QUOTATION # 38.

[On people of African descent in Britain].

“At its height, Rome’s empire stretched right along the coast of north Africa and sub-Saharan Africans passed to and fro across its porous southern border.

The archaeological evidence, much of it based on relatively new forensic techniques such as isotope analysis, reinforces the historical record, indicating that Africans from both above and below the Sahara made their homes and built their lives in the British Isles.

It has been research such as this that has given us the “ivory bangle lady”, a well-to-do, part-African resident of 3d-century York.

More recently, the “Beachy Head lady”, the first black Briton known to us, has been discovered using a similar suite of forensic techniques.”

CATWALK: Adjei, acrylic on canvas, 139 x 121 cm, 2009. Signed lower left. Private collection, purchased from Artist’s Alliance Gallery.

“……..What we’re seeing is a backlash against any attempt, whether from the world of scholarship or popular culture, to paint non-white people back into the British past.

………The deeper, more fundamental question is why?

Why are some people so affronted by the very idea that the black presence in Britain stretches back so many centuries?

Why, even when historical evidence is presented and the opinions of experts given, are they determined to dismiss the facts and, as we have seen in this case, seek to trash the reputation of respected scholars?

………It is part of a rearguard and increasingly unsustainable defence of a fantasy monochrome version of British history.”

DAVID OLUSOGA

BLACK STAR SERIES (Young Lions): ACGh, 2007. Signed with seal; #1/10.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *