Historian doing a PhD with
@EnglishHeritage
looking at mahogany, 18th century Atlantic world & Blackness | writing labels
@chelsphysicgdn
| Views my own
It was such an honour to work with
@HistoryExtra
on this Black British History guide for BBC History Revealed magazine, out now.
I loved getting to share everything I’ve learned over the past few years 🥰
Last week my life changed forever and I couldn’t be happier.
Welcome to the world baby 👶🏽
Decided to make a slightly dramatic early arrival but has been pretty chill ever since. Finally home after a long stay in hospital and loving settling into newborn life.
I know this isn’t an original thought but being at home, alone, with a baby under 10 weeks is just miserably hard. If you want more babies normalise partners being at home, paid, for the first 3 months.
I've just uploaded all of my
#blacktudors
lessons and resources to the SHP drive:
Hope they're useful and you enjoy teaching the enquiry as much as I did. I can't tell you how much it's benefitted students' understanding in our current slavery enquiry.
Any other HoDs in struggle town right now? CAGs admin, realising how long it’s been since things have been “normal” & how that has really affected what we do, wanting to plan new stuff to stay excited but feeling exhausted from just doing what we’ve got to do 😂
The happiest of Fridays 🥳 Vulnerable staff at school were offered the vaccine to avoid wasting leftover doses. So so grateful. Will make going back in March hugely less worrying & will hopefully mean we can finally go on our honeymoon 🏝 Please go get it when you’re offered 🙏🏽
Went to the big reopening of the
@NPGLondon
last night.
Had a glass of 🥂, saw the work I did on empire up on the walls and ended up feeding the baby in front of a massive painting ft Winston Churchill.
Been a bit quiet on here recently. Growing a human for the last 6 months has been a madness 🤰🏽
I’ll be taking a PhD & freelance break from late May so if you want to work together before then, lmk!
Thanks to everyone who has been supportive these past months, it means the 🌍
@Fxtzs
I would love LOVE to read this once it’s marked. 10 years ago I proposed a history dissertation on the creation of black British masculinity & was told it couldn’t be done. So so glad it’s now been written, the world needs this 👏🏾 Wishing you all the best.
Final day of teaching today 🥺 I’ve worked hard on curriculum these past few years but the thing I’m proudest of is the possibility I made everyone feel equally valued & heard. The idea I was able to create safe spaces for students to learn challenging history means the world
Have to admit, something that makes me super happy on hearing about students watching my
@OakNational
videos is knowing they would have seen someone teaching History with an afro and with twists
I won a prize! 🏆
This was my first academic conference paper & I was anxious it wasn’t “academic” enough but I got some lovely comments about the quality of research & how it shifted attendees’ thinking on women & empire.
Thanks so much to
@PowerPatriarchy
for organising 🥰
Huge congratulations to our Day 1 winner
@hannahcusworth
for her paper, 'Marble Hill and Henrietta Howard: mistress, survivor, imperialist?'
Nominations for Hannah's paper mentioned Hannah's engaging, accessible delivery style & multi-faceted discussion🎉👏
#PowerAndPatriarchy
I wrote a comment piece in the Evening Standard about teaching black history and where I hope we can focus our energies. Thanks
@susannahbutter
for asking me to write it.
Empire is on the curriculum but 72 per cent of secondary-age children attend an academy or free school, so their teachers don’t need to follow it.
@hannahcusworth
on why we must change the way black history is taught (and how Stormzy could fund this...)
Is it crazy to suggest to a trainee teacher that they should script the beginning of a lesson? (getting them in, standing behind chairs, silent, sitting down, doing the starter etc)
?) I have lots of set phrases for this routine which I find frees me up to deal with ad hoc issues
Right now, I’d be really in favour of abolishing Black History month in the hope that some of the work would be spread across the year rather than concentrated in one week at the end of September 🙏🏾
Excited to have arrived in the 🇺🇸 and be
@BrownUniversity
for the next month.
Using the rare books in the
@JCBLibrary
, I’m looking at the role West African knowledge likely played in the early mahogany trade.
