Thread by @AmgueddfaCymru

This is a #TwitterTakeover for #TakeoverTuesday by @SSAPYouth, we are a highly driven and critical network of young leaders from diverse backgrounds, our topic today: What To Do About Picton?

THREAD

Since lockdown, we have been hosting discussions on Black History in Wales with @AmgueddfaCymru and our resident historian/sociologist Abu Bakr Madden Shabbaz
#TakeoverTuesday

Our session last week focused on the topical issue of statues and paintings that relate to British colonial history, particularly those of Thomas Picton here in Wales
#TakeoverTuesday

We are using this #TakeoverTuesday to share our thoughts and invite you to join in the discussion

Be civil, think before you tweet, and if you want to join wider discussions around Black History in Wales follow us at @SSAPYouth to stay up to date with upcoming sessions

WARNING: this #TakeoverTuesday will talk about slavery, colonialism, violence, and sexual abuse.

This youth takeover is part of #HandsonHeritage initiative, supported by @HeritageFundUK #KicktheDust fund - diolch yn fawr for your support

Let’s just get something clear:

Picton bought and sold people of African descent

He had them tortured and murdered

He was the governor of Trinidad, which was a British colony built on slavery

Picton profited from slavery, violence and colonialism
#TakeoverTuesday

Picton also fought at Waterloo and was the highest-ranking official to die there

Posthumously he was celebrated as a military hero and tributes in the form of statues, paintings and some literary works were paid to him in Wales and across the UK
#TakeoverTuesday

Here is a list of resources on Picton for those of you who want to do more in-depth reading

We want to point out that these resources are a mix of the good, the bad and the ugly
#TakeoverTuesday

Always ask: who writes historical documents, and how does this influence the story that is told?
#TakeoverTuesday

First up, a blog by Dr. Douglas Jones from @NLWales: bit.ly/2AYR8Hu
We like that this blog focuses on Louisa Calderon, we’ll tweet more about her later
#TakeoverTuesday

A recommended in-depth read is James Epstein's “Politics of Colonial Sensation: The Trial of Thomas Picton and the Cause of Louisa Calderon” in the American Historical Review: bit.ly/2YY33gH
#TakeoverTuesday

This @WellcomeLibrary online resource allows you to flick through a contemporary record of Picton’s trial for torture archive.org/details/b20443…
#TakeoverTuesday

We are less impressed with the Wikipedia entry on Picton, which talks a lot about his military prowess and mentions the damage he inflicted on Black lives as a side note: bit.ly/3dteiCR
#TakeoverTueday

Even though we work with the @AmgueddfaCymru and @Museum_Cardiff we have to be real, it is not ok that the archival information on Picton’s portrait does not even mention his trial or his involvement in slavery and this will change bit.ly/2APNsIb
#TakeoverTuesday

Equally disappointing is this BBC article (bbc.in/2NhSako)

It argues that ‘Picton felt vulnerable’ to excuse his brutality against Black people, sadly an argument still in use today when it comes to defending white (police)men that brutalise our people
#TakeoverTuesday

A BBC article claims Picton was "branded" a cruel governor

"He was quite clearly a hero of Britain & if you look at biographies this trial is a small stain on his character" – torture of our people a small stain? Racism is alive & kicking
#TakeoverTuesday
bbc.in/2V690XV

There is an African saying: until the lion learns to speak, your tales of hunting will be weak

And until history is retold by our people, the story of Colonialism and British Empire is weak, whitewashed and, frankly, offensive in its prejudices and imbalances
#TakeoverTuesday

So let us reconfigure this distorted view of Picton, some people may feel offended by this...
#TakeoverTuesday

They have every right to be, because many of them never been afforded the chance to make their own true and more complete judgement of Picton, of colonial history, of their own position and complicity in historical and structural racism
#TakeoverTuesday

Take this offence, feel the rage and the sense of betrayal, most of us have been lied to about the past

This is not ok and it is right to be angry, but take these emotions and direct yourself towards the overdue redress.

Now is the opportune time
#TakeoverTuesday

How do we redress whitewashed, biased and prejudiced history?

How do we redress Picton?

Let us begin by addressing our own complicity in the obliteration of the history and memory of that free Mulata girl, Louisa Calderon
#TakeoverTuesday

As we talk about Picton, we willingly or unwillingly contribute to his ever-growing memory, as polarising as it has always been

So let us begin by consciously remembering her name:

LOUISA CALDERON

#TakeoverTuesday

Louisa was a free mulatto girl, from a poor background

Mixed heritage children like her were frequently the result of forced and imbalanced relationships between white masters and enslaved women of African descent
#TakeoverTuesday

Lousia was free but poor and at the age of 11 she entered a slaveholder’s household as a ‘mistress’

Let’s not beat around the bush: this is child abuse
#TakeoverTuesday

At the age of 14, her abuser accused Louisa of stealing money. This was never proven

Likely her abuser acted out of sexual jealousy

Picton was a friend of Louisa’s abuser and so he commanded her to be brutally tortured and held in chains for 8 months
#TakeoverTuesday

At the time, torture was not legal in Trinidad, but Picton saw himself as above the law

This led to him being accused of cruelty and illegal torture
#TakeoverTuesday

Picton was also accused of killing dozens of slaves, but the cases never made it to court, as the lives of unfree men of African descent were not considered of importance

We do not even know their names
#TakeoverTuesday

Louisa travelled to the UK and spoke in court, Picton was found guilty but was later acquitted

Louisa’s suffering, her bravery & her voice were disregarded
#TakeoverTuesday

She returned to Trinidad where her trail is lost

Louisa is one of many Black children, women & men who history brushes aside
#TakeoverTuesday

We cannot forget Louisa Calderon.

We cannot reduce her to a single case, she is not a stain in the history of Picton, or a stain on the whitewashed story told about British colonial history
#TakeoverTuesday

Louisa is every black person that has suffered and continues to suffer under historical and present racism and injustice
#TakeoverTuesday

At @SSAPYouth, we discussed ways to redress monuments, paintings, how this history is told and how the people in this story are remembered:
#TakeoverTuesday

1. Remove statues and paintings!

This is not erasure of history. Did you know of Colston, did you know of Picton before a statue was thrown in the river?

The removal itself is a historical act, a process of remembering, a chance to reset how we think, speak and teach history

2. Retell a more complete history, more truthfully and completely!

Listen as we challenge established narratives. Allow yourself to be uncomfortable, learn...

2 (continued).

This will allow our present-day collective memory to be rid of the bias that's been wrought by failure to address colonial past

We all play a role in changing narratives

3. Change narratives across all institutions responsible for public and private education

Attempts to re-educate the public should not place sole importance on history but must make an honest attempt to diversify all subjects...

3 (continued)

Discover our Black explorers, mathematicians, scientists, inventors and pioneers. We are not a side note of your history

4. Engage in conversation!

Listen, learn, reflect and continue to address injustice where you see it.

We encourage members of the public to input and discuss with us What To Do About Picton...

4 (continued)

These decisions should not reflect the views of an elite few, but be part of a wider public shift

This youth takeover was supported by of #HandsonHeritage initiative with @HeritageFundUK #KicktheDust fund - changing perspectives on heritage with the help of young people

.@SSAPYouth want to thank @AmgueddfaCymru for sharing this platform read more of our thoughts over on the museum blog and give us a follow over on @SSAPYouth

BLOG - What to do about Thomas Picton? 👉🏾bit.ly/2Z2hGja