A very British history: British Bangladeshis

In this seminar, Aminul charts a migration history for British Bangladeshis, explore some of the key issues (racism, housing, education, language etc) experienced by Bangladeshi migrants, discuss the many angles of resistance that Bangladeshis devised as a way of 'fighting back', celebrate the many important contributions that Bangladeshis have made to wider British society, and also examine the complexity of intergenerational 'identity' as Aminul narrates his own personal experience of taking his own British-born children back to his ancestral village of Bagir Ghat, Sylhet, Bangladesh. Aminul will focus his discussion around his BBC4 documentary on British Bangladeshis (2020). Not only does the documentary uncover invisible, often hidden narratives of underrepresented communities, but also, documentaries such as these become even more relevant in the current geo-politics of heightened xenophobia, rise of populist nationalism and a climate of hate towards minority communities, as the story of British Bangladeshis highlights that migrant communities are just normal, hard-working folk and have hopes, desires, anxieties and aspirations - just like everyone else! #BLM