Butetown History & Arts Centre has been involved with Black History Month celebrations for the past couple of years. Activities reflect the diverse population of the Butetown area where people of all ethnic origins and religions live together in harmony.

Activities for the celebrations have included projects with the local; schools to produce festival cards for occasions such as Christmas and Eide and imaginative wrting projects reflecting the diverse cultures of the many groups that live in this area

For many black and Asian residents of Butetown born in Wales the origins of their family link with this once bustling coal port was the sea. They came from all over the world, from whereever Cardiff coal ships plied their trade and off-loaded their precious cargoes. For over 150 years these trade-routes were open to any man who signed on to a Cardiff ship. In time many of these lone sailors settled in Butetown, exchanging their lodging house room for a small rented apartment or even a whole terraced house. They married Welsh (or English, or Irish) girls and made their significant contributions to the life of Wales' first multi-ethnic community.

At the peak of this coal trade Butetown bustled with the babble of more than 50 different lanquages and the colour of more than 50 different cultures. Among these residents were people from India, the Yemen, Egypt, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria, the Cameroons, Gambia and South Africa as well as people from the islands of the Caribean and a small Chinese population. in more recent years Butetown has provided a safe haven for refugees from civil war such as the Somalis.

BHAC is dedicated to keeping the stories of Butetown's multicultural history and achievements alive for future generations. Many stories may well have been told had the second world war not claimed the lives of Butetown boys both in the air and on the sea. We offer the story of just one of these boys.

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