WOMEN OF THE WINDRUSH
An Opera by SHIRLEY J. THOMPSON in Tribute to an Ingenious Generation.
Wednesday 19 July. 7pm. Women of the Windrush
Shirley Thompson’s opera.
The Tabernacle, West London
https://www.thetabernaclew11.com/events/2023/7/19/women-of-the-windrush-by-shirley-j-thompson
Friday 21 July. 2pm. Women of the Windrush
Buxton International Festival
Hakim’s Adi’s Post and Course Under Threat
Please sign the petition against the plan.
Society of Labour History News
The latest issue of the Labour History Review has been published. Its contents with links to articles within it can be seen at
https://sslh.org.uk/2023/07/10/labour-history-review-volume-88-2023-issue
See also details of play on Chartism
Sylvia Pankhurst Statue
Megan Dobney, the Secretary of the Sylvia Pankhurst statue committee, tells me that the statue is cast (and paid for) and is being stored (at an annual cost of over £2,000) at the foundry. It still needs to be finished and patinated. Now that Islington has started the refurbishment of Clerkenwell Green (this was delayed by Islington’s finances and Covid) the committee is now able to submit a formal planning application, supported by the Clerkenwell Councillors. This is in process. ‘The design of the paving for the Green was changed from that originally foreseen and we are in dialogue about the exact site – taking into account underground utilities. Until the exact site is agreed we can’t go further on costs for the plinth or installation as the detailed engineering work required needs the underground utilities “map” before costs can be sought. So we still have patination and finishing, transport, installation, plinth etc to pay for. We will have better information once the planning application is processed.’
Since 1999 the Committee has raised nearly £90,000 and has just over £38,000 in the bank towards the remaining costs.
You can see more detail at:
2007 Slave Trade Abolition Projects
Some time ago I was asked about the website with the projects on slavery and abolition from 2007. I could not remember, but came across it again in recent days.
https://www.antislavery.ac.uk/solr-search?facet=collection%3A%22Remembering%201807%22
Re- the work I was involved in the North East see:
https://collectionsprojects.org.uk/slavery/research/
Who Was William Francis?
The Era Annual of 1909 contains a picture of a flautist William Francis, a black musician who died on 10 January 1908. There is no information about him on the internet. Has anyone come across him? The 1910 Annual contains a picture of ‘E. P. Thompson’ who died on 17 April 1909 whose first name was Ephraim. See
Do check out the full list of postings on the site.
London Mayor Proposes Memorial To The Victims Of the Transatlantic Slave Trade
Mayor announces plans for a landmark memorial in the capital for the victims of the transatlantic slave trade
New memorial will be the first of its scale and profile in the UK to honour the victims of the slave trade and their resistance to it.
£500,000 has been set aside to create the memorial in the capital to enslaved people, the new monument will also recognise the role London played in the trade
The memorial will be at West India Quay – an area whose history is closely linked with the transatlantic slave trade – with further ‘satellite’ sites across the capital
Further details can be seen at:
The Black Conversations Zoom discussion on Friday discussed the project. There has been a consultation but those of us in London had not heard about the Mayor’s plan. Has the consultation been typical tokensim? The closing date for community consultation funding had ended. The website does not state what list of consultations are happening, dates and venues.
The consensus was that the Mayor should be supporting and helping to fund the Memorial2007 statue developed by the committee led by Oku Okpenyon.
http://www.memorial2007.org.uk/sculpture.html
The Government refused to fund the project. See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-52995586
Other funding should come from the King, the Anglican Church and the various institutions that supported the slave trade.
The proposal emerged from a commission set up by the Mayor. I wonder whether it looked at the Delivering shared heritage report of the Mayor’s Commission on African and Asian Heritage 2005 and whether any progress has been made in terms of its recommendations?
I wonder whether instead of prestige site memorials there should be memorials/heritage boards at sites in each Borough where landowners were involved in slave plantation ownership or houses/estates of those involved in slave trade.
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