TARGET 2025
Who We Are
The African History Project is a response to the world’s call to better synthesise and distribute Black histories.
The Project aims to address the dearth of engaging, comprehensive and intuitive resources in this area. Through the design and delivery of courses and resources, we hope to make quality Black history education available to all.
How you can help
Many people recognise the need to facilitate and advocate for the study of Black histories and it is for these people that this Project has been launched.
For too long there has been no way for people to make tangible contributions to the expansion of the study of Black histories – that’s where we come in!
We are eager to build our community of champions so that we can take this project forward and re-balance the scales of historical discourse.
If you can, we would appreciate any amount that you can contribute to this Project. We thank you in advance for your support and generosity as we embark on this long overdue task to redress the imbalance in global narratives that have historically excluded the Black experience.
Why is this Project needed?
We plan to develop an online platform where people can access world-class tuition on all aspects of Black history and historiography.
Government obstructionism
A recent campaign by @theBlackCurriculum was dismissed by authorities in the UK who declared that adequate provision has already been made for schools to study Black histories should they wish to do so but without any commitment to help to facilitate those schools that do want to do so. History (ironically) tells us that organic development is unlikely.
Academic Institutional Complicity
The recent comments of leading Cambridge University historian David Starkey on Black peoples, their histories, the value of their lives and their contributions to world developments speak for themselves in highlighting what is going on in the history departments of the world’s leading educational institutions. No further comment is needed.
Thus, in response has come the African History Project which aims to remove higher education institutions and politicians as gatekeepers to the sharing of Black histories.
We hope you come along with us on this ride as we endeavour to make you proud of what you help to pioneer.
Message from our Director
Welcome to the African History Project, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the cultivation and dissemination of African histories. Our mission is to design and deliver world-class resources and tuition for the study of African histories.
The exclusion of African narratives from historical discourse is one of the most brutal legacies of colonialism. Governments, schools, universities and publishers continue to show a deep-seated reluctance to any meaningful conversation about the rectification of this deficit. The African History Project is a grassroots organisation that has realised that, in this digital age, there is no longer a need to rely on such flawed institutions to effect change – we can utilise the power of those committed to the cause to launch our own initiatives, and this is what we are doing.
It is an exciting time for the study of African histories. Anyone taking the pulse of current political, social and academic discourse will perceive a yearning for the greater insertion of Black narratives into all aspects of public life.
The African History Project is a response to that yearning.
Much has been said about the need to decolonise the curricula in the Western world and the need to develop more robust tuition of national histories in African and Caribbean countries. Many initiatives have been launched but have faltered due to a failure to move successfully from the stage of advocacy to the stage of delivery. This is because there has been too narrow a focus on the transformation of curricula and too great a reliance on institutional academics to lead the way.
The Project works with historians, educators, writers, poets and artists dedicated to championing African narratives, both on the continent and in diaspora. Drawing on our expertise, we aim to bridge the gap between advocacy and delivery, by curating educational material and delivering educational courses for those who want to understand more about Africa, her ideas, her politics, her religions and above all her people, both on the continent and in diaspora.
We hope that you will join us on this journey and help us to reinsert African narratives back into historical discourse.
Apeike Umolu
Director, African History Project
Regional Histories
We are the only institution to provide comprehensive Black regional histories across Africa, the Caribbean and the United States. Covering the last 500 years, our courses explore the political and social histories of Black peoples and their communities.
Our regional histories aim to give students a solid understanding of the development of political settlements within each region, with an appreciation of the impact of Pan-African and global narratives on the development of those settlements.
African Histories
This course will explore the modern histories of Africa from 1500 to the present day. Divided into four chronological modules, the course takes a regional approach to the study of Africa meaning that students will explore political and social developments across the whole continent.
Courses
- History of Africa: The Age of Empires, 1500-1880
- History of Africa: The Colonial Age, 1880-1935
- History of Africa: The Drive for Independence, 1935-1960
- History of Africa: The Age of Nations, 1960-2000
Caribbean Histories
The diverse archipelagos of the Caribbean are unpacked in this course which focuses on the histories of the peoples of African heritage that populate these islands. Exploring ideas of resistance, slavery, emancipation and independence, students will learn about the development of national consciousness with a focus on the role of Black consciousness narratives in this development.
