Note: This post was originally posted on the website of our funder, the University of Manchester's School of Arts, Languages and Cultures (SALC) Social Responsibility Office.
This summer witnessed the launch of Teaching Black History, a six-week training programme, open mostly to young people of African and African Caribbean heritage who have an interest in researching and teaching Black history within a community context and/or seeking to further their studies in the subject. Led by Manchester-based community historian, Linford Sweeney, the programme partnered with Dr Kerry Pimblott (History) and staff at the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre who share the goal of training a new generation of local Black educators in delivering Black history curriculum.
Over the past nineteen years, Linford Sweeney, has built Inspired Histories, a comprehensive programme in Black history which he has delivered to adults and young people across the region. This expansive approach is essential when we consider that the Royal Historical Society’s 2018 Race, Ethnicity & Equality Report found that “the histories of BME communities in Britain are often absent from school and university curriculums” and that when those histories are represented there is a tendency to focus heavily on themes of “enslavement, abolition and exploitation” in ways that students view as “intellectually limiting” and “alienating”.
By supporting the development of a new generation of local Black community historians and educators, Teaching Black History fulfils the university’s social responsibility aim of promoting equality, diversity and inclusion. Specifically, the project tackles longstanding racial inequalities within the discipline of history, including at the University of Manchester. While the primary focus of this research-mentored project is to support community historians to deliver Black history educational programs in community-settings, it is hoped that an important secondary effect will be to encourage participants to consider further study in the field.
In May, ten successful applicants joined the programme where they attended a series of six lectures and workshops designed to develop both their historical skills and field-specific knowledge. Sessions were delivered at Manchester Central Library and focused on a range of Black British history topics, including early Africans in Manchester, The Windrush Generation, Black British Civil Rights, and Black British Achievers. Special thanks are due to Harry Eyre at the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre for making available the physical space as well as library and archive resources necessary to the run these sessions.
Over the course of the summer, trainees also worked toward the development of an independent research topic culminating in a research showcase at Manchester Central Library in June. At the showcase, students presented on a variety of topics ranging from the history of resistance to racial inequalities in the education system to the Haitian revolution. We look forward to hearing more from our first cohort as they continue their journeys in teaching Black history.
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