‘Historic milestone’ as Project TRUTH launches

It has been a long time coming but Cleo Lake Ayiih believes the launch of a “groundbreaking” new report marks an important and historic moment.

Work first started on Project TRUTH in 2020 to encourage Afrikan heritage citizens of Bristol to share their thoughts and views on what the city should do in terms of recognising its role and legacy of the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved Afrikans.

The consultation process culminated in the launch of a report that sets out a series of recommendations. Among them is the urgent need for a centre of excellence run by and for people of Afrikan heritage and the need to reframe education with the establishment of AFRISTED – Afrikan standards in education – as a means of providing scrutiny and support for mainstream education, learning, training and health institutions.

Project TRUTH (telling, restoring, understanding our tapestry and history) is a long overdue piece of work in a city that has failed to come to terms with its history and legacy of slavery, but its scope and potential impact reach beyond Bristol.

Cleo Lake Ayiih, who has played an integral role in leading the project, told Bristol24/7 it has been both a challenge and a huge honour.

“It has been an amazing team effort to produce something that is so necessary and so pioneering,” said Cleo.

“It is hard to believe that the views of Afrikan heritage communities had never formally been asked before. I’m confident in the strides we will be making collectively in Bristol to realise these recommendations, some of which will be work that is intergenerational and as such requires all ages to be involved from the start.

“When conducting the focus groups we encouraged participants to consider interventions that would still be in place several generations down the line. We also encouraged people to imagine that money was no object.”

The Project TRUTH report is set to be published in full later this week and will set out 14 recommendations under key themes, focusing on unity, identity and re-recognition of self, ‘beyond a statue’ – a living site of memorial, decolonisation in action, charting Afrikan history and reframing education.

It follows more than two years of work by a legacy steering group facilitated by Bristol City Council, which has contributed £250,000 in funding for the project. The group has worked with partner Black South West Network, as well as organisations such as Afrikan ConneXions Consortium, Blak Wave Productions and One Bristol Curriculum to develop and deliver the report.

Recommendations include:

• The urgent need for a centre of excellence or community complex led by people of Afrikan heritage that must develop psychological, spiritual and cultural repairs.
• Leaders of institutions, such as churches, schools and healthcare, must have access to the centre as students who are committed to supporting the rehabilitation of Afrikan identity and self-determination.
• The centre must include immersion activities as part of curriculum, ensuring young people have access to their heritage.
• The centre must work with other Afrikan-centred agencies and structures in the UK and beyond.
• A process needs to be established by which Afrikan heritage communities can be sufficiently informed and engaged before a decision is made on memorials and their location.
• Any memorial should reflect the memory and truth of history and reverence to Afrkian ancestors from an Afrikan perspective.
• Existing community assets, such as The Malcolm X Centre, Kuumba, Coach House and Docklands should be resourced to become satellites of the Afrikan heritage centre of excellence in the city.
• The centre should establish AFRISTED as a means of providing scrutiny and support for mainstream education, learning, training and health institutions.

Existing community assets, such as The Malcolm X Centre, should be resourced to become satellites of the Afrikan heritage centre of excellence. Photo: Ellie Pipe

Chairing the launch event on Monday, deputy mayor and chair of the steering group Asher Craig described it as a “groundbreaking piece of work”.

“There has been a strong feeling within the community that the voices of Afrikan heritage communities have not been properly heard on this matter, and yet they are the communities that continue to experience disadvantage as a result of this history,” said Asher.

“This is a historic milestone in Bristol’s substantive work around reparatory justice and builds on the resolutions of the Atonement and Reparations motion that was passed by full council on 2 March 2021.”

https://twitter.com/CllrAsherCraig/status/1481453761205837824

Jendayi Serwah, co-convenor of Afrikan ConneXions Consortium who has also played a key role in leading the project, told Bristol24/7 the challenge now is to engage in “ethical and equitable dialogue” with interested and seriously committed parties within and outside of the Afrikan heritage community.

“Project TRUTH and other work Afrikan ConneXions Consortium are doing around reparations signals a new phase where we will need our resources restituted in order to carry out our self-determined plans for our community self-repairs process,” said Jendayi.

Those leading Project TRUTH recognise there is still much work to do in memorialising Bristol’s involvement in the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved Afrikans, with further work and community participation planned.

Cleo added: “Resourcing the plans will need to be a collaborative process with various other institutions and individuals where appropriate.

“Whilst most of the recommendations are Afrikan heritage communities focused there is much in there too for allies, citizens and visitors to the city. There is an incredible opportunity for learning, coming together and approaching things in a very different way which should be beneficial to all regardless of race or background.”

Project TRUTH – image courtesy of Bristol City Council

Main photo: Phil Riley

Read more: ‘History is made’ as Bristol passes slavery reparations motion 

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