 networks. That's the second epoch for me. The third for me is when we moved into kind of teaching about Africa in the Middle East and teaching about those regions and those those countries in a multidisciplinary way, having pioneered area studies as a as a university. But I think we're beyond that now. And the fourth epoch for me in terms of where we think we are now. And again, it will be contested. I'm learning in higher education that everything is contested. It will be contested. But for me, our five year strategy, which we are now two years into, is all about understanding the big global challenges of the world from the perspectives of Africa, Asia and the Middle East and hearing and understanding the challenges and thinking about the solutions in partnership with those regions and those countries. And and trying to support realizing a more socially just world. And so that's where I feel we are as an institution. And that's what we are aiming to try and deliver and achieve through the strategy that we have in place at the moment and all the initiatives that we're putting in place. Why is that important? And why does it relate to today? Well, for me, it's, as I say, it's an absolute privilege and honor to have a child coming and speaking to us today, because I think personally as a as a as a second generation Asian in the UK. I didn't really grow up in this country, understanding my history, being taught it and the relevance and significance of how I, how and why I'm here and people like me are here. And similarly, when I talk to colleagues and and friends from the black community, that they would they often say the same. And and I think the work that a child did, and he always paints to explain that he was part of a group. But the work that they did was groundbreaking in terms of challenging some of those narratives that we understand in terms of history and and recognizing and being able to celebrate our past and express a level of pride and dignity that comes with it. And I think it's important for us in so as to be recognizing and celebrating that because I think there's more as an institution we could do in the debate in this country. Because while we're focused on those regions and those and those countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, I think there's more that we could be doing in London. There's more that we could be doing in the UK. Given the resources we have, given the estate infrastructure and all of the networks that are available to us, there's more that we should be doing to talk about that, to celebrate it, to challenge it, to recognize it. And that's why I think today is a really, really great opportunity to start opening up that conversation and challenge ourselves from my perspective about how we play that role going forward. So thank you for attending. And I'm now going to hand you over to Kirsten. Johnson is going to be facilitating today. Hi, everyone. So thank you so much for joining us. Hopefully we're going to have a very interesting and exciting conversation. So just to run you through what we're going to be doing, we're going to have maybe 20 to 30 minutes of conversation between the three of us. And then we'll open it out to the audience. And I know that there's a few people who are also joining us online. So do get your questions in as early as possible. We want to make sure we're getting to the real conversations that you want to have. And if we leave it all to the end, then unfortunately, we won't do that because I'll cut off at time. So we'll open it out to you for some question and conversation. And we'll do that until about 10 minutes before the events due to end. And then at half past seven we'll finish it up. And those of you who'd like to come with us to the drinks reception can do so. So that's the plan. So I would now like to bring out Amar and Acaba. They are coming, I promise. Okay. So some brief introductions for me. So Acaba Adai Sebo is the founder of Black History Month in the UK and a former special envoy of International Alert who facilitated a peaceful settlement of the civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone. And Amar has asked me to keep it brief. So Amar works in the library. That's what I've been talking about. And the two of them have known each other for some time. So we're here to talk about Black History Month, 35 years in the UK. I'm really keen to kind of explore some of the before Black History Month in a way. So can you tell me a little bit about what Britain was like in the mid to late 80s for Black people? So Acaba, when you arrived, what was your experience? I arrived here in 1984 during the winter. I arrived here as a refugee. I escaped political persecution in my country in January, early January, 1984. A death squad was sent after me by the military regime. And I managed to escape. And I was declared a wanted man. I still remain a wanted man. It has not been removed. And I managed to escape with the help of people and the trade unionists. And I got to London. And fortunately, I got into the hands of the race-to-day collective at that time in Brixton. So Brixton at that time was the front line or the struggles. And I came into the country at a time when Magrathacha, the conservatives, were in power. And the Greater London Council and most of the Metropolitan Councils were run by a progressive humanist. And they cared. And it was a period also of the strikes, the miners struggling with the government. In a period also, we had the new cross and the national front and all these interrogations of social action and pressures and struggle for change for an equitable society. So I fell into this period. And it was this period that basically catapulted the Black History Month idea. What had happened was this, that somewhere in 1985, I went to work in the morning at the Greater London Council where I was the special project coordinator. And the group secretary was almost in tears that morning. So I asked her, Elizabeth, what's the matter? And Elizabeth said, would you believe it? I was putting Marcus to bed. That is her six-year-old son last night. And as I was after prayers and as I was living in the room, Marcus called me mom, so I went to him. And Marcus said, mom, why can't I be white? The mom was taking her back. Here is a son, a six-year-old son, that she had named after Marcus Mosayagavi, the Black nationalist leader who an industrialist and business entrepreneur who mobilized Black people in the United States and urging them to return to Africa and all that. So this famous Black nationalist that I named my son after and still my son is questioning his identity, his identity in 1985. And she said, I have failed my son. And I said, no, Elizabeth, no, you haven't failed your son. It is the institutions of states that have failed your son. The local government, the education system, the national curriculum and all that, that has failed your son. So I measured this and all this, the national front, the Black nationalist battle and all this in going on. It was somehow understandable why this young boy was questioning his identity. So he said something in me and there's something how to better learn about it and something was done about it. And Amir, can you tell me a bit about your experiences around that sort of time? I probably have to rewind a bit before the 80s. I am a child of Africa, African parents. My parents came to Britain in the 50s. I was born along with three of my sisters in the 60s. And I grew up