| Black History Walks,Talks & Films |
Black History is longer than a month..
January 2012 | |
 | | Coming soon...Black Women Hair, Skin and Beauty |
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Black History Walks listed Top Ten best guided walks in London by The Guardian... Read more | | Find out more about the Black Heroes of World War 2 |
Revealed ! The hidden African history in London dating back 3500 years ! Educational and enjoyable walks, good for old and young with amazing facts about everyday locations.
'A brisk, informative stroll through the heart of the British Empire. Our cheerful and intellectually generous tour guide, led us through narrow alleyways and past Roman ruins, within halls constructed by powerful guilds; in the process, he revealed to us both the many layers of British history and the often unacknowledged cultural multiplicity at its core. The tour was exciting, informative and allowed everyone across age, interest, and temperament to participate and learn. It was a wonderful experience and I would recommend it for all.'
Professor Caroline Brown, University of Montreal, Canada.
Next Walks.... watch video
St Pauls/Bank Saturday 28 January 2pm
Trafalgar Square Sunday 29 Jan 11am
Notting Hill Sunday 29 Jan 2pm
For a full description of each walk click here
To book email info@blackhistorywalks.co.uk |   |
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The Prison Industrial Complex. What it is and how it works.
Wednesday 1st February 6.45-9pm
Blue Room, BFI Southbank, Belvedere Road SE1
Free entry first come, First Served
In the run up to the all day event on the USA's own Mandela, Mumia Abu Jamal, we present a unique analysis of what Angela Davis exposed.. how the US legal system was deliberately set up to imprison large numbers of black men and profit from it. With visual and documentary evidence from the 1860's to the 1990's the interactive audio-visual presentation will cover.
- Fair laws, unfair application: Prison for sleeping on a park bench
- Selling inmates for sex, and power. Divide and Rule
- How the US government imported cocaine into black areas
- The re-invention of the plantation as a legal entity
- Sentencing differentials between blacks and whites
- Kangaroo courts, show trials and the Black Panthers
- Your airline flight and its connection to prison labour
- The Abu Graib/Guantanamo Bay connection
- Prisons USA = Detention centres UK, could it happen here ?
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 | | A young Mumia on the job. |
Mumia Abu Jamal All Dayer
Sat 4 February 11am-1pm then 2pm-5pm
BFI Southbank, Belvedere Road SE1.Entry �3.00 or �5.00
A day of films and discussion about Mumia Abu-Jamal, civil rights campaigner currently serving a life sentence in the US
Join part or the whole day
Morning: 11am-1pm JUSTICE DENIED documentary, hitherto unseen film featuring last video appearance of Mumia (on Death Row) . Details on the Move Bombing 1985
Discussion featuring Avery Gordon ( Professor of Sociology UCLA ) , and Colin Prescod (Institue of Race Relations ) on the film and its wider context in the US and UK
Afternoon: 2pm IN PRISON MY WHOLE LIFE documentary
Will Francome (presenter) was born in London on December 9th 1981. Over 3000 miles away Mumia Abu-Jamal, a Black Panther and radical journalist, was arrested for the murder of a police officer in Philadelphia. He claimed he was innocent but was sentenced to death and has been awaiting execution ever since. Over the years, he has attracted massive international support from organisations like Amnesty International and world leaders like Nelson Mandela amongst others. Will is now 27 years old and in that time Mumia has become the most famous and controversial death row inmate in America".
"In Prison My Whole Life" takes us to some surprising places and brings us into contact with some of America's most original minds. Never-seen-before footage and brand new evidence create a prevailing case for reasonable doubt while exploring the socio-political climate of America past and present. Angela Davis, Mos Def, Noam Chomsky, Alice Walker, Snoop Dogg, Steve Earle, Amy Goodman and many others take us through a decades-old struggle for equality, fairness and respect that so many Americans strive for to this day
Followed by panel discussion with the director and producer |
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What's Mumia Abu Jamal got to do with the Move Bombing ?
 | | The Move Bombing , Philadelphia - May, 1985. Police obtain C4 explosive and use a helicopter to drop it on black protestors killing 11 people. Fire crews are told to stand by while an entire black neighbourhood burns to the ground |
African Odysseys at the BFI this monthly series of films and talks will feature some incredible and rare films which bring history, culture and politics to life. An excellent venue with expert speakers and 150/450 seats, this the only mainstream cinema to regularly feature such films . The initiative, suported by the African Caribbean Consultative group, is now in its sixth year and has bought fantastic films to the public which will never be screened elsewhere. Over the next three months we will feature..
