\u201cMovements of Black Life: A Comparative Study in the UK\u201d aims to study global resistance efforts and compare their\u00a0history and\u00a0effectiveness\u00a0with those in the United States. The course uses an anthropological approach\u00a0to examine race and Blackness.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In this course, the social construct of race is\u00a0examined,\u00a0and there is special focus on the different\u00a0interpretations\u00a0of Black in the UK compared to the United States.\u00a0<\/p>\n Students received lectures\u00a0and guidance\u00a0from\u00a0UWM\u00a0Prof. Marquise Mays,\u00a0as well as\u00a0engaged with specific aspects of the art and culture in their own time.\u00a0The\u00a0methodology\u00a0of researching the\u00a0course\u2019s\u00a0topic varied from student to student, but included archiving,\u00a0curation, activism, writing,\u00a0film\u00a0and policy reform.\u00a0<\/p>\n Class-Day Field Visits During the Program:\u00a0<\/p>\n Museums\u00a0represent\u00a0the victors, not the victims.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n Historian,\u00a0artist\u00a0and educator\u00a0Danny Thompson<\/a>\u00a0led our group through the British Museum, highlighting the African artifacts and histories that\u00a0aren\u2019t\u00a0openly\u00a0highlighted.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Many of the pieces in the museum were taken\u00a0years and years ago through theft while colonizing and conquering areas of Africa.\u00a0Therefore, much of the\u00a0information presented is biased\u00a0and does not paint the whole picture, as it neglects certain historical relevance to fit\u00a0a specific narrative.\u00a0<\/p>\n While on this tour, Thompson was interrupted by a passerby who was visiting the museum.\u00a0They challenged\u00a0what\u00a0he\u00a0was presenting about the\u00a0racial demographic of early Egyptians\u00a0and the historical evidence pointing toward Black African people making up the civilization.\u00a0<\/p>\n The scholar diffused the situation by shutting down the conflict and turning it into an example of institutionalized\u00a0and systematic teaching of a biased version of history. The passerby, who\u00a0was\u00a0White,\u00a0claimed they were from and grew up in Egypt, which taught them that Black people never lived in Egypt.\u00a0<\/p>\n Stolen artifacts\u00a0clutter much of the British Museum, including the robbed mummified corpses of people who deserved to stay in their ritualized resting place. However, instead, they were stolen by a nation more interested in parading them in a museum as a\u00a0symbol of\u00a0their nation\u2019s triumph and level of power.\u00a0<\/p>\n Public museums or government-funded archives often guarantee that they are not going to paint their country in a bad light. Therefore,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0essentially a\u00a0careful curation of artifacts and stories that fit a\u00a0government-approved\u00a0narrative.\u00a0<\/p>\n Before my studies in London, I never realized how deep the manipulated truths coming from a government can go. For a naive reason, I believed that if there was one place history and fact could be trusted, it was the museum.\u00a0<\/p>\n This is not to say a museum or the people working there are inherently malevolent, but its purpose can be quite\u00a0deceptive.\u00a0<\/p>\n Thompson drove home the point to not be afraid to question and to search out all sources before concluding.\u00a0He was well-researched and rigorous in his pursuit of bringing buried aspects of African culture to light.\u00a0<\/p>\n Archiving the past to have a future.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n An important aspect of our classes\u2019 studies in London was exploring archiving as a form of resistance and remembering. Specifically, the importance of who\u00a0is doing the archiving and what artifacts or pieces they are memorializing.\u00a0<\/p>\n The British Museum was an archive, but it\u00a0represents\u00a0a\u00a0deceptive image of\u00a0the past. A successful archive understands the material\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0preserving and goes about to ethically collect artifacts. The archivist is concerned with getting artifacts that matter to more than\u00a0just the dominating people in a society.\u00a0<\/p>\n In London, the class visited\u00a0June Givanni\u2019s\u00a0PanAfrican\u00a0Cinema Archive, which\u00a0holds a collection of archived material and media texts related to Black\u00a0British culture and\u00a0PanAfrican\u00a0cinema.\u00a0<\/p>\n It was in this space that BAFTA winner Givanni herself shared pieces of the collection and screened a\u00a0selection\u00a0of films, which included a documentary on Afrofuturism.\u00a0Givanni, providing an intimate learning experience, showed us that no matter how big or small the team and space are, every level of archiving\u00a0has\u00a0value.\u00a0<\/p>\n Without an understanding and a full picture of the past, there can be no work toward a better tomorrow. Work like Givanni\u2019s is important to building a movement\u00a0through education and the context of past forms of resistance.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n There is a direct intersection between knowledge and power, which is why we see book burnings and other forms of censorship from the dominant authority to\u00a0keep the subordinate class down.