Black Family History: Genealogy, Storytelling and Ethics in the Wake of Slavery

Black Family History: Genealogy, Storytelling and Ethics in the Wake of Slavery
A UCL Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery, UCL Sarah Parker Remond Centre, and Next Economy Trust collaborative event
28 May 2024, University College London
The shared geographies, histories and contemporary legacies of the abduction and enslavement of Africans continues to be revealed, researched and written into public understanding. With the veil of denial and amnesia in the UK being slowly lifted, Black people are increasingly being confronted by, and are reckoning with, complex and traumatic stories and family ancestries inseparable from these transatlantic connections with slavery. Yet the research required to excavate those ancestries, and their associated narrative histories entails complicated transnational genealogical craft, as well as careful ethical consideration. Bringing those stories to life for a broader public requires deep thought around the politics and responsibilities of transatlantic storytelling and visualisation.
This event is a conversation between journalist and filmmaker Keme Nzerem, genealogist and author Bernice Bennett, moderated by socio-economic historian Dr James Dawkins. Nzerem and Bennett reflect on the issues of ancestry, enslavement, memory, and ethics in the context of their work together on a documentary film project tracing Nzerem’s own complex ancestry. They discuss the genealogical craft required to navigate archival gaps and silences, as well as the ethics of unearthing and sharing histories of enslavement. What are our responsibilities and duties of care with respect to telling these stories, in particular to descendants of the enslaved? How do people - especially Black Britons - process their own personal connections with the enslavement of Africans? What are the deeply felt imperatives for Black people to discover, share and heal, without imposing uninvited trauma on fellow Black citizens? And what indeed is the value and role of uncovering and sharing stolen ancestries in contemporary British society?