Courses
- History of the Caribbean: Resistance and Slavery, 1500-1800
- History of the Caribbean: Black Emancipation, 1775-1850
- History of the Caribbean: The Drive for Independence, 1850-1960
- History of the Caribbean: The Age of Nations, 1960-2000
African-American Histories
The American political settlement continues to influence the global Black experience, particularly the experiences of Black communities in diaspora. This course will chart the history of African Americans from slavery, through emancipation and into the present day. Considering issues of Black economic empowerment and the role of literary movements in emancipatory narratives, this course challenges students to delve deeper into African American histories to better understand the wider American social and political settlements of today.
Courses
- African American History: Resistance and Slavery, 1500-1800
- African American History: Black Emancipation, 1800-1860
- African American History: Black Citizenship, 1860-1960
- African American History: The Drive for Civil Rights, 1960-2000
Thematic Histories
Our thematic studies address social, economic and political histories allowing students to consider Pan-African and global approaches to Black histories. Our courses provide opportunities for interdisciplinary practice, looking at the impact of sociological, psychological, economic and literary developments on the development of Black consciousness as well as the contribution made by Black thinkers to global social and political developments.
Selected Courses
- 20th Century Black Political Thought, including
- Pan-Africanism
- Négritude
- Black Consciousness
- Zikism
- Black Power
- Black Women in 20th Century Political Discourse
- The Rise of the Black Church
- Neo-Colonialism in Africa, 1960-2000
- Literature and Black Radicalism
- Music and Black Radicalism
- Socialism and the New Black States
- Black British History, 1950-2000
- Colonialism – a Comparative Study of British and French administration
- The History of Colourism and the Psychology of Blackness
Schools Project
The campaign to insert Black narratives into national curricula has been decades long and has made several advances. As educators ourselves, we understand that a number of structural hurdles continue to exist that prevent Black histories from garnering anything close to adequate consideration. Our aim is to support teachers to expand their teaching of Black histories beyond the consideration of slavery and issues of immigration to a deeper understanding of the development of Black ideas of self, community and politics.
Teacher Training
Our team of historians and educators has extensive experience in running professional development programmes in Europe, Africa and Asia. Our courses aim to empower teachers in the delivery of Black histories. We believe teachers are overwhelmingly committed to giving their students as well-rounded an education as possible and our aim is to support them in this endeavour. Offering both online and face-to-face training, educators all around the world will be able to access our content and begin to enhance their curricula with the insertion of Black narratives.
Courses
- Masterclass in Black History Month Programming
- Masterclass: Lessons from 2020 – Responding to Black Human Rights Violations Internally and Externally
- Masterclass in Curriculum Planning for the Inclusion of Black Histories
- An Introduction to Black Histories for Educators
- An Introduction to Black Historiography and Evidence Sourcing for Educators
- Advanced Subject Knowledge – African Histories
- Advanced Subject Knowledge – Caribbean Histories
- Advanced Subject Knowledge – African-American Histories
- Advanced Subject Knowledge – Black-British Histories
- Cultural Sensitivities and the Teaching of Black History
- Black Narratives Beyond the History Syllabus – Science, Literature and the Study of Religions
Teaching Resources
One of the major structural challenges to the study of Black histories in schools is the availability of high-quality resources that are fully integrated into a robust system of review and updating to keep them relevant and engaging. Our Schools Resources aim to plug this gap, empowering teachers and students alike in their immersion into Black histories. In particular, our resources aim to support the teaching of Black history syllabuses at GCSE and A-Level – though the offering by exam boards is currently limited and the uptake even moreso, we hope in our endeavours to begin to turn the tide.
Resources
- Resources to Support the Teaching of Black Histories at KS2 – KS5
- Quarterly Black History Schools Bulletin
- Black History Schools Essay Prize
- Black History Universities Annual Debate
- Assembly Resources
- Black History Month Campaign Packs
- PSHE Resources for the Discussion of Recent Black Human Rights Abuses in the US