#BlackArchivesDay | 29 November 2025
FHALMA is delighted to be collaborating with the British Library, in partnership with Oxford University, who are hosting a sister event as part of a year-long series. What is the Black Archive? Reparations and Transformation—the final event in the programme—brings together artist-researchers, students, heritage professionals, and community historians to explore how Black archives shape—and are shaped by—their readers, positioning them as spaces of creativity, confrontation, and repair. Read more about the themes covered in the series by Dr Malachi McIntosh. This final event complements our own festival, The Power of Black African Caribbean Archives, on the same day, by continuing the collective inquiry into Black archival practice, memory, and transformative justice. In spring 2026, we will host participants from both events to examine their outcomes and explore new opportunities for cross-collaboration.
Photomontage: Black Archives in Action
This panel of powerful images reflects the enduring legacy of Black activism, cultural resistance, and community-building in Britain. From the frontlines of protest to the heart of radical publishing, each moment captured here represents the many ways Black communities have shaped public discourse, preserved memory, and demanded justice across generations. All photographs are sourced from the Huntley Archives at The London Archives, unless otherwise credited.
Young visitors at the Bogle-L’Ouverture Bookshop, c.1980s
A candid scene of intergenerational engagement inside the bookshop in Ealing—once a vital hub for community learning, cultural exchange, and political education.
Photographer unattributed. All rights reserved. Archives Ref: LMA/4462/F/02/013/f
Black People’s Day of Action, 2 March 1981
Protestors march with a placard reading “McNee: No Black Scapegoat” in a landmark demonstration following the New Cross Fire. This day remains one of the most significant Black-led protests in British history.
Archives Ref: LMA/4462/J/06/005a
John La Rose at a Bogle-L’Ouverture event, c.1970s
Poet, publisher, and founder of New Beacon Books, La Rose speaks at a Bogle bookshop event—one of many intersections between radical Black publishers across Britain.
Archives Ref: LMA/4462/F/02/017a
Angela Davis at the Keskidee Centre, 1974
Renowned scholar and civil rights activist Angela Davis is pictured after speaking at a solidarity event organised by Jessica Huntley at the Keskidee Centre during Davis’s UK visit.
Photographer: Armet Francis. Ref: LMA/4462/F/02/004
Jessica Huntley at anti-racist bookshop demonstration, c.1980s
Pictured at a protest outside the Queen Elizabeth II Centre, Westminster, Jessica Huntley stands among those defending Black bookshops against targeted attacks.
Archives Ref: LMA/4462/J/06/003b
Walter Rodney at Bogle-L’Ouverture Bookshop, c.1970s
Guyanese historian and revolutionary Walter Rodney addresses a gathering at the bookshop—one of many moments of transnational Black intellectual exchange.
Photographer unknown. Archives Ref: LMA/4462/F/03/015
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