Organised Youth Presents | The British Black Panthers
© Organised Youth with Linton Kwesi Johnson, 2013. Nathaniel Bagot-Sealey
© Darcus and Leila Howe, 2013. Chantelle Clarke-Medford
Taking place at the Photofusion Gallery during Black History Month, this photography exhibition will feature current portraits of Panther members and archive photographs shot by Neil Kenlock, the official photographer of the British Black Panther Movement. A documentary film will also accompany the exhibition.
The show has been curated by The Organised Youth project, a group of 13-25 year olds who were inspired by the youthful activism of the British Panthers and hoped to present their history to a new generation.
Lizzy King, Photofusion Community Programme Manager, said: “This important project has proven to everyone that young people are more than capable of working with living history. The group have worked together and across generational, social and racial boundaries to produce a sensitive and informative body of work that will stand as an educational and creative resource for their own and future generations. The archived recordings and images will ensure that we are able to appreciate the stories of the racial and social struggle that went before.”
The young photographers, filmmakers, historians worked with experienced facilitators to capture the untold stories of the British Black Power Movement through interviews with Panther members and Black Power activists.
Interviewees include Darcus Howe, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Danny Da Costa, Leila Howe, Neil Kenlock, Liz Obi, Kenrick Goppy and Farouk Dhondy with other interviews taking place in the run up to the exhibition.
All transcripts of the interviews will be donated to a local public archive, so that the legacy of this project will be free and accessible for future generations. A limited edition book of the transcripts and images will also be available.
This project has been organised by Photofusion with funding from the Heritage Lottery’s Young Roots Fund.