Black Georgians: The Shock of the Familiar at Black Cultural Archives

The everyday lives of Black people during the Georgian period will be revealed in a new exhibition at Black Cultural Archives.

 

Entitled Black Georgians: The Shock of the Familiar the free exhibition, curated and researched by historian and writer S. I. Martin, launches this October, at the start of Black History Month 2015. It will be on display from 9 October 2015 until 9 April 2016.

 

This third major exhibition at the south London based heritage centre will offer a rich array of historical evidence and archival materials that present a surprising, sometimes shocking, and inspiring picture of Georgian Britain (1714-1830).

 

Although Britain had been a home to people of African origin for centuries, the Georgian period marked the beginning of a distinct society that in some ways was similar to our own. Throughout the British Isles Black people were working in a variety of roles and settling here in increasing numbers. Some were enslaved and worked in domestic service. Others, having worked as free seamen or soldiers, chose to settle here. A third group were British-born freemen, and an even smaller set, here for education, business or leisure, had private incomes which enabled them to become the first Black bourgeois.

 

The Black Georgians: The Shock of the Familiar narrative not only challenges preconceptions of the Black presence in Britain being restricted to post World War II, but it speaks to us of a growing population that forged a new identity with creativity, adaptability, and remarkable fortitude.

 

It is a complex picture: while there was much oppression and restriction, there was also a degree of social mobility and integration. By presenting this picture, Black Cultural Archives takes an opportunity to challenge and open up new perspectives on the past and how it shaped the Britain we live in today.

 

Taking visitors through the lifespan of Black Georgians, from birth through childhood, daily life until death, we encounter many personalities, from the likes of anti-slavery abolitionists, such as Robert Wedderburn, Olaudah Equiano and Ottobah Cugoano, to those who found themselves amongst the upper social classes, such as Dido Elizabeth Belle and Nathaniel Wells, whose wealth stemmed from their family inheritances. We learn about Ignatius Sancho, who was born on a slave ship and then brought to Greenwich, London, and who had the good fortune to gain an education that led to his becoming a composer, scholar and businessman; and Phillis Wheatley, the first published African-American female poet, one of the most famous poets of her time. Others became embedded into British society through the realm of sport, in particular the British boxing traditions, such as the Tom Molineaux and Bill Richmond whose lives echo the rise to success as many sporting heroes of today. Through their personal narratives we discover the common threads of resistance and agency that characterized Black Georgians.

 

Black Georgians: The Shock of the Familiar explores how African people in Britain challenged degraded notions of human diversity and initiated a set of dialogues that continue to this day.

Black Cultural Archives’ new exhibition aims to inspire imaginations, promote critical enquiry, and challenge academic thinking to further question the gaps in the narrative of British history. The challenges faced during this time sowed the seeds of change and began to define modern Britain, and also informed the early ideologies of ‘Black Britain’. These unfinished conversations encourage us to grapple with questions such as: What causes are important to fight for now?  How can we mobilize our collective agency today? How much has actually changed in three centuries?

 

For more information and images please contact: Evadney Campbell, contact@shilohpr.com . Tel: 07716 289 717

Notes to Editors

Notes to the editor:

• Black Cultural Archives is a national heritage centre dedicated to collecting, preserving and celebrating the histories of people of African and Caribbean descent in Britain. Founded in 1981, the Black Cultural Archives’ heritage centre is the first of its kind and our unique collection includes rare historical documents, photographs, ephemera, oral history testimonies and an eclectic range of objects dating from the second century to the present day.

• Black Cultural Archives’ new heritage centre opened in July 2014 in the heart of south London on the historic Windrush Square in Brixton, and is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and London Borough of Lambeth.

• S. I. Martin is an author, historian and educator specialising in Black British history and literature. His previous work include Britain’s Slave Trade for Channel 4 Books, an accompaniment to the Windrush documentary which charted the progress of three black exiles living in 18th-century London. S. I. Martin has published children fiction books that aim to widen the consciousness and knowledge of Black British history beyond post-World War II, such as Jupiter Williams (2007) and Jupiter Amidship (2009). Martin has worked as an educator throughout London schools, English heritage, National Martime Museum, the Museum of London, the Museum of Docklands, the Imperial War Museum and Black Cultural Archives.

• Black Georgians: The Shock of the Familiar draws on materials largely from Black Cultural Archives collection and private collector Lesley Braine Ikomi. There are also a selection of loaned items from the National Archives, the London Metropolitan Archives, Scone Palace and private collector Helene Roberts.

October 12, 2015 2:44pm ET by Shiloh PR   Comments (0)

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