For centuries Black people have been shaping the popular music scene in Britain. By the 15th century, Black music traditions were being carried en masse with the African diaspora over the 400-year period when swathes of Africans were stolen and brought across the Atlantic into the ‘New World’. This population of the African diaspora found ways to express their culture in an effort to preserve and resist against the loss of their identities. These ‘African retentions’, from native drum patterns, dances, and approaches to composition and performances also mixed with musical influence in the ‘New World’, birthing alternative forms of expression within Black Atlantic musical culture.
Evidence of Black Renaissance musicians has been found. “Moor Taubronar” was an African drummer and skilled choreographer employed by James IV who came to the throne in 1488. Moor Taubronar travelled with King James IV and his court through Scotland, was paid wages, and likely lived in the palace with his wife and child! Records show that many Black Moors present within the court had been invited by James IV as guests or musicians, and their influence is thought to be found today in performances such as Morris dancing, which may come from “Moorish dancing” of Black performers in British courts.
John Blanke (fl. 1501-1511) was a Black royal trumpeter and multi-talented musician in the courts of Henry VII and Henry VIII. He contributed to some of the greatest spectacles of the Tudor Period (1485-1603), and was also paid his own wage, even successfully petitioning for a higher one! He appears on numerous court records, and even on the 1511 Westminster Tournament Roll tapestry, which is an incredibly rare occurrence for a Black person during this period.
Following these examples, increased documentation of Black British musicians can be seen in the 18th century. Ignatius Sancho (1729-1780) was one of the first published Black British musicians, writing four books of songs and lively dance music. He had taught himself how to read, write, and compose music, and often used this skill to speak out against the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade. Like Sancho, Guinea-born British musician Joseph Emidy (1775-1835) was enslaved in his early years. His talents as a violinist led him to play with the Lisbon Opera Orchestra, and later as the leader of the Truro Philharmonic Orchestra, composing several works including concertos and a symphony. Prior to his career in Cornwall, he had spent several years as the fiddler of Admiral Sir Pellew’s ship, who had kidnapped him after being impressed upon hearing Emidy play.
A second notable Black virtuoso violinist is George Bridgetower (1778-1860), who impressed Beethoven so much with his compositions that Beethoven dedicated his Violin Sonata No.9 in A minor (Op.47) to Bridgetower, and presented him with his tuning fork. The sonata, Kreutzer, is one of Beethoven’s most famous and passionate pieces that had been inspired by Bridgetower. Beethoven had been surprised by Bridgetower’s ability to imitate and then expand on a short piano cadenza in the first movement, jumping up, hugging him, and exclaiming, “My dear boy! Once more!”. Like much Black history of the Victorian era and before, Bridgetower has been largely unrepresented in historical text, and so this is of great significance for a prodigy musician whose Black father had been, not long before, enslaved.
With the 19th century came another prominent Black-British musician, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912). Coleridge-Taylor was best known for his trilogy of cantatas on the epic poem Song of Hiawatha, which were widely performed by choral groups in England. Coleridge-Taylor sought to integrate inspiration from traditional African music, especially that of his Sierra Leonean ancestry, into the classical music tradition. His success took him on a tour in America, where he was received by President Roosevelt at the White House (extremely uncommon for Black people of this time!) and gained great support from African-Americans. Coleridge-Taylor’s work has still been consistently performed, with immense audience support, at large and important venues such as the Royal Albert Hall following his young death. Highlighting the amazing legacies of these Black British musicians is important in demonstrating the long-standing influence that Black people have had on British music for many generations.
The family lineage of some of these musicians persevered for many years, and even in cases, still exist in Britain today. Coleridge-Taylor’s daughter, Avril, who was a talented pianist, conductor, and composer had carried and expanded upon her father’s legacy until her death in 1998 at the age of 95. Becoming the first woman to ever conduct the HMS Royal Marines band, and regularly conducting top orchestras such as the London symphony orchestra, Avril also composed extensively, including important pieces such as the Ceremonial March, an orchestral work to celebrate Ghana’s independence. Emidy, additionally, had eight children, and his fourth-great granddaughter lives in Devon today.
Can you name any Black artists? For an extra challenge, can you name any Black British artists? If not, don’t fret. We are here to help you out!
So first we should define what it means to be ‘Black British’.
The Black British population is made up predominantly of descendants of immigrants from the West Indies and Africa who migrated to the UK from the 1950s onwards.
According to the art historian Eddie Chambers, the purpose of Black British art ‘was to confront the white establishment for its racism, as much as to address the Black community in its struggle for human equality’. It allows Black people in Britain to share their feelings and views in a society that often tries to silence them.
The BLK Art Group
In 1979, a group of British West Indians founded the BLK Art Group in Wolverhampton. The aim of the group was to showcase Black talent and explore what it meant to identify as ‘Black British’. The group was formed after being inspired by The American Black Arts Movement, which was part of the Black Power Movement. The BLK art group wanted to empower and encourage young Black voices as well as educate their white peers on the issues Black people faced in Britain.
One of the group’s most notable achievements was the First National Black Art Convention.
The conference was held on 28th October 1982 at what was then Wolverhampton Polytechnic with the aim of raising the profile of Black artists and the Afro-Caribbean community through a series of sculptures, paintings and exhibitions. The convention featured seminars and talks, and helped to showcase work by Black artists. It highlighted the importance of originality and the avoidance of mimicking European culture.
Although the collective itself only operated for five years, the individual members, such as the previously mentioned Eddie Chambers, are still very active in the art scene today. The impact the BLK Art Group has had is still felt, they helped to give Black British art a voice.
So of course we must look at some Black British artists from throughout time right?
Sonia Boyce
Sonia Boyce was born in Islington, North London in 1962 to West Indian immigrant parents.
She had a heavy association with the Black Arts Movement in the 1980s, with her art focusing heavily on issues surrounding race, gender and equality. A lot of Sonia’s early works were portraits with bright backgrounds.
She Ain’t Holding Them Up, She’s Holding On (Some English Rose), 1986
BLAM’s Favourite
This is one of Sonia’s most famous drawings. In it, she portrays herself as a strong woman supporting and upholding her family. The portrait portrays the concept of the ‘strong Black woman’ which many can relate to. The black roses on her dress are also symbolic of her British identity and being a Black ‘English Rose’.
Sonia is an incredibly talented artist who still produces art today as well as being a Professor of Black Art and Design at University of the Arts London.
Neequaye ‘Dreph’ Dsane
Dreph is a British-Ghanaian street artist originally from Nottingham. He started painting in 1985 after being inspired by graffiti artists in New York City. He started out with street art but eventually moved on to oil painting and portraits. In more recent years, he started to combine the two
BLAM’s Favourite
Upon his return to London, Dreph created the You Are Enough project. The project featured various beautiful Black British women, women who are doing amazing things for their communities.
For example, this painting is Mimi, from Islington, who works as a holistic health consultant and is studying to become a counsellor.
It is not very often we see Black women being portrayed in street art, nor do we often hear of Black street artists which is why we thought it was important to highlight Dreph and his amazing work.
