Historian and filmmaker Santilla Chingaipe joins BBC presenter Rakeem Omar for a powerful conversation about the Black men, women and children written out of Australia’s colonial history.
When the First Fleet arrived in Australia in 1788, at least 15 of the convicts on board were of African descent. By 1840, almost 500 Black convicts had been transported to the continent, yet their lives and experiences have largely disappeared from the history taught in Australia and beyond.
In her book Black Convicts: How Slavery Shaped Australia, Santilla Chingaipe recovers the stories of these overlooked men, women and children.
Working through colonial archives and the fragments of information they contain, she uncovers connections between Britain, Africa, the Caribbean, North America and Australia. Her research asks important questions about slavery, empire, punishment and the forces that shaped the development of modern Australia.
Santilla Chingaipe is a Zambian-born filmmaker, historian and author. A former journalist with SBS World News, she spent nearly a decade reporting across Africa and covering Australia’s African diasporic communities.
Her acclaimed documentary Our African Roots brought her investigation of Australia’s colonial history to television. Black Convicts was shortlisted for the Stella Prize and longlisted for the Cundill History Prize.
Joining Santilla in conversation is Rakeem Omar, an award-winning journalist and BBC television and radio presenter. Rakeem presents on BBC Radio 1Xtra and has previously appeared on BBC Radio 1 and the BBC Radio WM Breakfast Show.
A graduate of Channel 4’s Investigative Journalism MA, he has written for the Birmingham Mail, LADbible and the Mirror. He has also developed five half-hour current-affairs films commissioned by BBC England.
Together, Santilla and Rakeem will discuss the people at the heart of Black Convicts, the work involved in recovering histories that have been overlooked and why these stories continue to matter today.
There will be an opportunity for members of the audience to ask questions.
Booking is required. Doors normally open 30 minutes before events at the Legacy Centre of Excellence.
For enquiries, contact info@legacycoe.co.uk or call 0121 448 8910.
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