outside of London in Essex. I'm an Essex girl. I don't look like it but I am. And the experience, Essex has changed a bit since when I grew up. The experience of growing up in Essex in the 60s, 70s and 80s until I left was a mixed experience. I mean one of the things I'd like to say is that in telling my story, I'm hoping to highlight not just my own experience but the experience of many, many, many others of us. So for those who are of my generation, you may remember programs on the TV like Mixed Blessings, Till Death Do Us Part, Love Thy Neighbour. And there was a Mixed Blessing, if I can use the title of one of those programs in terms of seeing those programs. Because one of the things that you craved as a child or I craved as a child was particularly growing up in Essex is seeing representation of people like me. So these programs would come on the TV. And on the one hand you'll think great I'm seeing fellow people of African heritage if I can use that term. But then there was always the dread and the dread was going into school the next day because children can be absolutely wonderful but they can also be quite wicked. Thanks to a lot of us as adults. So going into school the next day and being in a school where you could count the number of young people, children, because I would have been in primary school some of that time of African heritage on, in my primary school I think it was on one hand when I got to secondary school it was in on two hands. And children mimic what they see on the TV, what adults around them are promoting. So we were subjected to me and my sisters and the other couple of Africans who were in what I would term, raw racism from children who didn't know any better because that was what was being promoted. So I basically as soon as I could get out of Essex did, I ran away, went to university in looking for universities so that would be in the 80s. I literally just looked, picked the towns and cities where I knew there was going to be a large black population. So I ended up going to university in Birmingham and that was the idea I was not interested in any university where I didn't feel there was going to be a large presence of people of African heritage both on campus and off campus in particularly actually more off campus. And there it was a great feeling because you came into contact with a wonderful range of people of African heritage. I remember one of my fellow students was from the Turks and Caicos, I've never heard of Turks and Caicos before. There were Nigerians, Garniers, there was a strong contingent at Birmingham University of students from Kenya. They had what you call a local government department, there was something like that and they were being sent in as post graduates to train in the post-colonial area and we could talk about that. And what we also had when I was in Birmingham was that there was quite a lot of our user term activism around social justice for black people, people of African heritage, people of Asian heritage. So I did things like joined the at the time when I was growing up apartheid in South Africa, Southern Africa was still in existence. So I did things around that, but also focusing on local things. There was a supplementary school or Saturday school as we called it back then which was in Wolverhampton. So some of us as we were part of what was called the African African Caribbean Student Society would go to that school and teach our children. And I use the term our children deliberately because one of the things subjects I absolutely detested in school was African history, not African history was history because history didn't relate or talk to anybody like me and I'll just finish this bit on this note and then this is an experience I had at school when studying history. My teacher at the time was teaching us about America the United States and told us that Christopher Columbus discovered America. I'm sitting there and children are naturally quizzical and inquisitive and I'm thinking to myself, hang on a minute, what's going on here? I said to my friend, I said, what did Christopher Columbus discover America? People already living there and said, put your hand up, put your hand up. So I genuinely raised my hand and said, excuse me, sir, but how could Christopher Columbus have discovered America when people already living there? My teacher went ballistic. I missed my lunch break. I had to sit outside the head teacher's office because apparently I was being incident, et cetera, et cetera. After the end of the lunch break, me sitting there writing lines as you had to do back in those days, her teacher called me and said, oh, well, what you've done this time was a little bit of challenging. She asked, what have you done this time? I said, well, I don't understand. So I said, all I did was ask the question and the teacher said to me, she was being rude. And the head teacher said, well, what question did you ask? And I said, how could Christopher Columbus have discovered America when people were living there? And once in his life, in my opinion, this head teacher did the right thing and actually turned to the teacher and said, that's quite a good question. Why don't you go and find the answer? And that kind of like opened up my mind and my eyes to the fact that A, no one person, particularly those who are in teaching positions, has a monopoly on knowledge. B, that history is talked to us from perspectives. And I grew up on a diet of what was called Cowboys in Indians on the TV as well as the other programs. And so that actually helped to generate in me an interest in just researching and finding out, but also talking about and talking out about those parts of what we were being told, which were not correct. So I'll end there for now. And if it makes you feel any worse, I was born in 89. And I think Christopher Columbus discovered America was still what was circulating there. But I think a lot of that resonated with me. I grew up in Derby as a child of one black parent, one white parent, a mum from Jamaica, my dad from Western Supermar. And our family was a rarity. And in Derby there were kind of areas where people lived and everything was kind of quite segregated. And I couldn't really tell if that was purposeful or accidental. But it did mean looking for representation was a big part of my childhood. And now when I see it, sometimes I get quite emotional because there's kids growing up now who are not necessarily having the same experience and they get to see themselves doing lots of different things. And I think thinking about Black History and Black History Month has a big part to play in that as well, in terms of getting people to recognize that actually there's a whole side of things that's maybe not being taught, recognized, celebrated. So Acharba, it would be, you mentioned to me when we spoke before the event, the other day, that you'd actually been involved in setting up Black History Months or in the conversations in the US as well in the 70s. And I'm curious about how your experience around that then led to some of the thinking around what could be done here. In about number 74 to 76, there was a campaign to extend the, in the US was called the Negro Week, which was established by Carter G. Woodson in 1926 and had been carried on being celebrated as a Negro Week. There was a campaign to extend and attend into a month and called a Black History Month. And the campaign coincided also with the bicentenary of the American independence in 1976. At that