Phillipp Raheem
Phillipp is a London based photographer of Nigerian descent. His journey was quite typical of many children of immigrants. Phillipp studied biomedical science at university but pivoted into the world of photography after igniting a passion for the art-form after a trip to Nigeria. After going to New York fashion week and receiving impromptu bookings, he decided to turn photography into a full time career. Now, he is most known for his work in music and fashion photography.
BLAM’s Favourite
In 2020, Phillipp worked with the talented Wizkid on his Made in Lagos project. We love this photo because of its beautiful simplicity. It perfectly encapsulates the essence of Wizkid’s album.
Black Art Exhibitions and Galleries you should visit!
TAFETA
A gallery specialising in 20th century and Contemporary African Art
91 Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3PS
Signature African Art
An international art gallery located in Mayfair
20 Davies Street
Mayfair, London
W1K 3DT
Chilli Art Projects
A platform to discover the hottest talent in the Contemporary Art Market.
46 Great Titchfield St,
Fitzrovia, London,
W1W 7QA
198 Contemporary Arts and Learning
A centre for visual arts, education and creative enterprise.
198 Railton Road,
London
SE24 0JT
Flat70
A collective dedicated to artist development, artist care, cultural celebration and cultural exchange. They also put on monthly tours of Black art exhibitions
Elephant Makes,
Sayer St, London
SE17 1FY
Tiwani Contemporary
Exhibits and represents international contemporary artists
9 Cork St
London
W1S 3LL
As always, if you visit any of these exhibitions be sure to tell us how you found them!
BLAM UK do not own the copyright to any images used above. All images have been used under fair usage. All images have been used as an educational tool and not for commercial gain
Last week, it became publicly known that a 15-year-old Black girl, known as ‘Child Q’, was the victim of state-sanctioned sexual assault and racist gendered policing, which were a violation of her human rights. We as a collective are enraged, traumatised, and deeply dispirited to learn that this had happened to Child Q. As an organisation that works with schools to abolish current systems and introduce transformative justice and BlackCrit practices and thinking, we have seen first-hand what happens when radical and transformative practices do not exist in a school. This is seen in the egregious failures that led to Child Q’s unlawful strip search.
In the 36 page report by the City & Hackney Safeguarding Children Partnership (CHSCP), we read how she was adultified, subjected to misogynoir, racially profiled, and criminalised by her teachers, school, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), and the State.
Racial Profiling & Policing in Schools
Racial profiling is a form of violence because it infringes on Black people’s ability to move freely and without fear in public spaces. Racial profiling is also a direct violation of the enjoyment of many human rights, namely Article 5 (the right to liberty and security), Article 8 (respect for your private life and family life), and Article 14 (protection from discrimination), freedom of movement, protection against arbitrary arrest and other interventions, effective remedy, and the protection of the best interests of the child.
Police presence in schools causes serious harm, which is regularly inflicted on our youth, who are subject to constant scrutiny, daily fears of racialised harassment, and continual interference in their day-to-day lives. Police presence in schools triggers and causes race-based anxiety as the effects of being regularly and systematically dehumanised begin to affect and wear down on young Black students. Additionally, the introduction of police as ‘officer friendly’ in schools (especially in primary school) serves as a broader effort known as ‘copaganda’. This powerful and dangerous PR tool endeavours to frame and show the police and policing as an institution that ‘serves and protects the public. Again, we in the Black community know and learn quickly as children and young people that this is the greatest lie ever told. The police never have and do not ‘serve nor protect’ our children or community.
The myth of Black criminality has enabled the police to have unfettered authority over Black communities and people for decades. This means that the police have been given access that is quasi-legal to illegal powers to conduct unlawful searches upon Black people. In London alone, 9,088 children were subjected to strip searches whilst in custody between 2016 to 2021. Of those children, a disproportionate amount of Black children were subject to strip searches. This is why we call for a complete end to strip searches; they leave deep scars of humiliation and degradation on Black children and adults subjected to them.
Through our work and caseload here at BLAM UK, we see the terror of the white supremacist carceral (police and prison) state on how Black children and especially Black girls are treated in the British education system. This has a real and lasting mental health impact on Black girls as it perpetuates ongoing racial trauma and affects their racial esteem during incredibly formative years in their lives. Even now, we know that Black girls are scared that they too could have the same harmful and traumatic experience as what happened to Child Q. In our casework, a young Black girl was accused of smelling like vape smoke and was made to show her bra to four different teachers, one being male, and kept in a room without food, water, or the ability to call a parent before she was excluded. We successfully challenged the exclusion, although she had to move schools.
As Black people, we view calling the police as a direct and targeted act of terror as it threatens our lives with the potential for death at the hands of the police and other injury or harm to both our physical and mental person. The police have never kept our communities safe, and they will never keep us safe. The teachers (violence enablers) who facilitated the atrocity against Child Q allowed MPS to enact violence and harm on Child Q.
Within the realm of racial profiling is the policing tactic of using the ‘smell of weed’ to control and criminalise the Black existence in public space. Such tropes and racist biases are profoundly and inherently anti-Black. They are used as justification for the criminalisation, scrutiny, surveillance, frequent interruption, racialised police intervention, and violations of Black people’s human rights. These are systemic issues that we can only bring to a swift end with the complete abolishing of the police. Until that day comes, we are demanding that there be no police in schools.
Misogynoir, Adultification, Spirit Murdering, and Hair Discrimination
School is a hyper-violent space for Black students and, in particular, for Black girls. Black girls continue to be adultified, criminalised, and spirit-murdered by educators who enact racially discriminatory school disciplinary policies. Child Q was grossly violated and subjected to state violence, misogynoir, adultification, and hair discrimination. Child Q represents the real human impact of anti-Black education policies, practices and standards, which destroy the experience of Black children in educational institutions.
Scholars such as Hines and Wilmot, and Love highlight how the white Euro-Western education system commits acts of spirit-murdering of young Black children every day. Instead of creating affirming, nurturing, motivating, engaging, and equitable learning environments for Black students, schools, participate in actively destroying the racial esteem and spirit of Black children. Some ways in which spirit murdering occurs in the school environment include:
Acts of physical violence aimed towards Black children at the hands of school police officers;
Laws and policies that lead to disproportionate school discipline and excessive punitive actions, in which working-class, Black, Brown, and racialised children are more likely to be temporarily and permanently excluded from school.
Actions like strip-searching a young Black girl for ‘smelling like weed’ are spirit-murdering, as we know that Child Q went from an outgoing and bubbly teenager to a withdrawn and timid young girl. Her world and life have forever been shifted and changed by the callous carelessness of her ‘teachers’ in a single moment. That is how deeply and quickly spirit-murdering can occur in a space where children are meant to learn and grow with safety and care.
