Black History & Culture

This week we bring you an episode from one of our sister podcasts, How I Found My Voice, where host Samira Ahmed speaks to poet and activist Benjamin Zephaniah. From racist attacks and police brutality to receiving a letter from Bob Marley telling him that Britain needs him, Zephaniah talks about the moments that shaped and inspired his voice.

How I Found My Voice is an Intelligence Squared podcast that explores how some of the world's greatest artists and thinkers became such compelling - and unique - communicators. To hear the rest of the series search How I Found My Voice wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode was originally recorded in April 2019 and was produced by Farah Jassat

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Statues and memorials to famous figures of the past adorn our towns and cities but what should be done when some of these figures have come to be seen by many people as controversial symbols of oppression and discrimination?

In Britain, the Rhodes Must Fall campaign hit the headlines when it demanded the removal of the statue of Cecil Rhodes from Oxford’s Oriel College, of which he was a leading benefactor, because of his colonialism. In the US, violent protests in Charlottesville were sparked by a decision to remove from a park a statue of Robert E. Lee, a Confederate general in the American Civil War, because of the association of the Confederacy with slavery.

Passions run high on both sides. Are those calling for the removal of controversial statues seeking to right an historical injustice or are they trying to erase history? And are those who object to removing memorials defending the indefensible or are they conserving historical reality, however unpalatable that may be? To discuss these emotive questions and examine the broader cultural conflicts which lie behind them, Intelligence Squared joined forces with Historic England to bring together a stellar panel including historians David Olusoga and Peter Frankopan, the journalist and author Afua Hirsch and the cultural commentator Tiffany Jenkins. The event was chaired by Guardian columnist, broadcaster and author Jonathan Freedland. 

This debate was made in Partnership with Historic England, on the 14th of May 2018 in London and was produced by Executive Producer Hannah Kaye

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Head to intelligencesquared.com see our upcoming events events are coming up.

Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more.

Get intouch with any feedback and guest or debate ideas by emailing us at [email protected] or Tweet us @intelligence2. 

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.