Helen Preston

A poem written and performed by Vanessa Kisuule in response to the toppling of the Edward Colston statue in Bristol on Sunday 7th June 2020.

Edward Colston was an English merchant, slave trader and Tory Member of Parliament. He was born in Bristol in 1636 and died in 1721. He became a merchant, initially trading in wine, fruits and cloth, mainly in Spain, Portugal and other European ports. In 1680, he became involved in the slave trade through his work on the committees of the Royal African Company, which held a monopoly of the English trade in African slaves. Money that he made through the slave trade went into charities in Bristol and across the country. He gave extensively to Bristol churches, donated to Queen Elizabeth’s Hospital School and founded a religious school for 100 boys. Streets, schools and other monuments in the city still bear his name. It is estimated that he is responsible for the deaths of over 19,300 African peoples. The plaque on his statue, erected in Bristol in 1895, read: Erected by citizens of Bristol as a memorial of one of the most virtuous and wise sons of their city AD 1895

Vanessa Kisuule is a Bristol based writer and performer. You can find out more about her work at www.vanessakisuule.com.

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