History of Slavery

2M0FXCW Sir Geoff Palmer, leader of Edinburgh's Slavery and Colonialism Legacy Review Group, stands alongside a plaque commemorating the historic Scottish slavery case, Knight v Wedderburn, during an installation ceremony at the Court of Session at Parliament House in Edinburgh, to mark the case's contribution to tackling slavery. Picture date: Tuesday December 6, 2022.

Joseph Knight v. John Wedderburn: A Defining Moment in Scotland’s Struggle with Slavery

The story of Joseph Knight isn’t simply the story of a man seeking his freedom in an 18th-century…


Jacques Callot, The Slave Market, 1629. Picture: National Gallery of Art / CC0 - Credit: National Gallery of Art / CC0

The last slave owners of Islington

Islington in the 1830s was transforming from rural outskirts into a genteel suburb. Like today, bricks and mortar…


View of island Goree with fort and Dakar city visible in the background. Gorée Island. Dakar, Senegal. Africa. Île de Gorée.

Slave Trade Routes

Countless local and regional slave trades in Europe, Africa, and the Americas combined to create the transatlantic slave…


The Slave Hunt” depicts soldiers from Sokoto raiding a village to capture slaves. [Harper’s Weekly (Sept. 12, 1857), p. 581]

The Slave Hunt – Capture and Captives

For three and a half centuries, European slavers carried African captives across the Atlantic in slave ships originating…


Slaves for Sale in New Orleans in April 1861. In urban New Orleans, some slaves were skilled servants, drivers, and cooks for the well to do. April 1861.

Economics and the Slave Trade

The number of European and American merchants, shipbuilders, and investors directly involved in the transatlantic slave trade over…


Williams Pantycelyn was a pioneer in publishing slave narratives in Welsh

The Welsh abolitionists

The abolitionists were up against some formidable economic interests – and some of them even ended up getting…


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Black History Month

2025 LISTINGS

Camden Saturday 14 June

The Legacy Of Frankie Knuckles

Hailed as the Godfather of house, Frankie Knuckles remains one of the most important figures in the evolution…

Lambeth Saturday 14 June

Tiwa Savage

The ‘Queen of Afrobeats’ puts her stamp on Meltdown with her signature blend of soul, R&B and hip-hop.   Savage…

Liverpool Sunday 15 June

Orchestra Baobab

With a rich blend of Afro-Cuban rhythms, pop, traditional griot storytelling, and their signature lilting melodies, Orchestra Baobab…

Camden Friday 27 June

Jeru the Damaja

Prepare for a truly unforgettable night as one of Brooklyn’s most revered lyrical legends graces our stage. Jeru…