 |
 |
FOR INFORMATION ONLY Please see attached letter from Marsha de Cordova MP for Battersea. ________________________________ From: The Black and Asian Studies Association <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Kwaku BBM <[log in to unmask]> Sent: 05 October 2018 11:05 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Does it matter if Black History Month is rebranded ‘Diversity Month’? | Maurice Mcleod and others | Opinion | The Guardian Greetings - this is what I have sent to the authors, and those referred to in the article... Good morning Sally & Richard, Re: Feedback re: Councils condemned for 'shameful' rebranding of Black History Month I write to commend you on the publication of your fine and timely article - Councils condemned for 'shameful' rebranding of Black History Month. I however feel it incumbent on me to point out two inaccuracies in the article: 1a) It's a shame that your source of the root of BHM UK was that of some saying it was Ansel Wong, when Ansel in several utterances has always made it plain that it came from his colleague, Ghanaian-born Akyaaba Addai-Sebo. The latter also in all our conversations praises Ansel for the support he gave him and in shepherding through the African Jubilee Year 1987-88 initiative, of which BHM UK is a lasting legacy 1b) I know Ansel well - he was a panellist on the 25 Years On... event I organised in Harrow Civic centre in 2012 to commemorate both the introduction of BHM UK and the election of the first African MPs. Incidentally, I've invited Ansel to talk about the African Jubilee Year 1987-88 @ 30 (AJY) at the Harrow African History Season launch at the Civic Centre on Oct 26. 2a) Your piece states that according to Linda Bellos, "the guest of honour at the (BHM) launch was Sally Mugabe". This is factually wrong - Sally Mugabe was not in the UK for the launch of BHM UK on Oct. 1 1987 2b) Again, I know Linda, and have tried communicating with her privately to remind her that her memory which connects the launch of BHM UK with Sally Mugabe and the Commonwealth Institute is erroneous. I have sent her a copy of the invitation of the launch at County Hall, where ILEA Dep Leader Bernard Wiltshire introduced the keynote speaker Dr Maulana Karenga 2c) I believe Linda is confusing the launch of BHM UK with AJY, which took place on July 31 1987, where Linda presided over the event with Sally Mugabe as keynote speaker 2d) Linda was chair of the London Strategic Policy Committee, which was the group that introduced AJY in July 1987, and its legacy - BHM in October 1987 My upcoming book 'Look How Far We've Come: Disrupting African British History Narratives?' focuses on "bad histories", such as those highlighted above. I do hope you will conduct your own independent research and correct the errors on the Guardian website. The chances are you are not going to find much useful AJY information if you rely on the internet. This is partly why I'm organising an event at City Hall commemorating the AJY @ 30, which tells the not so well known history - please see event list below or check out the press release at http://bit.ly/AJY30PR1. Incidentally, earlier in 2007, Hillingdon along with Westminster, produced one of the most useful booklets marking the 200th anniversary of the Abolition of the trans-Atlantic trafficking of Africans. Although Councils ought to be delivering BHM programmes as per the AJY Declaration to which they were bound, we suggested to Cllr Nelson who attended our 2007 Abolition event in Harrow and alerted us to what was happening in Hillingdon, that we were willing to help if she or in partnership with community groups were to independently deliver BHM events whilst she kept pushing for her council do do its bit. With regards to Wandsworth, I did deliver African history programmes during BHM and when it started its Diversity Month. So whilst we dislike the branding, I believe it still has some African history content. Finally, I've blind copied the people referred to in your article, and stakeholders who've been circulating the article. Kind regards, Kwaku www.AfricanHistoryPlus.eventbrite.com<http://www.africanhistoryplus.eventbrite.com/> 'Look How Far We've Come: Disrupting African British Histories?' book by Kwaku published in November 2018 by BTWSC/African Histories Revisited 'A Wider African History In Britain' article by Awula Serwah & Kwaku published in October 2018 New African magazine BTWSC/AHR related events @ www.AfricanHistoryPlus.eventbrite.com<http://www.africanhistoryplus.eventbrite.com/> Commemorating African Jubilee Year 1987-88 @ 30 Monday Nov. 26, 6.15-8.45pm @ City Hall #HostileEnvironment? Look To Africa! Saturday Nov. 3, 12:30-4:30pm @ Unite HQ, Holborn Harrow African History Season events listed @ www.HarrowBHM.eventbrite.com<http://www.harrowbhm.eventbrite.com/> Pan-Africanism Made Simple Monday Nov. 5, 6.30-8.30pm @ Harrow Civic Centre Harrow African History Season 2018/19 Launch Friday Oct. 26, 6.30-8.30pm @ Harrow Mencap @ www.BBM.eventbrite.com<http://www.bbm.eventbrite.com/> Britain & Reggae: A 50 Year History Thursday Oct.11, 6-7.30pm @ Hackney On Fri, Oct 5, 2018 at 7:51 AM arthur torrington <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote: For more than 30 years, events in October have celebrated ‘Black History Month’. Some of these