\u00a0Epistemopolitics\u00a0is\u00a0a name for this\u00a0intersection,\u00a0and\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0important to understand it in relation to the archive.\u00a0<\/p>\n Academic Raffaello\u00a0Palandri\u00a0says, \u201cepistemopolitics\u00a0within the archive is inseparable from political economy and state sovereignty.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Palandri\u00a0also notes in an article on the archive as a site for power, the following: \u201cThe archive, as both a concept and a material reality, operates not merely as a passive repository of records but as a dynamic locus where power, memory, and knowledge intertwine in intricate and often fraught relations.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The idea of an archive possessing power is illustrated by the British Museum, who continue perpetuating certain narratives\u00a0to keep\u00a0control.\u00a0Archives,\u00a0like what June Givanni has curated, help build the narratives of marginalized peoples, often not being\u00a0deemed\u00a0worthy of\u00a0preservation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The\u00a0different ways\u00a0to resist and respond to\u00a0injustice.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n Zita\u00a0Holbourne\u00a0spoke with our class about her work in the UK and around the world. She has been an activist and artist,\u00a0mounting campaigns to fight for human rights.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Resistance<\/a>\u00a0takes many forms, and not everyone is stepping foot on the frontline to contribute their part in the fight. Recognizing the capabilities\u00a0and strengths of yourself will allow you the chance to\u00a0strategically\u00a0and\u00a0effectively\u00a0target the area of the movement best suited\u00a0to your individual talents.\u00a0<\/p>\n An example is with the Autograph: \u201cI Still Dream of Lost Vocabularies\u201d Exhibition and the protest artwork that was being\u00a0exhibited. Each artist was making their own statement on social justice issues, as well as using that statement as a launching point for conversation and connecting people to causes.\u00a0<\/p>\n To resist is to not stop, and to not stop is to always be moving. A movement must\u00a0always be making\u00a0ground,\u00a0or it might\u00a0face a stagnant point or worse, extermination.\u00a0<\/p>\n Holbourne shared her vast experience with campaigns that go back decades. She encourages engagement with\u00a0causes\u00a0in the UK as we\u00a0go\u00a0back\u00a0to the States.\u00a0Part of the reason for this is that the United States\u2019\u00a0social issues\u00a0bleed over\u00a0globally,\u00a0but not the other way around.\u00a0<\/p>\n The United States is also a world leader that other countries are looking toward for\u00a0judgment and\u00a0direction.\u00a0<\/p>\n Whether\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0making art, writing someone\u2019s\u00a0story\u00a0or filming important moments, there is a need for every aspect of a\u00a0movement.\u00a0<\/p>\n Cinema and\u00a0the\u00a0art\u2019s\u00a0role in sparking conversation.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n The British Film Institute offers a\u00a0mediatheque<\/a>\u00a0where the class spent time exploring the institution\u2019s curated collection.\u00a0Cinema has\u00a0an important part in archiving, as well as spreading\u00a0messages.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the UK, there is more emphasis on public access to knowledge. Museums are often\u00a0free,\u00a0and areas like\u00a0the\u00a0mediatheque\u00a0provide an accessible base of knowledge.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Holbourne would use her art skills to craft banners and designs for her campaign work. A movement of resistance\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0centralize around a message without the intersectional relationship it has with art.\u00a0<\/p>\n An interesting experience that the class had in London was seeing \u201cHamilton\u201d in the West End theatre district. This commentary on the United States and immigrants held\u00a0extreme\u00a0relevance to the topic\u00a0of our study abroad.\u00a0<\/p>\n The \u201cAmerican Dream\u201d was paralleled with the promise of a palace that many migrants came to Britain looking for. These migrants came\u00a0from the Caribbean and West Indies, looking to prosper in their motherland.\u00a0Instead,\u00a0they were met with discrimination and hostility.\u00a0<\/p>\n This\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0a dream; it was a trap. The Windrush Generation is the basis of much of the UK\u2019s current race\u00a0relations,\u00a0and it was a specific point-of-study for the program.\u00a0The class visited places like the Docklands Museum and the Museum of the Home.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In those two locations, there were stories and history of the migrants who made London and the rest of Great Britain. Their stories were not curated by the government like the stolen artifacts they keep\u00a0in the British Museum. Instead,\u00a0people\u00a0within the community had to ensure that their memories were safely archived.