time, Gerald Ford was the President of the United States. So the campaign was all participated in it. I will be very close, it was Toby Carmichael, Bob Brown, Andy Young, was Steve Wanda and all these, James Farmer and all these people who were on the civil rights movement, they were then they were out of the campaign. And it got presidential assent and the month was changed in 1976 to the Week to Black History Month. So I was very familiar with the process because I was part and parcel of it, of that movement. So when little Marcos, Gavi, the young Gavi, when the incident happened, I triggered something in me that something had to be done. And we have to get to the children and do something to take them. And the only thing that came to mind was a cultural manifestation, because culture reaches a lot of music activities. So we put together a program, a proposal, and it went through committee and all that. And we decided to pay tribute and celebrate the contributions of Africa, Africans, people of African descent, to world civilization and to the growth and development of Britain and Europe from antiquity to the present, from antiquity to the present. So we are going to a series of historical concepts and lectures in dedication to Africa's contribution to the world. And we did that from antiquity to the present contributions. And that opened a whole vista, because we brought historians, academics, musicians, artists from all over the world. And I'm glad to have, we have within our mouth here, a brother, Mr. Tony Hollinsworth sitting there, who was very instrumental in helping us put most of these activities together and bringing in a variety of artists from all over. And we were also celebrating the rich cultural diversity of London. That was what we were celebrating. And we were following the example of Marcus Moziagazi, who throughout his work in political and economic activities always saw the significant importance of solidarity. So he was always in solidarity with the struggle of the Irish people, the struggle of Indians, the struggle of Native Americans, Aborigines in Australia and all that. So that informed us. So we invited groups from Ireland, from India, from Australia to join us in this celebration. And we took over the Royal Bed Hall. And it was fantastic. So at the back of this, always, is a celebration to let people know what Africa and African people of African descent have contributed and continue to contribute to the growth and development of world civilization. And what were the, what were the reactions to that? Because I mean, I would hope there would be a lot of people who were like, wow, this is amazing, you know, I want to get involved. I want to find out more. But I would also imagine that there were some challenging people, some challenging opinions. Yeah, it was challenging because at a period when you had the Tacha period, and at a period that the world also was changing, the Rhodesia, South Africa, apartheid, the Angola, the Portuguese territories have just gotten their independence and all that. And the resistance of the conservative government and Reagan and all that to the struggle for independence and self-determination and all that, that impacted. And also the campaign for nuclear disarmament and all that. And on top of that also was the internal campaign to create jobs, because that was also a period of unemployment because of the strikes and all that. But the GLC was at the forefront. And I quite remember Tony organizing just for a change campaign to make it for people, basically what they can live and see in their leadership was seen at that time was that the local government has resources to create jobs, to create jobs. So they mounted a campaign to demonstrate that they could create jobs. And they use the Race Relations Act and the Equal Opportunities Act very well to ensure that the local authorities fulfill the obligations as required by law. So the same thing that, so as a result of that, the issue of Equal Opportunities, now that you are calling it what, diversity or whatever it is, yes. Something like that, yes. What diversity confuses me. So that was the period, that was the period that we were. And so Alma just has just spoken and told her experience. So the issue of racism was real. And through the enlightened leadership, there were race awareness training programs. There were activities to sensitize the British public about the significance of recognizing ourselves of one humanity. But there was resistance. There was resistance. But the leadership pushed it on, pushed it forward, pushed it forward. And they did very well. I salute the retirement council. They did tremendously well. And particularly in the area of competitive tendering. And you have to be competitive and open the way for those classified as ethnic minorities to have a bit of the British national cake and organize their communities and all that. And some people felt very uncomfortable about that. So getting the Black History Month, except which was not easy during that time, but maybe because I was new in the area and they maybe said that I didn't have a chip over. So whatever it is. It got an all party support because being there within Greater London Council and attending committee meetings, I observed those councillors and others who were a little bit difficult and all that. So I will find myself one knocking at the adults at home and go and sit down and talk to them that we are trying to do this. And what we are doing, you are COVID. There will be no problem because we have examined the acts, the local government acts, very well looked at the sections and made sure that you will not be tricked. You will be COVID. And I will go to the Liberal Party people, the Conservatives, the Labourers, yes, they were all right. So I will go to them quietly and talk to them. So before the committee gathers, who won? So that is what happened. So I remember somewhere about 10 years after I met a councillor who had moved into Parliament. It was an MP. And he said, Ade, how did you get this pass? Do you know, I think there is possibly some politicians who could learn from your tactics. But yeah, and I mean, what was your awareness then of what was happening? Were you in London at this time? Were you still kind of doing the activism part? How did people feel about it? If you are outside looking in, how did people feel about it? I probably just returned to London. As I said earlier, at the time, growing up and being a youngish person, you would embrace anything that was positive about yourselves. I meant to bring it along to that, but I forgot it. I still have the African Jubilee booklet, which came out in 1987, because for me, it was a sense of pride. It reflected what we would call the African colours, which was the red, the gold, and the green, and black, of course, but also promoted. As I remember in there, there's actually an interview with somebody around Garvey and Garvey. I'm just trying to remember the example. I forgot it. And it just promoted the richness of the heritage that people of African descent have. And also, I believe the richness of the heritage and the history which we have as a world. All people have history. Every single person in this room has history, contributes to history. We've all just lived through coronavirus and COVID and lockdown. And each of us has a story to tell, or stories to tell about that period. But what happens when history gets written and remembered and recorded, it's just the stories