Black British History Scandal on the way to British Musuem....

The British Museum

One day in 1932, C. L. R. James was on his way to the British Museum, in Bloomsbury, when he saw the ‘magnificent figure’ of Paul Robeson, the singer, actor and scholar, walking towards him. They stopped to talk. James regarded Robeson as ‘a man not only of great gentleness but of great command: he was never upset about anything’. On this day, however, clearly bothered, he asked James whether he had heard the gossip 'about a coloured singer and a member of the British Royal Family’. 'It's not me, James', Robeson declared passionately. 'It's not me.' To Robeson's indignation, his friend laughed: 'What is there to laugh at? I don't see anything to laugh at.' James explained that, as a Negro from the United States' living in England, there was no disgrace in being linked to a member of the British Royal Family'. Hence his reaction: I laugh because you seem so upset about it. That is very funny.' Robeson was unmoved. 'They got the wrong Nigger in the woodpile, this time James', he protested. 'It's not me - Hutch (Leslie 'Hutch' Hutchinson) maybe - but not me!'

Donald J. Robeson Agonistes. In: Lusty N, Murphet J, eds. Modernism and Masculinity. Cambridge University Press; 2014:141-158.

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The royal gigolo: Edwina Mountbatten sued over claims of an affair with black singer Paul Robeson. But the truth was even more outrageous…

https://dizwhite.com/downton-abbeys-jazz-singer-inspired-by-scandal/

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A Personal Moment at the Imperial War Museum

Yesterday I visited the Imperial War Museum London to research its entry for my Guide to Black London. I didn’t expect to find something that felt quite so personal.

In the Second World War Galleries, in the Witnesses to War section, I came across Thomas Andi.

Thomas was a Nigerian seaman in the British Merchant Navy — a civilian working on ships transporting commercial goods during wartime. On 18 December 1940, German raiders attacked his ship in the Atlantic. He was captured and taken to a prisoner-of-war camp in Germany.

Displayed in the gallery is his thermos flask and a log book filled with photographs of fellow prisoners — small, human fragments of endurance and solidarity. The caption explains that 5,720 merchant seamen were captured during the war. Thomas was one of them.

Standing there, I felt an unexpected jolt of connection.

Michael N. Ohajuru (1924-1995)
Pier Head Liverpool

My father - Michael N. Ohajuru - was also a merchant seaman during the war. I still have his National Union of Seamen membership contribution card. He enrolled on 29 September 1943, in the Catering Department. He told me stories of being part of convoys across the Atlantic, just like Thomas but Dad's ships were never attacked and he survived the War.

Michael N. Ohajuru : National Union of Seaman Card

Seeing Thomas Andi’s story in the museum — publicly acknowledged, carefully preserved — reminded me how wide and varied the Black presence in Britain’s wartime history truly was. These were not marginal figures. They were part of the machinery, the risk, the sacrifice.

For me, the display wasn’t just historical research.

It was family.

Doom Scrolling found the Three Kings in Venuzula

 

Andry José Hernández Romero, who is gay, told US agents he was fleeing persecution stemming from his sexual orientation and political views

Andry José Hernández Romero participating in Capacho’s Three Kings celebration

While doom scrolliouing for more information on the wrongly deported Venezuelan make up artist Andry José Hernández Romero. I came across him as one of the three king in an article in the Guardian This led me to this excellent article in USA Today with the headline 

Three Kings Day or Epiphany? What these two holidays celebrate and have in common

A good article with an excellent video showing many different versions of the there kings.

Marika Sherwood (1937-2025): A Pioneer and Mentor of Black British History Who Changed Lives

Marika Sherwood
(8 November 1937 – 17 February 2025)

I was very sad to read this morning of  the passing of Marika Sherwood, a true giant of Black British history who touched my life in profound ways. I first met Marika through the Black and Asian Studies Association now the BASA mailing list  , where she organized inspiring meetings on all aspects of Black history and cultures at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies in Senate House. It was through her natural gift for connecting people that I met Miranda Kaufmann when exploring my interest in Black Tudors and John Blanke – a connection that would prove invaluable to my work.

What I'll remember most about Marika was her incredible generosity with her knowledge. She was never too busy to offer guidance, share insights, or point me in the right direction as my work in Black British history developed. I felt particularly honoured when she contributed to my John Blanke Project, fills me with pride – having one of the pioneers of Black British history engage with my work meant a lot.

