I was relieved when I found this article The Rastafari in Britain: Writing Community-Engaged HistoryNovember, 25, 2019. It is written by Aleema Gray, Community History curator at the Museum of London.
When I do research for my stories, I’m always a little disheartened at how little of our Caribbean/British Caribbean history is written by Caribbeans. As a Rasta, there is even less. It has made me feel that instead of fiction I should be writing our books on our history. But I am not a historian.
Aleema Gray is a historian, and she is doing work that is necessary and must be done. She raises questions, addresses issues of representation that are relevant and pertinent.
For the children of the diaspora, not wanting to be fully assimilated, swallowed up and marginalised, it is important to have well-researched, in-depth and academic papers to study, to reflect and to take forward.
And she writes really well. 🙂