Black History Month – Story Telling

12th October 2022

My name is Zile and I’m a Counsellor for No Limits. Story telling is part of my upbringing, it transcends way back to my childhood, I find it fascinating. This is one of the reasons myself and my fellow TUVAA (The United Voices of African Associations) colleagues participated in a film called ‘Six Characters in Search of History’, presented by The Sarah Siddons Fan Club Theatre and written by Dr Cheryl Butler.

Six Characters in Search of History is a short film based on actual events about Black people who lived in Southampton, way back in the 1500s. My character is Joan, a servant to Maria Groce, around 1612. Before Maria died, she wrote her will, as it was common practice for wills to be written close to death. It is known that Maria left her servant ‘Joan the Blackamoor’, something. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6cKDsHDp0k

Black History Month is a time of reflection, an opportunity to share and understand Black people’s stories, uplift Black voices/positions, and celebrate those who have made positive differences in our culture, history, and at our workplaces.

I’m proud to have participated in this project that tells the history of the arrival of Black people in Southampton.

See Six Characters in Search of History in full, here.