In Schools: Black Heroes
The Trust works in partnership with Children's Services at Manchester City Council to produce resources about Black and Ethnic Minority British Heroes with primary schools in Manchester. The biographies contain writing and illustrations produced by pupils and students, to create innovative new resources for children.
Equiano - Son of Africa
The story of Olaudah Equiano, a major figure in the 18th century abolitionist movement in Britain. Kidnapped and enslaved from his home in Africa, Equiano was able to buy his freedom in 1766. He became involved in abolition campaigning and published his “Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African” in 1789. This book tells the story of Equiano’s life in accessible language. It is designed for primary school children and was written in conjunction with two Manchester primary schools, Our Lady's RC Primary School and St Edward's RC Primary School, with children contributing the poems and the drawings. Click here to order your copy
Liberté: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan
The story of Noor Inayat Khan, who served as an SOE agent with the Paris Resistance in 1943. Noor was captured and imprisoned by the Gestapo and was executed at Dachau in 1944. She was posthumously awarded the French Croix de Guerre in 1946 and the British George Cross in 1949. This book tells the story of Noor’s life in accessible language, with many illustrations, history fact boxes and a timeline. It is designed for primary school children and was written by children from a Year 6 class of Chorlton CE Primary School, Manchester. Click here to order your copy
Samuel Coleridge Taylor: The Music Man
The story of Samuel Coleridge Taylor, the 19th century composer. It has been illustrated and written by students from Rolls Crescent Primary School. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was a mixed race, genius musician who was born in 1875 and died in 1912. In his lifetime he played a range of instruments including the violin and the piano and loved to create different pieces of music. Click here to order your copy
"To Be Free Is Very Sweet": The Life of Mary Prince
Mary Prince was born into slavery in the Caribbean in 1788. She tried to resist the worst abuses of her ‘masters’ and did what she could to regain her freedom. After a hard life of toil and cruelty in Bermuda, Turks Island and Antigua, Mary was brought to London in 1828. She ran away, made contact with the Anti-Slavery Society and told them her life-story. Her account of her experiences was written down, becoming the first life of a Black woman published in Britain and an important weapon in the campaign for the abolition of slavery in 1833. Based on Mary’s own testimony, this accessible and beautifully illustrated biography of Mary Prince has been created by secondary school students so that other young people can read about the life of this significant abolitionist hero. Click here to order your copy