of a few. And just to illustrate that, one of the things which I'm so grateful for in terms of those who pioneered the push for the recognition of the histories of all peoples, African peoples is, I think of the wars. When I was taught about what we call the First World War and the Second World War in school, I never heard anything about people like myself, nothing at all. And then I go to Ghana in the 80s and I meet my mother's brother, my uncle. And I find out about something called the West African frontier force. And I find out that young men from Ghana and Sierra Leone, or Gold Coast as it was saying, and Nigeria and other parts of Africa fought in this war, which I was never told, never told that. And obviously a lot more has come out since then. And so again, I'm thinking, why was I not told? Why were we not told when I was being taught about the war and church on this? Why was I not told that there were people from my complexion from Africa and the Caribbean who actually fought in these wars? So it was such a delight to know that there were people, peoples out there who were doing their best to push for and promote that there is such a thing as Black history. And I think, okay, I believe that history is history, but it seems that because of the way we are in the world at the moment, we have to say that there is Black history. But my dream would be that we just say that there's history. We recognize every single human being has, because all history is what happened yesterday. That's what history is. And it's simplest. That's what we should be telling children. History starts from your own lived experience. And one of the things actually I do regret is not talking more to those living history books that were around me at the time. My uncle, who passed away soon after I met him for the first time. My neighbors, my parents, because they are our living history books. And I would say to any student of history or any student who's in the room who is studying history and writing history, talk to those around you. And it's not just the academics. There are people, I was at an event last night at Middlesex University. And there are people, there are people within SOAS who were part of the history, which you're talking about, who stood outside of South Africa House and protested against apartheid, who worked and helped out in supplementary schools, who wrote books. During the 80s, we had this whole range of bookshops, which came up, started in the 70s or whatever, off the top of my head, where I was Head Start, Pepper Kye in New Beacon Books, Karnak House. These are the ones that I remember. Kwameen, Krumah, Kofihajo. Then I actually had an argument with someone saying that there used to be an African bookshop around Old Street. I have a picture of it in my bag. They say, no, no, no, you're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong. I said, no, no, there was, it was, it was because I used to go to it. There was a fire in it. This is it here. Kwameen, Krumah House. Anyone can come and look at it afterwards. It existed. But, and I took this picture, I can't see on the back, but a lot of our young people don't know about the existence of, of for instance, this whole plethora of bookshops, black bookshops, not just in London, but outside in Birmingham, in Wolverhampton, in Nottingham. So it's so important for our history to be told. And please, please, please, when you're exploring history, talk to people around you who have lived through it. If you really want to understand history, talk to those around you who have lived through it. And there are so many different perspectives that you'll get. Yeah, I probably went off track a bit there. And we house on here. Margaret, I see Margaret here. And I have Margaret's book in my bag. Margaret, please stand up. I'd love to say that the book is for sale at the reception, but I'm not sure. But you can get it in many, many, many good bookshops, including, and if you can't get it in a bookshop, ask for it. And if it's not in your local library, ask for it. We do have a copy in Samas Library. And I think it's important to kind of emphasize, you know, there's so much around London. I went on a Black history walk earlier in the year, actually. And it was fascinating to see just how much in London you wouldn't necessarily notice. You know, London Wall was built by a Black Roman, you know, who kind of made a lot of that happen. There's all of these bookshops around. There's all of this history, which is right underneath us. And we don't necessarily take the time to notice it. And I think for me, growing up in Derby and then coming to London for university, it was this explosion of culture. But there was a lot that you don't see. And so, for me, what Black History Month is, is an opportunity to really connect with parts of my heritage that I wasn't taught about. Because one half of my heritage I was taught a lot about, in a way, from a particular perspective. But the other sides, I wasn't necessarily, and I didn't have a big family on that side. And so it's tricky sometimes to educate yourself when you don't necessarily have the time or to have other people educate you. So it's really important that people kind of reach out to those networks, as you said. And I'll maybe ask one more question, because I can. And then we'll go to questions. But I guess, for you, what's changed over the years? What's evolved with 35 years into Black History Month, being in existence in the UK? How has that purpose evolved, maybe? What do you see of people taking it up? What's next? It amazes me. How time flies. 35 years. Wow. And what amazes me is this. I walk in the corridors of Royal University Hospital. And I see displayed pictures of key Black workers celebrating Black History Month. And I take the train, I get to Victoria, in the art room there. And I see posters and signage Black History Month. I go to Waitrose and they are celebrating Black History Month. Then the Navy, the Army, the Air Force, then the museums, all of them. That is incredible. That is incredible. But what is important is this, is that there is no institutional direction or control. It is in the hearts and minds of the people. And they take initiatives to organize activities. And that is what we planned it for. After the abolition of the Greater London Council in 1986, there was a successive body called the London Strategy Policy Unit that was established. And that policy unit continued with some aspects of the progressive work of Greater London Council. And it was that unit that helped to organize African Jubilee Year. An African Jubilee Year was the year 1987-88 was declared African Jubilee Year to mark the 150th anniversary of emancipation, slavery in the Caribbean, the 100th, the centenary of the birth of Maakus Gavi, and the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Organization of African Unity. These were combined together as the African Jubilee Year. African Jubilee Year. And a declaration was made. And this powerful declaration was passed and adopted by the London Strategy Policy Unit, the Inner London Education Authority, the Association of London Authorities. And this was also sent across the labor of the borough councils across the country that endorsed the declaration. And it is out of this declaration that Black History Month was established. So I am happy and delighted with what I see. There are over 10, 20, 30,000 activities organized all over the country, all over the country. And it is by