'Black history belongs to us all': Nelson Mandela's granddaughter on education gaps
12 February 2022, 22:04 | Updated: 14 February 2022, 08:26
On the 32nd anniversary of her grandfather’s release from prison in 1990, Tukwini Mandela tells LBC's Natasha Devon black history "doesn't just belong to black people alone".
It comes as Ms Mandela expressed concern about the lack of black representation across the UK’s school curriculums and public spaces.
She told Natasha Devon: "I grew up with a grandfather who attached great importance to legacy and lineage. I learned about my family's history from my grandfather.
"Storytelling was a very important part of who my grandfather was and who I am.
"So I think it's just really important to tell the history of the world in its entirety, and that history of the world includes black people who made a positive contribution."
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Natasha asked: "What do you think it's particularly important for children to learn about?"
"It's important to learn that the history of black people didn't just start with slavery, or with the civil rights movement, or the anti-apartheid movement," Ms Mandela replied.
"Black people were a people before that, who contributed positively. They were artists, they were doctors.
"Who would know about the fact that Nubians ruled Egypt for centuries for example? Or that there were black Tudors, or that there were black Romans?"
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Ms Mandela continued: "It's all of our history. It's not just the history of black people that belongs to black people alone, it belongs to all of us.
"I just think that we have a personal responsibility to learn.
"For those people who are filmmakers, it's important for them to make films about black figures in history. It's important to create documentaries about black figures in history. It's important to write books about black figures in history.
"This is not just within the remit of historians themselves, it's within all of our remits to talk about these things and to educate ourselves and understand."
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