In the UK: Journey to the Metropole

I am in London because I was selected to give a paper at a conference at the University of Nottingham.  The conference was called Resonating Occupation. Scholars from all over the world were there to share papers on what colonial occupation sounds like. Ethnomusicologists, literary scholars, composers and sound studies folks from India, Israel, Malaysia, China and a few from the US (all from California except for me).  I was blessed with the privilege and honor to represent the African American experience at the conference. My paper was called Hush Harbor as Sanctuary: African American Survival Silence During British/American slavery. In the paper I argued that when we were first brought to America we were colonial subjects, non-citizens and dominated by an ‘occupying force’: British turned American slave owners/colonizers like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and many of the other so-called ‘founding fathers.’ We survived by using coded language and song, and by engaging in secret religious/prayer meetings at night called hush harbors. The hush harbor is where our spirituals, ring shouts and way of practicing Christianity as a mode of liberation was formed. My paper was very well received.

St. Pancras Station, London UK

This is my first time to the UK. The metropole as it is called. The University of Nottingham’s campus was incredibly beautiful. So green. It is spring here. A cool spring. I arrived in London at Gatwick Airport (via Iceland). Took a train into London’s St. Pancras station and then another train to Nottingham. St. Pancras station is beautiful. It has an expansive and airy arched vaulted ceiling. Trendy shops and lots of places to eat. I spent an enjoyable hour waiting for my connection. I had something called an elderflower refresher and bread with a whipped cauliflower spread and blue cheese.

Whipped Cauliflower and Blue Cheese

The English country side is absolutely beautiful. I have always liked the combination of old and new in European cities. I could not completely abandoned myself to complete joy however, because I kept thinking of Britain as a colonial power. And I kept comparing the condition this country is in to some of its former colonies that I have visited. Specifically Ghana and Zimbabwe. This is a land that was never colonized, but benefited from the wealth of other nations around the globe. That means beautiful wrought iron gates and other  iron works with gold detailing (from Ghana or South Africa no doubt). That means sleek train systems and well paved roads and the highest state of advanced 'green' technology. That means a country with all of its trees and ecosystems still in tact that surround cottages, sky scrapers, and universities. I was and still am troubled. I will be honest. I keep thinking of Ghana’s open sewers. However, we can not use architecture and technology to judge value, because all of this here in the UK came at a horrible price. This government and these people’s ancestors  played a simple game – whoever is the most violent wins. And how do people continually exercise such violence? They justify it with white supremacy. And it is this mindset that has been passed down to their children. There are many Brits who are extremely racist. To get it out of the way, I will tell you. Since I have been here, I have experienced blatant racism. I have been told to move out of the way by a crowd of English women, heckled, not greeted by sales clerks, treated impatiently, greeted with coldness, stared at with amusement,  poked fun at and yelled at like I was a criminal by a white woman guard at the British Museum. Any black person living here pays a price to be here. The price for making a salary in the highest valued currency in the world is having to endure overbearing racism, the British colonial legacy, few numbers (only 3 percent of the population) and being continually marginalized (imagine what a black child goes through in school!). I will reflect a little more about the colonial legacy later, but for now, I will tell of my travel journey.

Big English Breakfast with Blood Pudding (Upper Left) 

Nottingham is a quaint city.  Beautiful. Brick roads, a picturesque train station and a campus that is so beautiful with lush flowers and foliage that it is therapeutic to walk through. We were housed at a four star hotel with the most interesting breakfast buffet. They had scrambled eggs, fried eggs over easy, sausage, bacon  (British style – same as Botswana) and something called blood pudding. It looks like a burned sausage patty. It is made of pigs blood and spices. At first I wasn’t going to, but I tried it. Tastes like scrapple ya’ll. After the conference, I took the train to London and had a great time.