About project
My name is Yancé-Myah Antonio Harrison, and to talk about this project is to introduce myself.
Granddad and I in 1994 on 23 Conway Rd
My relationship with Woolwich and London has been a life-long one, as my family migrated from Jamaica and settled in Woolwich and elsewhere in London. My one grandfather, Friston “Toni” Harrison was one of several people who dreamt the Woolwich SIMBA Project into existence in 1979.
Years later I would find myself spending most of my days organising resistance against gentrification, borders and policing, as well as establishing community spaces for Black people and people of colour – in Copenhagen.
For me this project is deeply personal and political, and I wish to honour communities that have organised for decades with a hope that this little project can aid local movements already organising around the issue of gentrification, “regeneration”, policing and anti-Blackness.
As for my professional experience I have previously conducted interviews as part of research projects at Roskilde University, IT-University Copenhagen, Aalborg University and Radboud University Nijmegen, and hold a MA (Distinction) in Black British History at Goldsmiths. I am co-founder of Fireburn Library and Archive.