The things i didn't learn at school

I did art GCSE in my spare time at school. I didn't do great - i got a C - not too bad for an afternoon a week. Apart from that i did all sciences, maths and computing. In school i didn't really do any art history, at least i don't remember doing any. Everything to do with art and contemporary culture i got from my mother and her friends. Imagine four eastend kids lined up on a sofa, listening to hour after hour of the magic flute in Swedish on a record player. My mum wanted to introduce us to this opera before we went off the following day to see the Magic Flute in German in central london because one of my mum's friends was playing in the orchestra and could get us tickets. I can't imagine that i remember a word of the swedish and actually i remember much preferring the german - it seemed funnier. It was strange and wonderful to be introduced to this world - i disengaged from it for a while - as i struggled for a while to find a balance between my European and Nigerian heritage - i think every mixed race kid with my heritage goes through this - Frantz Fanon, James Baldwin, Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, Maya Angelou, Bell Hooks, Rosa Parks - all of that stuff comes your way and you seek it out. Anyway the two things that i didn't learn in school 'interpretation of art' and 'black history' are the two things that have kept me sane. Now if i feel confused or a little down after a tough day at work, i walk into a gallery or i walk into a cinema, and i can feel connected again, understand myself a little better. Of course it depends what i am looking at - sometimes one culture becomes overwhelming, and the questions it raises about who i am and my place in the world are further from being answered, if they can be answered at all. This video brings back memories... and raises so many good points - commemorating the abolition of slavery is like commemorating racism. Sound harsh? Which books are you reading?

{the youtube video - shows Paul, who taught me black african history}