Due to the intersecting systems of oppression, we must look into and call out the misogynoir and specific racist gendered violence Black girls face. Researcher Connie Wun has found that the focus on discipline policies, while necessary, excludes a critical analysis, one that centres the social order that positions Black girls as receptacles for racist and misogynistic projections. The dominant discourses on school discipline disparities obscure a structural condition that characteristically places Black girls within a social order where their lives are illegible and inconsequential, rendering them perpetually susceptible to discipline and punishment. Black girls are much more vulnerable as they are often excluded from conversations of racism or sexism, which creates intersectional invisibility that marginalises them. Instead of being protected by her teachers and school, teachers and police met child Q with excessive punitive disciplinary action because she is a Black girl. While punitive discipline policies are imagined to punish students for violent behaviours or normalisation purposes, they instead are weaponised to further villanise Black girls who experience adultification both in education and their communities.
In 2017, Georgetown Law’s Center on Poverty and Inequality conducted a study that applied statistical analysis to a national survey of adults’ attitudes toward Black girls. It found that adults believe Black girls ages 5-19 need less nurturing, protection, support, and comfort than white girls of the same age and that Black girls are more independent, know more about adult topics, and know more about sex than white girls. In a follow-up report released in 2019, some of the findings of the focus groups of Black women and girls ages 12 to 60 included:
Black girls routinely experience adultification bias.
Adultification is linked to harsher treatment and higher standards for Black girls in school.
Negative stereotypes of Black women as angry, aggressive, and hypersexualised are projected onto Black girls.
Adults attempt to change Black girls’ behaviour to be more passive.
Adultification bias can lead educators and other authorities to treat Black girls in developmentally inappropriate ways.
Factors contributing to adultification bias include anti-Black racism, sexism (specifically misogynoir), and poverty.
Adults have less empathy for Black girls than their white peers.
‘[T]o society, we’re not innocent. And white girls are always innocent,’ said a participant in one of the focus groups (ages 17-23).
The indignities against Child Q represent an education system entrenched in anti-Blackness and punitive behaviour policies and measures. It is why abolition in education is so important. We must move away from legitimising and upholding the carceral state and its lust for punitive ‘justice’ to a system entrenched in transformative justice practices that deal with harm through accountability and community healing. We must allow children to be children and have the joy and carefree happiness of being children. Society, education, and teachers must stop replicating systems of violence and harm through racist ideologies, practices, beliefs, and policies. Serious unlearning of harmful biases and conflict resolution needs to happen at all structural levels. We can only resolve institutional failings through institutional rebuilding. Our current models of education and ‘status quo’ school policies that fail to see the far-reaching effects of the harm they cause to Black students, especially Black girls, need to be dismantled entirely and abolished and replaced with a new and innovative system that make education what it is meant to be, a place to learn and grow knowing you are supported through both your mistakes and your successes. We demand to end this system. There should be no police in schools, and strip searches must end.
We are calling for:
Black freedom, justice, and abolition in the education system.
Education spaces that cultivate Black Girl Magic and Black Girl Joy.
Educators ask themselves, ‘Do I need to respond in a way that relies on the state or social services?‘
Radical transformative justice to be practised in all UK schools.
Afro hair discrimination and bias to be stamped out.
Mandatory training of teachers on adultification bias and misogynoir Black girls face.
Schools to be sites that cultivate, place at the centre, and recognise our cultural artefacts as Black girls and use it to build us up and empower us against the harsh white backdrop of white supremacy and misogynoir.
We echo the words of Black Crit Thinkers and believe that UK schools must become sites that act ‘as forging refuge from the gaze of white supremacy—where Black children dream weightless, unracialised, and human. Where language flows freely and existence is nurtured and resistance is breath. Where the Black educational imagination dances wildly into the night—quenching the thirst of yearning and giving birth to becoming.’
We want to end this by addressing our Little Sister Q, who we hold in our arms and heart at this time. Healing will come. Your community of Black sisters stand with you and are thinking about you. There is resistance in healing recovery, and there is resistance in you taking the time to give yourself that deep love and care as you navigate your feelings and emotions since that day. When you weep, we weep; when you laugh, we laugh. This journey is your journey. Only you can dictate and shape it. But rest assured that you are truly cherished and loved forever and always. You are all our Little Sisters; our sweet Black girls deserve childhoods filled with joy, laughter, and magic.
Last week, it became publicly known that a 15-year-old Black girl, known as ‘Child Q’, was the victim of state-sanctioned sexual assault and racist gendered policing, which were a violation of her human rights. We as a collective are enraged, traumatised, and deeply dispirited to learn that this had happened to Child Q. As an organisation that works with schools to abolish current systems and introduce transformative justice and BlackCrit practices and thinking, we have seen first-hand what happens when radical and transformative practices do not exist in a school. This is seen in the egregious failures that led to Child Q’s unlawful strip search.
In the 36 page report by the City & Hackney Safeguarding Children Partnership (CHSCP), we read how she was adultified, subjected to misogynoir, racially profiled, and criminalised by her teachers, school, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), and the State.
Racial Profiling & Policing in Schools
Racial profiling is a form of violence because it infringes on Black people’s ability to move freely and without fear in public spaces. Racial profiling is also a direct violation of the enjoyment of many human rights. Within the realm of racial profiling is the tactic of using the ‘smell of weed’ to control and criminalise the Black existence in public space. Such acts are profoundly and inherently anti-Black. They are used as justification for the criminalisation, scrutiny, surveillance, frequent interruption, racialised police intervention, and violations of Black people’s human rights. These are systemic issues that we can bring to a swift end with the complete abolishing of the police. Until that day comes, we are demanding that there be no police in schools.
Police presence in schools triggers and causes race-based anxiety for young Black students. Additionally, the introduction of police as ‘officer friendly’ in schools (especially in primary school) serves as a broader effort known as ‘copaganda’. This powerful and dangerous PR tool endeavours to frame and show the police and policing as an institution that ‘serves and protects’ the public.
The myth of Black criminality has enabled the police to have unfettered authority over Black communities and people for decades. This means that the police have been given access that is quasi-legal to illegal powers to conduct unlawful searches upon Black people. In London alone, 9,088 children were subjected to strip searches whilst in custody between 2016 to 2021. Of those children, a disproportionate amount of Black children were subject to strip searches. This is why we call for a complete end to strip searches; they leave deep scars of humiliation and degradation on Black children and adults who have been subjected to them.
We see how Black children, especially Black girls, are treated in the British education system through our work and caseload here at BLAM UK. This has a real and lasting mental health impact on Black girls as it perpetuates ongoing racial trauma and affects their racial esteem during incredibly formative years in their lives. In our casework, a young
Black girl was accused of smelling like vape smoke and was made to show her bra to four different teachers, one being male, and kept in a room without food, water, or the ability to call a parent before she was excluded. We successfully challenged the exclusion, although she had to move schools.
Misogynoir, Adultification, Spirit Murdering, and Hair Discrimination
School is a hyper-violent space for Black students and, in particular, for Black girls. Black girls continue to be adultified, criminalised, and spirit-murdered by educators who enact racially discriminatory school disciplinary policies. Child Q represents the real human impact of anti-Black education policies, practices and standards, which destroy the experience of Black children in educational institutions.
