Lecture Given for Chichester Diocese’s Black History Month Closing Service, Sunday 25th October 2026, St Mary’s Church, Slindon[1] Alan Lester Today we are convening in two places redolent of the Anglican Church’s conflicted relationship with slavery. Over there is a memorial to Edward Long, a man who did his utmost to justify the dehumanisation of generations of enslaved African men, women and children. In St Mary Magdalene Church Madehurst, to which we are heading this afternoon, is another memorial to Roque Ferdinand, one of the individuals caught up in the web of atrocities that Anglicans like Long sought to perpetuate. […]

Background In 2019 the booklet Brighton & Hove Black History was updated by Brighton & Hove Black History community group. The group was co-founded created in 2002 by Bert Williams MBE  and Sarah Lee, via a grant from the Scarman Trust. After a career in the RAF Bert spent much of his retirement researching the hidden stories of Black people’s presence in the city and presenting that work to every audience he could access. However Bert faced racism and prejudice when trying to present that work and was excluded from heritage and archive spaces which did not take him or […]