Brighton and Hove Black History is a Brighton community group whose aim is to challenge racism and prejudice by raising awareness of the multicultural history in Sussex and the UK, established in 2002.
A largely untold story from Brighton's diverse past, the three kings of Bechuanaland (now called Botswana) came to the UK to urge the British Government to stop Cape Colony Prime Minister Cecil Rhodes and his company The British South Africa Company from taking ownership of their country. Rhodes was a well known racist and brutal employer.
He also wanted to build a railway across Bechuanaland linking the Cape to Cairo and to giving all the land 20 miles either side of the railway line to White farmers.
Suchi Chatterjee, Lead Historian, Brighton & Hove Black History says:
"It proves what my friend Bert Williams MBE has been saying for years, that Brighton's diverse history runs deep and long.
"The Three Kings visit to Brighton in 1895 is just one of many secret histories that we are uncovering in Sussex where people of the diaspora are making their presence felt after so many years hidden away."
The kings took control of the situation and commissioned a local Brighton man, Charles Willoughby, to organise a tour of Britain for them.
They visited Brighton and Sussex as part of their visit to the UK, including visits to Elm Grove Primary School, Brighton Museum and Union Church on Ship Street.
The project will create online downloadable schools resources for Key Stages 1, 2 ,3 and a short film aimed at secondary school children.
The aim of the project is to combat racism in schools by providing much needed, high quality resources for teaching Black History and histories of the Empire with a thrilling local angle for schools in Brighton and Hove and Sussex.
These resources will help schools teach citizenship, history and other parts of the curriculum, as well give local students a rooted connection to
Brighton's history of multicultural diversity during
Black History Month.
The project team includes lead historian Suchi Chatterjee, historian Bert Williams MBE, education specialist Gabrielle Rowles and project manager Amy Zamarripa Solis.
The project also aims to address the lack of diverse teaching resources, including anti-racist and Black History.
This project is commissioned by University of Sussex and funded by Economic and Social Research Council.
It builds on a previous project AHRC-funded research project Making African Connections from Sussex and Kent Museums with Sussex University and Brighton Museum.