A light on black London

“Iam an invisible man,” says the nameless protagonist of the Ralph Ellison novel of that title, lamenting an American bias that minimizes blackness.

“I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.”

Although the black presence in London may also seem invisible, it whispers like an ageless wind beneath the streets and monuments of this ancient city.

All that kindles is not coal, and therein lies the irony of black London.

Black Boy Lane is named for a horse, not a human being. If you happen upon the “Black Plaque Guide to London” you’ll find it’s about crime and scandal, not community.

However black the cabs may be, the famous Black Taxi Tours don’t really see the black side of the city. In fact, you won’t find black London on any of the conventional tourist maps. Though Africans have lived in the city since Roman times, monuments that mark their presence are relatively few.

I began visiting the British capital while a college student in the mid-1970s and was surprised to discover a robust black community that guidebooks virtually ignored. Friends from the city’s African, Caribbean and African American communities introduced me to reggae shows and “blue dances,” the Caribbean cafes and nightclubs of Brixton, and the cuisine and cultural programs of the Africa Centre in Covent Garden.

What changes have occurred in the last 30 years?

Reggae act Steel Pulse became popular in the ‘70s; Jazzie B and Sade in the ‘80s; and supermodel Naomi Campbell and heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis in the ‘90s. Now 21st century artists Floetry and Corinne Bailey Rae have won their musical place in the sun.

Discovering black London still takes a bit of traveler’s initiative (and at times a magnifying glass), but it now registers on the world’s radar screen, and the rewards are worth the effort.

A plaque marks the Brook Street residence where Jimi Hendrix lived from 1968 to ‘69, another is at the north London home where Bob Marley lived during his 1970s exile from Jamaica. Both are English Heritage blue plaques, which commemorate famous people and events connected with a public place. People of color are represented by a mere handful of the more than 20,000 plaques awarded since the project was inaugurated 140 years ago.

But there are a few others: One commemorates 19th century Zulu King Cetshwayo, another marks performer Paul Robeson’s home, and another, writer C.L.R. James’ home. The house where Marcus Garvey, founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Assn., lived, worked and died on Talgarth Road is also marked.

Honorees are chosen by the governmental agency English Heritage based on nominations by the public. The building must still exist and the honorees must have passed the 20th anniversary of their death or centenary of birth to be considered, though they need not necessarily be British.

Thanks to the lobbying of local interest groups, recent nominees include actor Ira Aldridge, Mayor John Archer, writer and ex-slave Mary Prince, barrister Ladipo Solanke, army officer Walter Tull and poet Phillis Wheatley.

The borough of Southwark has established a blue plaque program to honor its own, among them actor Marianne Jean-Baptiste (starring in the “Without a Trace” TV drama), midcentury poet and broadcaster Una Marson and American vaudeville star Connie Smith.

Impatient with English Heritage’s lack of diversity, community members have recommended that a Black Plaque program be instituted to honor neglected figures of African and Asian descent.

None of the plaques mention the honoree’s race, and the inscribed wording is generally cryptic: “CETSHWAYO (c1832-1884), King of the Zulus, stayed here, in 1882.” Though it may outline person, place and time, a plaque of any color can’t tell the whole story.

But a map of the London Tube transportation system and “The London Blue Plaque Guide” are indispensable in organizing a self-guided tour. Visitors may well discover that a themed tour will fill in the contours of London’s black heritage.

UNTOLD STORIES

Until recently, tours of black London did not exist. The city’s tourism authority, Visit London, and local businesses and community leaders have begun to develop community-based tours; they are not on the major tourist circuit, but they’re available and have been designed to help visitors uncover some of London’s untold stories.

Among those leading such tours is British-born writer-researcher S.I. Martin, a lay historian and author of “Britain’s Slave Trade” and the novel “Incomparable World.”

Martin organizes black heritage walking tours of central London, searching out the black presence in areas such as Whitehall, Trafalgar Square and Covent Garden.

“I’m looking at the history beneath history,” he said about the tour, called 500 Years of Black History in Central London Walking Tour.

The spirits of unsung men and women of letters, slaves and freemen emerge from the stone monuments of tourist London as Martin conjures up the 19th century abolition movement and points out images of black soldiers in Nelson’s Column at Trafalgar Square.