individuals, is by you, you believe in it. It's like Christmas. It's like Christmas. But what I would like to emphasize here, if you permit me, is this. Sometimes I hear, I think the questions will come, that Black History Month is tokenism, and the content is music, food, and this and that. But then I always question the person criticizing that, please, but what are you doing about it? It is your responsibility. If you see that these wonderful students here are so us, and the University of London put this together, and you are sitting in your audience, and see what is happening, and you have the skills, after this, you go to them and tell them that next year, I would like to be part of it. I can do this. I can do that. And we can enrich the content. That is your responsibility. That is what Black History Month is about. So the month itself, the Black History Month October, is a month of reflection. It's a month of self-examination. It's a month of looking at the state of Black Britain, how the rich relations act, how the equal opportunities or the equalities act, being a functioning in the interests of the country. Thank you. And as somebody who works in student experience, and I'm sure Rikia will second me, if anybody is interested, next October or any time in between. We are very happy to have you, involved in Black History Month here at SAAS. So we'll now open up to questions. So I think we're going to adjust the lighting, and we'll have some of our lovely student ambassadors come around with microphones so that we can take questions. Please do use this opportunity. You have a living legend here. And yes, we have a question in the middle. It really is. My name is Aris Aman. I'm a lecturer here in Bloomsbury. Really, what the seed of what you planted is quite extraordinary in the ripple effects. And I want to ask about that because the 80s, for those who weren't, remember, it was, as you say, an exciting period. The GLC very much are the heart of that. And I remember I was a student union activist at the University of York. We were very inspired by GLC campaigns in 84. But I wanted to ask you about when you started Black History Month, when that started of those discussions with the GLC, to what extent in your thinking at that time, were you considering the ripple effects in particular in universities? Because I think that there was, certainly I remember at the time, there was obviously there were the debates around apartheid. There was a lot of solidarity during the miners' strike, actually, as well. But I mean this point around coalitions. There were a lot of coalitions that were coming together in that period. I just wonder, in those early days of the Black History Month, when you were putting those ideas together, did you envisage a broader set of coalitions, particularly with universities? Was that always part of the thinking or did that emerge perhaps later, or was that not there? You can start off. What is important is this, that it had the support of the Inner London Education Authority that was seated in the Greater London Council and we're fortunate to have the Vice Chairman of the Inner London Educational Authority, Bernard Wilshire, who was very supportive, very, very supportive of Black History Month. And at that time, the head was now Lord Herman Ousley. So when we had the lectures also, we brought in professors that like Tony Martin, Henry Clark, Benjamin, and all that. And that also attracted the student community in London, in Birmingham, in Manchester, in Leeds, in Leicester and all of that. They all came because they were big names that at that time they knew. So consciously, we found a way to involve the academia and the students, the kids, the kids, because we feel the Royal Abbey Hall with children and their parents. That was the key. The children, they brought the schools, they had to bring their parents with them. And the 5,000, 6,000 people, I don't know, very weak, and they were listening to music and lectures and all of that. So it was a very peculiar time that you had to engineer it in such a way that though you were stepping on people's feet, but it would be a soft soft so that you can get sometimes when I think about it, I am amazed how we manage to get an all-party support for it. And that is where it has grown. I mean, if I can add, I think in certainly my experience of the 80s that there was quite a strong climate of challenging injustice. So as I mentioned, there was a permanent presence outside South Africa House in relation to the struggle against apartheid. I, for a while, was part of a group which was called, some people here may remember it, Balsa, Black Action for the Liberation of Southern Africa. And in fact, one of the things I would love anyone who's a student that saw us to do is to, there's a big chunk of our history from around the 60s to the present, which is missing, which we're not writing about. We had, got another book in my bag. We had here last week, Professor Hekimadi, he was selling this book, and this covers a lot of that history, but there's still so much which needs to be written about. Black Action for the Liberation of Southern Africa is an organisation. African Dawn, people will know, Shaykh Ahmed is another organisation. Down the road from here, not to find Holburn, there was an organisation, Akeena Mama, Why Africa, Women. The Africa Centre, there's so much of our history, which still needs to be researched and written, and I'm particularly talking about and promoting the organisations because our history is not just about individuals. Every single human being contributes to history, so we need to talk about the contribution of all of those ordinary people, but to go back to what you said, it's that climate of the injustice, and it was ordinary people, lots of nameless people who none of us will ever know, who would go outside South Africa House, day in, day out, come rain or shine, students and non-students, and Jeremy Corbyn was outside, there's a good picture of him, and protest and say, this is wrong, what's happening in South Africa is wrong, it permeated our music, something inside is so strong, what's his name? We wrote the song after watching what happened to the children in 1976 being shot in Soweto, so it was the climate and I think that that was why, and Black History Month was embraced by people, ordinary people, certainly I know young people both in the university, I was at the time, and certainly in the Saturday schools we were teaching in, we embraced it, that was outside of London, and just to bring us right up to the present, I've got friends in the Republic of Ireland who are of African heritage and they sent me something from the Republic of Ireland, which is talking about Black History Month and how it is being recognised and celebrated there, so the beauty of what you started was, it started with a month in London and people are now saying Black History Month is more than a month, that's the positive, we recognise that Black History Month is more than a month, people are now saying that Black History, African History is an integral part of the history of the world, we're recognising that, so we really have to salute you for what you did and what you've achieved and the contribution that you've made. So I can see a couple of hands but I'll come back to you because we're going to take a question from somebody that's online first and then I'm coming here and then here. So Farida said thank you for this wonderful history, we all have an