Did you know that there were African soldiers in the Roman imperial army that occupied Britain; in the 3rd Century AD there was a ‘division of Moors’ (numerus Maurorum Aurelianorum) defending Hadrian’s wall. There are records of African men and women working as musicians and attendants in the Scottish court in Edinburgh in the 16th Century, whose descendents seem to have served the Royal family over several generations, and in England both King Henry VII and King Henry VIII employed a black musician, the ‘blacke trumpet’, in London. In 1555, eight years before the trade in slaves began, five Africans visited London to learn English and work as interpreters to facilitate the trade in ivory and gold on their return.

At Leeds Trinity we’ve been working on raising awareness of Black History Month this year by putting up posters charting the success of figures from Black history (see exhibition in Reception). Several of these posters have been written by our students on Placements, others by staff from all areas of the College, from the Senior Management Team through to the Chaplaincy, Psychology and beyond.

On 6th October, we mark National Poetry Day with a reading by Jack Mapanje, who will be reading from a new memoir about his experiences as a political prisoner in Malawi. The reading will take place from 1-2 p.m. in room AG21.

Then, on 19th October we have a screening of the moving image piece ‘Wandering Abroad’ by Corinne Silva about the experiences of asylum seekers and refugees in Leeds, with guest speakers from PAFRAS (Positive Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers) and Dr Hector Abiye Goma, who is featured on the film. The screening will take place on Wednesday 19th October 2011 from 1- 2.30 p.m. in the Mary Hallaway Lecture Theatre.

For more information contact Karen Sayer at k.sayer@leedstrinity.ac.uk