Scholars such as Hines and Wilmot, and Love highlight how the white Euro-Western education system commits acts of spirit-murdering of young Black children every day. Instead of creating affirming, nurturing, motivating, engaging, and equitable learning environments for Black students, schools, participate in actively destroying the racial esteem and spirit of Black children.
Actions like strip-searching a young Black girl for ‘smelling like weed’ are spirit-murdering, as we know that Child Q went from an outgoing and bubbly teenager to a withdrawn and timid young girl. That is how deeply and quickly spirit-murdering can occur in a space where children are meant to learn and grow with safety and care.
Due to the intersecting systems of oppression, we must look into and call out the misogynoir and specific racist gendered violence Black girls face. Black girls are much more vulnerable as they are often excluded from conversations of racism or sexism, which creates intersectional invisibility that marginalises them. Instead of being protected by her teachers and school, teachers and the police met child Q with excessive punitive disciplinary action because she is a Black girl.
The indignities against Child Q represent an education system entrenched in anti-Blackness and punitive behaviour policies and measures. It is why abolition in education is so important. We must move away from legitimising and upholding the carceral state and its lust for punitive ‘justice’ to a system entrenched in transformative justice practices that deal with harm through accountability and community healing. We must allow children to be children and have the joy and carefree happiness of being children. Society, education, and teachers must stop replicating systems of violence and harm through racist ideologies, practices, beliefs, and policies. Serious unlearning of harmful biases and conflict resolution needs to happen at all structural levels. We can only resolve institutional failings through institutional rebuilding. Our current models of education and ‘status quo’ school policies that fail to see the far-reaching effects of the harm they cause to Black students, especially Black girls, need to be dismantled entirely and abolished and replaced with a new and innovative system that make education what it is meant to be, a place to learn and grow knowing you are supported through both your mistakes and your successes. We demand to end this system. There should be no police in schools, and strip searches must end.
We want to end this by addressing our Little Sister Q, who we hold in our arms and heart at this time. Healing will come. Your community of Black sisters stand with you and are thinking about you. There is resistance in healing recovery, and there is resistance in you taking the time to give yourself that deep love and care as you navigate your feelings and emotions since that day. When you weep, we weep; when you laugh, we laugh. This journey is your journey. Only you can dictate and shape it. But rest assured that you are truly cherished and loved forever and always. You are all our Little Sisters; our sweet Black girls deserve childhoods filled with joy, laughter, and magic.
A longer version of our statement is available here and includes resources.
If you were asked to name ten Black-owned brands would you be able to do it? As a challenge, can you name five Black-British brands? If you could then that’s fantastic! If not, don’t stress yourself too much, there’s still time to change that.
The answer is in the name. Quite simply, it’s a business founded by and run by a Black person. They may create a whole new product or experience, or they just slide into an already existing market, but bring a new level of creativity and disrupt the fixed norm. Whatever their business vision is, the important thing is the level of support they need.
How can we support Black businesses?
Well, the most obvious answer is, of course, to spend your money with them. There are plenty of websites, TikTok, and Instagram accounts that are dedicated to showcasing and championing Black businesses. The next time you need to buy someone a gift or want to go out for a meal, look for a Black-owned business to patronise, Jamii UK will help you do this. Jamii provides a platform for independent Black businesses to sell their goods. It helps consumers to find brands they may not have been aware of. In 2020, we saw the launch of Black Pound Day. The idea of Black Pound Day is that at least once a month you buy Black. Of course in an ideal world, you’d buy from Black businesses EVERY DAY, but it is not fully possible to do this in the UK…for now! But at the very least, every first Saturday of the month try to support a Black business!
But it’s not just financial support that these businesses need. The best way to grow a brand is through word of mouth, so when you buy from a Black business or visit a Black-owned restaurant, leave a positive review! Have you ever gone to buy an item of clothing but you’re unsure of whether it would suit you or how well it will fit; then you scroll further down the page and some lovely person has kindly written a review letting you know that it would be best to buy a size up as it fits a little tight. And if they’re extra lovely they might have even included a picture of them wearing the item. You could be that lovely person! Even just a quick review on social media would be good, never underestimate the power of word of mouth.
Farai London was founded in Summer 2020 by London born MaryAnn Msengi. It’s highly likely you’ve seen her famous Gaia dress before, Kylie Jenner posed in it on her Instagram and the brand skyrocketed to fame. MaryAnn’s designs have been worn by many other celebrities such as Jordyn Woods, Megan Thee Stallion, Jourdan Dunn, Summer Walker, and the ladies of Love Island. She has also featured in British Vogue, other fashion publications, and currently has a collection in Selfridges. Despite the fact that she has only been in business for less than two years our good sis is KILLING the game. Remember we mentioned how important word of mouth is? Of course, with her beautiful designs, Farai London most likely would have always been a success, but it really was people posting pictures in, and raving about how fly their dresses were that really helped the brand achieve the success it has. We cannot wait to see where this Black-owned business soars to in the future!
If you are interested in supporting Black businesses in the London area here are a few suggestions to get you started:
Afrofuturism is represented and presented over several mediums ranging from art, music, literature, film, design, fashion, and more. Most commonly, though, it is recognised in the science fiction novels by Octavia Butler, the jazz music of Sun Ra, and the eclectic and energetic beats of the ArchAndroid that is Janelle Monáe.
Le Sony’r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, “cosmic” philosophy, prolific output, and theatrical performances.
Recently, Apple commemorated Black History Month in the US with an ‘Afrofuturism’ Apple Watch band. But what exactly is Afrofuturism? How is it defined? How is it understood? What does it mean for imaginations of Black liberation?
For BLAM UK, Afrofuturism is the audacity, tenacity, and strength to reimagine alternative futures; therefore, in some ways, we are all living proof of Afrofuturism in action.
Afrofuturism was coined by Mark Dery in 1993/4, a white American author, lecturer, and cultural critic. This has been highlighted as problematic as the framing and understanding of the concept could favour and centre whiteness even in visions of a Black future. Nevertheless, Afrofuturism conceptually has been around long before Dery put a term to the idea and concept. The idea and ethos of what Afrofuturism is have existed for centuries in the minds of enslaved Africans who hoped, imagined, prayed, and resisted for their freedom from oppressive enslavers and the ideology that one day their children and loved ones would live in a world different from theirs.
Octavia E. Butler & New School Afrofuturism Writers
Octavia E. Butler
Afrofuturism has a massive influence on science fiction that celebrates Black lives and Black stories. Afrofuturistic novels often depict fictional worlds set in different galaxies or dystopian societies filled with tales of moons and starry nights. It is interesting to see the way writers expand and use history to create versions of different futuristic events and alternative journeys taken.
Octavia E. Butler was a renowned African American author who received a MacArthur “Genius” Grant and PEN West Lifetime Achievement Award for her body of work. Born in Pasadena in 1947, she was raised by her mother and her grandmother. She was the author of several award-winning novels including Parable Of The Sower (1993), which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and Parable Of The Talents (1995) winner of the Nebula Award for the best science fiction novel published that year. She was acclaimed for her lean prose, strong protagonists, and social observations in stories that range from the distant past to the far future.
