DTA LIVE

Connie Bell and world-renowned Maroon expert, Dr. Michael Siva discuss the history of the Jamaican Maroons, exploring how Africans in Jamaica resisted enslavement by the British and Spanish, establishing their own sovereign nation.

For far too long, resistance has been an unavoidable part of our lives. We want to celebrate resistance to the oppressions we have faced, but It is more important that we can learn the lessons of the struggle and avoid repeating past mistakes. In this episode Connie Bell connects with Dr Geraldine Frieslaar to discuss our future as Africans at home and in the diaspora - revisiting archive collecti...

Connie Bell and world-renowned Maroon expert, Dr. Michael Siva discuss the history of the Jamaican Maroons, exploring how Africans in Jamaica resisted enslavement by the British and Spanish, establishing their own sovereign nation.

Voicing the Legacy of Olive Morris is a new DTA Radio Podcast series with host Chloe Tayali which communicates Olive Morris's legacy through the lens of contemporary activists who are working tirelessly to empower Black communities in Britain and taking matters into their own hands when failed by the governing system. Episode 1 looks at Yasmin Begum's trailblazing work.

Relaxation is part of our repair. The 'Pause & Breathe' Experience, led by @lillianlartey_ is a mindfulness method that offers professionals the opportunity to ‘pause’ from the business, stress, and demands of work and life. Using a few, simple techniques, 'Pause & Breathe' helps you ease anxiety and to breathe deeply, de-stress, quiet the mind, relax the body; be present, rest in stillnes...

Scholar -Activist, Creative Educator and all-round Queen Dr April Louise Pennant traces the history of Penryn Castle - a space billed by the National Trust as a ‘fantasy castle with colonial foundations’ (wtf?!?) - locating her family history in the building of the castle and discussing the reparative work she has been doing involving this site.

In March 2022, the Black Cultural Archives will be launching the Melba Wilson Collection , as part of their project to catalogue Melba Wilson’s papers. The collection spans over 40 years of her work in national and regional mental health programmes, policy units and services, including grassroots and community activism alongside formal policy work and leadership. DTA spent some time with Melba to...

Listen to T oyin Agbetu talk interdependence and imaginaries in the context of his pioneering work with Pan African, human rights organisation Ligali on behalf of the global African family.

DTA connect with Patrick Vernon to discuss the 100 Great Black Britons peoject. From abolitionists and Industrial Revolution-era social reformers to pioneers of modern nursing, beloved children's authors and recipients of the Victoria Cross, 100 Great Black Britons celebrates the many ways in which Black Britons have challenged and overcome racial barriers to make notable advances in their fields.

Archives are fundamental in transforming our relationship to where we are now and how we got here’ Honoured to have Collections Assistant Rhoda Boateng on this week’s Community Spotlight. Rhoda has been doing amazing work caring for the collections at the Black Cultural Archives. There are very few archivists of African heritage in the UK - it’s vital we celebrate us so we can grow.

DTA talk to Pan Afrikan Society Community Forum member Dirg Aaab RIchards about the history and work of the PASCF, an important, African-centred organisation based in Brixton, South London.  

Haitian Professor Bayinnah Bello speaks on the Haitian Revolution of 1791, reframing the narrative surrounding the events that led to the first successful revolution of enslaved Africans in history.

Writer, Poet, and Professor of Criminology & Sociology P rofessor Lez Henry continues his reflection on his experiences growing up in inner city London - drawing parallels between past and present and documenting crucial parts of the so-called ‘Black-British’ experience in the process. #livingthearchive #blackarchives

Acclaimed Dance Writer C harmaine Warren talks cultural legacy, dance and how movement translates as an archive for modern healing and learning.

DTA's Connie Bell and Publisher Tanya Batson Savage pay tribute to Una Marson, a pioneering journalist, poet and activist. Una Maud Victoria Marson (6 February 1905 – 6 May 1965)was a Jamaican feminist , activist and writer, producing poems, plays and radio programmes. She travelled to London in 1932 and became the first black woman to be employed by the BBC during World War II . In 1942 she becam...

Lead From The Land was a collaborative research project between Zambian artist Banji Chona, currently located in Rome, and Nigerian artist Yadichinma Ukoha-Kalu, who lives in Lagos. Their correspondence took the form of a six-week-long residency built on an understanding of food creation and consumption as a ritualistic practice that fosters earthly and ancestral connections. Through their corresp...

Sir Hilary Beckles is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West Indies and chairman of the CARICOM Reparations Commission. In this episode,  he goes in deep on the role of African women in resistance to enslavement, reparative justice, the post-independence political landscape of former colonies, and how institutions are now reckoning with their ugly pasts.

Part two of our conversation with reparationist @mzxosei as she helps us understand the history and the future of the reparations movement and what each one of us can do to get involved.

@mzxosei is a Reparationist, Jurisconsult, Community Advocate, Educator and Ourstorian of the International Social Movement for Afrikan Reparations. We have so much respect for her work that its hard to put it into words. This show is part one of a two-part series exploring her work towards the liberation and reparation of African people the world over, and in particular, those of us who happen to...

The second part of our conversation with Dr Stanley Griffin at the University of the West Indies, Jamaica exploring the decolonising of the archive from a Caribbean perspective. 

'Archives are fundamental to transforming our relationship to where we are now and how we got here.' In this episode of Community Spotlight Rhoda Boateng (Archives Supervisor at the Black Cultural Archives, Brixton) joins us to tell us more about her journey as a memory worker at the BCA and reflect on the importance of #blackarchives and #blackhistory in the light of the 2020 turbulence we are al...

Big Up Ruel Lactavia Spence is a short radio play/provocation addressing the (mis)treatment of Africans from the Caribbean, the so-called WIndrush Generation, on their arrival to the UK. Touching on the contemporary concerns around the danger Covid-19 poses to people of African heritage, this short piece demonstrates the clear, and sometimes troubling legacies of Windrush in the present day. Fresh...

Community Spotlight is a podcast shining a light on the people in our community making history now! In this episode we break bread with Sister Nzingha Assata, long time activist and author of the excellent 'Women In The Garvey Movement'. An unapologetic advocate for the advancement of the Pan-African nation, Sister Nzingha is passionate about the role of women in the struggle for Pan-African liber...

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT: Decolonising The Archive (DTA) presents a special message from the Jamaican High Commissioner addressing COVID-19, travel and other useful advice for Jamaicans in the UK. COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT is a new show on DTA.LIVE focussing on important information from and for African and Caribbean communities.

At a time when it was still possible to talk to someone face to face without the help of zoom, DTA.LIVE caught up with Dr Stanley Griffin at the University of the West Indies, Jamaica, to find out more about how Caribbean memory workers are developing methodologies for recognising, preserving and sharing history that makes sense to their communities.