LBCTP Evaluation Bk
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LEEDS BI-CENTENARY TRANSFORMATION PROJECT Highlighting African achievemen in commemoration of the British t, liberation and aspirations: Parliamentary Abolition Act 1807 A bout the Project … 2007 - 2009 Contents 3 Foreword –A France MBE 5 Introduction –Dr Carl Hylton 6 LBCTP Department Chair’ said ... 7 About the LBCTP DVD 8 LBCTP 07/08 Programme Calendar 12 Education & Museums Programme 14 Churches & Abolition Programme 16 Arts & Carnival Culture Programme 18 Legacy: Black History & Community Development 20 Media & Communications 22 What Our Participants & Audiences said ... 26 LBCTP in Numbers 29 LBCTP Management, Staff & Volunteers 30 LBCTP in Figures 32 Acknowledgements 33 Useful Black History Resources produced by LBCTP 2 Foreword by Arthur France MBE Chairperson, LBCTP As you read through this review and view the accompanying DVD, you may ask yourself, for the money spent, ‘what have we learned, what have we gained, and what legacies will we leave behind?’ To answer this I need to take you on a journey, asking the same questions all along the way: First, there was our Africa and our people, then a time came when many of our people were captured, kidnapped and transported all over the world to work in enslavement on the farms and plantations of strangers, for the next 400-years or so. Over the past 27-months we have retold this story to thousands of young and older people through over 100 programmes and events. During those 400 years, thousands of enslaved men and women sacrificed their lives to free Africans and preach freedom, and we have taught about some of them: Olaudah Equiano, Mary Prince, Frederick Douglass, Phyllis Wheatley, Ottobah Cuguano, Toussaint L’Ouverture, Harriet Tubman and countless others whose names will never be known. Towards the end of those 400-years, these names were joined by notable ’White’ abolitionists, such as John Newton, Granville Sharpe and William Wilberforce, until, some 200-years ago, the living and the dead had created an environment that changed things and heralded in the 1807 Act of Abolition, and in 1833, the Act of Emancipation. ‘Up from slavery’ did not necessarily mean, free! There was the great ‘Scramble for Africa’, and the colonial, apartheid and civil rights periods to endure. So we have also learned about the Nkrumahs, Garveys, Angela Davis, Malcolm X, the Toures, Rosa Parks, alongside Dr King and his famous and inspiring dream. These people, their dreams and further sacrifices helped take us through 3 these times; our great migrations from Africa and the Caribbean to the UK; the independence movements and the post-colonial periods of the 60s & 70s, and our own struggles in the UK with our heroes and heroines. If we were to describe their legacy, today, it would be very much about the part-fulfilment of that dream with the inauguration of the 1st Black President of the United States of America. And so we come to our part of the journey. We have chart- ed, recorded, written down and taught what we know about our past. Those who didn't know, now know! Those who knew, now know more. But what is our legacy, what does the LBCTP leave behind and where do we go from here? Our most important legacy to you is knowledge. Where do you go from here? Passing on this knowledge to one another and especially to children and young people, which guarantees all our efforts will not be lost. Being proud to share this knowledge will impart pride to others, honour to those who have contributed to our struggles and hopefully, inspire some of our young people to seek and pass on knowledge themselves. LBCTP has created and distributed new resources to inform and reinforce our retold and new knowledge. This is also part of our legacy to present and future generations. For the future, we aim to create an accessible archive of all this knowledge and resource, and partner with other organisations to create a working museum dedicated to our people, right here in Leeds. It would also be good to demarcate Chapeltown with a town charter, as a place where our nations have not just passed through but have established roots. In this way we can help provide the platform for a new generation of Black aspirants living Dr King’s dream and President Obama’s achievement. This transformation of our people is our primary objective! AF 4 Introduction By Dr Carl Hylton Director, LBCTP Arthur France has eloquently outlined our communal journey and the part played by the 3 -year efforts of our Bi-Centenary programme. Here my task as Project Director is to give thanks and praise to everyone who helped us to develop, sustain and deliver such a varied Africancentric educational, spiritual, arts and historical cul- tural programme of events. The individuals, organisations, busi- nesses and funders can be found listed throughout this impres- sive booklet and accompanying DVD that I hope will become items we can treasure as a show-piece