October is Black History Month, an awareness month and a nationwide celebration of black history, arts and culture throughout Britain. The events, articles, study and remembrance throughout the country make October worth celebrating each year.
As well as applauding achievements and success over the decades, the month also provides a vital reflection on the challenges that remain. In this way the month plays a vital role in raising awareness of British social history and the continued importance of identity, social equality and integration
“Dig deeper. Look Closer. Think bigger.”
Black History Month is essential in promoting learning, providing information and contributing to community cohesion. For the past 30+ years it has shone, and continues to shine, a beacon of light on the facts about Black history, heritage, legacy and the on-going struggles for equality and justice. More than that, it educates, informs and inspires many to be proud of who they are and to understand history, origins and the right to exist as equals.
This year we have two great events happening at Chandler’s Ford Library and at Winchester Discovery Centre:
Black History Month: Portchester Castle at Chandler’s Ford Library
Saturday 3rd November 2018
2.30pm
In 1796 over 2000 Black men, women and children were imprisoned at Portchester Castle. Until recently their presence at the castle had been forgotten.
This talk will tell the story of who they were and how some of the most important figures in the fight against slavery in the Caribbean came to be imprisoned at Portchester Castle in Hampshire.
Price: £4.00
https://www.hants.gov.uk/shop/product.php?productid=51991
Ma Bessie and Her Blues Troupe at Winchester Discovery Centre
Thursday 8th November 2018
8.00pm
Bessie Smith (15th April 1894 – 26th September 1937) nicknamed “Empress of the Blues” and regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era. Ma Bessie (Julia Titus) and her Blues Troupe featuring internationally acclaimed drummer Sam Kelly, Paul Jobson, Richard Sadler, Tony Qunta, Chuck Lloyd and Kevin Davy perform a narrated show incorporating many of Bessie’s songs.
The show chronicles her life from a one-room shack in Blue Goose Hollow, to becoming the highest-paid black entertainer of that time, to the tragic accident on Route 61 in September 1937 that ended her life aged 43 years.
Age Restriction: Over 14 years
Image credit: Dawn Fletcher-Park.
Price: £14.00 advanced, £12.50 concessions, £16.00 on the door
https://www.hants.gov.uk/shop/product.php?productid=51817&cat=&page=1
Have a look though the wonderful collection of books available in our libraries:
Black and British : a forgotten history by David Olusoga.
David Olusoga’s ‘Black and British’ is a rich and revealing exploration of the extraordinarily long relationship between the British Isles and the people of Africa. Unflinching, confronting taboos and revealing hitherto unknown scandals, Olusoga describes how black and white Britons have been intimately entwined for centuries.
The fortunes of Francis Barber : the true story of the Jamaican slave who became Samuel Johnson’s heir by Michael Bundock.
This volume chronicles a young boy’s journey from the horrors of Jamaican slavery to the heart of London’s literary world, and reveals the unlikely friendship that changed his life.
Black Britain : a photographic history by Paul Gilroy ; preface by Stuart Hall.
Spanning over 200 years, this unprecedented collection features images of Black Britons at work, at war, on stage and on the playing field.
Black Tudors : the untold story / Miranda Kaufmann.
The untold stories of the Black Tudors, dazzlingly brought to life by Kaufmann, will transform how we see this most intriguing period of history.
For a modern and international selection of works, browse our Ebooks fiction list including:
Loving Day by Mat Johnson
Award winning novel from the author of the critically beloved Pym (“Imagine Kurt Vonnegut having a beer with Ralph Ellison and Jules Verne.”—Vanity Fair) comes a ruthlessly comic and moving tale of a man discovering a lost daughter, confronting an elusive ghost, and stumbling onto the possibility of utopia.
See further book selections and displays in branch and ask staff for recommendations or help finding specific titles or subjects.
Hampshire Libraries 