Welcome to my VIRTUAL tour of London's East End, this time focusing on the sites where African Americans performed, lectured and preached outside the city centre.
Black freedom fighters travelled to the British Isles during the c19th to educate audiences about the brutalities of slavery, to write and publish their narratives, raise money to legally purchase themselves or family members, or to settle and work here. In their radical and politicised journeys of freedom, they travelled thousands of miles to give lectures in large cities like London and Edinburgh, to small villages like Bakewell, Keswick and Pembroke.
The reputation of the East End as a violent, lawless, slum-filled place began to emerge in the late c19th. African Americans visited sites like Stepney, Whitechapel, Mile End, Limehouse, and Three Mills from the 1850s onwards, often speaking to working class communities. The Rev. John Sella Martin acted as minister for a congregation in Bromley for a year, and activists like Josiah Henson spoke to hundreds of people in Victoria Park. Many of the original sites no longer remain - a mixture of gentrification and bombing damage from WW2 for example - but it's important to recognise the impact Black Americans had on the people in East London, and how the rich, vibrant and exciting history of the East End has always been shaped by Black activists and the antislavery movement as a whole.
Never taken any of my yours before? Sign up below:
Black Abolitionist Virtual Walking Tour: https://virtualblackabolitionisttour.eventbrite.co.uk
Black Literary London Virtual Walking Tour: https://virtualblackliterarytouroflondon.eventbrite.co.uk
Black American Women Virtual Walking Tour: https://virtualblackamericanwomentour.eventbrite.co.uk
Frederick Douglass in Britain and Ireland Virtual Walking Tour: https://virtualtourfrederickdouglassinbritainandireland.eventbrite.co.uk
Please keep an eye on your email - half an hour before the tour starts, I'll send around a Zoom link and password. Depending on numbers, it will be best to mute yourself while on the call, and after every "virtual stop" if someone wants to ask a question, raise your hand / ask it through the comment box.
Any questions? Contact me at hannahrose.murray78@gmail.com, and if you want to learn more about this topic, please visit my websites www.frederickdouglassinbritain.com (my mapping project) and also https://blackabolitionistwalkingtours.wordpress.com