of our immense capabilities and hu- manity as people of African descent. We can be justly proud of our individual and community effects, which have emanated from the centre of our Leeds community although its foundations were formed in Africa and the Caribbean. While our 3-year transformation journey has been collective there are also individual experiences of which there are many. I take this opportunity to record that my personal journey has enabled me to continue and consolidate my own personal transformation towards becoming more ‘human’. I am especially proud of the permanent records we leave behind particularly the various resources detailed at the end of this booklet. Our work with Leeds young people is particularly satisfying especially the outcome of work in schools and our Curriculum Development lesson plans, which will be used in all schools in Leeds. I hope that you enjoy this project review booklet and DVD and look forward to your continued support in our future efforts to consolidate and continue to reach out beyond the confines of our immediate physical surroundings – the struggle continues. CH 5 LBCTP Department Chair’s said … Rev Gloria Hanley, Chair -Churches & Abolition “The year spent organising and delivering the Churches & Abolition programme has been a huge educational journey which has helped to improve my spiritual life.” Tony Stanley, Chair -Education & Museums “Our aim was to engage with as many young people as possible across Leeds and to get them to consider issues of Enslavement and Rebellion in a new light. Through our schools based activities and our publications I think we have achieved this and much more!” Grace Inniss, Chair -Media & Communications “2007 was a poignant time to reflect on our history and the roots of present day society. It was an honour and a privilege to be involved in the project and witness Leeds communities come together for the common good. I believe as a people we must have a sense of purpose therefore our focus on the young is of paramount importance for continuity.” Gary Grant, Chair -Legacy & Community Development “Robin Walker’s 90 Black History classes, reinforced by all the other Africancentric lectures, seminars and workshops we have hosted, give us a new and up to date legacy of knowledge about our historical and contemporary affairs.” Joe Williams, Chair -Arts & Carnival Culture "LBCTP offered opportunities to continue telling stories of our ancient journey. We made amazing local discoveries and creatively presented examples of African excellence in Yorkshire's history. It has been a great pleasure seeing participants expressing the real roots of the spirit of Carnival and connecting with African knowledge and aspirations. We have a great history, a great community and the work continues through the talents of our young people." 6 About the LBCTP DVD … The LBCTP DVD and this companion- evaluative booklet has been designed to give an overview of the work of the Leeds Bi-Centenary Transformation Project during 2007 - 2009. The DVD touches on over 100 bi-centenary events and is conveniently indexed under the project’s 5 main programmes strands: Education & Museums; Arts & Carnival Culture; Churches & Abolition; Legacy: Black History & Community Development; and Media & Communications. Further information about LBC TP pr ogr amm es, event s , publications, exhibitions and other bi-centenary resources, can be found on the project website at www.leedsbicentenary.org.uk Additionally, information about specific LBCTP produced resources can be found at the back of this review. Alternatively, write to the project: The Director, LBCTP Leeds West Indian Centre Charitable Trust 10 Laycock Place, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS7 3JA DVD Compiled & Produced by KUYA Multimedia 0781 472 4048 7 2007-2009 LBCTP PROGRAMME OF ACTIVITIES 8 9 10 11 Education & Museums The largest of our Bi-Centenary programmes: Work in Schools Two Experienced Writers worked with pupils from 10 Stephen Lawrence Ed- ucation Standard schools in Leeds, to ex- plore the trans-Atlantic slave trade and its abolition, and put together a publication ‘Trading Roots’ of all their findings, writings and illustrations. More than 480 primary and secondary school pupils participated in our work-in-schools. Museum Project & Exhibition LBCTP commissioned 2 Community Curators, who worked with more than 300 school pupils, parents and teachers and the Leeds Discovery Centre, to mount a mobile exhibition of artefacts depicting aspects of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. More than 4,000 people visited the mobile exhibition in 7 venues. It is now permanently housed at the Leeds Discovery Centre. Museum Visits Increasing awareness of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and its abolition was the objective of 18 educational excursions by 630 pupils, parents and teachers to Liverpool’s Maritime Museum, Harewood House and the Wilberforce Museum in Hull.