Black Brilliance

Sir Milton Margai

As I considered my place within this institution, I realised that my connection to Durham ran deeper than I had first thought. Much of Durham University’s black history can be traced back to Sierra Leone, a small country on the west coast of Africa, which is home to my father’s family. It also holds one of Durham's former affiliate colleges, originally known as Fourah Bay College and now recognized as the University of Sierra Leone. Founded in 1827, Fourah Bay College was a trailblazer in African education, being the first Western-style university in West Africa and the first institution in Africa to offer a university-level education. Its affiliation with Durham University ran between 1876 and 1967.

One of the most notable figures from Fourah Bay College, one who also travelled to study at Durham, is Sir Milton Margai, the first prime minister of Sierra Leone. After completing primary and secondary education at the Evangelical United Brethren school in Bonthe, he went on to achieve a Bachelor of the Arts at Fourah Bay College in 1921. His final stop on his educational journey was at the Durham University College of Medicine, where he became a doctor. This college is now recognised as a part of Newcastle University. Upon his return to Sierra Leone, Margai commenced his medical career, notably in Sierra Leone’s capital city of Freetown, where my father’s family originated (more on that later!). Much of Margai’s medical work surrounded women’s health, instructing healthcare workers on caring for women within the Sande society. This is a group within the Mende tribe who symbolically initiate girls into adulthood. Margai encouraged the Mende group leaders to teach feminine hygiene, literacy and childcare within their initiations. Those under his tutelage were well respected and became known as “mamma murses”. It is said that they had such influence in their areas that one mamma nurse opposed the building of a medical centre and so it was not built until after she died. In a low-income country, there is no underestimating the significance that this elevated healthcare had on the women of this tribe.

Margai’s attention turned from medicine to politics in the 1930s when he began representing the Bonthe region in the Protectorate Assembly. His career accelerated when in 1951 he founded the Sierra Leone’s People Party (SLPP). Through a series of conferences and negotiations with Britain, he led Sierra Leone to independence from the United Kingdom in 1961, becoming the first Prime Minister of Sierra Leone. Margai was revolutionary as the first leader of an independent Sierra Leone. Though he served in office for only three years before passing away in 1964, his initiatives changed the face of the country, with a stark focus on strengthening health care, education and economic structures. The country’s respect for him can be seen through the several institutions named after him, such as a school for blind students. Sir Milton Margai is remembered by his country as “the Father of the Nation”, a calm and inclusive leader who championed national unity and the erasure of ethnic and regional divides in Sierra Leone.

George Coleridge Taylor

One Sierra Leonean Diplomat who served under Sir Milton Margai is George Coleridge Taylor. He, too, was a student of both Fourah Bay College and Durham University, speaking fondly of both in his memoir. To him, Fourah Bay College and collegiate life in Durham were very similar. For example, in true Durham fashion, all students and staff at Fourah Bay College wore their gowns to dinner and were met by a high table of the college’s top faculty. His journey in the UK began humorously with him recounting his culture shock at being charged for a bottle of Perrier, and subsequently utilising purposefully unintelligible franglais to escape the bill. Of his time in Durham, he spoke of its dreadful cold, in comparison to the warmth of “our athens” – Sierra Leone, but with a nostalgic endearment for this quality. He also relished in the picturesque beauty of the Castle and Durham Cathedral.

Despite his frequent references to the frosty temperatures of Durham, his recollection of his time there carries a certain warmth. The city seemed to welcome him wholeheartedly, with his mentors Bill and Nellie Harrison taking him under their wing, almost as if he were their own child. Around the same time, Bill and Nellie also hosted Ghanaian Music student, Edna Soyannwo who went on to be a pionneering woman music teacher in Ghana and Nigeria. Even moments of potential division, such as when bus travellers expressed their fascination in his hair seemingly only brought him closer to the heart of the city, with these apparently innocuous interactions leading to long-standing friendships.

George particularly found his feet in the Durham Union, where his first debate argued that “Wogs begin at Calais”. Even though the House made a point of disapproving that racial slur, its decision to use it anyway may demonstrate the attitudes of Durham Union, which are unfortunately still prevalent today. This can arguably still be seen today in the way that they organised a debate about the genocide in Gaza, phrasing the statement in a way that strongly favours those who support Israel. Nevertheless, George was asked by the Union Committee to argue the case for the proposition about Calais. He argued his case successfully, with a majority supporting his side of the debate, and it became one of many debates that he would go on to lead the Union to victory in, as the leader of the external debating team.

