Orall Cornelius (Economics, 1995, County) shares his views on history and race as he recalls his time at Lancaster and his quest to create a monument to British black history.Diversity was on the mind of Orall Cornelius when he was an undergraduate at the University in 1992. He recalls that there weren’t many people that looked like him back then. “I was definitely in the minority at that time. I gave a tacit nod when I encountered another black person walking along the spine - perhaps it was relief. I’m glad things have changed since that time."

History and race is again on Orall’s mind years later, as he has started a parliamentary petition for a new National Museum of Black History and Culture to create a permanent monument to British black history. After a summer of traumatic events and the end of another black history month, he reflects on whether there has been any lasting change.

In a year that saw the death of George Floyd, international BLM protests and disquiet around BAME populations and COVID-19, questions about the place of black people in society are at the forefront. Each year in the UK there is one month dedicated to black history. For some, this is the only time they encounter the topic. The new museum plans to make real the history of black Britons all year round. The petition calls for a space in the capital where visitors can immerse in black history, be inspired by the stories and be a positive springboard for change. Sitting in his daughter’s primary school assembly during Black History Month six years ago, the lack of a black history museum in the capital was keenly felt by Orall. There were museums of natural history, science and war, but no museum of black history. A place was needed where young people could see the stories and be inspired to make things differently.

In 2014 Orall wrote a letter to the then Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, calling for such a museum, but to no avail. Now in 2020, with the traumatic events of the summer etched into the world’s conscience, the proposed museum aims to promote positive change. During Black history month in 2020, Orall’s daughter reported that her sixth-form class could identify only one out of ten icons of British Black History. Looking across the ocean to the NMAAHC (designed somewhat ironically by black British Architect David Adjaye), the need for a UK equivalent is clear. Considering the Washington museum, the novelist and poet Ben Okri reflected, “it’s very helpful for black people and white people just to understand how the world got to where it is. It’s overdue in the UK and it’s important for the enlightenment of future generations." https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/329371