Don’t Blame the Blacks exhibition at Nottingham Castle: 22 June – 22 August

Published: 17/06/2021

Don’t Blame the Blacks is an exhibition curated by multi-award-winning poet, NTU PhD student, and founder of Nottingham Black Archive, Panya Banjoko.

The exhibition provides an insight into the role Black communities in Nottingham played in combatting racism during the 1950s, the significance of former RAF serviceman and political activist, Oswald George Powe, and how he fought for improved conditions for the city’s Black population.

Through a campaign initiated by Powe, Raleigh Industries was forced to make changes to its policies in relation to Black workers, leading to greater equality in the workplace and to Raleigh becoming the largest employer of Black people in Nottingham. You can find out more about the effect of these changes by listening to the ‘When we worked at Raleigh’ podcast, or reading the blogs, which document the employment experiences of members of the Windrush generation.

Access to the Don’t Blame the Blacks exhibition is included in a general admission ticket to Nottingham Castle.