Bowie State Students Tour East London’s Racial, Social Justice History

Tour Part of Alternative Spring Break

 

MEDIA CONTACT: Jonathan Saxon, jsaxon@bowiestate.edu, 301-860-3607

(BOWIE, Md.) – Bowie State University students, along with a small group of faculty and staff, participated in a social justice workshop during a university sponsored, week-long alternative spring break trip to London. 

Students met with members of Journey to Justice, a local, anti-racist organization which focuses on addressing poverty, class systems and economic justice, who conducted a presentation outlining London’s history of prejudice and racism that stems from England’s historic colonization activities. Journey to Justice also explained how they use a combination of US and British history combined with studying global human rights movements and the arts to promote a more equal society.  

“To me, it felt like a full circle moment,” said Roxan Rockefeller, a senior computer science major. “I think it’s really beautiful there is some protests in the United States that impacted British people as well.” 

Students learned about a range of topics, such as the historic presence of Africans in the British Isles, which dates back to the Roman Empire, how the non-white British citizens live in London, and just how much wealth has been extracted over time by England from its former colonies, which is estimated in the trillions of dollars.  

“The conversation we had covered a lot of dark topics that affect a lot of people,” said Elijah Prince, a graduate student studying mental health counseling. “But it covered it in a way where it felt like there was a fight.  The major tie and connections between what we have on the European side versus what we have on the western side, I felt like what brought them together was the fight for justice and equity.” 

The presentation also included exercises that covered the history behind major, historic disturbances, such as the Brixton riots of 1985 and 2011, while drawing comparisons to similar kinds of racially based unrest in the United States.  

Following the workshop, students toured East London visiting neighborhoods that once served as sweatshops for wealthy silk weavers and battle grounds for labor disputes between business owners and workers centered around better pay and working conditions for laborers. 

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