Reading Marika's Paper in Bangor (2022)

In recent years, though her mobility was limited, her mind remained razor-sharp. I had the privilege of being her voice at the WHBBH conference, reading out her meticulously researched paper. Even then, her scholarly excellence shone through every word.

Her groundbreaking work on Black women's history continues to inspire my research today. Long before it became a popular area of study, Marika recognized this crucial gap in our historical understanding. She approached it with her characteristic brilliance, asking probing questions that opened up new avenues of research.

I will deeply miss her presence– our conversations, her guidance, and her unwavering support. While her loss leaves a void in our field, I carry forward the lessons she taught me, grateful for every moment I had to learn from this remarkable woman who helped shape not just Black British history, but my own journey as a historian.

Thanks to  Abdul Alkalimat / Gerald Mcworter for  allowing me to add examples of Marika's scholarship and activism: 

Lectures
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrafYov45S0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBddTi7BJjA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baQQq_PTUss
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT1ZZPYVoI4

Interviews
https://millennialsarekillingcapitalism.libsyn.com/researching-nkrumah-with-marika-sherwood
https://www.johnblanke.com/marika-sherwood.html
https://philpapers.org/rec/SHETCT

Articles
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/6-author/marika-sherwood/
https://www.historytoday.com/author/marika-sherwood
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/entities/publication/0130d99e-34b7-458b-8f4f-ca9107e5e795

Books
https://www.racearchive.org.uk/marika-sherwood-kwame-nkrumah-and-the-pan-african-congress-archive/
http://www.savannahpress.co.uk/

Black and Asian Studies Association
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEdxy_az-B4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJxlyupu0N0
https://www.blackandasianstudies.org/

Honor
https://www.chi.ac.uk/news/distinguished-historian-and-activist-marika-sherwood-given-honorary-award-from-university-of-chichester/

 

Why I call out the use of the term M*X*D R**E

Deep breath… The term ‘m*x*d-r**e’ should be assigned to the ethnic language dustbin, alongside terms like N****R, C**N, W*G, G****W*G, R*D, Y*LL*W, N*G*O, B***K*E, C****R*D, and H*LF-C*ST.

Why?

I was prompted to write this now as saddened to hear two Black commentators, whose views I greatly value, repeatedly use the term. One even referred to themselves as being m*x*d-r**e. 

It is a racist term because it implies the existence of a ‘pure’ race or races. This idea takes us straight to the origins of racism, where humanity was divided into races, each defined by physical, intellectual, and emotional characteristics. These were then ranked based on skin colour, with the so-called white race given the most favorable traits and the black race the least—perceived as the most ugly, stupid, and childish. All that was deemed good and chaste was attributed to the white race, while all that was bad and carnal was assigned to the black race.

The use of m*x*d-r**e harks back to 18th-century Europe and the Enlightenment, where the concept of race was formalized. David Hume, the Scottish philosopher and historian (1711–1776), famously stated:

“I am apt to suspect the negroes and in general all other species of men (for there are four or five different kinds) to be naturally inferior to the whites.”

Carl Linnaeus, the Swedish biologist and physician (1707–1778), divided humans into four races, placing black people at the bottom:

• Homo Europaeus (WHITE): Gentle, inventive, and governed by laws
• Homo Americanus (REDDISH): Choleric, upright, and free
• Homo Asiaticus (TAWNY): Melancholic, strict, and greedy
• Homo Africanus (BLACK): Crafty, lazy, and careless

Edward Long, in his deeply racist text justifying slavery and white supremacy, History of Jamaica, took the idea further believing blacks were a separate species: 

"For my own part, I think there are extremely potent reasons for believing, that the White and the Negroe are two distinct species."

He went on to describe black people in dehumanizing terms:

"Instead of hair, black people had ‘a covering of wool, like the bestial fleece.’ Their bodies were infested with black lice. Their ‘bestial or fetid smell’ was so strong that ‘it continues in places where they have been near a quarter of an hour.’ They had no plan or system of morality. They were barbarous to their children. Black men had no taste but for women, and eating and drinking to excess; no wish but to be idle. In Africa, ‘their roads . . . are mere sheep-paths, twice as long as they need be, and almost impassable.’ All authors said that blacks were ‘the vilest of the human kind.’"