Though the MacArthur Grant made life easier in later years, Butler struggled for decades when her dystopian novels exploring themes of Black injustice, global warming, women’s rights, and political disparity were heavily critiqued by a white and male science-fiction mainstream that Butler disrupted and re-shaped to give space to stories that Black individuals and girls could relate and engage with.
During her early years before her talent was more widely recognised Butler, always an early riser, woke at 2 a.m. every day to write, and then went to work as a telemarketer, potato chip inspector, and dishwasher, among other things!
Noughts & Crosses by Black British writer Malorie Blackman is an example of more contemporary young adult fiction of an imagined society, in which the novel’s reality differs from the reality of our own world. You can see the resemblance of modern society with a major twist! It is looking at the world with a different past. Looking at Black suffering through an alternate Blackman allows readers to imagine Blackness devoid of the white gaze. This is done by creating a past where colonisation and the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade never took place thus allowing Africa to grow into a wealthy and prosperous nation –– we begin to understand and see the impacts and legacies of the histories and experiences of our Black history can have. The novel pushes us to understand that what is normalised and mainstream stems not from a place where it is inherent, but from social norms and standards that have been shaped and set down by white supremacy. Blackman uses a love story to highlight the fact that structures and institutions created and upheld by people are the reasons that the impacts of anti-Blackness, capitalism, and empire continue to create and reinforce issues ranging from poverty to over-policing.
Afrofuturism imagines a future without white supremacist thought and structures that aim to violently oppress Black people and our community. Afrofuturism pushes and asks us to imagine (and develop) a liberated future where we are free to be our most authentic selves, celebrate our culture, and be well-versed in the tools and knowledge.
Afro-Fashion of the Future
Ruth E. Carter
Hollywood costume design institution, Ruth E. Carter, the first African American woman to receive an Academy Award for best costume design in 2019 uses fashion and costume design to shape and redesign the high quality and standard of design while emphasising the beauty in telling a story through the history and culture of fashion and style.
Carter has been a longstanding costume designer for A-List Hollywood films. She was the designer on Malcolm X, She’s Gotta Have It, and Selma! Carter attributes her success to the process by which she develops her designs. An important part of her design process is to ensure that the costume fits the actor who is wearing it so that the actor wears the costume and the costume does not wear the actor ‘you wear the costume, the costume should not wear you’. With over 40 films to her credit, this Oscar-winning costume designer gives us further insight in the docuseries ‘Abstract, the Art of Design’. In the series, Carter highlights the importance of ensuring that the fashion of Wakanda represented Africa authentically to show a fashion reality that had been unaffected by Western and Eurocentric ideals of beauty and style and proximity to whiteness.
Lisa Folawiyo also represents Afrofuturism in her fashion design work. Her designs have been worn by the Hollywood elite such as actress Lupita Nyongo and music artist Solange Knowles.
Upcoming Afro-futuristic designers are also gaining popularity outside of Africa and bring an energetic and creative zeal to the look. Out of Brazzaville is the Afrofuturstic work of Congolese designer Liputa Swagga. These designs often incorporate modern style with a nod to our global Black history and African past and contemporary African cultures. Dakar Fashion Week is the African continent’s longest-running fashion exhibition. It is the place for African designers to celebrate and showcase their work and talent and is the place to see Afrofuturistic fashion in its full flare and glory.
Africanising the Landscape & Architecture
Afrofuturism can also be seen and represented in the structures of buildings and a reimagining of landscapes.
Ekow Nimako uses only black pieces of Lego bricks to develop intricate and elaborate structures and sculptors to celebrate Blackness and futuristic depictions of African histories.
Ghanian Canadian artist and Lego sculptor Ekow Nimako
Hannah Beachler, a production designer, brought the scenes of Wakanda to life from the comic book to the silver screen by visiting and incorporating the culture and architectural history of countries in Africa. Beachler created the ‘Wakanda Bible’ which was a massive text that contained details of the people, the history, and the architecture of Wakanda. In Nigeria, the concept of a floating school was cultivated by Kunlé Adeyemi a protégé of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA). In 2013 he completed the award-winning Makoko Floating School. The building was constructed to provide teaching facilities for the slum district of Makoko, a former fishing village on Lagos Lagoon where over 100,000 people live in houses on stilts. It was designed as a prototype for African regions that have little or no permanent infrastructure, thanks to unpredictable water levels that cause regular flooding.
Sing a Freedom Song
Afrofuturism is a fluid ideology shaped by generations of artists, musicians, scholars, and activists whose aim is to reconstruct ‘Blackness’ in our cultural dialogue. Afrofuturism is reflected in the life and works of people such as Sojourner Truth and Janelle Monáe. Afrofuturism is a cultural blueprint we can use to guide society and creatively explore our community.
‘Ain’t I A Women’, by Sojourner Truth is a speech, delivered extemporaneously, by Sojourner Truth, who was born into slavery in New York. Sometime after gaining her freedom in 1827, she became a well-known anti-slavery speaker. Sojourner Truth’s ‘Ain’t I A Woman’ speech at the 1851 Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio, is an example of Afrofuturism in action throughout history. In her speech, Truth is speaking out for the rights of Black American women during and after the American Civil War. Sojourner Truth calls on white women to reinforce a new way of thinking about Black womanhood and change the way they as white women relate to womanhood. Her speech pushes firmly back on the dominant cultural narrative and urges the audience to reimagine a future that confronts the historic devaluing of Black women.
Another historical example of Afrofuturism in music is chants and songs that inspired action against racism and violence and recognised that there was a future where enslaved Africans and African Americans would be liberated and find peace, rest, and tranquillity. Some examples of this are songs by Sam Cooke, ‘The Struggle’ by James Baldwin, ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’ by Gill Scott-Heron, and the bulk of the African American spirituals genre.
The Afrofuturist envisions a society free from oppression in following this thought process many aspects of the Black existence and struggle embody the Afrofuturistic vision.
Radical Black Freedom Fighters
What does Afrofuturism mean for the imagination of Black liberation?
Radical social movements and freedom fighters like Assata Shakur, Fred Hampton, Huey P. Newton, Olive Morris, and Olusola Oyeleye are also Afrofuturists as they had the audacity, tenacity, and strength to reimagine better and more just futures for our community.
Afrofuturism in art has constantly used creativity and imagination to imagine a better future for our community. These images and creative stories offer us insight and solutions for change by offering us a radical basis for change and new ideologies that can spark revolutionary movements. As we go through aspects of Afrofuturism feel free to further explore writers and other artists and designers.
Afrofuturism is represented through the amazing work of artists, designers, and writers. The central figure to contemporary Afrofuturism is Janelle Monáe and you can see this in her music documentary, an ‘Emotion Picture’, titled Dirty Computer which deals with the politics of the state and robo-police pulling over cars filled with Black women. Afrofuturism has existed for centuries and is closely tied to the efforts and aspirations for Black liberation across the globe.