insolent child example, for me it's being told that David Livingston discovered the Victoria Falls, which the locals called Mutsi Unotunya, how does one challenge racism in education and employment in light of tone policing, with its silencing effects, people get punished for being perceived as having attitude problems, for pointing out blatant racism, this can be harmful for students and employees. And she said hello Margaret. Well where do you want to start? I can have a crack at this but I think. I think one of the things I'll start off by saying and I'm saying this to in after George Floyd was murdered and the Black Lives Matter movement became very prominent in 2021, a white friend came up to me, we were on the demonstration somewhere and said why aren't there more black people here? You know, you people need to get up and do something about the racism. And my response was that our struggle against racism isn't an event, it's a daily thing and it's tiring. I'm not going to tell you how old I am but I'm quite old now and it's tiring, it's particularly tiring because I had hoped that some of the things I struggled with as a child that my children wouldn't have to go through and my sister's children and my neighbour's children. It's particularly tiring when in the same week that the Queen passed away, a young man of African heritage is shot in the head by a policeman, somebody who actually should be out there protecting us to somebody like me for just being of African heritage. So what I say to anybody and I've said it to some of my colleagues here is when you start in a new job, build up your support networks and your support networks are there's all kinds of different support that we need. Your support networks are both people who are within the place you work but others and it's important to to build up support networks outside because if you have the misfortune to be in a place where you are pulled up for just questioning some of the racism you experience, you could be made to feel that actually you've got that chip on your shoulder and to doubt. And that's why it's important to have somebody and then others who you can talk to. The challenge for our children is and it is a challenge that they don't always have the the maturity and the sophistication and the ability to be able to do that. So my advice is to those of us who are around children and that's the parents but not just the parents, the extended family, the community and the community can be your next-door neighbor and your next-door neighbor may be a person of African heritage but it could be somebody else. If you know any children, not just talk to them but listen, listen to our children, watch them look for signs in them and then talk to them on a continual basis. I'll give you an experience, there's a bit of a painful experience for me to talk about. When my, oh dear, when my son in particular started primary school I felt the need to tell my son that he needed to be careful because of some experiences he would have at school and outside of school. Within a few weeks of that picking my children up from school, so this is about 3 34 o'clock in the afternoon walking from the school to the tube station. I live in South London, South West London. Some guys decide they want to start shouting abuse at us, racial abuse as a mother you protect your children. We're all forward to 2021 with the Black Lives Matter campaign and my son came up to me and we had some heart-to-heart discussions and he said, I always remember that talk you gave me and I'll always remember how scared I felt when a few weeks after and he could remember more about this than me. The guy in the, I think it was the Chelsea strip t-shirt started calling us names, the N word etc etc and I'm thinking wow at the time he was five, that's lived with him right through. Another experience he had and this is, you know, as a parent you don't always listen to your kids but on this occasion I did. Another experience he had when he was at school, they were doing some art and some of the, he was probably around seven, some of the girls and they were white girls in his class had been setting to another room to do some artwork and my son had been told to go and call them in, you know, that was the end of that and one of the girls had glue in her hair and the teacher said, oh what's going on? How have you got all this glue in her hair? And they said my son had done it and my son swore blind he hadn't and he was on the verge of being excluded from school etc etc and this is a message to everybody, sorry. The girl who had said it or one of the girls felt so bad that she went home and told her mum and I will always be thankful to this parent. That mother came in the next day to the school and said actually I think you need to look at this again, she didn't know what was going on and she and she and she said what had happened and the head teacher who was called the child, the children, the girls in to the classroom and said to the girls, oh why did you say that? Why did you lie? And this is always living me and that girl at seven said because I knew I would be believed. So at seven years of age and there's a program is it there give me a child when you're seven at seven years of age so I don't blame the child. She had picked up from the society in which we live that as a young white girl her word will be believed above a young black boy and I'm saying that so that everybody in here and beyond and I'm saying this to all of us as black people all of us as white people all of us as Asian people and beyond to challenge some of those things which are going on to educate our children about the importance of fairness justice because it's we as the people who have to do it because every single child every single child has a right there's a quote I can't remember it by Amicael Cabral who from Guinea-Bissau says that all any of us want and I'm paraphrasing is for our children to live better lives than what we lived. All the majority of us want is fairness is it not? We want fairness we want everybody we don't want I hope people to be treated less favorably than what we are so that taught me a lot so this that struggle within the workplace within the school place is hard in its tiring so I will say this to anyone who's an ally of justice for people of African Asian heritage any white person please support us don't just leave it up to us to challenge the racism if you see racism happening just like I will say to a man if you see sexism happening if you see any kind of injustice speak up as well as expecting those who are experiencing it to speak up because it's tiring for us it's tiring it's tiring as a woman to constantly be challenging sexism and sexism exists it's challenging as a black woman to constantly be challenging racism it's tiring when I hear that yet another young black man has had his life taken just because of the racial bias of the law enforcers in this country and I'll just end on this note what's his name David Olowale who was killed in 1969 by the police that is the last time a police officer the first the last time a police officer in this country has been prosecuted and received a sentence or been convicted of killing a black man now roll forward now and I do not know the number in my head and count the number of young black men who have been killed at the hands of the police as well as black women something's wrong is it not thank you we'll take two more questions here so we'll start here and then we