- Hannah Francis
Reflections on the Bernie Grant Memorial Lecture 2024
Born in Guyana in 1944, Bernie Grant was a dedicated community organiser, trade unionist, founder of the African Reparations Movement (ARM UK) and one of Britain's first Black Members of Parliament. He emigrated from Georgetown to join his family in north London in 1963. Back home in the Caribbean, Grant had been inspired by radio reports on anti–colonial struggle and liberation movements across Africa and the Caribbean. This greatly influenced his activism and politics into his adulthood.
In April, Professor Hakim Adi gave the annual Bernie Grant Memorial Lecture, delivering a paper titled 'History Matters: Affirming the History of Africa and the African Diaspora'. The lecture opened with the following quote from Bernie Grant:
“Our history has been distorted so as to deny our achievements. We are saying today that there are certain historic truths. There are certain things that happened in the past and those things cannot be swept under the carpet any longer.” – Reparations or Bust, Bernie Grant, 11th April 1993
In the spirit of Grant’s words, Professor Adi’s lecture debunked the myth of the inferiority of those of African descent. From the Hamitic Hypothesis fabricated by European imperialists, to the myth of the Windrush fed to us by the British state, Professor Adi’s lecture reaffirmed how essential it is to counter the deeply entrenched false narratives surrounding our history. Combating sweeping generalisations of the history of the Black presence in Britain is of great importance, especially as someone whose family are generally considered as part of the Windrush generation. Really and truly, my grandparents were part of the British Airways generation. My grandfather was deported to Britain by British Airways (formerly known as the British Overseas Airways Corporation) in September 1959.
Adi's book 'African and Caribbean people in Britain: A History' was a key focal point of the lecture. It covers the ten thousand year history of Black people in Britain – from Cheddar Man in 9000 BC to the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. Some key figures that stood out to me were William Cuffay (1788–1870), Alice Kinloch (1863–?), and Claudia Jones (1915–1964). Cuffay was a leader in the Chartist Movement and of mixed African heritage. He first became involved in political organising whilst striking for the workers' rights in 1834 and helped form many significant organisations and delegations such as the Metropolitan Tailors' Charter Association. Kinloch was a South African human rights campaigner. In 1900, she founded the first Pan-African conference in London. Jones famously helped found Britain’s first major Black newspaper named theWest Indian Gazette.
Professor Adi went on to speak of the way we can empower everyone no matter their race to push back against false narratives of Black British history and the fight against Empire. He recalled one story of meeting a white History teacher who felt somewhat defeated about the role of white British people in the subjugation and exploitation of Africans. Using the example of the sugar boycotts of late 1700s, he told her that it was more likely her ancestors and those of other white workers were more likely to have been aligned with the plight of African people than not! We must rectify the narrative in that, despite the racism experienced by members of the diaspora, there were many workers’ and anti–racist movements which fostered heaps of solidarity. One example being that of the British women’s suffrage activist Sylvia Pankhurst who was united with London-based organisations the West African Students Union (WASU) and the League of Coloured Peoples (LCP) in their demand for a meeting with the Colonial Secretary in opposition of the repressive governance of African colonies. I found this part of the lecture to be really affirming and one that welcomed everybody as part of the fight to assert Black history as a key part of British history.
The lecture went on to emphasise the role of history teachers and historians to challenge ideas of division and watered down perceptions of Britain’s role in colonisation and imperial expansion. The lecture also sought to encourage younger members of the diaspora to get involved in uncovering and documenting Black British history. Professor Adi spoke of the founding of History Matters and the organisation’s conference that led to the creation of the Young Historians Project; an organisation highlighting the importance of public access to diverse historical knowledge. In light of the ongoing campaign to save Professor Adi’s MRes course in the 'History of Africa and the African Diaspora' at the University of Chichester, alongside the axing of his job at the institution, now more than ever is the time to affirm that Black history is irrevocably also Britain’s history. Launched in 2018, the MRes was the first university course of its kind and encouraged many to return to education, regardless of their discipline or background. The course went on to be popular amongst many age groups and has seen a growing number of Black History graduates uncover knowledge of our presence in Britain. I graduated from the MRes in 2021. Professor Adi was a great course lead, supervisor, and mentor for myself and our cohort of students – many of which have gone on to do PhDs and continue researching Black British history.
Following the lecture, a panel discussion chaired by radio host Dotun Adebayo took place. A. S. Francis, a consultant historian to YHP and author of Gerlin Bean: Mother of the Movement, and I were invited by Professor Adi to take part in the panel to discuss the MRes campaign. I had never had the opportunity to participate in such an important annual event of this scale. People like Bernie Grant, Professor Adi, Claudia Jones, are the very reason I wanted to be a historian. I wanted to challenge what I’d been told in my history lessons in school about Black people in Britain not having much of a history. I wanted to challenge the stereotypical, one-sided, negative views on communism and political organising I’d been fed by my history education in secondary school. To learn more about the history of African and Caribbean people and their allies being at the heart of liberation movements all over the globe. Alongside the panelists, I was able to share that courses like the MRes and others were under direct attack by universities and the wider British state upon the accurate teaching of national and international marginalised histories.
Closing thoughts from A. S. Francis on their experience taking part in the event:
"The Bernie Grant Memorial Lecture is an important occasion for bringing to attention those continual struggles for justice, and this year’s lecture by Prof Adi provided us much needed insight and reflection on the meaning of history, why it is a subject that is so integral in our fight for a better world, and in particular why the history of Africa and the African Diaspora is one which requires all of us to fight to protect, expand public understanding and access to it."
"As one of Prof Adi’s longstanding students, and as someone who’s learnt so much from his mentorship, I was honoured to have the opportunity to participate in the event and add my perspective on the ongoing campaign to save the MRes course, and safeguard this important avenue for prospective students of African and Caribbean heritage to become powerful historians of the future."
For a video of the lecture, please click here.
To find out how you can support the 'Save the MRes' campaign and support the students who have been impacted by the actions of the University of Chichester, please visit our website.