If you are looking to begin your reading of Afrofuturistic work, check out the list below:
The historian of the water-dwelling descendants of pregnant African slaves thrown overboard by slavers keeps all the memories of her people both painful and miraculous until she discovers that their future lies in returning to the past.
Lila Mae, a Black female elevator inspector, must prove that her method of inspection by intuition, as opposed to visual observation, is not at fault when an elevator in a new city building crashes.
An eighteen-year-old African American woman inherits a trait that causes her to feel others’ pain as well as her own, flees northward from her small community and its desperate savages.
Likely, you have never heard of Misa Hylton before, but if I told you to think of the infamous purple jumpsuit Lil’ Kim wore, or Mary J. Blige in her Not Gon‘Cry music video, or even the brown MCM bodysuit Beyoncé wore in the Apes*** video you’d know what I was talking about. The incredibly talented Ms Hylton is the mastermind behind all of those looks and more. So who is Misa Hylton, and why don’t we know her name?
Misa Hylton attends the 2018 Tribeca Studios and MCM Sneak Preview Of Women’s Hip Hop in NYC.
Since the beginning of time, Black people have been the blueprint. We are the trendsetters, innovators, and trailblazers. However, often it seems we are not credited for our ideas and innovations. Our names are left out of mainstream history books; we are overlooked and eventually forgotten.
That seems to be the case for Misa Hylton. Born in New York in the 1970s, Misa always had a passion for fashion. She first pursued her love of clothing and style at the young age of 17. Her friend Sean Combs (aka Puff Daddy/P Diddy) asked for help on a music video for an R&B group he was in charge of at the time – Jodeci. At that time, R&B singers were known for their formal wear in music videos. Suppose you think back to the old 80s and early 90s music videos. In that case, you’ll notice that (male) artists were often in (incredibly baggy) suits and top hats. R&B had an air of sophistication and formality. Misa decided she was tired of that aesthetic. Inspired by her love of hip-hop, she had a vision for the Jodeci video that moved away from the status quo. Misa wanted to put the group in combat boots and hoodies. Now, this may not seem so outlandish to us sitting here in 2022, but in the 90s, this was unheard of. Music executive Andre Harrell initially rejected Misa and Sean’s plans; he thought the pair were out of pocket for even considering it! But they fought for their idea, and eventually, Andre agreed. You can see the fruits of their labour in the Gotta Love music video.
Lil’ Kim at the 1999 VMAs. This iconic look was styled by Misa Hylton who styled many of Lil’ Kim’s most iconic and stylish looks.
Misa’s work on that video created a new aesthetic in the world of R&B fashion. She gained many more clients in the industry. These musicians, producers, and other artists wanted a new, cooler look. But arguably, her most important work is what she achieved with women in the music industry. Being a woman in any industry can be a rough time, but being a Black woman often adds an extra layer of adversity. Misa regularly worked with Mary J. Blige and Lil’ Kim, helping them find their place in a challenging industry. Mary J. Blige had been known for her signature bandana, and baggy tee look. Growing up as a self-proclaimed tomboy, combined with the fact that she was breaking out into a male-dominated industry, these were the clothes she felt most comfortable in. After meeting Misa Hylton, Mary explored her look a little more and made it more feminine whilst still being comfortable. Lil’ Kim was a very talented artist in the heavily male-dominated world of rap. During the 90s, many female rappers opted to wear baggy clothing to try and fit in with their peers, but Lil’ Kim decided to go against the grain and instead use her femininity to her advantage. With the help of Misa, Kim was able to show that women are allowed to be sexy and talented, and that one didn’t hinder the other. Of course, her most iconic look was the purple pasty jumpsuit worn to the 1999 MTV VMAs, but another iconic look was the Crush On You music video, once again styled by Misa. In this video, every scene featured a monochromatic look, where Kim was in the same colour from head to toe, literally. This had never been done before, and I’m sure others on Kim’s team were sceptical at first, but the video ended up being a huge success, and the look has been recreated many times since then.
Lil’ Kim, Mary J. Blige, and Misa Hylton – long time friends in fashion, music, style, hip-hop, and Black womanhood.
These two stories are an essential part of Misa Hylton’s legacy. They show how imperative it is to have Black women in the creative industry, helping other Black women reach their full potential.
Misa Hylton is an integral part of Black cultural history. Her work deserves to be recognised – loudly!
For more information on Misa and her work, we’d recommend The Remix: Hip-Hop x Fashion on Netflix. The documentary shows just how talented this woman truly is and how much she had on both the music and fashion industries.
Fashion plays a central part within Black culture and identity. The clothes, outfits, and accessories that we wear tell stories about our heritages and histories, as well as the traditions and skills that are passed down within material construction creative processes. Many items of clothing or accessories have become indicative of a shared cultural experience with a long history behind them. Within these long histories, it is important to look to the Black designers and artistic pioneers who shaped the global fashion history, in order to understand the industry as we know it today. One such pioneer is Daniel Day, now known as Dapper Dan.
Daniel Day was born in 1974, in Harlem. He is a self-taught tailor with a unique style who made a name for himself through the legendary Harlem couturier he opened in 1982, “Dapper Dan’s Boutique”. His life opened to the backdrop of the Great Migration as his parents arrived in New York during a time when millions of African-Americans were fleeing from the South. Growing up very poor with a Garveyite mother, Dapper Dan experienced and heard many stories of the Pan-African movement, as well as the difficulties his parents and their families faced from being Black in America. His paternal grandfather had been born into enslavement and later freed, and his father, who worked three jobs to make ends meet, had come to Harlem alone at the age of 12 – just 35 years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
With a strong determination to improve his situation, Dapper Dan’s teenage hustles moved from shoe-shining to betting games, where he used his book smarts to earn thousands of dollars a day, even outperforming his mentor, the original Dapper Dan who passed the name to him. By his early 20’s, however, Dapper Dan had been arrested for dealing drugs and used prison as an opportunity to get clean. While incarcerated, he began to write essays on Pan-Africanism, and upon his release, he took a tour of Africa as part of an educational programme sponsored by Columbia University and the civil rights organisation the National Urban League. Becoming aware of unique takes on western fashion during his time in Africa, Dapper Dan used this as inspiration in his “Africanisation” of high-end European fashion houses. In his words, “I had been to Africa and knew that I could make the same things that [luxury fashion houses] rejected me for – and to make it better.”
Dapper Dan struggled to source textiles or buy goods from designer stores due to his location and race, and for a while had to sell stolen designer goods from the boot of his car. Dapper Dan’s experiences growing up and working on his business led him to develop a consciousness about “the trials and tribulations associated with being Black”. As such, his custom pieces focused on reworked logo prints from designer fashion houses that had overlooked Black clientele. He understood what wearing a designer logo meant to his customers and how it made them feel.