may possibly have time for one more my name is Ernest Insian young man I come from Ghana in fact I arrived last Monday my purpose in London was to come to celebrate Black History Month I didn't know I was coming to meet our gentleman here I'd never heard of him I never knew him we met last night and I was fortunate to have met Dr Amapoku yesterday who came to my book lunch a book I brought to London to celebrate the Black History Month for this is the second time I'm coming here I was here in 2019 I was fortunate to have been hosted by the Ghana High Commission to launch the book there and I was seen by Dr Grant Wilson who said I should come and celebrate the Black History Month with them at the Middlesex University so I came up again with the book to celebrate with them in fact our program is that every year we will move to a different community in London and in the UK out in Ireland to celebrate Black History there I never knew I was coming I'm so overwhelmed and we thank you for Dr Grant and I want to also say that in Ghana we also recognize the Black History in fact there are several events that have been involved in long ago long time somewhere in the 90s when the WE BitBoy Center was set up and most of the brothers and sisters from the United States and other diasporan countries came and celebrated Black History there in fact I was one of the people who set up the the archives in the Dubai Center and I'm glad I was involved in the setting up of the place but I was the first person to have filmed the moving of his remains from the Usu Castle and escorted to the Hispana Resin Place his home where he lived when he was in Ghana and I was the one who was given the opportunity to film privately for the Boy Center and I have been involved in Black History not directly unfortunately at some time of my life I joined our national politics I was part of President Kufo's presidential team and I was his archivist that got me involved in the learning of most of the things that was going on in the Akan traditional setup the Kingdom of Asante that was what informed the writing of this book and I felt that I should come and share it with my brothers and sisters here who may have not been able to get close to the the tradition and heritage that they have left home second third generation of Africans who are living here who may not have had the opportunity to even read about our history or even if they have other side of the history that has been given to them as people come in to discover as when we already discovered ourselves and I'm glad that I have been able to come here to celebrate this with you I'm very very honored thank you very much thank you I've got a question up the top good evening everyone and thank you for this what has been a very thoughtful and inspirational talk so far I wanted to pick up on a few comments made towards the end about firstly how we're missing that history we're missing the what I would consider 20th century black what late 20th century black British history and secondly the idea that people may be critical of what Black History Month is now seeing it as a mostly cultural celebration rather than a political one and so I don't want to be negative and so and I'm also a historian and I always believe that you do best in the presence when you know the past and you learn from the past and when you have the opportunity of individuals like you to tell us where exactly do you think we went from the 20th late 20th century to today that makes the argument that almost the cultural has overtaken the political valid and I say this because I thought like I said I'm a historian by I can't even call it profession because I'm a lawyer but by studies and I when I was a school I studied the American civil rights and I thought that was the blackest option in my curriculum when I was at university I studied the biaference of a war because I'm Nigerian and everybody has to do it you you just think it's a you know a a right to passage and yet it was only when I went to work at the Black Cultural Archives in Brixton that I discovered Black British history for the first time I'd never known it I'd never known the ancient part of Black British history and I certainly had not known the 20th century part of Black British history I was shocked at times to learn of how political people had been in the 70s the 80s the 90s I was shocked at how Black people had been there was a Black British radio that's very different to one extra and capital extra capital extra and one extra they're arguably urban I say that as a fan but you have a Black British radio that was unapologetically Black you had Black TV that was unapologetically Black you had Black grassroots organizations that were unapologetically Black and Asian there were you were talking about it having coalitions why don't we see that today in the same way why is it now that it's urban or why is it now that we do have Black History Month I work in a law firm where they you know they get bring wheel out a meal Black History Month and say this is great right we're celebrating with you but it's not quite the same as making sure that there are Black people in the building at the top not just the bottom level so what where do you think learning from history where do you think we went not wrong I want to say but where do you think the message was maybe diluted co-opted fractionalised I don't know what do you think thank you so sorry I guess in a way well my my follow-up question is is the message diluted in in your opinions and and has the cultural overtaken the political I think if I can summarize a little dear for such a culture taking over the political politics is culture culture is politics politics is economics economics is politics sociology or social purposes and all that involves politics and economics so culture is a sum total of what we are and that expression is also coded and by coded I mean is that you have to break it down so when we organize activities we organize it for it to be comprehensive because the era that we are in and the era that we were in in the 80s was highly political and under that political climate also we saw that our communities people that have been classified as ethnic minorities were suffering in area of housing education health everything and we were lucky to have a Greater London Council that had an enlightened leadership and felt that everybody living and surviving Greater London Council must have access access to political power so how could we express this is by making available funding to support community organization groups and order to manifest who they are and it and what is important is that there were people also making demands demands so here now our students here you should be making demands is equalities or diversity being acted when you go to the library do you feel that you are adequately represented there through the books and everything and not here alone if you go to the other community library they are closing in libraries a lot of libraries and what is the content there is it sufficient so you have to be challenging and that is what we were doing we were always challenging at that time we were challenging we weren't satisfied and we will so you have to be challenging at this particular time I'll divide the world into two types of people or groups of people those who have a thirst for justice and those who don't and those of us who have a thirst for justice for all peoples but they're talking here about people with African