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Historian and Broadcaster David Olusoga

BBC2016

Black Cultural Archives

Black Cultural Archives
London, United Kingdom

David Olusoga is the presenter of the BBC History series Black and British: A Forgotten History.
He's shown here at the National Archives looking at the names of London’s black poor who were relocated to Sierra Leone by the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor in 1787.
Many former slaves fought for the British during the American War of Independence, encouraged to escape their owners by a promise of freedom. After the British lost the war though many ended up living in London, destitute and on the streets at the end of the 18th century.
Their plight attracted the attention of the great and the good. Whether they were regarded as betrayed heroes, or a nuisance, it was agreed something must be done.
This led to the founding of the Committee and a plan to send them thousands of miles away to establish a new colony of free slaves in Sierra Leone.

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