On Thursday 8 October we hosted an event in partnership with the Black Cultural Archives to discuss with Londoners how we could better represent Black British History in London’s public spaces. The event is part of a wider programme of engagement that we have planned around the Mayor’s Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm.
What is the Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm?
In June of this year the Mayor launched the Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm. Up to 15 people will be recruited to debate, listen, deliver, share best practice and provide leadership on how the capital’s landmarks can reflect its achievements. They will be selected through an open application process for their experience of history, social equality, community representation, social engagement and public realm and art commissioning.
There is currently no pan-London approach to the visual public realm or to who is portrayed within it. The Commission will develop a more joined-up approach and create a shared understanding of the importance of different achievements and stories in the city’s public spaces.
Community Roadshows
The Community Engagement team are working on a series of community roadshows to reach out to the groups that the Commission is hoping to engage, with the aim of spreading the word about the Commission and gathering insights about what London’s communities might want them to focus on.
The first roadshow was put together in partnership with the BCA and included an insightful provocation by Tony Warner of Black History Walks about the Black British history that is both visible and invisible in London’s public realm at the moment. We then launched into three rich discussions focusing on:
- Memorialising victims of the Transatlantic Slave Trade
- Recognising/Celebrating the Windrush Generation
- Black Britons/Pioneers missing from our public realm
What did we discuss?
The discussions revealed that there are many Black Britons that Londoners would like to see commemorated, from historical figures such as Septimus Severus and William Cuffay to more contemporary figures like Lady Phyll, Nasa Begum and Esther Stanford-Xosei. In the conversation about Memorialising victims of the Transatlantic Slave Trade there was a general consensus that there was a need for a museum dedicated to Black History and Culture to bring together all of the great work that is going on in smaller venues and non-dedicated spaces. In a conversation about Celebrating the Windrush Generation we discussed the importance of community input into any monument plans, tying commemorations in with current activism around the Windrush scandal, the importance of Windrush Day and how it came about.
There were also broader discussions about how we can ‘normalise’ the contribution of Black people within the wider context of telling the story of British history, how we can ensure that we take an intersectional approach and the importance of recognising the plurality of the many Black British histories that exist.
We look forward to the next set of roadshows that are set to happen between November and January. Email us at [email protected] to be added to the CE mailing list and receive updates on upcoming events.