In 2002, I ran a series of lectures on black history at the university of Manchester on behalf of Excellence In Cities. The Black History Month lectures were aimed at education mentors working for The Ethnic minority achievement service. Very interesting facts emerged from the lively exchange that occurred within those lectures.
I will highlight some of the points raised by participants at the lectures. It was stressed that the fastest growing segment of the British population today is that of mixed race people. Many mixed race people know virtually nothing about their African Heritage and are yet classed as Black Many do well and go on to tertiary education to institutions such as Oxford and Cambridge. These individuals become people of learning and yet remain restless for much of their lives about their true historical identity. Many such British adults know everything there is to know about the ancestry of the present British monarch; right down to William of Orange and yet know nothing about their Ashanti origin or about the obas of Benin or any of the ancient black rulers that governed ancient Egypt.
History is a subject of critical importance within every society. This is because history tells people about their roots and empowers them to correctly define who they. To live in the present and the future; the history of a people or an issue has to be examined and properly understood. A sound knowledge of the history of the different segments that makes up today’s multi – cultural Britain is a sound socio-political stratagem. For instance; it allows British people of African extraction to come to terms with who they are in the present and develop a mature response to devastating realities such as the slave trade. Black British people need to commit to Britain their adopted homeland. British education must play a part in this process. The hitherto hidden history of black people must be taught, the contribution of black people of historical note must be examined and profiled as being important and of value.