👋🏾 apologies if I don’t reply for a little while. I should’ve been getting married next Saturday so I’m taking some time off work/Twitter to hang out with
@jamesjroach
Hopefully we'll have better luck second time round, just like we did with the proposal 😂
Excited (and slightly nervous) about giving a seminar
@oxfordhistory
tomorrow on methodologies for studying mahogany, featuring Tina M. Campt, Saidiya Hartman, Christina Sharpe and the possibilities of using authethnography 🙏🏽
Been working on this project for months and so excited to see it come together. In the CPD I’ll be talking through an enquiry I’ve made based on the BFI archives. The films are so powerful for teaching Black history. 1/
📽️ History teachers, inspire your students with film! Register today for our free CPD event, Black Lives on Screen with
@hannahcusworth
. Mon 15 Mar, 4pm
#edutwitter
Is it just me or does a salary of £50k seem quite low to be the head of a such a significant museum? It’s a lower salary than being a Head of Department in an inner London school…
Today marks the 60th anniversary of the Bristol Bus Boycott. I was blessed to do this podcast with
@HistoryExtra
exploring the causes, events & consequences of this landmark action.
Had my first proper supervisory meeting on Friday where I shared this presentation. Have genuinely loved these past few weeks making a start on the PhD & feel so blessed that this is my job now 🥰
I miss the kids a lot but I don’t miss the Sunday fear.
For the love of god, please pay people appropriately when they are doing talks etc for Black History Month. It takes time to plan & produce the talk but most organisations seem to be offering pay like I’m just turning up and saying stuff off the top of my head 🙅🏽♀️
After a shocker of a Thursday, where it was suggested I might fail my Annual Review 💀
I passed & went to a jazz festival with my mum for the weekend 💃🏾
Saying ✌🏾 to this academic year & 👋🏾 to summer.
@DAO5000
I’ve had a few pretty terrible experiences of the National Archives and their staff since starting the PhD so I’m not surprised because my trust is somewhat gone.
Reading Silk Roads to my Year 7s using Google Meets. They were all on mute (aside from one, so you don’t feel like you’re talking into a void!) I was reading & asking questions, which they replied to using the chat function. It actually worked pretty well!
Found out earlier that the BBC Teach Small Axe project I worked on has won a
@creativereview
award 🏆 It was such an honour to work on the project alongside such amazing people. I hope teachers are finding the resources useful 🙏🏽
Began teaching
#BlackTudors
for the first time today. Our EQ is “How did
@MirandaKaufmann
uncover the lives of Black Tudors?” We’re focusing on evidential thinking & today’s lesson was a bit of an intro thinking why it might be hard to know about their lives 1/
Looking very serious talking about how we are doing the
@OCR_History
African Kingdoms paper as part of our new A Level
@CharterEast
: (second story) Thanks
@BBCLondonNews
for coming down!
You know what’s nice when you’ve got “your work is too journalistic, heavy on personal journey and doesn’t cite enough” living rent free in your head?
An email from Taylor & Francis saying your article is in publication 💁🏽♀️
Still a bit shocked about this one but very honoured. Looking forward to spending a week back at college in Trinity speaking about mahogany, teaching & more 🥳
We are very happy to say that
@hannahcusworth
(History & Politics, 2008) has been elected as our Frankland Visitor for 2022! We will post more details in due course. Congratulations Hannah!
#BNC
It’s me, on TV!
I loved filming this
@SkyArts
documentary ‘Behind the Scenes at the National Portrait Gallery’. I had the honour to talk about photos the NPG has of Ina/Sarah Forbes Bonetta.
Looking for a Black graphic designer who can do branding and basic animation for a paid piece of work. Ideally with some experience of working with museums. Any suggestions? Feel free to DM also 🙏🏾
2021 has been a big one. Getting married, starting a PhD, James opening his architecture practice with Andy, visiting Antigua for the first time. Doing it during a pandemic hasn’t been ideal but I feel super blessed & thankful to everyone on here who has helped me along the way🙏🏽
Howling that one of my students has described disillusioned ex-soldiers in Weimar Germany as nationalist “fanboys” who were hit hard by the Treaty of Versailles.
Blessed to be joining the team
@HistoryWO
later this month as an editorial fellow 🥰 In the interview, I talked quite a bit about the amazing research so many History teachers are doing to make ‘history from below’ a reality.
New hair done 💇🏽♀️ and on my way to
@BSECS
conference.
Looking forward to meeting people I chat to here in person and talking about mahogany, Jamaica and the concept of home tomorrow
#BSECS2023
Thank you
@lauren_working
for bringing us all together and inviting me (and my baby & mum) to talk about free women of colour & mahogany.
