Edward Colston was a British slave trader from Bristol, England. In 2020, Bristol's Colston statue was torn down and thrown into Bristol Harbour by Black Lives Matter (BLM) protestors.

In the UK, colonial statues & reminders of Britain's slave trade can be seen all over the country. As a colonial power, the British Empire was involved in the Triangular Trade, or Transatlantic Slave Trade. Britain's Royal Africa Company (RAC), owned the ships that transported slaves from Africa to the Americas. British slavers and merchants very rich through the slave trade. With their wealth, many gave money to charity and communities, so statues were put up honouring them. These controversial statues from our imperialist past are still there today.

After the death of George Floyd in the USA, BLM protests reignited the debate over memorials and statues of racist historical figures, Europe's colonial heritage, & Britain's national memory. Many argue that the slave trader statues honour those involved in the slave trade. In Bristol, Colston is one of those figures. Other than the Colston statue, streets, and businesses were named after him, too. There was Colston school, Colston tower, Colston street, Colston yard, and Colston’s Almhouse,

After cycling to Bristol, Jill and I met up with Dr. Shawn Sobers, from the We Are Bristol History Commission, which was set up following the Bristol statue toppling to help address the city’s past.

Since the BLM protests and the Bristol statue toppling, the Colston statue has been removed from Bristol Harbour and was relocated for a time to the Colston display at the M Shed museum. While that display has ended, it will be placed in a long-term exhibition in the future.

00:00-00:40 - Arriving in Bristol
00:41-01:42 - BLM Protests Spread Across the World
01:43-03:32 - The Triangular Trade & Transatlantic Slave Trade
03:33-04:36 - Statues of Slave Traders & Slave Trade Profiteers
04:37-05:53 - Who was Edward Colston?
05:54-06:22 - Other Bristol Sites named after Colston
06:23-07:50 - Legacies of Britain's Racism
07:51-10:20 - Confronting Britain's Colonial Past or "Erasing History"?
10:21-11:26 - Do Bristolians notice Bristol's Dark History?
11:27-12:10 - The Colston Display at Bristol's M Shed Museum
12:11-13:58 - It's not just Bristol: Most of Britain has Links to the Slave Trade

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