Martin also explores Maritime Greenwich, a World Heritage Site of historic landmarks such as the Cutty Sark, the last tea clipper and the Royal Observatory. The tour, called Greenwich South of the River, visits the site of a historic black settlement along the waterfront and deals with the black contribution to the maritime industry as well as the dirty little secret floating on the Thames and buried beneath the bridges: “A lot of these structures were built by merchants and planters who made their fortunes from slavery.”

Britain’s involvement in the slave trade began with John Hawkins and Sir Francis Drake, first given license in 1568 to set up the Guinea Coast Co. in West Africa. Opposition developed and mounted over the years. On March 25, 1807, the British Parliament passed a bill that outlawed trafficking in human flesh, although the institution of slavery persisted for decades.

This year marked the 200th anniversary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act and was celebrated with a series of programs at museums, galleries, theaters, schools, churches, government offices and community organizations throughout the city.

SELF-EDUCATION

Another heritage trail can be found in Hammersmith and Fulham, the West London borough that houses the Bank of England and Lloyd’s Stock Exchange.

Convinced that “most of the black community in Britain knows nothing about their heritage,” Ken Martindale conceived the idea of an educational experience that would “create understanding about who we are among ourselves and other people.”

Martindale, a charismatic speaker with a hint of an eastern Caribbean accent, has been active in London’s black community for more than 30 years. He served as council member for Hammersmith and Fulham, and his work as chairman of the Ethnic Minority Unit led to the designation of Black History Month in 1987.

“In music, dress and way of being, we have influenced the way the U.K. is today and continue to do so,” said Martindale. “Black history represents one-third of British history, and it is not being taught. We must open the floodgate to release that knowledge.”

Under the auspices of Black British Heritage, an organization he chairs, Martindale and others have lobbied to have Marcus Garvey Park built and campaigned for a blue plaque at the house where Garvey lived and died.

The group has also taken on restoring and maintaining the grave of Mary Seacole, who is known as “the black Florence Nightingale” for her nursing skills during the Crimean War in the 1850s. These are some of the sites that make up the Heritage Trail.

The itinerary also includes places associated with slave trader Nicholas Crisp, the bishop of London (who ordered that slaves must become Anglican converts to be emancipated), abolitionist Granville Sharp and the Buxton Memorial Fountain, dedicated to the memory of abolitionist Lord Buxton.

Though it can be walked, the Heritage Trail is generally toured in minibuses staffed by guides. The Black Heritage tours are half day or full day.

HISTORY AND NIGHTLIFE

The south London borough of Lambeth has absorbed the city’s largest concentration of black settlement since the 1940s. Some call its Brixton area “the Harlem of London.” The region’s Black Cultural Archives and Museum boasts one of the largest collections of artifacts of the black presence in Britain.

Brixton Tours offers sightseeing walks through the area, which is the site of Brixton Market with its bustling crowds and tropical produce, and monuments such as Windrush Square, which commemorates the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the ship Empire Windrush, which brought the first small wave of immigrants from the Caribbean. The area is also home to a thriving nightlife scene, with live music every evening. at venues such as Carling Academy and the Fridge.

Brixton Tours, started in 2003 by local businessman Jay Brown, offers a daily one-hour walking tour that includes food tastings along the way, with stops at neighborhood cafes, bakeries, galleries, jazz pubs, parks, historic churches, libraries, food and crafts market stalls. And, as reggae star Eddy Grant promises, “We’re gonna rock down to Electric Avenue,” the first street in England to be illuminated with electric lights.

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Overlooked facets of London history

TOURS

Central London 500 Years of Black History in Central London Walking Tour and the Greenwich South of the River Walking Tour, 011-44-79-0648 3063. Tours are led by historian and author S.I. Martin. Prices vary; $594 for groups up to 50.

Hammersmith and Fulham Borough: Black Heritage Trail tours, 011-44-20-8748-6950, www.black-british-heritage.com. Prices vary; $247 for groups up to 25.

Brixton: Tours of Brixton, part of the south London borough of Lambeth. 011-44-18-4384-0737, www.brixtontours.co.uk. $25 per person for a tour of one hour or more.

TO LEARN MORE

Visit London, London’s official website, www.visitlondon.com.

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On travel.latimes.com

For more scenes of London’s often-overlooked African and Caribbean cultural life, go to latimes.com/london.