Gentrification and African Presence in Peckham (GAPP) walking tour: Black urban removal

I founded the Gentrification and African Presence in Peckham (GAPP) walking tour to promote historical spaces occupied by the Black community between 1960 and 1990. In 2023, walking tours supported the Rights in Focus conference[1]; the National Youth Theatre play Gone Too Far[2] and the University of the Arts London Portraits of Peckham exhibition[3]. Each historical space presents the Caribbean community as pioneers and trailblazers. The skills and knowledge which they brought to the UK as immigrants from the Windrush generation, leaves the community with an impactful heritage and legacy. Participatory research[4] shaped these walking tours. One of the most prominent methods for data collection is the Caribbean oral history tradition. The pinnacle of the walking tour is identifying some of the educational, recreational, and cultural spaces which have shaped social and cultural capital[5] over a defined period of Peckham’s history. These are spaces familiar to the researcher (a Peckham resident) and informed by the narratives exchanged with participants during these research walks. The Livingmaps More-than-human Mappings conference walk provided additional context about the Caribbean community and their cultural practices established in Peckham.