By Kaysyn Jones, Florida State University
At this point in my project, I have visited each of my primary archives— the Black Cultural Archives, the George Padmore Institute, and the London Archives— and scheduled my first interview with a writer from the British Black Arts Movement.
Thus far, one of the biggest problems I’ve encountered is adjusting to the different time zone! I’ve found that it’s easy for me to have a late start to my day because London is five hours ahead of Eastern Time. After a week in the city, I’ve begun to adjust and be firmer with setting my alarm and getting out of the apartment where I’m staying in the morning every day, not just when I have an archive visit.
A more surprising hurdle that I’ve come across is accessing consistent Wi-Fi. The home where I reside has four floors, with the router on the first floor and my room on the fourth, so the connection can be spotty. Luckily, the Brixton Public Library is about a twenty-minute walk away, so I can rely on their Wi-Fi to get my work done. There are also multiple cafes with seating and public Wi-Fi. While these cost money, they’re also open farther into the evening. The neighborhood where I live is incredibly safe at night, which was a very pleasant realization for me. That, coupled with the sun setting at around 9:30PM, allows me to stay in a place with consistent connection for longer without worry.
The archival work I’ve been pursuing has been incredibly fun to parse through, but I have come to realize the sheer breadth of the collections is quite intimidating. It has also been more slow-going when it comes to identifying specific literary spaces. Poetry, especially spoken word, comes up more often in ephemeral materials because there are dedicated performances that are held. However, I have been able to find very useful information in the John La Rose Collection at the George Padmore Institute, as he was one of the co-founders of the International Book Fair of Radical Black and Third World Books, which often hosted creative writing workshops or readings by local authors and writers. I have also found many flyers for poetry events in the Stella Dadzie Collection at the Black Cultural Archives! This upcoming week, I will be entering— not just walking by— the London Archives, which I am optimistic about. While I have been able to identify useful information and begin putting together my profiles of different spaces, I know I still have a long way to go!
One of the most exciting things that I’ve been able to find is that some of these crucial locations for creatives back in the 1980s and 90s are still active today! The most active is likely the Africa Centre in Southwark, London. To be able to find posters from forty years ago advertising performances there and then see new posters for new performances on the street today is absolutely magical. Sadly, many other places have shut down over the years, like the Keskidee Centre, which is now an apartment block.
I have been having a wonderful time in London so far and immersing myself in the history and multitude of cultures around me in the Brixton neighborhood. I look forwards to giving new updates in July!
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