Catherine Johnson, author of acclaimed narrative non-fiction books Dance of Resistance, Journey Back to Freedom and Race to the Frozen North, discusses what first interested her about the past, offers top recommendations for discovering significant historical figures and explains why understanding and celebrating Black History is more important than ever.
Scroll to the bottom of the page for free teaching notes and wider resources.
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When I was growing up, you never saw people like me in history books unless we were enslaved. But I still loved history. I loved the picture in the library book of Queen Phillippa of Hainault – her frock was amazing, and I would have given my right arm for her horse. I loved the family costume dramas on a Sunday evening in the seventies, all Leon Garfield adaptations, and The Amazing Mr Blunden in the cinema. But people like me wearing the frocks? Never. Of course, nowadays we’re used to everything from Bridgerton to films like Armando Ianucci’s wonderful, joy-filled version of David Copperfield, with casts of all colours.
And the way history teaching has changed in schools has only been for the better. At secondary school, we learnt about the Chartists but never knew one of the leaders of the working-class rebels was a Kent-born mixed-race tailor – William Cuffay. And Black History Month? Well, it didn’t exist at all.
In an ideal world, there wouldn’t be a Black History Month, or even ‘Black History’, just ‘History’. But I believe it’s more important than ever today to say we are here, we have been here, and we have contributed so much, sometimes under duress, to build this country.
So where to start? Personally, I went down a history wormhole around forty years ago when I picked up a copy of Peter Fryer’s Staying Power, which opened my eyes to so many fascinating stories and made me feel like I was part of something, somewhere, wonderful. And, of course, books like David Olusuga’s Black and British and Miranda Kaufmann’s Black Tudors are peerless on the subject.
But those are chunky books, and I know all teachers – my mum was one too – never have enough hours in the day.
There are some brilliant books aimed at young readers, series like Voices, which includes Son of the Circus by E.L. Norry, Now or Never by Bali Rai and Diver’s Daughter by Patrice Lawrence. These lovely, accessible tales are set in Victorian South Yorkshire, Dunkirk during the Second World War and Tudor England, respectively.
There are so many stories to discover. Perhaps you might want to find out about John Blanke, a trumpeter at the court of Henry VIII? Or Septimius Severus, not a Harry Potter baddy, but a Roman emperor who set up court in London and York. He might be an interesting stepping off point for thinking about other Ancient Romans, like the soldiers of the legions writing home to Africa from Vindolanda, and also wealthy citizens, like Ivory Bangle Lady from York.
In the seventeenth century there were independent farmers such as Cattelena of Almondsbury, while in the eighteenth century (did I mention it was my favourite century?) there were Black people all over the country, many bought as enslaved children to serve in the big houses of the wealthy. Some of these boys – and they were mostly boys – ran away, like Nat in my book Freedom, which blends fact and fiction. John Ystumllyn from a village close to Criccieth in North Wales is just one real-life example, but there are thousands more.
There were also scientists like Francis Williams, who I am writing about next, and writers like Olaudah Equiano and Phillis Wheatley. Composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor started work in the nineteenth century and continued on into the twentieth, when he was joined by superstars like Josephine Baker, air-raid warden Ike Ekpenyon, spy Noor Inayat Khan (see also Josephine Baker!) and journalists like Claudia Lawrence from the 1960s. The Bristol Bus Boycott is a massively overlooked fightback against the 1960s colour bar, and author and educator Sandra Agard has written about it in her brilliant book of the same name.
And of course there’s fiction. A whole raft of novels exploring the Black experience in Britain – not only mine; other writers are available!
Have a look on your own doorstep too. I moved out of London over ten years ago to Hastings, a seaside town, and two years ago attended the unveiling of a plaque celebrating the residence of Haitian royalty in the early 1800s. And recently a community arts group investigated a Victorian flower seller, finding her name, Margaret Sullivan, and her descendants.
Once you start looking it’s hard to stop!
And there is so much more to discover! For example, in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, some British Navy ships were crewed by high proportions of black sailors, free and enslaved. Have a look at Nelson’s Column next time you’re in London – you’ll see black and white ordinary sailors celebrated at the base.
Did you know Alexandre Dumas, one of France’s most popular and enduring writers, was mixed race? And that his father, Thomas Alexandre, was one of France’s most celebrated military commanders of all time?
The story of Matthew Henson – I wrote about him in Race to the Frozen North – is one of the most incredible ever! Henson, the first American at the North Pole, is a true hero in every way.
So if the thought of making yet another cut-out-and-keep Mary Seacole reticule is wearing you down, remember that Black History is all our history. It’s an integral part of the wonderful, fascinating, outrageous, incredible history of this country. And it’s (whisper it) all around us, not only in post-Windrush times and not just in our cities. It reminds us that we all have a stake in this country’s past and a place in the future. It reminds us we can all contribute, that we are part of the fabric of this nation and our right to belong is indisputable.
Catherine Johnson's latest work of narrative non-fiction, Dance of Resistance, which explores the life of superstar spy and civil rights activist Josephine Baker, is available now.
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Dance of Resistance
Catherine Johnson celebrates the incredible life of Josephine Baker in this true story, chronicling her journey from an impoverished childhood to beloved actress, dancer and wartime heroine.
Free teaching notes available to download from the book page.
Race to the Frozen North
A thrilling fictionalised account of the life of Matthew Henson, the first African-American man to travel to the North Pole.
Free digital poster available to download from the book page.
Journey Back to Freedom
From the horrors of the slave trade to a book that changed the world, Catherine Johnson celebrates the incredible life of Olaudah Equiano in this gripping true story.
Free teaching notes available to download from the book page.