Oscar Micheaux. The first African-American film maker who pioneered black movies in the 1930's long before Tyler Perry
The Spaghetti House Siege when politically active young black men held up a restaurant in Knightsbridge to 'fight Babylon'
Mangrove Nine. Similar to the Mumia Abu Jamal case, socially conscious black men who resisted racism were subject to a police harassment and a show trial planned only to stop their anti-racist campaign. This film features Frank Chrichlow and his Mangrove restaurant.
Tim Reid owner of Millenium studios will run a course for aspiring filmmakers, provide a scholarship and give lectures on the US film industry
 Red Tails as mentioned in the December 2011 newsletter is now out in American cinemas. It is the true story of the best fighter pilots in World War 2, an all black unit known as the Tuskeegee airmen . George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, asked all the big Hollywood studios to fund the film. They refused, stating that such a film had 'no commercial appeal' as there were no white heroes in the movie. Lucas put up 58 million dollars of his own money, made the movie then asked Hollywood to distribute it. They refused, stating that they 'did'nt know how to market a film with an all-black cast'. Lucas then funded the distribution too.The film is currently number two in the US charts second only to the 3D version of Underworld Awakening  which opened the same weekend. 3D movies charge a higher price so its possible that the Underworlds higher profits are due to the 3D premium. It is interesting to note that Underworld Awakening is in UK cinemas right now but Red Tails is not and there are no plans to release it here*. Why is this the case ? To find out, view our previous article on how positive black films are sabotaged and what you can do to support them click here
 | | Big Momma's house 1,2 and 3 had all black stars and no white heroes but had no problem being funded and distributed aroud the world. Does Hollywood prefer black men dressed as women ? How does this image represent black women ? |
Black History Walks, The BFI and an independent distributor are together lobbying to bring Red Tails to London. If you are an individual or group who would like to see this film please like our Facebook page or drop us an email of support at info@blackhistorywalks.co.uk
*This also happened with Jumping the Broom which also topped the box office in the states but was never released in this country. If you watched it on pirate dvd and are congratulating yourself then be aware that the more you do so, the less likely such films will be made in the future |
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Michaela Community School opens this September
Michaela Community School (MCS) is a secondary free school opening in September 2012 in Tooting with 120 year 7s. You can apply if you live any of the surrounding boroughs. If you have a child in year 6 then you have a great opportunity and nothing to lose in applying. Our parent information evenings are on Tuesday 31 Jan - 6pm to 8pm @ Balham Library Hall, 16 Ramsden Road SW12 8QY and a second one on Wed 8 Feb - 6pm to 8pm @ Tooting Leisure Centre, Greaves Place, SW17 0NE. Please go along! The website is: http://www.proposedmcstooting.co.uk/ If you apply and get a place, you will receive 2 offers of secondary school places on National Offers Day, 1 March: one from MCS and one from a school off the common application form that you completed in October. Applying to MCS will not jeopardise your place in the usual secondary school process! If you know anyone with a year 6 child in south London, then please pass this message on, tweet, Facebook it, get the word out! Closing deadline for applications to MCS is 15 February.
BHW was part of a successful bid to open this new school and will be advising on the history curriculum and running sessions on media/history and culture within the school throughout the year
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 | | Red Tails Movie Trailer from George Lucas |
Were there any black pilots in the RAF ?
Yes there were, but due to British racism they were left out of the history books, tv shows, movies and George Lucas has not yet made a film about them. Unless people take it upon themselves to discover this history, they will never know it. Read World War Whitewash, Black Fighter Pilots Black History Walks has been running events in on black military history in schools and museums for the last ten years. They have delivered numerous talks and films on the topic. Specifically they have filmed interviews with black World War Two veterans and will be repeating some of these events at the Imperial War Museum. You can watch an interview with Jamaican RAF veteran here . Another of many black RAF heroes, is Dudley Thompson who recently joined the ancestors  and definitely deserves a movie.
