Welcome to the museum’s first ever Bucks Black History Museum Group (BBHMG) which was established in February this year.
The group meet on the first Tuesday of the month to create and shape museum activities focusing on Black History, if you would like to join please email community@discoverbucksmuseum.org.
Group members have chosen to focus on a theme for 2021, they collectively decided ‘Black Lives in Bucks; Looking Back, Looking Forward’. The group is currently working on a few projects such as; a digital Shoe project called ‘Looking Back, Walking Forward: a Black History Shoe Project’; an online Webinar called Looking back, Walking forward – a Black History webinar; and an Oral History project.
‘Looking Back, Walking Forward: a Black History shoe project’ invites the Bucks Black community to get involved by taking a picture of their shoes to tell their story. This project was inspired by the late Mr Alphone’s wedding shoes which were donated to the Museum in 2020. Mr Alphonse’s shoes and story, represents a piece in the picture of the contribution made by the Black community to the history of Britain. You can see the shoes on display and read Mr Alphonse’s story at the museum.
This Black History shoe project is about knowing and understanding Black history to move forward. It aims to allow people to open up about their past experiences as well as their future plans, through their shoes.
To get involved, simply follow the steps below:
Step 1.
Select a pair of shoes that tells a story with Black heritage.
Step 2.
Take a clear close up photo of them, either wearing them or not.
Step 3.
Send your photo along with your story (keeping to a max of 200 words) to community@discoverbucksmuseum.org
The project will last until February 2022 and the photos and stories received will be collated and shown in our online collections here.
Join our Looking back, Walking forward – a Black History webinar on Saturday 16 October at 5pm to take a look at some of the Bucks Black History Group’s meaningful objects that represent Black history as well as a short book recital from local author Tracey Harris and a steelpan performance. Plus explore some incredible objects from our museum collection such as artistic pots by ceramist Magdalene Odundo and much more. Book your free place here.
