New Book Includes Chapter on The John Blanke Project

​Ohajuru, M.I. (2020) Before and After the Eighteenth Century: The John Blanke Project. In Grezina, H. G. Britain’s Black Past (pp 7-25). Liverpool: Liverpool University Press
 
Some time ago Professor Gretchen Gerzina invited me to write a chapter for the book she was editing, developing the black histories she first revealed in her ground-breaking 2016 BBC Radio 4 series Britain’s Black Past. In her radio programme Professor Gerzina vividly brought that past to life as she discussed and debated the lives and times of black folk with experts as they walked together through the places those people lived – the streets of London, Glasgow, Liverpool and elsewhere.  Professor Gerzina had the idea to bring the scholarship she uncovered in Britain’s Black Past radio program together in a book which would include not just contributions from those whose research featured but from others reflecting how the field of research has developed since then, and to move beyond those working in academic institutions to include an actor, a lawyer , a museum curator and independent scholars like myself. The result is Britain’s Black Past edited by Gretchen Gerzina and published by Liverpool University Press.
 
I was humbled and honoured to be invited to make my contribution when I looked at the names Professor Gerzina had invited to take part in the project, many of whom whose worked I had admired and used as part of my own reading and research into Britain’s black history. My chapter is about the John Blanke Project, and further honoured to have it as Chapter One in the book. In the chapter I discuss the genesis and the Project, how it has developed over the years and concludes with my ideas on the importance of the humanities and the imagination at the heart of the project. This was my first time in print and Professor Gerzina was so helpful and considerate, suggesting edits, both in content and style for which I was very grateful. She made the writing editing process much less daunting than I had anticipated, for which I thank her. On the subject of thanks, I would also like to thank Stephen B, Whatley for allowing me to use his version - a beautiful modernist charcoal drawing -  of John Blanke in my chapter.
 
I was particularly pleased to read Kathleen Chater’s chapter on the recovery of Britain’s black past through family and community histories, which mentions What’s Happening in Black British History workshops, for which Doctor Miranda Kaufmann and I are the co-convenors. We bring together academic and community historians just as Professor Gerzina has done  in Britain’s Black Past to tell an inclusive story making black British history not just about a black past but a shared past. You can order the book from Amazon or direct from Liverpool University Press.

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