About Us
Finding Inspiration in Every Turn
LAURENCE’S WORDS – FULL VERSION WITH PARAS
Title??? On The Shoulders of Giants??
Liverpool is a city of immigrants and black people have been a part of the
town's cultural make up for over 300 years. There has been a documented
black presence in Liverpool since the early eighteenth century, a time when the
population of the town was less than ten thousand people.
Liverpool’s long history of black settlement was brought about by its
dominance of trade with Africa and the Americas that began during the
eighteenth century. Liverpool's overwhelming command of the trade in
enslaved Africans and commerce in the goods the enslaved produced meant
that black people would often be onboard the ships that sailed into the port.
Our Story
It was these black settlers, both free and enslaved, who arrived in the growing
port during the 1700s that paved the way for the proud, yet much beleaguered
black community that still resides in the city to this day.
Empowering
Crafting Unique Experiences
Liverpool's black community was well established long before the SS Windrush
steamed down the Thames in 1948. People of African descent have
contributed to the everyday life of the city in a multitude of ways, long before
Liverpool was actually a city.
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Initially, black people lived predominantly in the centre of Liverpool. Many
settled in the area to the south of the Old Dock when houses were first built in
the area, beginning in the 1790s. Due to the high numbers of black people that
resided here during the nineteenth century it became known as ‘Little Africa’,
but is better known today as Chinatown, or to others, the Baltic Triangle.