Though he noted some racist opinions of lecturers towards Africa, the majority of George’s experience of Durham seemed unequivocally positive, describing an “unforgettably happy involvement in the life of Durham City.” On his last days in Durham, as president of Durham Colleges United Nations Student Association (UNSA) he joined a welcome party for the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip, spoke with them over lunch and “left on cloud nine”. In a time where headlines lay damning reminders of how Durham University may exclude a person such as myself, it is comforting to hear the story of a black man who certainly found his feet on Durham’s cobblestone streets.

Enid Forde

As I previously mentioned, my father’s family are Sierra Leonean, and, having discovered Durham University’s relationship with our country, I was thrilled to uncover our connection to this institution through my grandfather’s sister, Enid Rosamund Ayodele Forde, whom my father and his siblings affectionately called Aunty Ayo.

She completed her childhood education at Buxton Primary School, Annie Walsh Memorial Secondary School and Fourah Bay college. My grandfather noted the excitement of Enid attending Fourah Bay College, as achieving a Durham degree was seen as exemplary in Sierra Leone. Later on, Enid travelled to England, seeking higher education. She studied at Leeds University before travelling to Northwestern University in Illinois to complete her PhD. Enid is recognized as the first woman from Sierra Leone to earn a PhD and the first African to complete a PhD at Northwestern University. She wrote a dissertation entitled “The Population of Ghana: A Study of the Spatial Relationships of Its Sociocultural and Economic Characteristics”, which became a cornerstone in the study of West African geography.

Once her PhD was completed, Enid returned to Sierra Leone to teach at her former secondary school before turning her attention over to Fourah Bay College, where she eventually became the Chair of the Geography Department. In addition to her role as an educator, she served as the Women’s Warden, where she was highly respected by her students. My grandfather described Enid as a deeply religious woman, who would regularly go to church to worship. However, she vehemently denied several traditional Christian ideas of womanhood, which can be seen through her influence on many Sierra Leonean women to pursue higher education, despite societal pressures suggesting it might hinder their prospects of marriage.

Her contributions extended beyond academia; Enid’s advocating for women continued through her efforts to popularise the family planning program in Sierra Leone, greatly advancing women’s health. She was also involved in Hillside Day Care Centre, a place created in 1995 to care for civil war orphans. Enid did not marry or have children and found deep fulfilment in her work and her relationship with my father and his siblings. Enid, who sadly passed away in 2010, was described by my grandfather as a gentle and humble woman, one who never flaunted her achievements, no matter how impressive they were. Her legacy continues to inspire and her life serves as a testament to the impact of education, dedication, and humble strength. Although I never had the chance to meet Aunty Ayo, I resonate deeply with her story and it inspires me to chase my dreams, no matter how out of reach they seem.

Kerryann Ifill

Across the pond, Durham has its history with another affiliate university in Barbados. Codrington College was once known as another of Durham’s international colleges, with its ties to our university spanning between 1875 and 1965. It is now known as the University of the West Indies. Kerryann Ifill studied both at this university and later on in Durham.

From a young age Kerryann defied the odds. Pronounced blind at four, it would have been easy for society to diminish her potential but she refused to adopt that perception of her future. She became the first blind person to graduate from the University of the West Indies, with a degree in Sociology and Psychology. She went on to achieve a MBA through a distance learning programme from Durham Business School. Between 2012 and 2018, Kerryann was President of the Senate of Barbados. She was the first black and blind woman to do so, as well as the youngest in Barbadian history.

I had the privilege of speaking to Kerryann and I emerged from the conversation with one prevailing sentiment: empowerment. Any questions I asked about the difficulties she may have faced throughout her life as a black, blind woman were replied to with a determined passion to not see them as hindrances, merely challenges. In response to my question about the obstacles she may have had to overcome while undertaking a degree, she shrugged and stated simply, “with every problem I encounter, there is already a solution. I just need to find it”. That can-do sentiment carried through our whole conversation. Kerryann showed me that life is as good as you make it, that you “have to accept your reality and then change it”.

Her approach to life is not naively optimistic. Much of our conversation was heavy, with her exposing the realities of blindness. One topic that stuck with me came from the question: “what is the one thing that people fundamentally misunderstand about blind people?”. Kerryann explained the raw reality of the personal life of blind people, and those in general with disabilities. She explained that the biggest hindrance to blind people is not their disability but society’s negative perception of their disability. Even those who want to date them are put off by their families who believe that they can find someone of better value. “When will it be our turn to find a good man?” she asked and the question hung like thick fog in the air. Kerryann consciously rejects what society expects of her, not in the name of being inspirational but because she is determined to do whatever she believes she is capable and willing to do, just like everyone else. I believe we can all learn something from her, which is just as well because she is in the process of writing a book about the lessons she has learned throughout her life. I urge you to read it once it debuts!