He was a historical figure in the politics of Jamaica and in the larger global struggle to unite people of African descent. Hard to miss with his cheerful disposition, intellect and passionate conversations,
Ambassador Dudley Thompson drew crowds no matter where he went.
A former Jamaican cabinet minister who served as a minister of national security, justice and foreign affairs, Thompson died Friday morning in New York, the day after he turned 95.
"We will miss his intellect, his stature," said Jamaica's Miami Consul General Sandra A. Grant Griffiths, whose office confirmed the death. "He was all over the place."
Griffiths last saw Thompson in December when he attended a holiday gathering at her residence. There, like elsewhere, he drew crowds to his side as he discussed Jamaica, and Africa, the continent where he served as an envoy in several countries including Nigeria, Namibia and Ghana, and practiced law as a young man. It was while defending the late Jomo Kenyatta during his Mau Mau rebellion trial in Kenya that Thompson became well-known across Africa.
Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller described Thompson as "a man of firm convictions, articulate, sharp on his feet and witty. Dudley Thompson loved his country with a passion and served it with honor and distinction."
Thompson was up with the times. He blogged and had his own website. www.DudleyThompson.4t.com . His dream was to see a united Africa and was president of the World African Diaspora Union..
According to his website, he was born in Panama and raised in Jamaica. He served in Britain's Royal Air Force during World War II, and he was a Rhodes scholar. In the early 1950s, he practiced law in Tanzania and Kenya, and became involved in the nationalists struggles in both countries.
In October, Thompson made history when the African Union made him the first person to become a citizen of the continent and gave him a passport. Dozens of African presidents attended the ceremony, said Djibril Diallo, senior advisor to the executive director of the UNAIDS and advisor to the President of Senegal on Diaspora Affairs.
"He's amazing as a Pan-Africanist, and has worked to the last hour just preaching Africa and the diaspora. |
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 Are you Fit and Healthy ? Apart from films and walks some of our upcoming talks will look at health. In the 21st century it maybe surprising to to discover there are huge discrepancies between black and white people. Breast cancer, prostate cancer, diabetes, sickle cell, even infant mortality vary greatly between ethnic groups and while politicians commission reports and scratch their heads only people taking personal responsibility for their physical well-being will reverse the statistics. All bar one of our previous health related events went through numerous obstacles and blocks and various institutions stated that such events were'nt required. However relevant information can prevent disability so please make sure you are on the mail list and attend future events as death can strike at any age
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 Dawn Warner. 1970-2011. R.I.P
Dawn was born in England in July 1970 . After spending her early years in England and St Lucia she moved to Barbados where she attended Hindsbury primary school. She won several awards at the National Independence Festival of Creative Arts for her poetry and drama. She excelled as a student and, aged 11 won a place at the prestigious Queens College School for girls.
In 1986 she won an American Field Scholar (AFS) scholarship and was sent to Oaxaca, Mexico for one year where her love of Spanish began. She returned to Barbados to do her Advanced levels and won a National Exhibition (scholarship) which allowed her to attend the University of her choice anywhere in the world. She chose Bristol University over Cambridge and spent 4 years completing her first degree in Languages where she mastered Spanish, Portuguese, French and Castilian. Her study involved six months living in Spain and Portugal.
After finishing her degree she returned to Barbados and worked as a teacher at Harrison College and Community College. She briefly worked with the Foreign Affairs department of the Barbados government before travelling throughout Europe. While in London she won a job as a Purser on Carnival Cruise lines. This meant even more travelling in the Caribbean and Latin America, before relocating to the USA to take care of her elderly uncle in Brooklyn, New York.
She was married to Maurice Jones in Barbados in 2001 but they later separated. She worked as a teacher in Public School 390 (Margaret Walker) in Brooklyn before transferring to Packer Collegiate in 2006 where she remained until her departure from this world due to liver cancer aged 41, on 28 November 2011.Dawn is survived by her mother, father, sister,brother and her five year-old niece Alex |
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No million dollar budget but John Akomfrahs Nine Muses is at the ICA now. It's all about Africa, the Caribbean, England and the movements between. Akomfrah is one our best directors and alwayy keeps it real
 | | The Nine Muses Trailer (John Akomfrah ) |
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