black british community leaders from the 60’s-70’s are paid homage to in this new exhibit!

When exploring the Black liberation movements of the 60s and 70s, the Civil Rights and Anti-apartheid movements tend to dominate those conversations because of the highly publicized and iconic figures attached to each movement. Infamous photographer Neil Kenlock is looking to add Britain to the conversation by shedding light on the presence of black resistance in the UK with the brand-new exhibition, ‘Expectations: The Untold Story of Black British Community Leaders in the 1960s and 1970s’ hosted by the Black Cultural Archives.

The exhibition will comprise of photography by Neil Kenlock, former photographer for the British Black Panthers and founder of ChoiceFM. The exhibition will be curated by Neil’s daughter Emilia Kenlock and will be launching with a VIP opening on August 7th, running until September 28th. ‘Expectations’ will feature 70 black and white photographs celebrating British Black community leaders, many of whom come from the generation of Jamaican, Trinidadian and Tobagoan migrants that landed in Britain on the ‘MV Empire Windrush’. The Empire Windrush arrived on the docks of Essex on June 22nd 1948, thus the 70 images are a celebration of 70th anniversary of that landing.

The exhibition will examine the 1960s and 1970s, covering events shot by Kenlock such as the ‘Keep Britain White’ campaign of 1972 – a response to Black immigration at the time. ‘Expectations’ will offer “unique insight into the lives and experiences of the first generation, African and Caribbean leaders who settled in the UK and influenced the community in Lambeth and the surrounding boroughs”. Kenlock hopes that the exhibition will give British youth the opportunity to engage with untold Black British culture while also sparking conversations.

“Many young Black people from our community only engage with heritage when they visit museums during their educational studies. This project aims to give access to examples of Black leadership, as well as archive material outside of the normal educational environment.” – Neil Kenlock

‘Challenge’, ‘Collaboration’ and ‘Change’ are the three themes that will guide the exhibition. The themes will be demonstrated through aspects like inviting the community to respond to the exhibition by sharing their impressions of the photographs. Neil Kenlock will also be hosting to public talks: Untold Story of Black Community Leaders in Lambeth, and Black Women and Leadership Respectively. Details on the talks will be announced at a later date. The full archive will go live on the 7th on August on expectationsproject.com