heritage the struggle is continuous when I was young I used to think okay it's going to come to an end but the struggle is continuous a lot of the gains we take for granted today are on the back of the struggles of other people women can vote today because some women back in the day said hang on some it's a bit wrong here we can't vote African people black African people in South Africa who can vote today and have achieved certain rights because people said something's wrong here and some of those people included children we've mentioned libraries when I was growing up saw very very few books in the library with people that looked like me I went today to my local library borrowed two children's books I used to work in a library libraries are full of books now or good libraries which reflect people like me the struggle is continuous if you go to your local library and it hasn't got books which reflect people like you or your children ask I'm going to highlight this one here dream to change the world this book is the story or it's about what's based on somebody who dreamed to change the world some of you may have heard of him John LaRose John LaRose started a bookshop up in north London new beacon books so this is what I'm saying he dreamed to change the world if every one of us has a dream to change the world in whatever corner we're in look at how you can make that difference sometimes that's going to be chart tiring sometimes that's going to be draining which is why you network and connect with somebody else who can help you achieve that dream we have Margaret Busby here you joined with somebody because she dreamed to change the world and had an impact on publishing we have somebody like Beryl Gilroy who's no longer with us who dreamed to change the world became a teacher and then a head teacher now we have lots of teachers who look like me and us in the room so it's going to be hard but our history is one of struggle is one of sacrifice but it is also a history of success we celebrate the successes and we go forward and we continue to struggle for more successes for ourselves and in particular for our children we are going to have to to wrap up but I know we could continue this conversation for hours no no no it's it's all been excellent I think one thing just a reflection on on your question and the conversation that we've just had and as somebody who kind of has to but also likes to see things intersectionally I would say that often there's this hierarchy of norms like you have to get the basics like you were saying about votes and then access to education and all of these different things that the people don't have and I think now and I recognize my privilege in saying this but things are different for us now than they would have been 20 30 years ago that doesn't mean it's right it just means that it's it's better and there's maybe a tiny bit more breathing room and I think sometimes it's good to enjoy that and to enjoy the culture and to to rejoice and to celebrate but that doesn't mean that the work is done and I think a lot of the work that was maybe happening more loudly and in a way that's more organized is now happening more subtly I didn't actually introduce myself at the start but I'm the head of student experience engagement and retention here at Sawas and a lot of my work focuses on inclusion and community and looking at what are the ways in which the systems and the things that we have maybe don't work for everyone what are the ways in which maybe people have thought we have to make this better for as many people as possible and not which people are being underserved by that so what I would say is there are more and more people doing things within their own spaces to try and make that change and that's a good thing too that doesn't mean that if you don't want to start something you can't do that and and you should and and the whole point of for me the whole point of Black History Month is empowerment and actually connecting with with your roots, connecting with other people and finding that purpose connecting with your purpose so we are going to finish and I do need to finish very shortly but Achaba if there's anything you wanted to say in about 30 seconds what would you like to leave people with everything starts with the hope so it is the that is what Black History Month is about is the home where we reside where the children are so the home must define the child and the school just assists but the responsibility is in the home so the home must reflect what you want your child to be the surroundings the pictures the books the type of programs that the children watch at home all of that matters so everything starts with the home and please take control of your home take control of the home and let the images reflect what Black History Month should be I'm very happy that I have a lot of my family members here from our grandson who is sleeping over there to my sister my niece's nephews and all over here and also my brother Tony Hollensworth my sister's and all of I'm very very happy that you came to join in this communion and finally I thank the student body Rukia and the team all of you you've done wonderfully well to organize this and I thank you and I salute you and continue continue challenging but the most important thing is ask questions don't be afraid to ask questions that's how I learned I was not afraid to go to an elderly person and ask questions and sit at their feet and learn and ask questions and when the student is ready teacher will appear thank you all right well we are going to finish up so yes a huge thanks to our speakers Rukia has put a huge amount of work into this Elizabeth our ambassadors thank you all thanks to our audience including our virtual audience we really appreciate you all joining we hope you've enjoyed the conversation there are still some more events happening at SOAS and at SOAS's Students Union which you can find on the various websites we will have a feedback form is that what you want to talk about no that's not what I wanted to talk about but we'll get to that but I first of all thank you guys so much for being here I hope all of you enjoyed and you know just thank you I thought this has been an amazing discussion I want to recognize that you know there's so much that you know our black professional staff contribute here to our community at SOAS and I think whilst we've recognized the importance of Black History Month today and we've celebrated what Acharba has contributed to not only British history but more globally than that I want to celebrate I want to celebrate Kirsten and Amma because they're both really really amazing incredible inspirational individuals. Elizabeth if you want to come out I think we should give them a round of applause I'll leave you to talk about evaluations so there is a reception across in the Paul Webley wing if anybody would like to join us the ambassadors will be directing the way it's just one building over so you're very welcome to join us there there will also be a feedback form if you enjoyed yourself my name is Kirsten Johnson if you didn't I was never here but thank you thank you all so much for coming please do fill out the feedback we want to make sure that these events the Black History Month and going beyond the month it is relevant it is informative it's engaging for you so any feedback is is very very welcome but yes that's that's all folks thank you all so much for joining us and have a good rest of the evening you