Psychology conference left traumatised by dance group’s slave trade act

THE British Psychological Society (BPS) apologised for the “distress” caused to its members after failing to warn them about an anti-slavery performance during a conference.

Delegates at the Group of Trainers in Clinical Psychology (GTICP) forum, at the University of Liverpool, had no prior notice about a 12-minute dramatisation of the transatlantic slave trade.

The performance – by Toxteth-based Capoeira for All, combining Afro-brazilian martial arts, dance and music – drew criticism over a scene interpreted as a slave auction. The group denied the scene was an “auction re-enactment”, but said it was intended to present the “process of dehumanising a person” through slavery.

After criticism, including a social media backlash, the BPS admitted it had not “thought sufficiently” about the performance. In a statement, it said: “We are grateful for the opportunity to reflect and recognise that the performance was understandably distressing for some delegates and was experienced as particularly confronting for people from historically oppressed groups who have been impacted by slavery.

“We now understand that, despite being a suitable anti-racist performance as part of Black History Month ...it was not suited to the nature or the timing of the GTICP event.”

Chris Jones, a clinical psychologist, wrote: “Let’s not equivocate: The re-enactment of the slave auction at #GTICP2019 was a shameful day in the history of British clinical psychology.

“The vague references, an atmosphere of silence and subtle justifications perpetuate the inequalities that our colleagues face every day.”

Parashar Ramanuj, a psychiatrist, wrote: “If anyone should understand about trauma passed down through generations, surely it would be a group of psychologists.”

The BPS, which represents 60,000 members, also apologised for failing to intervene during the performance to prevent members becoming upset. It added: “As a predominantly white staff team, using our own feelings of shame and intense emotional discomfort as a guide to censor a powerful performance developed for Slavery Remembrance Day could have been viewed as unacceptable. We are sorry that we did not read the distress of some people in the room and act accordingly.”

Capoeira for All said its performance had been taken “out of context” and the criticism “factually wrong and misrepresented what we aimed to achieve”.

Akil Morgan, the group’s managing director, said: “Our ancestors, our family, were sold for profit and political power. This shameful truth is the reality of our past that we should not censor and in fact, we believe, should confront.

“Our performance does this and asks the audience to face their relationship with the truth of this event.

“If theatre and art censored itself to not portray painful and shameful elements of our history, it would not be the powerful medium it is.”