In Oct 2013, The Archivist Sarah Dickie at the Essex Record Office reported that Black people have been living in Essex since 1580 and that only limited documents existed referencing blacks living in Essex from 1580 -2011.
In the last 20 years, there has been a steady influx of black diasporan migrants into Essex (which is a 90.4% predominantly white borough).
They have growing families in Essex, with kids going to local schools and becoming a larger population in many of the local schools.
The Over 50s Black Men forum was formed in Chelmsford, Essex, which is seeing the increasing growth of Black African Migrants and majority of the current O5BM membership are part of the influx.
For example, Chelmsford 20 years ago, could count only a handful of blacks living in Chelmsford. Most were Zimbabwean and engaged as care workers.
Fast forward 15 years and the black population has increased significantly with blacks now having shops in the high street and creating jobs.
This prompted O5BMs participation in cultural and intergenerational activities with the Chelmsford Museum. Lessons learnt from the Windrush scandal is that we (blacks) must make our presence felt positively on the community and it is our prerogative to engage with the community and to let them know our stories.
The project intentionally focuses on capturing diasporic oral history and will be linked to the understanding of cultural traditions of the diasporans. It is important that indigenous communities do not perceive the new influx as ‘takers and leeches on their local economic and social infrastructure.
Oftentimes, immigration statistics and numbers have been part of the negative representation of new settlers into a community. An example of this was how immigration was weaponised during the Brexit vote and is still being used to create a hostile environment.
This focus also links to personal heritage, in that diasporans are descendants of colonised people and some of their stories are rooted in and linked to British colonial education and industrial development. For example, some went to English based catholic schools in their native lands before migrating to the UK. Some have grandparents and parents who studied in Essex as part of British colonial education and have heard oral stories from their parents and grandparents about life in Essex during the colonial period.
Diasporains oral history is therefore a beacon of resilience, connecting us all in our shared journey across time and continents. And this project is important to the older black male diasporains who have settled in Essex over the last 20-25 years. They want to celebrate and capture the uniqueness of their heritage, the rich and powerful tapestry woven from their voices, memories, and experiences as a dispersed community.
Their experiences that have transcended geographical boundaries, have bridged continents and generations.
This project captures these stories in such a way that their children, many who were born in Essex, are black British and have only learned about British History in schools, can glean knowledge of their ancestral heritage, their identity and some of the positive impact of British colonial legacy.