Paying Tribute to Liverpool's Oldest Black Community and its Rich Black History

20 June 2023

By a Year 12 pupil at King Edwards VII, Sheffield

Was there a time in England parallel to Bridgerton? Was there a black community during the regency era and or during older English history? Well not exactly of course! However, there was a large black community in Liverpool and even in London during the 1700s.

The fons et origo of the black community in England is such an important topic to understand. With that being said, I'm going to be talking about the Liverpool black community, which is also the oldest in Europe. 

The history of Liverpool has long included black people. Many black people were brought to Liverpool as slaves after the American Revolution, while others came as sailors, traders, and labourers. A significant port for the transatlantic slave traffic was Liverpool. The black population has contributed significantly to the development of Liverpool's culture and identity throughout the course of the city's long and varied history. 

There's a myriad of topics that could be discussed in relation to England's oldest black community and its subsequent effects and ripples on the black community currently. There's been so much social unrest within the community, so support of each other during hard times has been a congruous pattern. From the race riots after World War I, the racial attacks of white mobs during 1991, to the 2011 Toxteth riots. The community also helped each other through things like the economic recession during the 2000s. 

As can be seen, the black community has faced a great deal of adversity and difficulties and in spite of discrimination, members of the community in Liverpool have worked to challenge negative stereotypes and promote positive images of black people. 

As a result the community also has collaborated with other communities in Liverpool to foster cross-cultural understanding and has also worked to promote diversity in local government or other organisations.

The community also has strived to preserve the entrenched black heritage and history in Liverpool. They've done this by working to document the history of the community through oral histories or other means and also through working to preserve historic buildings and landmarks in Liverpool that are important to the black community. 

Liverpool's black community nonetheless has created a huge mark in being able to create a plethora of possibilities for generations of black people and communities. Not only has this been very evident in Liverpool, but also on a national level.

Category: Modern 

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