Black Lives in the 90s and Black People in the Future- the Potency of Sankofa.
It’s not often you stumble across audio recordings deemed historically important, and that furthermore they provide some understanding of the present.
That’s what happened to me. During the tail end of lockdown, I stumbled upon loose reels and cassettes in a suitcase.
I had a hunch, and with the help of a professional archivist Jose Velazquez we submitted the find to an archival global body FIAT/IFTA who preserve archive of global value. FIAT/IFTA were responsible for digitising the 1960s Rivonia Trial tapes featuring Nelson Mandela and the ANC.
To our surprise the collection, which included videotapes of London in the 90s and programmes made across Africa, won. The one that really excited everyone was archive of the show Black London.
Black London was a talk show on BBC GLR in the 90s presented by Freelancers co-presenter Sheryl Simms and me. We were then burgeoning producers and presenters working for Reportage and Rough Guides.
The show was designed to appeal to first generation Black-Brits, whilst bridging issues of the Windrush era.
It was a radical time and we were in the midst of shows like Chris Evans on a Saturday, Vanessa Feltz on a Thursday and Irish London. We featured political issues such as The Black law Society with Peter Herbert, now a judge, challenging Police suss laws. We spoke to the CRE’s first black appointment to head up the CRE, Herman, now Lord Ouseley. And we engaged with a host of social, literary and representation issues. One of my favourite interviews was with Eartha Kitt, who recounted how Elizabeth Taylor starring in Cleopatra still stung. George Floyd’s name would surface thirty years later. We covered the outrage to Rodney King’s brutal beating, the ensuing Riots in LA, and the court case of the policemen.
The show was replaced after two years, but more crushing for the us, the show’s output, called ROTs, were dumped in a skip. All Gone!
That was until thirty years later when I stumbled on some duplicate recordings on cassettes. In November 2022, I was chosen to present my story to the UK’s radio scholar and practice network, MeCCSA The BBC 1922–2022 — Navigating the Waves of Change.
Alongside talks that included keynote speaker Professor David Hendy expanding on his book: The BBC, A People’s History I spoke about the value of the archive as captured in the phrase “sankofa”.
In Ghana, where I grew up the phrase has an important index. It literally translates as “go and retrieve”, but is more metaphoric. Audio archive has significant cultural interest in line with oral history in Black cultures, but they’re a rare find.
BBC 1922–2022 — Navigating the Waves of Change.
I’m a fan of The Reunion and Rewind on BBC Radio 4 — both shows which make use of past events to inform the present and so now we’re exploring ways of how broadcasters can help bring the ideas to audiences”.
One of the stories I’m looking at is how an understated methodist Priest befriended the King of the Ashanti people Nana Prempeh II to set up a school in Ghana. That school, Prempeh College, recently won the World Robotics championship twice in 2021 and 2020, beating schools from the USA and China.
About Dr David Dunkley Gyimah
Dr David Dunkley Gyimah is an Associate Professor at Cardiff University. He’s an accomplished broadcaster, winning several awards, turned academic. In the 90s he relocated to South Africa to report on its transition from Apartheid to democratic state and reported live for the BBC Caribbean Service President Mandela’s inauguration.
He research and presented the critically acclaimed First time Voters which was broadcast on BBC Radio 4, the BBC World Service and on SABC Radio on the eve of the election.
More recently he helped co-found a new national journal focusing on culture and representation called Representology. It’s a collaboration between the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity and Cardiff University.
In it he recalls one of many inspiring encounters with influential people on the show like Nigerian superstar Fela Kuti, whom he took clubbing and for a meal after the show.
In October 2022 he completed his advisory role for the British Library’s 500 years of News exhibition, and working with Google on their $6M innovation fund across Europe to find next generation of innovations.
The Leaders’ List below was his and co-producer Simone Pennant’s answer to the iconic photo A Great Day in Harlem which featured 57 Jazz greats. For their exhibition it featured the photos and stories of Britain’s leading storytellers who are Black or Brown.
Dr Dunkley Gyimah is a leading video journalist with a number of international awards, and a former artist in residence at the Southbank Centre. He was voted one of the top 40 most influential Ghanaians abroad by the Ghana High commissioned backed Ghana Abroad.
He can be contacted here gyimahd@cardiff.ac.uk or via twitter @viewmagazine
