The best sort of day in Liverpool. Sunny, vibrant and buzzing with anticipation and emotion. As we waited to move off from the Rialto, a trumpeter swung from his window on Upper Parliament Street, serenading the crowd. An estimated 7,000 marchers joined a peaceful, socially-distanced march from Liverpool 8 to a rally at St George’s Plateau on June 13, in support of the Black Lives Matters movement.
Liverpool’s black community is the oldest in Europe. Whereas the other two cities at the centre of the Transatlantic Slavery Triangle, London and Bristol, were already burgeoning cities, Liverpool’s growth was created by the slave trade. It was a small seaport on the Mersey before, by 1740, it became Europe’s most-used slave port, with Liverpool ships transporting around 1.5m slaves from Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries.
It became the city we know today in large part due to the money that flooded in through the slave trade, which was abolished in 1807. Many of our civic buildings, the Town Hall, Lyceum, St George’s Hall and oldest schools have links to the trade.
The Black Lives Matters movement has been the most enduring image of lockdown: the passion and protests haven’t dimmed since they were ignited by the killing in Minneapolis of George Floyd. Perhaps, with more time to listen and reflect - or facing the fear of Covid-19 (and acknowledging the disproportionate deaths of people in BAME communities) – people are beginning to understand the deep-rooted, systemic causes and implications of racism. And the inequalities that it wreaks.
Race, and racism, touches everything in Liverpool. From education and business and representation to music, fashion and football (there’s an excellent article about LFC and race here on the Athletic: https://theathletic.co.uk/1850030/2020/06/09/liverpool-and-racism/). And these conversations have opened up again in recent weeks.
While it was a day of great power and emotion, we mustn’t forget how much there is to be done and that work will take much longer. We are a small team, and we’re all white people; we’ve have been reflecting and learning about how we can do better in our work. We’re working now on putting things in place to make sure that we can be part of the solution, not the problem, and that has been quite confronting.
It can be difficult talking publicly about Black Lives Matters when you’re white. Do I know enough? What if I’m wrong? What right do I have? But it’s good to feel challenged and awkward, and that’s the point. We know that we’re privileged in not having experienced racism. And we’re only beginning to understand our role in taking positive action to break down the structural inequalities that mean People of Colour are underrepresented in the media (and as lawyers, architects, tech developers or CEOs – and many more) and that we need to actively make decisions that make the world fairer.
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Historian Laurence Westgaph spoke at the rally and has been the visible face of the movement locally, appearing on Anfield Wrap, TV and radio news; talking about Penny Lane, statues being pulled down and streets renamed.
Westgaph doesn’t believe that pulling down statues is the right way to address uncomfortable truths. He uses Liverpool’s public realm – the buildings, statues and street names - as a starting point for a conversation, teaching people about the city’s role in the slave trade. His focus is on raising money for a memorial to the slaves who lived, died and were buried in Liverpool. “Many of these individuals were not only interred without a marker but even without their names,” he says. “For example, on 23 Sept 1778 ‘A Black boy belonging to Captain Penny’ was buried at what is now St John’s Gardens. Although we do not know many of their names these individuals deserve to be respectfully commemorated.”
If you’d like to donate to the campaign, find out more here: https://www.facebook.com/donate/621070001951860/1204184029951738/
Independent Liverpool has put together a great blog about local independent businesses, causes and charities. (https://independent-liverpool.co.uk/blog/a-list-of-black-owned-independents-causes-charities-and-platforms-you-should-support-in-liverpool/) Not to forget, too, we’re home to the International Slavery Museum (https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/international-slavery-museum) –I know… it’s not in London. So it seems to have been overlooked occasionally. But it’s one of the best places to learn and reflect, and well worth a visit when it reopens.
And, globally, you can check resources and support the work of the Black Lives Matters movement, here. (https://blacklivesmatter.com/)
– Fiona