Scholarly interest in British Black Power has grown over the last decade with the movement increasingly situated as a key conjuncture in modern British history and an important site in the global history of Black Power. Yet there is still more to know about how Black Power operated at the grassroots in communities across Britain; how people gave the movement meaning through their organizing efforts, political demands, intellectual pursuits and cultural practice; and the extent of the movement’s impact and legacy. This roundtable features a team of US and UK-based researchers working on a multi-year Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) supported project Grassroots Struggles, Global Visions: British Black Power, 1964-1985. Participants will focus on the use of community-engaged research methods to better document, preserve, and (re)present histories of anti-racist struggles in areas beyond the nation’s capital, including Leicester in the East Midlands and Manchester in the North West. The participants are interested in fostering broader dialogue about the character and ethics of community-engaged historical methodologies as well as their potential for strengthening ongoing activism, archiving, cultural, and educational work in the present.
