Transport for London teams with the Black Cultural Archives to launch Black History Tube Map

Transport for London has teamed with the Black Cultural Archives to launch a Black History Tube Map.

The Black Cultural Archives was conceived in 1981 as a monument to collect, preserve and celebrate the histories of people of African and Caribbean descent in the UK.

The Black History map celebrates the rich and varied contribution Black people have made to London and the UK, from pre-Tudor times to the present day, by swapping out station names for the names of key figures and organisations.

“Black people have played a significant role in all aspects of British life for thousands of years,” said Marcia Williams, Transport for London’s Head of Diversity, Inclusion and Talent.

“From civil rights, art, and transport, to medicine and journalism. It is fantastic to see the true scale and breadth of this contribution commemorated on TfL’s iconic Tube map – a symbol so synonymous with London and the UK.”

The Bakerloo line celebrates sports figures, the Central line focuses on the arts while the Circle line spotlights Georgians.

Elsewhere, firsts and trailblazers make up the District line, the Jubilee line celebrates LGBTQ+ figures while physicians are the focus of the Metropolitan line.

Completing the map is the Piccadilly line featuring performers, the Victoria line celebrating figures from the literary world and the Northern line highlighting community organisers.

A poster version of the map will be available to buy via The Black Cultural Archives shop and London Transport Museum’s shop. This is available to pre-order from the Black History Archives shop now (https://blackculturalarchives.org/shop/black-history-tube-map) with profits going to the Black Cultural Archives.

Arike Oke, Managing Director at the Black Cultural Archives, added: “London’s Black history is deeply embedded in its streets and neighbourhoods.

“We’re delighted, as part of our 40^th anniversary celebrations, to use this opportunity to share new and old stories about Black history with Londoners and visitors to London. We hope that the map will be an invitation to find out more and to explore.”

Check out the Black History Tube Map in full by heading to https://londonblog.tfl.gov.uk/2021/10/12/black-history-tube-map/.