\u00a0<\/p>\n Conversation around art from the Windrush Generation and the descendants of those people built a narrative and propelled a movement. Similarly, in the United States, there is art\u00a0surrounding figures of the Civil Rights\u00a0Movement\u00a0and, more recently, the Black Lives Matter movement.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The next step in this connection is to tangibly pass legislation that restores and repairs the damage done to the oppressed. The\u00a0jump from art, communication and protest to action and results\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0always land.\u00a0<\/p>\n DIDO: Short Experimental Documentary<\/p>\n Dido Elizabeth Belle<\/a> is a mixed-race English aristocrat from the 1700s, who was the daughter of Maria Belle and Sir John Lindsay, an aristocratic naval officer.<\/p>\n Belle\u2019s mother was an enslaved African woman with whom Lindsay had a relationship. Lindsay brought Belle back to England with him.<\/p>\n In England, Belle was raised as a ward of Lindsay\u2019s uncle, William Murray, which led to her integration into some of the highest social circles in society.<\/p>\n I first discovered her story<\/a> after looking more into English musical artist Dido<\/a>\u2018s discography during my time in London.<\/p>\n A 2013 film titled Belle <\/a>was made about the story of this radical figure of English high society. It was written by Misan Sagay<\/a> and directed by Amma Asante<\/a>, both of whom are Black British women.<\/p>\n This story of a Black African woman trying to integrate into white society, especially during the time of slavery and legally being a slave herself, inspired me to contemplate my experiences with the Movements of Black Life in the UK program.<\/p>\n I enjoy experimenting with scrapbooking or collages of images that try to set a mood or elicit a feeling rather than providing narrative context. There is less information on Dido, and this is more of a portrait of the migrant African and Black British experience.<\/p>\n My short documentary features images of stolen artifacts from the British Museum, as well as art from an exhibition at the Docklands Museum in London. I included archived interviews of Black Britons from the 1970s and reggae music, combined with a live performance from Dido in the Brixton neighborhood.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n REFERENCES AND MATERIAL USED:<\/p>\n Call-to-action and what YOU can do.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n Holbourne, Thompson and other educators we met along the way drove home the importance of enacting change here in the States. What we do can affect them greatly,\u00a0as we hold so much dominance in the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n Adventure outside of your comfort zone and expose yourself to\u00a0new ideas. Even\u00a0better, if\u00a0you can travel and experience another culture outside of the United States. The mindset and scope of possibilities\u00a0widen\u00a0when going on these adventures.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Here at\u00a0home,\u00a0we face challenges such as division,\u00a0oppression\u00a0and censorship in the form of political parties, late-stage capitalism, widening wealth gap,\u00a0ICE\u00a0and\u00a0limiting\u00a0speech.\u00a0<\/p>\n Find the resources you are passionate about and volunteer, or begin organizing yourself and\u00a0pursuing\u00a0solo projects.\u00a0Uniquely interact with resistance and change.\u00a0Don\u2019t\u00a0hold back on working toward the right thing.\u00a0<\/p>\n Taking your own steps toward resisting or fighting for human rights should always begin at the hyper-local level. Everything else will branch\u00a0out,\u00a0and\u00a0there will be a butterfly effect. Change your own community; change the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n Read More:<\/p>\n![\"artist](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/uwmpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/art-display-at-docklands-museum-scaled.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/a>An exhibition of Black British artists at the Docklands Museum of London. Photo: Ethan Ainley Credit: Ethan Ainley<\/p>\n<\/a>Danny Thompson explains the historical and religious significance of a statue at the British Museum Photo: Ethan Ainley Credit: Ethan Ainley<\/p>\n<\/a>Danny Thompson at the British Museum with statue in the background. Photo: Ethan Ainley Credit: Ethan Ainley<\/p>\n<\/a>Danny Thompson talks about a historical figure, who is actually of African descent, at the British Museum. Photo: Ethan Ainley Credit: Ethan Ainley<\/p>\n<\/a>The British Museum at dusk as everyone exits the building at the time of closure. Photo: Ethan Ainley Credit: Ethan Ainley<\/p>\n<\/a>Michael McMillan speaks in front of \u201cThe Front Room,\u201d which is his curated period accurate home installation at the Museum of the Home in London. Photo: Ethan Ainley Credit: Ethan Ainley<\/p>\n<\/a>The Paddington bear mural in London, UK just outside the Waterloo station. A quote says, \u201cMrs. Brown says that in London everyone is different, and that means anyone can fit in.\u201d Photo: Ethan Ainley Credit: Ethan Ainley<\/p>\n\n