There is so much to be proud of in our history. The wonderful collection of places the
The Beauty of our Cultural ways that have been cherished for generations before us.
The Windrush Generation and Descendants are a testament to that. However history can also be challenging and contentious. It is surely a sign of confidence, integrity and pride that while we can celebrate and enjoy history we can also explore and acknowledge all aspects of it. Even when it is difficult to accept or believe as Black woman I know what Racism is I live in that world everyday
At best why should it be seen as our contribution to the British Empire as no worth, yet the sad Truth is colonialism and historic slavery? the contribution is no where to be seen only as one of complexity, negativity, invisible yet we are linked to the abolition of slavery and campaigns against colonial oppression.
The Burning Work still is very relevant to the oppression faced in communities that are as bright as the sun that blinds us from the Truth, why is that? What is the past that future is so afraid to accept. When we present facts and material evidence in ways that inspire curiosity, inclusiveness and enquiring mind for education, if the future does everything to deny the past why does our museums only provide a one sided history, our contributions can be seen all around, poetry, song, the spoken word, our cuisine, tropical fruits, inventors, Tropical hardwoods such as mahogany that the antique world crave for.
Why is our accomplishments not on the mouths of the youth, that society and the media does not reflect and the Education system robs them of, their identity or belonging is only when we return home. Why all the hate that
depict black people in ways that stereotype them or that objectify black bodies, that cause offence and distress.
Abolition, Resistance and Protest we are accused of being responsible for all the wrongs, Free your mind from oppression, separating us from the TRUTH which cannot be dowsed out by hate or lies what is the blindness that divides are cultural differences, the very beauty that should bring us together is what society uses as tools to come between rational people.
In a country that’s repeatedly failed to come to terms with its colonial past, led by politicians who seem to think the past is the future, we seek to resist triumphalist nostalgia with art history. How did the narratives of Empire come into being, by theft, stolen, Who controls them, Not Us how can we learn to see through the whitewash to the truth?
The intersections of postcolonial art practice and colonial material culture, settler storytelling, the concept of whiteness in the 18th and 19th centuries, the curation of historical trauma, and myths of national identity and their treatment of Enslaved people.
Yet History only covers from the Industrial Revolution which does not provide our story it’s long overdue and until that is reflected you will always give your diluted version of events.
learning and sharing.
Julia Davidson 