There was a full house upstairs at the Prince of Peckham (a Black-owned pub) for the first of a series of launch events for Tony Warner’s Black History Walks Volume 1 on 7 November.
Published by Jacaranda Books (Small Press of the Year at the 2020 British Book Awards), this book is the first step in Warner’s work to document his activities in the Black community over the past 20 years. Introduced by Dr Michelle Yaa Asantewa, Warner took part in a Q&A and shared his feelings about his debut book, the challenges he faced and the importance of giving full recognition to those he had worked with through the years and who had assisted his journey, including his Saint Lucian father, who served in the RAF, and his Barbadian mother.
Since 2007 the Black History Walks founder and his team have ensured that Black history is in focus throughout the year. Their immersive walks are designed to uncover the 3,500 years of Black history in London streets that so many people pass along daily without any awareness of the ways Black history has shaped modern British culture. St Pauls, Trafalgar Square, Soho, Elephant and Castle and Notting Hill are among the 15 walks covered by the team.
The Notting Hill walk features Claudia Jones, the birth of Notting Hill Carnival and the Mangrove Nine. Information from this segment has been included in the Pearson GCSE exam history syllabus in secondary schools under Black British activism in Notting Hill.
The Black History Walks team also put on talks and film screenings. The African Odysseys programme was set up by Black History Walks and other community activists in 2007. It is now in its 15th year and recently screened the Walter Rodney story at BFI Southbank to a 450-strong audience. It is the only such programme in the country.
At the Prince of Peckham, attendees queued to get their book copies signed and enjoyed a slice of a celebratory cake, in the form of the book, baked for the occasion. If you missed it, don’t worry: additional book launch events – all free to attend ‑ take place on 11, 14, 15 and 18 November, each one focusing on a different theme.
For full details and to book, vist Eventbrite. If you can’t make any of the launch events you can order a copy directly from Jacaranda Books.