This is why I avoid the term m*x*d-r**e and often call others out for using it.

There are other ways of acknowledging difference through  culture, ancestry or heritage to name three possible differences from one human to another – race is not one to my mind as it is a fabrication, a construct, based on the idea of white supremacy. There is no pure race upon which this term can be based—it has no scientific foundation. It is the language of racists. It is the language of eugenics. I would urge that its use be consigned to the ethnic language dustbin where it belongs.

Francis Williams Portrait - Prof Fara Dabhiowala master class on the Black presence in 18th century art

William Williams (c1760) Francis Williams

Deep breath… Prof Fara Dabhiowala analysis of the V&A’s 1760 portrait of Francis Williams by William Williams is simply the best analysis of a work of art I have ever seen or read – a master class  -  period! You can see it here....

 Black Genius: Science, Race, and the Extraordinary Portrait of Francis Williams 

by Prof Fara Dabhiowala

The portrait was introduced into V& A’s collection in the 1920s when a Black presence in a painting in its collection wasn’t as valued as it is today. The work was bought for its depiction of 18thC mahogany chair and table, the Black figure was totally ignored, of absolutely no consequence, at that time. I was minded of the portrait of Toussaint Louverture which came into the V&A’s collection 1833 to be displayed as part of a number of prints depicting French Regal Military and other costumes. Here again the Black central figure - Haitian revolutionary leader, Toussaint Louverture - was seen as of no importance. How times have changed!

Toussaint Louverture (V&A collection)

Prof Fara Dabhiowala brilliant analysis gives us the tools, the ideas, the thinking that helps us reconsider and reflect on that difference. And for me it was his brilliant scholarship and excellent communication skills they really resonated with me on so many levels. His wonderful analytic deconstruction, paired with his charming wit, was a masterclass—making so many essential, important, mostly hidden, connections made manifest. I especially appreciated how he named and dated Johnson's dictionary. I've watched the video several times and will continue to do so. I really urge you too to watch Prof Fara Dabhiowala master class in the Black presence in 18th century art.

I’ve spent this year’s Black History Month presenting on Lloyds involvement and its response to its part  in the 18thC transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans to other city insurance firms. I have been keen to stress that there is no personal guilt or shame involved – that was then , this is now. The essential issue is how do we make manifest we our different from the 18th scientific racist beliefs with its dehumanisation of and brutality to Black bodies. That difference represents who we are today. This change is how we see these pictures , just like Lloyds response to its historical involvement in transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans they make real how we have changed - that was then -- the Williams and Loverture portraits were all about furniture and uniform, Lloyds did not acknowledge it role in enslavement - this is now ...we we think and act differently.

 

Black British History at the British Musuem Reading Room

Reading Room at the British Museum 

I was delighted to find that the Reading Room at the British Museum was open. It’s been closed for several years now, so I couldn’t believe I had the chance to step inside and see the great dome once again. This place holds deep significance for me, particularly when it comes to Black British history. It was here, in 1912, that Marcus Garvey gained access, thanks to a ticket given to him by Duse Mohamed Ali, a property owner who could secure such a pass. Garvey had been working for Ali on The African Times and Orient Review, and it was here where Garvey spent time studying.

One of the books he read was Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington, at the time a bestseller and motivational guide that championed self-help, education, hard work, and self-reliance as the keys to success for Black people. It was Washington’s embodiment of the American Dream—work hard, and you’ll succeed. Garvey, absorbing these ideas, found inspiration in the possibilities education and self-reliance could offer.

Washington’s message, that Black people should uplift themselves from within their own communities because no one else would do it for them, resonated deeply with Garvey. This became a cornerstone of Garvey’s vision, leading him to form the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). The very word “improvement” in its name could be traced back to Washington’s ideals of hard work, self-reliance, and education.

Standing in the Reading Room that day, now part of the British Library, I felt an overwhelming sense of awe. This space had literally changed the course of Black history. To be there, where Garvey himself , with the support of Duse Mohamed Ali once studied the works of Booker T. Washington to develop the ideas to create a better world for Black folk, was a great experience, Garvey's historic presence  challenging what Malcolm X  said, “if you want to hide something from Black people, put it in a book.”