Dive into a powerful chat with Santilla Chingaipe and Rakeem Omar about the stories behind Black convicts and their journeys.

Black Convicts: Santilla Chingaipe in conversation with Rakeem OmarTuesday 20 October 2026, 6.30pm

Legacy Centre of Excellence, BirminghamOn the First Fleet that arrived in Australia in 1788, at least 15 convicts were of African descent. By 1840, almost 500 Black convicts had been transported there. Yet their lives have largely disappeared from the history Australians are taught.In Black Convicts: How Slavery Shaped Australia, Santilla Chingaipe recovers the stories of these men, women and children. Following the traces they left in colonial archives, she reveals the connections between Britain, the Caribbean and Australia, and asks what their experiences tell us about slavery, empire and the making of a nation.Santilla is a Zambian-born filmmaker, historian and author. A former SBS World News journalist, she spent nearly a decade reporting across Africa and on Australia’s African diasporic communities. Her acclaimed documentary Our African Roots brought her investigation of Australia’s colonial history to television. Black Convicts was shortlisted for the Stella Prize and longlisted for the Cundill History Prize.Joining Santilla in conversation is Rakeem Omar, an award-winning journalist and BBC television and radio presenter. Rakeem presents on BBC Radio 1Xtra and has previously presented on BBC Radio 1 and the BBC Radio WM Breakfast Show. A graduate of Channel 4’s Investigative Journalism MA, he has written for the Birmingham Mail, LADbible and the Mirror, and developed five half-hour current affairs films commissioned by BBC England.Together they’ll discuss the people at the heart of Black Convicts, the work of recovering overlooked histories, and why those stories matter today. There will be time for audience questions.Legacy Centre of Excellence

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