The History Hotline

Welcome back to The History Hotline, this week's episode includes:

US Origins of the phrase and the movement.

How that developed across the last 9 years.

BLM in Britain as a movement, piggy backing the US?

What BLM is doing in the UK?

History of organisations fighting race based discrimination in the UK.

Chris Kaba and police brutality in the UK.

Fort Charles is located in the small town of Port Royal in Jamaica. Fort Charles was the first and only surviving port constructed to guard its entrance in the 17th Century. Port Royal was decimated during a terrible earthquake in 1692 and Fort Charles is the only fort to have survived, as 33 acres were submerged into the 'sunken city'.

This week we're discussing the newly erected monument at Waterloo Train Station in 'honour' of the Windrush Generation, Gus John's open letter and whether or not it's all just an empty political gesture?

Episodes will be released every Tuesday, instead of Mondays.

Wednesday 22nd June 2022 marks the 5th national celebration of Windrush Day and 74 years since the Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury Docks in Essex and the generation of people that followed. But what are we actually celebrating, the Windrush and the legacy it leaves will be one of sacrifice and contribution but also of scandal, of pain and trauma. Is this something to celebrate or should it be a time or reckoning with this element of Britain's racist past? Or can we do both?

The ‘patty’ a baked flaky pastry filled with traditionally with well seasoned minced beef is a Jamaican staple. It can be enjoyed for breakfast or lunch or as a snack. They are known to all as a patty but this nearly changed in 1985 for a Toronto Jamaican bakery, who were threatened with a fine if they didn’t change the name of the ‘patty’ as it did not meet the food standards for a patty. Tune into this week’s episode to find out more about the patty and what happened in “patty vs patty: 1985”.

Winston Churchill, is historically ranked as one of the greatest British prime ministers and the greatest Briton to ever live. But has the British public been ignorantly avoiding the truth about one of their heroes and are concerns about his inflammatory and racist comments warranted?

Tune into this weeks episode to explore why Winston Churchill's comments are viewed as problematic at best and dangerous racist rhetoric, responsible for the loss of life.

Michael X, died on the gallows in the royal jail in May 1975, despite urgent last‐minute pleas for commutation of his sentence. The first execution on the Caribbean island of Trinidad since 1957, was not met with any public demonstrations or protests in Trinidad but marked by international support of Malik by activists in the UK and USA.

Michael was charged with the murder of 24 year old Joseph Skerritt whose body was found buried next to Gale Benson also thought to have been murdered at Michael X's commune in 1972.

To find out the chilling facts of this case and the impact it eventually had on the death penalty in the Caribbean tune in.

Michael X, who was born Michael de Freitas, was a Trinidad and Tobago born self proclaimed black nationalist, revolutionary and civil rights activist. He migrated to London in 1957 and lived a life alongside some of the seediest characters of West London. The first person prosecuted under the race relations act (1965) and a face on the desk of the Special Branch surveillance team.

David Oluwale, a Nigerian man was "hounded to his death" by police in Leeds in the 1960s. His death led to the first prosecution of British police for involvement in the death of a black person, but this was 'hollow justice' to say the least.

In April 2022, a plaque to honour him in Leeds was put up, but devastatingly it has been vandalised and stolen twice in what was less than 3 days.

Articles mentioned in the episode:

Perry Blankson: https://tribunemag.co.uk/2022/04/we-must-remember-david-oluwale

Olivia McGhie: https://www.thestateofthearts.co.uk/features/the-life-and-legacy-of-david-oluwale-why-britain-must-remember-and-commemorate-him/

Olivia Wyatt: https://www.historymatters.online/journal (to download the History Matters Journal)

In 1901 near Sycamore Terrace in York, the remains of a woman we now refer to as the ‘Ivory Bangle Lady’, dating all the way back to the second half of the 4th Century, were found.

The first written record of African people in Britain dates back to the 3rd Century AD. They came via the movement of the Roman Empire which due to its expansive span through trade, military movements, civilian migrations which were both voluntary and forced. All kinds of people travelled within the Empire, the Ivory Bangle Lady was no exception.

Tune in to find out more about her life and what the discovery of her remains, alongside archaeological advancements can tell us about a variety of histories.