While the mainstream media wakes up to the issue of racist statues and what should be done with them, it is worth remembering the many activists who pointed out these issues 30 years ago. Long before BHW was around B.A.S.A the Black and Asian Studies Association, were campaigning for numerous stamps, statues, plaques and curriculum changes to reflect the African/Caribbean presence in British history. Professor Hakim Adi, Marika Sherwood, Dr Caroline Bressey, Oku Ekpenyon, Sean Creighton and many others lobbied various civil and government agencies for change; often they were ignored.
Apart from B.A.S.A, since at least the 1980s people like Harry Cumberbatch, Nubian Jak, Arthur Torrington, Dame Jocelyn Barrow, Onyekachi Wambu, Toyin Agbetu and a variety of individuals and community groups were making the very same requests that are now being enacted overnight.
Below are a few example of statues, buildings, piers and streets that have a racist history. A book could be written on these issues and indeed that book will be published in October by Jacaranda Press link
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Most of these venues were highlighted in the 18 August 2017 newsletter. It was published just after a white supremacist in Charlottesville, Virginia drove his car into a crowd of anti-racist protesters killing 32 year-old Heather Hyer. The incident led to a review of statues honouring racists.
