‘A Lesson in Black History’ by London born, spoken word poet Toyah Demi Panton is a response to the new memorial for the victims of the transatlantic slave trade which is being commissioned by the Mayor of London for a site in London’s Docklands.
Panton’s spoken word piece highlights the responsibility and the level of care that is needed when teachers give lessons on slavery and black history in the classroom.
Recalling how damaging her own experience of black history lessons in school was, she wishes that her teachers could learn from her uncle who said:
"Slavery was a brief but rude interruption of millennia of glorious, incredible, advanced, black civilization all across Mother Africa”.
Panton demands that Black history should not be taught through a textbook analysis of slavery that perpetuates feelings of alienation and exclusion:
“If I could turn back time, a lesson in black history would feel like a Twix bar melting in my mouth, the smell of sugary coffee, the class room a place of joy and pride. I would not feel impulsed to hide.”