The reality that the history of the black leader of London Chartism in the 1840s, William Cuffay, has been largely unknown has been known for a while.
Efforts to end this editing of history and to restore Cuffay to prominence as one of those who led the fight for the vote have been underway for a while.
Above is a montage featuring William Cuffay centre stage.
The wording reads:
The 1832 Reform Act had extended the vote to more men with property but the working class still did not have a vote. A nationwide campaign involving men and women called for change and they became known as The Chartists, the first mass working class movement in Britain. The People’s Charter of 1838 demanded votes for all men, constituencies of equal size, the abolition of the property qualification, annual parliaments and salaries for members of Parliament. Portrayed is a meeting of the London Chartists in Whitechapel, in 1842, with William Cuffay, the son of a slave and the elected President of the London Chartists. He was transported to Tasmania for his endeavours, later pardoned, and continued to be politically active there.
http://www.redsaundersphoto.eu/1842.html
Red Saunders has created a number of images of key moments in British radical history,the most recent being a series marking the 200th anniversary of Peterloo in 1819.
The pictures for the montage were shot at Chat’s Palace, Homerton.
I provided some historical advice and can be spotted in the picture, third figure from the left of Cuffay, wearing a false beard..
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