‘What does it mean to be Black in Scotland today? How are notions of nationhood, Scottishness, and Britishness implicated in this?’ These are some of the questions explored in this important new book. We spoke to one for the books writers, and Govanhill resident layla-roxanne hill to find out more.

Co-authored by Francesca Sobande and layla-roxanne hill, Black Oot Here: Black Lives in Scotland, published by Bloomsbury Academic, shines a light on Black Scottish history, including the legacy of Black media, arts, activism, and creativity in Scotland. Sobande and hill combine their love of photography and visual culture with their intention to create work that aids the archiving of Black Scottish history.

Becki Menzies spoke to Govanhill resident, layla-roxanne hill, about the book and her own experiences of being Black in Scotland.

Why was it important for you to write Black Oot Here?

Growing up in Scotland during the 1980s and 1990s was an experience! Something which came up for both Francesca and I, is how few Black people there often were in various spaces which are part of childhood, be that in recreational and educational settings or even just the history of the place you are living in not including the lives of Black people. We were also conscious of the growing conversation and research on Scotland’s role in the British empire and the many people who were enslaved as part of it, becoming the only Black Scottish history. Likewise with experiences of racism often being the only way in which living while Black in Scotland can be seen or understood.

Black history and the lives of Black people in Scotland are nuanced but recognition is lacking. More needs to be done to ensure it is incorporated into national conversations about Scotland’s future. Acknowledgment of Black Scottish history needs to extend much further beyond Black History Month, traumatising media depictions and tired tropes such as the archetypal ‘strong’, ‘respectable’ and the ‘first’ Black person.

Scotland’s often presented as a comparatively more progressive and welcoming country, what do you think the current reality is for Black people in Scotland?

There’s a lot of rhetoric around Scotland being a friendly and welcoming place – and that’s not to say there isn’t an element of truth in that – and this makes life easier for Black people here, especially when compared to England or the US. However, much of this relies on several things, including the myth of ‘Scottish exceptionalism’ – that the people of Scotland are ideologically different to England – as well as statements by public figures and institutions which claim to be actively anti-racist or doing decolonising work, and surface level representation or, worse a representation which doesn’t speak to the nuances and reality of being Black in Scotland. This makes speaking out against these narratives difficult and the reality is, the same anti-Blackness people experience elsewhere in the UK and across the world, is here in Scotland too.

Was there anything that surprised you when you were carrying out research?

From the interviews we carried out, it is clear that Black Scottish history is alive and kicking. But the material on Scottish history that we came across painted an incomplete picture of Black Scottish life which left us thinking about how Black Scottish history has been treated. Portrayals of Black people’s lives in Scotland are often shaped by what has happened to us and not what we have done (or even, just in being unremarkable) and this is reflected in what is archived. When researching, many individuals, groups and organisations we discovered had contributed to Black Scottish history over the years could not be found easily, if at all. Work which challenges structures of oppression or offers an alternative vision, can often be appropriated, misconstrued, or made invisible. What was known but still came as a surprise, is the crucial role of oral histories, personal albums and ephemera in reflecting the ‘everydayness’ of Black lives in Scotland being as important today as at any time.

To bring it back to a local level, from your experience of living in Govanhill, do you think things are changing?

I’ve lived in Glasgow for around 20 years and in and around Govanhill for over 10 years. It wouldn’t be right to say that things haven’t changed – things change all the time! But in some ways, things haven’t changed! The Glasgow population has changed and that’s reflected in the growing numbers of African shops, food places and changes to the creative, cultural and media landscape by Black people.

Govanhill is often cited as being Scotland’s most diverse neighbourhood and that is true in some ways too. However, many of the experiences which I faced 20 odd years ago, I still experience today and from the survey responses and interviews for the book, some of those experiences are still lived by Black people across Scotland too. Change takes more than reading (or writing) a book or going to an event – though these things can help give us some context or grounding and be a collective experience. Change is a nuanced process, which involves time, care and understanding and I feel that is something which has shifted – people are recognising this. And this makes me feel hopeful.

Find out more about the book and research project here. The book was published by Bloomsbury