Stowe is in Buckinghamshire and finds its roots entrenched in the violence and epistemes of enslavement and colonialism. At the school, I first delivered a session to Y10, Y11, sixth form and staff on the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as the historic and contemporary racisms we find ourselves talking lots about today. The second session was mainly to students on speaking out and using their voices to challenge acts of racism.
Once upon a time, a school like Stowe would never have let someone that looked like me in the building, let alone speak to its students. Now lots of their students do look like me. Stowe’s history is embedded in the subjugation of my ancestors and there was something eerie about speaking in a venue that had directly benefited from the colonialism, imperialism and racism I had been asked to speak about. During my talks, I did also discuss Buckingham’s links with enslavement and also looked at what we as people can hope to do about it in using our voices in standing up to racism and discrimination.
Black lives matter is a response to centuries of anti-Blackness: the personal, the institutional, the structural. Speaking at Stowe reminded me that private schools need just as much help as everyone else when it comes to addressing equality, equity, discrimination and such. Private schools may be in the pallour of privilege but that is also why they need the help. Stowe was a great experience and the staff were very welcoming. The students too.