LUTON SANKOFA UK
We are a non-profit, African-Caribbean group in Luton, formed in 2016 to organise the annual commemoration of those who endured the Transatlantic African Enslavement which coincides with the United Nations (UN) date of 25th March, to 'Remember Slavery' and 'Honour our Ancestors'.
This year's commemorative event had a particular focus on writers from the past and present who have had a mission bring to life our ancestors through their writings, whether through historical literature, stories or poetry.
Each chosen author brings their own unique style to their literature, imparting knowledge of our ancestors and culture to us, speaking of their own past experiences, their missions, as well as those of our ancestors from whom we gain wisdom and inspiration. It was felt that to personalise our ancestors and bring their existence to life, was an important aspect of commemoration to embrace.
As we lit our commemorative candles, a selection of young people from the local community read excerpts from the literature of Andrew Salkey, Zora Neale Hurston, Kamau Braithwaite, Miss Lou Bennett, Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Lorna Goodison, Caryl Phillips, Grace Nicholls, Sir Derek Walcott and Valerie Bloom.
Paul Crooks pioneered research into African Caribbean genealogy during the 1990s. He traced his family history from London, back 6 generations, to ancestors captured of the West African coast and enslaved on a sugar plantation in Jamaica.
Paul gained national recognition for his work when his acclaimed historical novel Ancestors (based on the true story of the author's African ancestors) was published in 2002. He appeared on Who Do You Think You Are? (Moira Stuart). His second book A Tree Without Roots is the authentic guide to tracing African, British and Asian Caribbean ancestry.
Paul is credited with inspiring an upsurge in interest in Black and British ancestry. He is also recognised for having spawned an industry in researching African Caribbean genealogy.
Paul Crooks MSc
Ancestry Talks with Paul Crooks
Mob: 0770 828 2972
Email: info@paulcrooksuk.com
Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine - 31 July 2018
Paul Crooks is the author of A Tree Without Roots: the Guide to Tracing British, African, and Asian Caribbean Ancestry “Jamaican
Family Search" jamaicanfamilysearch.com) is an online library for finding historical records of those who lived in the country
from the late 1600s to 1920 – mainly white families and their offspring. The website has transcriptions from various documents including 19th century Jamaican almanacs (which list property owners plus civil and military officials), extracts from Jamaican church records, civil registration records, wills, Jewish records, and excerpts from directories, newspapers, books and other documents.
“The website is especially useful for anyone interested in developing narratives around the legacy of British slave ownership – the lists of property owners and pens, sugar estates and plantations will be of particular interest if you are researching ancestors who were enslaved in Jamaica. Links to various documents related to slavery in the country are grouped on a page called ‘Slaves and Slavery in Jamaica’ at: jamaicanfamilysearch.com/Samples2/slavery.htm
“If your focus is researching ‘the French connection’, then there’s material relating to refugees fleeing the 1791–1804 revolution in Haiti (then known as Saint-Domingue – a French colony).
“This website was created by an individual, not a corporation. So the database is not complete by any stretch of the imagination. However, it is great if you are at an advanced stage of genealogical research, or are simply looking for a bit of information that might stimulate your curiosity further.”
Significance of The Year of Return - Ghana 2019
Luton Sankofa Committee’s mission has been about 3 things:
1 - to honour our fallen ancestors,
2 - to educate our community by raising awareness of our great history that pre and post-dates the barbaric episode of the transatlantic African enslavement, thereby putting it in its rightful perspective, and
3 - to help narrow the divide between African and Caribbean history.
For the past 3 years, we have held this honourable civic service, we have encouraged our community to personally re-discover through literature and film a better understanding of what has taken place from our Caribbean and African perspectives, as opposed to the biased Eurocentric teachings that have been handed down to us for many decades. And, by doing this, we have been able to lift the dignity of our people and promote unity among the African and Caribbean communities, thus fulfilling our mission.
We have observed over the past 3 years, a deeper understanding and awakening unfolding amongst our community. The sense of unity and oneness is continuing to grow, and this year has been crowned with the wonderful declaration that 2019 is the “Official Year of Return” as pronounced by the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo – who has made it “a national priority to extend a hand of welcome back home to all Africans in the Diaspora.”
There are about 28 slave castles along the coast of Ghana, most of them west of the capital city, Accra. Then in far west Africa, off the coast of Senegal is Goree Island. Another castle stands along the Gambia River in Gambia, also in West Africa. Other sites are in Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Benin and Togo.
“Ghana’s unique position as the location of 75 percent of the slave dungeons built on the West Coast of Africa makes it all the more fitting that it is recognised as the beacon of hope for African people living on the continent and in the Diaspora. This status was earned, not by coincidence but by conscious efforts to validate the struggles, strengths and linkages between African descendants on a Pan African scale.”
This is therefore a major cause for celebrations that are reverberating among diasporans around the world. For our Committee, it is a clear sign that since Luton Sankofa’s inception, real progress has been made on the international scene, and it validates our vision for unity among the African and Caribbean communities in the UK as many of us are the descendants and survivors of the captured African people of long ago.
The ‘door of no return’ as experienced by our ancestors, with dreaded trepidation, can now be looked at with hopeful optimism, as “in this year of 2019”, the President of Ghana states, “we open our arms even wider to welcome home our brothers and sisters in what will become a birth-right journey home, for the global African family.”
We can celebrate because the long-held notions of not belonging to Africa, and not being wanted by our African relatives on the continent can now be forever discarded as we fully acknowledge Ghana’s welcome and purposefully make ways to return home, fulfilling the dreams of our ancestors, back to the Motherland.
- Diana Marquis-Solomon
Vice Chair, Luton Sankofa Committee