Working on “bootlegged” fabrics he designed himself, Dapper Dan’s screen-printed monograms of Fendi, Louis Vuitton, MCM, and Gucci made him a pioneer in luxury streetwear that became the symbol of the styles and fashion of early 90s rap culture. He quickly gained a strong client base of hip-hop rap stars, athletes, and those who liked to play the books. Notable examples include retired Olympic runner, Diane Dixon, hip-hop rap trio, Salt-n-Pepa, and heavyweight boxing legend, Mike Tyson. Dapper Dan also went on to invent a new process for screen printing onto leather that would later be used for luxury automobile interiors.
Unpacking the interconnectedness of Black Atlantic languages whilst disrupting linguistic supremacy through a decolonial lens.
As words like Lit, Snitch, Tings, Gwarn, Gyal, Dem, Dey, Nyash and Bae have become words used by Black British English speakers and have effectively been creolised into Black British English. It is important we better understand the particular uniqueness of Language creation and continuity in Black Communities globally. The words mentioned above are from three languages African American Vernacular English AAVE, Pidgin and Patios. It is with this that we must recognise the importance and history of Black language practices so that we as speakers of this language see and speak about our cultural production from a decolonial and Black centred lens.
In this piece, I will be unpacking the histories of three Black languages through AAVE, Patios and Black British English and expanding on the ongoing need to look at and celebrate these languages from a decolonial lens. I use Paul Gilroy’s term Black Atlantic to expand on the interconnectedness of Africa, The Caribbean, African Americans and the UK. Gilroy created this term with his book The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness (1993), it identifies a hybrid [Black] culture that spans the Atlantic, connecting Africa, North and South America, The Caribbean and Europe. For the purposes of discussions on Black languages in the Diaspora, it is key to start at the point that led to the creation of these languages- the forced kidnapping and enslavement of Africans to the new world.
The Black Atlantic and Language Creation
The creation of Black languages and their continued usage serves as a decolonial intervention into white linguistic supremacy. This is because English in and of itself is a colonial and imperial linguistic inheritance. Creole languages are formed in conditions where speakers from various distinct languages are forcefully brought together without a shared first language, often under the domination of speakers from one of the languages and in the context of this piece the transatlantic enslavement trade, white supremacy and European colonialism. A Creole language that demonstrates this is Skepi- a Guyanese Creole; Dahlia & Hubert Devonish explain that it has for an Atlantic Creole, an extraordinary number of lexical items and syntactic markers from a single West African language cluster, Eastern Ijo, and Kalabari in particular. (Smith et al 1987; Robertson 1991; Kouwenberg 1994).
This has led to a unique language creation legacy with Black communities that has allowed us to survive and to communicate in a way in which our oppressors would not understand us but also enabled enslaved Africans to preserve, code and creolise their African linguistic heritage within a new language. Eric Williams further typifies this by noting that Ebonics is the linguistic and para-linguistic consequence of the African slave trade. It developed in West Africa, as well as throughout the former European colonies of North and South America wherever slaves were sold into bondage.
The legacy of Africanised English structures and Black British English following that legacy
The creation of Black British English follows the globalised pattern of African descended communities creating and using language as a form of resistance and cultural retention. Black British English sits at the intersect of the Jamaican Language ( Patios), West African Creole ( Pidgin) and African American Vernacular English alongside new words and phrases created by Black British speakers like Doing up, Moving mad, Bare, Buff, Peak, Peng, Clocked, Pagan, Gassed and the lexicology goes on. Black British people by engaging and speaking in Black British English are preserving and furthering ancestral linguistic practices against the imperialist reach of white mainstreamed English. Black British English speakers are doing what Dr April Baker Bell describes as knowing the world through their cultural ways of being and knowing, their community and their blackness.
Black British speakers by also adapting and incorporating Black global linguistic trends and words are keeping the Black language tradition alive. This can actively be seen with Black British Language speakers using terms like ‘it’s Giving and Pushin P’. ‘Pushin P’ is an AAVE term developed in the Bay Area and popularised by Rapper Gunna B. ‘It’s Giving’ is a term created by Queer AAVE speakers that was further popularised by Black American Women.
Black languages like all languages have adapted and taken from each other. This process is known as Cognates- Cognates are words that are etymologically related or descended from the same language or form. Words like Magnificent taken from the French language and used within Standard English is a cognate. In Black British English, the greeting term ‘Wagwarn’ taken from The Jamaican Language (Patios) is an example of a Cognate.
False cognates are words whose similarity in form or sound may be coincidental or the result of mutual influence, but they are not etymologically related. In Black British English (BBE) an example of this is the use of the word Bare would form a false cognate as its usage in BBE is different from that of white standardised English. Bare in BBE means lots and in Mainstreamed English it means uncovered.
Examples of the creolised Black British English
Language Supremacy and Anti-Black Linguistic Racism
Rusty Barrett, a professor of linguistics states ‘there are a number of linguistic studies that demonstrate that ideas about “correctness” are based on social prejudice rather than linguistic facts.’ It is important that we have this in mind when looking at Black languages under white supremacy. white supremacy permeates all aspects of society and language is not exempt. We see an encoding of white supremacy through the perceived language supremacy of English. The means by which whiteness has globalised the supremacy of the English language is through imperial and colonial domination, all of which produced institutionalised values and hierarchies within societies that served/s white elites.
Linguists identify ‘‘standard’’ languages as political constructs, having little to do with the inherent linguistic structure of any given language, as all languages are in fact created by humans for the purpose of communication, there cannot be an inherent form of language supremacy.
A universal principle that sociolinguistics maintain is that speakers who hold positions of political influence and economic power in this case white elites are then the very individuals who set and maintain linguistic standards in society.
Like other forms of discrimination, the idea that Standardised English is inherently better than other Black languages places an unfair burden on Black Language speakers who must continually accommodate those who hold negative and anti-Black attitudes toward them and/or their languages.
These positions and attitudes also fall within a raciolinguistic ideology- which is the dominant practice of racialising language and framing racialised speakers ( in this case Black Language Speakers) in negative ways, the linguistic practices of racialised populations are systematically stigmatized regardless of the extent to which these practices might seem to correspond to standardized norms”. (Rosa & Flores, 2017, p. 3)
Rusty Barrett reminds us that ‘prejudice against speakers of undervalued varieties often comes with arguments that only the standard variety is able to express nuanced meanings, encode logical thought, or produce good writing. Yet again, none of these beliefs has a valid basis in linguistic facts. All varieties of all languages are capable of expressing nuanced or subtle distinctions in meaning.’ The practice of policing and shunning Black languages is known as Anti-Black Linguistic Racism. Dr April baker Bell coined this term and explains it as the following- Anti-black linguistic racism refers to the linguistic violence, persecution, dehumanization, and marginalization that Black Language (BL) speakers endure when using their language in schools and everyday life. It includes teachers’ silencing, correcting, and policing students when they communicate in BL. It is the belief that there is something inherently wrong with BL; therefore, it should be eradicated. It is denying Black students the right to use their native language as a linguistic resource during their language and literacy learning. It is requiring that Black students reject their language and culture to acquire White Mainstream English(WME), and it is also insisting that Black students code-switch to avoid discrimination.