I now know I can give a paper and breastfeed a baby at the same time 💁🏽♀️
A sunny Queen’s House, what a venue for my first meeting back 😍
Thanks
@RMGreenwich
for being so accommodating of me bringing husband, baby and buggy along.
Does anyone I know, know Stormzy or anyone at
@MerkyBooks
? I would so love it if some of this money went into training teachers about teaching black British history
Very excited to be heading to Rhode Island for 2 months in the autumn 🥳
I’ll be focused on the role West African & Indigenous knowledge played in the British mahogany trade in Jamaica and Belize.
Would love any RI advice/meet ups.
Super happy to have passed my driving theory test 🥳
Had a pretty rubbish start as was initially told I couldn’t wear the hair wrap while doing the test. I’d just taken my braids out & my hair had no business being out & I had no hair tie. Felt humiliating.
Having COVID isn’t the best way to spend your 1st wedding anniversary (very much less glam than the wedding day) but I have loved doing life this year
@jamesjroach
and I’m looking forward to many more 😘
It’s really cool to see all of these PhD scholarships being advertised specifically for Black students but pls would universities also consider putting money towards specialist support to help us navigate & thrive in an academy that is not equipped to teach & work with us.
Today I tried to ride my bike but snapped two different chains and so had to get a taxi home after 20km. However, yesterday I went on a beautiful bike ride & got engaged so, y’know, swings and roundabouts 🎡
This is a slightly bittersweet announcement. I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting Dr Ono-George but have heard her on a couple of podcasts & she seems like an incredible historian & person. I am so, so glad Queens have made this appointment. I had my thesis supervised by 1/
The College is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Meleisa Ono-George to its Brittenden Fellowship in History: Dr Meleisa will have an Associate Professorship in Oxford's History Faculty
@OxfordHistory
Leaving Antigua after an amazing 2 weeks of honeymoon. Visiting a former sugar plantation obviously isn’t the most romantic thing to do but it felt important. This is me standing in front of the restored windmill of Betty’s Hope, which was owned by the Codringtons 1/
@soniasodha
We’re defensive because we’re angry & worried that policy change will be based on inaccuracies that are being fuelled by the media. Change the tone, we’ll become less defensive. Equally, attacking those on the front line is not a good look & it won’t achieve the outcome you want.
Come work with me! So, so excited to be hiring someone to come work as part of our lovely, growing team 🥳 If you love History & are passionate about teaching a diverse curriculum in a diverse school, let me know!
The internet was down on Friday at school. We’re a Google School so this meant 9A were treated to an hour on mahogany (with a few pictures I’d put on a PowerPoint by toggling from my phone to laptop.) Made me hyped about the possibilities to teach it as an enquiry in schools 🧵
Loved my first experience of documentary filming on Friday. Everyone made me feel so at ease. Thought it would be quite similar to podcasting but it’s more akin to classroom teaching (with much better lighting & more 🎬)
And just like that my summer baby is an autumn infant 🍂 🥹
Excited for this new season in life. Although I really wanted to be a mum, I was a bit scared I wouldn’t like it. Social media can make having kids sound like a terrible decision but it has been so life affirming.
Had a call yesterday about a documentary. Won’t lie, I was pretty nervous about if my brain would still work after a couple of months of only really thinking about babies.
Turns out the experience is pretty much the same as before I was a mum, just with added pumps 😅
🎙 I did a podcast with
@HistoryExtra
🎧
I chose to speak about Aina Forbes Bonetta, often described as a Yoruba princess who became the godchild of Queen Victoria 👑
Has anyone ever traced the lives of any of the Windrush passengers? I was looking at this ace digitised passenger list and thought I'd see if anyone had put a proposed address that was local to us. Turns out 7 men did... all to Gordon Road, SE15 (Peckham)
As we come to the end of
#MentalHealthAwarenessWeek
thinking of all secondary colleagues who will be teaching this week unvaccinated, in maskless classrooms, as the B.1.617.2 becomes more prevalent. I don’t really know what else to say 🙏🏽
I should have been flying to the 🇺🇸 tomorrow to start my fellowship at Brown. But turns out what I thought was my visa, was just the official document I needed to be eligible for the visa 😭
Pretty big L to take but Brown have been super kind about it & I’ll be there by October!
