Historian, professor, and author Hakim Adi (African and Caribbean people in Britain: A History) explores the story of African and Caribbean people in Britain, covering the period from when St Mary Magdalene’s church was built to the first world war (1878 – 1919). Adi outlines significant world events during this period and the connected issues.

The talk will be followed by a Q&A with A.S. Francis.

About Hakim Adi

Prof. Hakim Adi is Professor of the History of Africa and the African Diaspora at the University of Chichester. Hakim was the first historian of African heritage to become a professor of history in Britain. In January 2018, he launched the world’s first online Masters by Research (MRes) programme on the History of Africa and the African Diaspora. Hakim is also the founder and consultant historian of the Young Historians Project .

Hakim has appeared in many documentary films, on TV and on the radio. He has also written widely on the history of Africa and the African Diaspora. His latest book is Africa and Caribbean People in Britain: A History, published by Penguin in 2022 – which will serve as a foundation for Adi’s talk, where he will explore several important themes and stories covered in the book. Other books by Hakim, include Pan-Africanism and Communism: The Communist International, Africa and the Diaspora, 1919-1939, Pan-Africanism: A History and, as editor Black British History: New Perspectives and Black Voices on Britain. As well as history books for children such as The History of African and Caribbean People in Britain and African Migrations.

About A.S Francis

A.S. Francis is a PhD student at the University of Chichester, researching women’s involvements in Britain’s Black radical organisations during the 1960s-1980s, and the development of a Black women’s movement. In addition to this PhD research, Francis is in the process of writing a publication celebrating the longstanding and far-reaching activism of Gerlin Bean, which is set to be published by Lawrence & Wishart as part of a series of publications about Black Radical women. She is also a consultant to the Young Historians Project, member of the History Matters collective and co-founder of the History Matters Journal.

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The evening is a part of Grand Junction’s Our Shared Heritage talks programme which explores themes from the late Victorian period, when St Mary Magdalene’s was built, from different and diverse perspectives.

Our Shared Heritage celebrates the part that Black, Arab, and Asian people and cultures have played in London’s history.