Bernie Grant Arts Centre - Saturday 29th March 2008
5pm to 8pm - Admission: £8
Box Office: 0208 365 5450 - boxoffice@berniegrantcentre.co.uk
Women leading the community in the fight against
discrimination
This event is brought to you in association with www.100blackmenoflondon.org.uk
and www.blackhistorywalks.co.uk
Two documentaries that show the similarities and differences
between black women’s fight against racism in France and the UK:
- The Sybil Phoenix Story: Loving
Hands
by Lucia Tambini (31 min, UK)
- The Gerty Archimède Story: Gerty
Archimède: the people candidate
by Mariette Monpierre (52 min, France/Guadeloupe)Sybil Phoenix
Sybil Phoenix
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•
First Black Woman to win MBE (1973)
• Medal of Service winner Guyana (1987)
• National Black Women Achievement award (1992)
• Fellow of Goldsmith College
• Woman of the Year winner (twice)
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the 1960's Sybil was a foster parent to hundreds of unwanted
children. She raised £64,000, opened and ran Moonshot in New
Cross, the first black youth club in Britain. When the National
Front burned it down in 1977 she rebuilt it within 4 years.
She was a leader in the New Cross Fire campaign and the post
Brixton negotiations. In the 1980's she set up the Marsha Phoenix
trust for homeless young women. She is now 82 and still active
in Lewisham. This film by Lucia Tambini contains interviews
with Sybil, family and friends. The rare footage shows how bad
racism was in the 80's and how much we take for granted now.
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Gerty Archimède
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• First
French black woman barrister in
Guadeloupe (1939)
• Represents the French Communist party in
conventions around the world (1948)
• First French woman MP of Guadeloupe (1951)
• Elected deputy mayor, then Mayor of
Basse-terre, Guadeloupe (1956)
• Creates a Women Federation to secure social
security and pension rights for women.
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Gerty Archimède was involved in the anti-colonialism
struggle & also fought tirelessly for women and the poor.
She once used her exceptional talent as a barrister to help
Angela Davis 70’s militant wanted by the FBI, who back from
Cuba had her passport confiscated in Guadeloupe. Gerty Archimède
died at the age of 71 on August 15, 1980. A woman of conviction
& courage, she is one of the pioneers of women emancipation
as she opened the door to many to follow her path. On January
27, 2007, Candidate Ségolène Royal paid tribute to Gerty Archimède
during her election campaign.
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Further
memorials to remember her legacy include:
- Alain
Foix's play “Pas de Prison pour le Vent”
relates to
Gerty Archimède encounter with Angela Davis,
- A bronze, inaugurated on December 13, 2002 in
Guadeloupe (boulevard Marine Basse- Terre),
- A Parisian street, in the 12th district, is named after her,
- A memorial museum in Basse-Terre (Guadeloupe). |
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