We are Bristol: Reparative justice through collaborative research

The legacy of the slave trade in Bristol leaves many unresolved questions. Following the police killing of George Floyd in the USA, the subsequent global Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests directed attention to statues commemorating white supremacists, slave traders and other colonial figures around the world. BLM protesters in Bristol toppled the statue of slave trader Edward Colston, which had long been at the centre of fierce debates around the city's history and memory of slavery. These events prompted institutions across the country to examine the symbolism of their public spaces.
Racial inequalities in Bristol are well documented; a Runnymede Trust Report in 2017 found that for Black people Bristol has the 3rd highest level of educational inequality in England and Wales. To tackle inequalities, Mayor Marvin Rees launched a 'One City Approach', inviting public, private, voluntary and third sector partners to make Bristol a fair, healthy and sustainable city. A Legacy Steering Group and a History Commission were established to help position current debates into wider perspectives about Bristol's past and present. In parallel, many grassroot initiatives and reparative projects emerged, such as CARGO (Charting African Resilience Growing Opportunities), The Seven Saints of St. Pauls, and a Bristol African Caribbean Cultural Space.

This research will complement and contribute to these initiatives through the methodologies of citizen science. A cross-disciplinary group of researchers, citizen scientists and non-academic organisations will have the unprecedented chance to co-investigate both macro- and micro-level local histories of Bristol, take action on a range of contemporary injustices, from direct legacies of slavery and racism to wider issues of key concern, and explore ways to repair contemporary legacies of this history. This research will be supported by the Mayoral Commission for Racial Equality (CORE), an umbrella organisation that works with hundreds of organisations across the city. The project collaborators will also tackle the issues of capacity building, leadership and empowerment through this city-wide dialogue.

There are four work packages:
1. Bristol, Capital, and Enslavement: The aim of WP1 is to co-produce with citizen researchers new knowledge about how slave derived wealth, through the 1834 compensation awards, has shaped Bristol's built environment, business and charity. It will connect the stories of the enslaved to the sites in Bristol by using the Slave Registers to identify the enslaved people claimed by Bristol residents.
2. Creative digital memorialisation: bodies in movement and augmented reality: Working with citizens, artists and dance groups, WP2 will identify new and alternative sites of memory in Bristol's cityscape which connect to the histories and legacies of transatlantic enslavement through the knowledge and experiences of Bristolians, using creative practice-led methodologies.
3. Campaign training and We Are Bristol exhibit: Based on the Six Elements of Social Justice Education, the aim of WP3 is to introduce secondary-school students from diverse communities to issues of race equality both past and present, and train them to identify and campaign on contemporary social justice issues that matter to their communities. This work will result in an exhibition and a curriculum pack for teachers and students and will contribute to the global Facing History and Ourselves curriculum resource.
4. Transformative inclusive pedagogy: Inequalities and racism experienced by people of colour in the education sector are inextricably linked to slavery and its legacy. The aim of WP4 is to work with teachers as citizen scientists to develop ways of understanding and teaching of the different aspects of that legacy, equipping them to be agents for change and enhance their own and other educators' ability to address inequalities.

The project addresses a suite of societal issues which have arisen from the impact and legacies of the transatlantic slave trade in Bristol and ongoing post-slavery racism. These include questions around memorialisation and history in the city; ongoing inequities in educational attainment; access to public space and infrastructures; and the ability to participate in the city's civic life. They have been identified by our non-academic collaborators, as part of wider, urgent and ongoing conversations across the city. They were also identified in previous research by University of Bristol academics (Otele, Moody, Burch-Brown and others).

Involving citizen scientists in this research is paramount. Material relating to the transatlantic slave trade and enslavement is valued, interpreted and has diverse meanings for different communities, e.g. descendants of enslaved people, or those who have benefitted from the slave trade. Citizen science methodology allows diverse voices to shape how this challenging history is addressed. These processes of remembering, forgetting and re-shaping history are part of cultural and collective memory processes. Involving citizens is essential to understanding the personal connections to these issues. The project team has strong links with community, grassroots and umbrella organisations who have already expressed an interest in being involved.

The project will benefit citizens in multiple ways, for example by sharing knowledge; accessing archival material; and developing research, communication and creative skills and personal networks. This will enhance their chances to collaborate on, or lead, future projects. At the heart of this lies the question of agency of minority and marginalised groups and the ability to shape the debate about reparative justice, participate in civic life and influence policy. This project offers citizens the opportunity to shape their own and their city's history.