Refugee Week 2019 – Caribbean Lunch and Lecture – Windrush Day Celebration: Black People in Britain
Date and Time: Fri, 21 June 2019, 12:00 – 13:30 BST
Location: UCLan – University of Central Lancashire, Foster building – Scholars Restaurant, Kendal Street, Preston, PR12HE
Programme – Lunch and Lecture:
12.00 – 12.25 – Registration and Lunch
12.25-12.30 – Open remarks – EDIC UCLan and Preston Black History Group
12.30:1.00 pm – Lecture: ‘Black People in Britain before Windrush – Stories of Migration’ by Lecturer Rapahel Hoermann
1.00 – 1.30 pm – Testimonials from Windrush Role Models and discussion
Limited places. So booking is a must! Details here
Refreshments and an afro-caribbean food will be provided.
This lecture will be delivered by Dr. Raphael Hoermann. He is Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Black Atlantic Research (IBAR) and Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN).
Black people have been living in Britain at least since Roman Times. While it is true that the large-scale migration of Black people did only start after WWII with the so-called “Windrush Generation” of Black Britons, they have been present in public records long before.
Nevertheless their lives and stories have largely been expunged from public consciousness and historiography. Mainstream historians have also chosen to silence them, despite the best counter efforts to unearth their lives undertaken by scholars of British Black history (e.g. Peter Fryer, Ron Ramdin, Ray Costello & David Olusoga).
Indeed the wealth of material and the scale of the contributions of Black Atlantic people to British history are so immense (especially considering their relative small numbers) that this lecture can only scratch the surface. It will re-appraise their contributions by focusing on three outstanding and diverse Black Atlantic figures from three centuries: the ex-slave, abolitionist and author of the most famous British slave narrative, Olaudah Equiano (c. 1745-97), the ultra-radical Black Atlantic agitator Robert Wedderburn (1762-1835/36?) and Jamaican-born poet, broadcaster and feminist Una Marson (1905-66), who became the first black producer at the BBC.
Following this lecture we will welcome three guest speakers from the Windrush generation to give their testimonials and open the discussion. This will be facilitated by Clinton Smith – Chair of Preston Black History Group.