activities have fallen very short of helping people to understand and appreciate the history and heritage of African people but BHM continues to teach, especially black youth, about their heritage. Now, Wandsworth Council in the south-west of London is said to have changed the name to ‘Diversity Month’, and will educate local people about all cultures, ethnicities and backgrounds in the borough. Perhaps, the Council’s next move will be to abolish the ‘phrase’ and the activities of ‘Windrush’. The people who established BHM in the UK did so at a time when the history of black Britons were publicly undermined. Local Councils failed to promote it, either in schools or in the community. BHM has survived three decades and Wandsworth Council sees no need to call it Black History Month. If they have funded the activities in the borough over the years and now want to share the funds with other ethnic groups, they should in details explain this to its constituency. After 2010, most councils stopped funding BHM events, but the celebrations have still continued and will continue because local people will get together to do so. Wandsworth councillors perhaps don’t know or want to know that in the 19th century when missionaries set up educational facilities in the Caribbean, the history of Africa was not taught, and if mentioned, it was denigrated. The people were often told Africans did not contribute to modernity, and love for Africa was not expressed. African-Caribbean missionaries were sent to Africa to evangelise. To this day, many people in the Caribbean do not identify with Africa. See Professor Eric Williams’ British Historians and the West Indies (1 Oct 1996). Many Caribbean migrants who arrived in the UK before and after June 1948, didn’t know much of their own history and could not pass-on knowledge to their children. Saturday schools and youth club educational activities have helped. BHM has certainly contributed to a better appreciation to the history and heritage. Wandsworth Council will have a harder time destroying ‘Windrush’ as it is now taught at Key Stage 4 in British high schools. After more than 22 years, Windrush Foundation, the first organisation of its kind, has worked indefatigably to preserve the stories of the men and women who volunteered to fight for Britain against Hitler and who returned and contributed to the rebuilding of this country after WWII. Arthur ________________________________ From: The Black and Asian Studies Association <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> on behalf of Amma Poku <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> Sent: 03 October 2018 11:05 To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> Subject: Does it matter if Black History Month is rebranded ‘Diversity Month’? | Maurice Mcleod and others | Opinion | The Guardian Good morning Please see the article below. I live and work in the London borough of Wandsworth that is one of the local authorities that has rebranded Black History Month. In my borough it is now Diversity Month. Interestingly, the boroughs library service has an extensive (though dwindling) collection of books by and about Africans from Britain, the Caribbean, America and of course Africa. It's probably one of the better public library collections. My desire is for more people to make use of it. Best wishes Amma https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/oct/03/councils-rebranding-black-history-month-london-diversity [https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/2579e4929c837abead1ecdcad7b35f23c9cd7f67/0_111_3500_2100/master/3500.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Centropy&bm=normal&ba=bottom%2Cleft&blend64=aHR0cHM6Ly9hc3NldHMuZ3VpbS5jby51ay9pbWFnZXMvb3ZlcmxheXMvNTM4OGZjODViNTQ0N2E4M2NmMWNlMTg5YTVhMjE1NzMvdGctb3BpbmlvbnMucG5n&s=a0981631b0c410af6bac26ae58e8f5c9]<https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/oct/03/councils-rebranding-black-history-month-london-diversity> Does it matter if Black History Month is rebranded ...<https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/oct/03/councils-rebranding-black-history-month-london-diversity> www.theguardian.com<http://www.theguardian.com> Wandsworth council in London is the latest to turn BHM into a broader multicultural event. Maurice Mcleod, Linda Bellos and Chanté Joseph discuss this decision Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android<https://go.onelink.me/107872968?pid=InProduct&c=Global_Internal_YGrowth_AndroidEmailSig__AndroidUsers&af_wl=ym&af_sub1=Internal&af_sub2=Global_YGrowth&af_sub3=EmailSignature> ________________________________ To unsubscribe from the BASA list, click the following link: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=BASA&A=1 ________________________________ To unsubscribe from the BASA list, click the following link: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=BASA&A=1 -- Kind regards, Kwaku www.AfricanHistoryPlus.eventbrite.com<http://www.AfricanHistoryPlus.eventbrite.com> ________________________________ To unsubscribe from the BASA list, click the following link: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=BASA&A=1 ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the BASA list, click the following link: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=BASA&A=1