The launch of African History Month in Suffolk will be held in Bury St Edmunds on 29 September, when the Nia Memorial Lecture is given at the Athenaeum.
The month is a national cultural heritage programme which explodes the view that the only images coming out of Africa are negative. The theme of the rich display of cultural diversity over the coming weeks is ‘Windrush Routes’, based on the migration of Caribbean people. This year is the sixtieth anniversary of the docking of the Windrush at Tilbury, which marked the beginning of mass migration from the Caribbean and then from other parts of the British Commonwealth.
The Nia Memorial Lecture will draw on oral tradition, spirituality and the music of the Caribbean. It will be given by Joan Anim-Addo, Director of the Centre for Caribbean Studies and Senior Lecturer in the Department of English and Comparative Literature (Where) who will be joined by international poet and writer Mailka Booker and gospel singer / songwriter Sandra McCalla.
St Edmundsbury has one of the smallest Black and Ethnic Minority (BME) communities in Suffolk although parish records show the strong links Bury St Edmunds had with the Caribbean as far back as the 1600s, in particular with the islands of Jamaica, Montserrat, Antigua and St Nevis. Last year the borough marked the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire and the role played by Bury St Edmunds resident Thomas Clarkson.
Cllr Lynsey Alexander, St Edmundsbury Borough Council Cabinet member for Culture and Sport said,
“We are delighted to be hosting African History Month this year. Immigration is a defining characteristic of Great Britain and this fantastic programme of art exhibitions, theatre, concerts, comedy, films, lectures, talks, walks and family history projects offers everyone an opportunity to explore our cultural history”.
The programme of events in Suffolk has been co-ordinated by the Nia Project, based in Ipswich. Its director, Del White says,
“Suffolk has become a diverse community with over 100 languages spoken. Programmes like the celebration of African History Month gives value and adds calibre to the concept of cultural diversity being embraced in Suffolk. We are delighted to present another cultural programme for October”.
Ends
Notes
•The word African determines people of African heritage
•The Nia Memorial Lecture was inaugurated in Suffolk in 2001 in remembrance of Stephen Lawrence
Issued By Sally Easton, Communications Unit, St Edmundsbury Borough Council, Phone: 01284 757046 email: sally.easton@stedsbc.gov.uk
