Black History Month - Cambs City Branch
Our branch marked Black history month by mounting a photo – exhibition at Brownsfield site for members by Andrew Crowe, who works in the community sector.
Andrew is a care worker and photographer in his spare time. He has travelled to Egypt photographing statuary from the time when this area was known as Kemet literally ‘land of the blacks’. Indeed it is easy to see the links between kemet and the rest of Africa from the features of people depicted in statues and tomb art.
However in more recent times (last hundreds of years) statues have been deliberately defaced to disguise their true origins. This too is widely documented by Andrew, who has recorded many statues with noses, chins & other features broken off to disguise African features. Andrew says:
‘heritage is important to many Black British people. It’s easy to feel disconnected from mainstream history as a Black person in Britain today, and Kemet is a culture that is of universal interest to many people and which, unusually for an African culture, provides written evidence of its accomplishments. The colossal scale of the buildings and the statues that clearly show African people as powerful rulers and protectors of their country are important evidence of a great civilisation. However, African achievement is often neglected by the media and in the British education system’
The Fitzwilliam museum also exhibited Andrew’s work for Black History month, proof that there is beginning to be recognition of how history and archaeology have in the past been distorted.
Not a member?
If you're not a member of a union, join one now! Union members get a better deal at work all round. To find out more go to Join UNISON