There’s been a big increase in police presence in our area. Police walking round the estate; pulling over black drivers; reports of people I know being stopped & searched. It feels scary & overwhelming. First corona, now this. I haven’t really known what to say on Twitter 1/2
TAGs has been hard but TAGs with 3 Y9, 2 Y8 and a Y7 class has, at times, almost broken me. The switch between spreadsheets & forms 1 minute to teaching & managing the behaviour a very busy class of 29 Y8s the next 🤪
I’ll keep saying this - the younger the students (at secondary level), then generally the more taxing it is to teach them *in the classroom* (marking/planning excluded) IMO. A KS3 heavy timetable vs KS4/5 is *very* different in terms of energy required, classroom management etc.
💯 would recommend a little trip away to the High Weald/Rye (if you like food, beaches & flowers)
Went for a little last minute 👶🏽 🌝 and had the best time. After 9 months of anxiety it was such a joy. Not long to go now 🙏🏾
I can’t square imposing Tier 2/3 restrictions, not providing appropriate financial support & then voting against FSM. I got them as a child, I still remember the feeling of shame. I don’t think anyone wants FSM, but lots of families need them, now more than ever.
Why do textbooks keep perpetuating the fallacy that "Europe wasn't interested" in Africa until the late 19th century? There are so many examples of interaction between between European states and West Africa throughout history.
Absolutely loving this book. Was skeptical at first, but fell in love with the amazing linocuts at the beginning of each chapter. Struck by many things, but mostly about just how much history there is & the connectivity between regions (both in & outside of the African continent)
This feels a bit mad but do any historians know of articles (or books) about the mechanics of archival work as a research method?
In the Social Sciences there seem to be text book chapters about ethnography (for example) & I’m looking for something similar for archival work 👀
#BREAKING
- Barbados to build Transatlantic Slavery Museum- largest collection of British slave records outside of UK; to incl. memorial, museum & research institute; designed by Sir David Adjaye - architect of Nat'l Museum of Af Am History in Washington; below is memorial design
It's been a little bit sad teaching lessons that I remember felt really magical in the classroom last year, but feel like they haven't quite been as powerful over Google Meets.
Loving that my PhD also feels a bit like an apprenticeship sometimes. Learning bits about curatorial and conservation whenever I visit the houses. Turns out ceramics cleaning is incredibly calming.
Solidarity with Heads of History across the country who have waited for months for guidance about exams & it seems like it’s still not 💯 clear what will be happening in the summer.
Just found out that the
@PenguinUKBooks
#LitInColour
application I made just before I left the school was successful 🥳 They had 1600 applications! Sad I won’t be there to see the books but glad to have contributed something to the school library on my way out!
Since it’s September, I’ve been reflecting on last academic year, my first as a PhD student and my first back at university since 2013.A 🧵 on some of the things I was worried about and how they turned out. Thought it might be useful for people starting this year.
I’ve been reflecting about my mental health quite a bit recently. It took a big beating last academic year but recently I have been so much lighter & less full of anxiety. I have the time & space to look after myself and that is bringing me a lot of joy 💖
#WorldMentalHealthDay
Back after a little Twitter break to finish a journal article and go on a low key research trip to 🇯🇲 with my mum. Did lots of writing, sunbathing & taking pictures of mahogany 🌿
Have seen a few people tweeting about
@OakNational
This summer I worked on 3 enquiries. I've used them with our students since September, feedback has been pretty posi. Two of the enquiries are 4 lessons long, so could work well for the next 2 weeks of online learning 1/
Thank you for having me! I really appreciated the opportunity to try out the research for the next chapter of my thesis in front of such a thoughtful, supportive audience.
I also really appreciate this photo of me presenting with a hint of 🤰🏽
Saying 👋🏽 to January with a trip to Cambridge & these incredible skies 🌇
January was a tough month full of research trip funding applications, references stress & family health scares. Hoping for a much brighter February 🙏🏽
Sorry if I’ve not replied to messages/emails recently. I’ve been rather unwell these past few weeks & was signed off work. I’m doing a lot better, but not 💯 back to normal just yet. 1/
A massive thank you to
@Counsell_C
and
@EG_Carr
for making my article a reality. I came so close to pulling out and saying I couldn’t do it because of TAGs/PhD interview prep/the cancer scare. Each time they stepped in & helped out despite being incredibly busy themselves.
Being ill recently has left me feeling like I’ve not really got very much done. So in an attempt to cheer myself up now I’m doing much better, I thought I’d make a 2022 🎄advent calendar🎄of things I’m proud of/glad about (in no particular order)