewusi-Aikins, our tutor for our Black History for Families Course.

Panyin gave a lively and interactive presentation on the life of Harriet Tubman, finishing off by looking at the contributions of African Women to the history of Britain.Harriet Tubman devoted her life towards the abolition of slavery. She is an inspiration to many for her relentless struggle for equality and civil rights. She is one of the most notable figures in history.

The presentation was well attended and we received some good feedback from the delegates who attended.

The event featured a craft market with a range of stall holders including jewellery, greeting cards, bags, gifts and more. I invested in a beautiful watchlet from Jewellery designer and Manufacturer Pauline G (check out her website at http://www.jewellerybypaulineg.com) and some lovely silver Ankh earrings from Omujwok Okwa of Meroe Jewellery (meroejewels@yahoo.co.uk).

There was some lovely vegan food on sale of which I sampled their mock fish (tofu) with bulgerwheat and salad with live cheesecake which was divine and much needed after our no frills flight.

I commend the hard work and determination of Ozwald, Jackie, Sharmayne and Mona, the team at the Harriet Tubman Bookshop for putting on this event.

Please support the Harriet Tubman Development Centre and Bookshop.

Location:

Harriet Tubman Development Centre
27-29 Grove Lane (Off Soho Road)
Handsworth
Birmingham
B21 9ES

Email: harriettubman_dc@hotmail.co.uk

Like them on Facebook at facebook/harriettubmandevelopmentcentre

Invisibility: The Art of Being Black Seminar by David Neita 20.02.12

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On Monday 20th February 2012, I attended a seminar at the University College of London’s Senate House entitled ‘Invisibility: The Art of Being Black’ which was delivered by David Neita and chaired by Marika Sherwood of the Black and Asian Studies Association.

The room that the Senate House had given David was somewhat inadequate as the number of people who attended exceeded the capacity of the room. It was clear by the way the room was laid out that the registrar underestimated the turnout to the event. However, this did not take anything away from the information that was shared on the night.

I have been on this journey a while and it was not a shock to me that the Black Presence in Western Art has been suppressed and that we are not described in the Art, even though our presence is clearly there. We have the tools readily available to us to reverse the invisibility and share this with the world.

David introduced us to two authors:

1.    Ralph Ellison who wrote the Invisible Man in 1952

2.    David Dabyden who wrote ‘Hogarth’s Blacks: Images of Blacks in Eighteenth Century English Art

‘Invisible Man’ is the story of a young, college-educated black man struggling to survive and succeed in a racially divided society that refuses to see him as a human being. Told in the form of a first-person narrative, Invisible Man traces the nameless narrator’s physical and psychological journey from blind ignorance to enlightened awareness — or, according to the author, “from Purpose to Passion to Perception” — through a series of flashbacks in the forms of dreams and memories. Set in the U.S. during the pre-Civil Rights era when segregation laws barred Black Americans from enjoying the same basic human rights as their white counterparts. The novel opens in the South (Greenwood, South Carolina), although the majority of the action takes place in the North (Harlem, New York).

Two quotes by Ralph Ellison below which summarises his feelings:

“I am an invisible man. 
No I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allen Poe: 
Nor am I one of your Hollywood movie ectoplasms.
I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids
- and I might even be said to possess a mind. 
I am invisible, simply because people refuse to see me.” -  Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man

“Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass. When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination—indeed, everything and anything except me.” ― Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man

David Dabydeen’s book examined William Hogarth’s (1697-1764) representations of black people in the 18th century. William Hogarth often included Black subjects in his satirical images of 18th-century life.

David guided us through a number of images that I was not aware of existed such as:

• Marriage A-la-Mode: 4, The Toilette by William Hogarth http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/william-hogarth-marriage-a-la-mode-4-the-toilette
  
• Olympia by Edouard Manet in 1863 http://jssgallery.org/other_artists/manet/Olympia.htm

• Henrietta of Lorraine by Van Dyck http://www.englishheritageprints.com/van_dyck_henrietta_of_lorraine_j920322/print/485957.html
  
• A Family Group in a Landscape by Francis Wheatly c1775 http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?cgroupid=999999961&workid=16112

David also explained that Black boys were used in images as a sign of wealth and the term used is known as pairing. Black boys were given as a gift by Europeans to show their wealth.

David ended his seminar by posing some questions of:

1. What and who are we not noticing in life? What or who are we loosing by  ignoring them?
2. If we are in a position of invincibility, what are we doing about this?

In response to his question, I have written this blog and included links to some the images that I saw tonight. I have shared some of the quotes and made people aware via Twitter and Facebook about this event and the two authors highlighted. We can make a change and do something, no matter how small. Members of the audience spoke about getting the schools to teach Black History but I will also question why are we waiting for schools to teach our young people. We must take responsibility for their education and self development by visiting the galleries where these images are stored and also purchase the books and read them and share the information with our young people. Both books can be purchased online.