School of Social and Political Science

Description

The Centre of African Studies is delighted to welcome you to the following book launch:

'Black Britain and Nelson Mandela' edited by Dr Elizabeth Williams

Speaker: Dr Elizabeth Williams, Historian, Associate Director - Library Academic Support, UoE

Selected Authors:

• Professor William Lez Henry, Professor of Criminology and Sociology, University of West London
• Nadia Joseph, Social Justice Campaigner
• Dr Christopher Roy Zembe, Lecturer in History, De Montfort University
• Dr Sireita Mullings-Lawrence, Lecturer in Applied Social Studies and Sociology, University of Bedfordshire

Moderator: Sandra Shakespeare, Founding Director of Museum X CIC and the Black British Museum Project

This book launch will feature and foreground leading Black voices from across the academy, in discourse about Nelson Mandela and the impact of his life upon Black communities and British public life. This is a fresh take on Mandela the Man, rather than the enduring myth. It explores his life and lessons to be learnt via his contribution to the peace in South Africa, legal jurisprudence, theological insight, leadership migration and youth, and more. It also connects with contemporary issues of race in Britain today, taking in the Rhodes Must Fall and Black Lives Matter movement. The result is a collection which will be of interest to students and scholars interested in the connectivity between Britain and South Africa, Africa and the wider diaspora, Black British history and the continued impact of Mandela's life for our times.

When: Wednesday 29th January 2025 (3:30-5pm GMT)

Where: Hugh Robson Building, Lecture Theatre G.04

Format: Hybrid Event. Please register via Eventbrite to receive the MS Teams link on the day.

Speaker Biography:

Dr Elizabeth Williams leads the team of library academic support librarians at the UoE, she is a historian of modern British history, Africa and the African Diaspora, co-editor-in-chief of the History journal (Taylor and Francis) Black Histories: Dialogues https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/rbhi20/about-this-journal#journal-metrics , she writes broadly, her previous book was well-received, The Politics of Race in Britain and South Africa (Bloomsbury pbk 2017). She is an international conference and keynote speaker.

Selected Authors Biographies:

Nadia Joseph has been involved in South African politics personally and professionally. The daughter of veterans of the liberation struggle, she herself worked for the Anti-Apartheid Movement in London and remains an active campaigner around issues of social justice. Nadia is an experienced oral historian. Nadia is conducting interviews with South African struggle elders. She worked on the publication of her father’s memoir Slumboy From The Golden City (Merlin 2018). In 2021, she conducted an oral history interview with her mother, Adelaide Joseph, who was active in the women’s section of the Transvaal Indian Congress in the 1950s and worked alongside Winnie Mandela in the Federation of South African Women. This was published by the Oral History Association of South Africa as part of a collection entitled Tell Your Mother’s Story.

Dr Christopher Roy Zembe is a Lecturer in History at De Montfort University. His research interests are in the colonial and post-colonial histories and the African diaspora. His published work consists of: a book entitled "Zimbabwean Communities in Britain Imperial and Post-Colonial Identities and Legacies". Dr Zembe is also co-Editor-in-chief of the Journal Black Histories.

Dr Sireita Mullings-Lawrence is a visual sociologist and artist . Theoretically her work draws upon postcolonial studies, race and representation and she uses participatory and visual research methods pivoted on themes of digital creativity, youth, class, gender, social enterprise, social exclusion, inclusion, belonging, migration, education, safety and danger.

Professor William Henry is Professor of Criminology and Sociology in the School of Human and Social Sciences and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Lead for UWL.

He is the British Reggae Deejay Lezlee Lyrix, and a writer, poet and community activist renown as a public speaker who has lectured both nationally and internationally and featured in numerous documentaries, current affairs television and radio programmes, for over three decades.

Moderator Biography:

Sandra Shakespeare is a founding director of Museum X CIC and the Black British Museum Project. Museum X works in creative ways with people and museums to explore Black British history. Fundamental to her practice is the creation of work which explores Black British intangible heritage to reshape and expand a national cultural narrative. Her career includes roles at The National Archives developing access to African Caribbean archival collections. A Clore Leadership Fellow, Sandra is a co-founder member of the heritage network Museum Detox – a network for people of colour who work in museums, libraries, galleries, archives, and the heritage sector.