It is important to understand that even Black language (BL) speakers can also internalise the mainstreamed negative narrative and attitude about Black languages. This is seen when ‘Black students’ language practices are suppressed in classrooms [ and mainstream society]or they begin to absorb messages that imply that BL is deficient, wrong, and unintelligent, this could cause them to internalize anti-blackness and develop negative attitudes about their linguistic, racial, cultural, and intellectual identities and about themselves. As with internalized racism, students who absorb negative ideologies about their native language may develop a sense of linguistic inferiority.’ This is why Black language scholars advocate for the cultivation of Black Linguistic Consciousness. A practice prioritises the reversing of anti-Black Linguistic Racism whilst providing Black people with the tools to make language political choices that call for the intentional employment of Black Language. This they describe as the exercising of liberation. They remind us that it is imperative that Black people learn Black Language through Black Language; that is, they learn the rich roots and rhetorical rules of Black Language.
How we can overcome and push back against Anti-Black Linguistic Racism
Firstly, we must begin to see the ways in which we speak across the Black Atlantic as part of a rich legacy and heritage of a unique language creation practice. It is through doing this we can start to truly appreciate and explore the Bilingualism of Black Language speakers. We need to recognise that Black Language speakers like other Bilingual speakers exhibit advantages in several areas of executive function, including working memory, inhibitory control. Research on Bilingualism also shows bilingual advantages in executive function are not limited to the brain’s language networks. Researchers have used brain imaging techniques like functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate which brain regions are active when bilingual people perform tasks in which they are forced to alternate between their two languages. For instance, when bilingual people have to switch between naming pictures in Spanish and naming them in English, they show increased activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), a brain region associated with cognitive skills like attention and inhibition. We must ensure Black communities are equally entitled to be provided with bilingual education in both Black languages and the dominant language they manoeuvre within. There needs to be a push towards a linguistic education that does not penalise and disregard and interiorise Black creativity and language ways. We need an education practice and cultural acceptance of the brilliance of Black languages and the unique skills akin to Black language speakers due to their bilingualism.
This blog was originally written and published on Medium.com, it is available here to read.
In this blog post, I look at famous Black cowboys and the influence they had on ‘cowboy culture’ in the US. I also explore the vital relevance Black cowboys have in our community today: including the sense of self-worth cultivated and developed by contemporary Black cowboy programmes.
Let’s get into it!
History of the Term ‘Cowboy’
Nat Love – Kansas Historical Society
So, who were Black cowboys? Black cowboys were typically formerly enslaved people in the American south and west. David Goldstein-Shirley’s 1997 paper “Black Cowboys in the American West: An Historiographical Review” unearths the origin of the term “cowboy” as being the derogatory appellation of the Black men working in ranches, whereas their white counterparts were called “cowhands”. According to LeRoi Jones and Philip Durham’s seminal book from 1965 “The Negro Cowboys”, roughly 1 in every 4 cowboys (more than 5000 people) were Black during the height of the West. Yet, we seldom see them represented in cultural depictions of the “Wild West”. The presence and cultural contributions of African-Americans to the West has been downplayed, and until recently – erased.
Nat Love – Most Famous Black Cowboy
Film still from Concrete Cowboy
The most famous of all Black cowboys was Nat Love. He was also known as ‘Deadwood Dick’. Nat Love was born into enslavement in 1854 in Davidson County Tennessee. Nat Love became a cowboy when he was approached during breakfast by a trail boss who offered him a job. The trail boss gave young Nat Love the responsibility of breaking the wildest horse in the outfit named Good Eye. Nat would later go on to say it was the toughest ride he had ever done. He successfully trained the horse and got a job that paid $30 a month at the Duval Ranch. Today that would be equivalent to $995.72 US dollars per month (roughly £730). Did you also know that Nat Love’s memoir the “Life and Adventures of Nat Love” is one of the only firsthand accounts of an African-American cowhand in the western United States from this period.
Film & Cowboys: History Rewritten
Cowboys in popular old western films in which all-white casts and representations of cowboy culture that centers whiteness, is a gross misrepresentation of the true history of cowboy culture in the US. Unfortunately, this has occurred for a few reasons. The first is that generally in cinema and media there is a visual scarcity of Black faces due to the long and exclusionary history of the media industry. Secondly, American historians for a long time have neglected, omitted, and written out the history of Black cowboys. Lastly, history regularly is re-written to exclude and push forward narratives that uplift whiteness and erase accountability of historical and ongoing white villainy.
Nevertheless, recent films such as Django Unchained, Concrete Cowboy, The Magnificent Seven, and the recently released The Harder They Fall. These films uniquely and creatively capture and show that Black cowboys existed and that cowboy culture was influenced by Black and Indigenous communities. Some of these films also offer a notable cross-over between Afrofuturism and the restoration of representation of Black cowboys in science-fiction films such as Cowboy Bebop which features a Black lead in a dystopian future. Another notable film is the 1999 Wild Wild West featuring Will Smith, which also has a great rap song associated with the film! We of course cannot forget the recent banger and ultimate #YeehawAgenda song Old Town Road by Lil Nas X.
Contemporary Cowboy Community Groups
This is the story of The Compton Cowboys and Keiara Wade, the group’s solo cowgirl. Together on June 7th, 2020, they led a peace ride through their hometown in the name of Black lives. It was a community defining moment and America took notice; the Compton Cowboys were searched on Google more than ever before. To read more about Keiara’s story visit https://g.co/comptoncowboys.
The Broken Arrow Horseback Riding Club and The Compton Cowboys are a few of the last remaining private equestrian clubs trying to reconnect the hidden Black history of horsemanship. These groups aim to redefine contemporary understandings and representations of cowboy culture. The Compton Cowboys aim to develop a new generation of cowboys in America’s ‘urban heartland’. They believe that horseback riding and working with livestock offers an opportunity for strong bonds to be made between young Black people who diligently care for horses. The Compton Cowboys were the inspiration and influence for the movie ‘Concrete Cowboys’. “Concrete Cowboys” is a coming-of-age journey of a young Black teen who endeavors to find positive influences through bonding with and training horses as he is faced with the difficult challenges of his reality.
The relevance this has on today’s community cannot be overstated. Events like the Kentucky Derby or the Royal Ascots which feature prominent white equestrians and attendees are arguably the exception and not the rule when you look at the history of cowboys and horseback riding. For example, in the 1870s Silver Walker was one of the most talented horse racers of his time. In fact, the winning jockey of the first Kentucky Derby was Black. Until the early 1900s, there were many Black jockey winners, such as Ike Murphy, who won the Kentucky Derby three times. Revisiting the history of Black cowboys improves the racial esteem of Black communities and works to subvert the idea that farming, horse training, and other related activities are somehow exclusively white-only activities.
Hopefully, you walk away understanding the key role that Black cowboys have played in shaping that history and challenging white narratives of the Wild West! If you want to learn more about Black cowboys check out our podcast episode about Black cowboys!
BLAM UK CIC 