Poet Louisa Adjoa Parker has been featured on BBC Upload, reading her poem Sweet as Moonlight, commissioned by RAMM for the exhibition ‘In Plain Sight: Transatlantic slavery and Devon‘.
The poem was inspired by RAMM’s famous ‘Portrait of a Man in a Red Suit’. In the BBC Upload episode, Louisa speaks with Catri Fox about the portrait and why she chose to write about the unknown sitter.
‘It’s just quite a mystery around this picture. Who was this man? Was it Ignatius Sancho…? What stories does it represent…? I wanted to capture that.’
Louisa is a writer of English-Ghanaian heritage who lives in South West England. She has written extensively on ethnically diverse history, and set up the Where are you really from? project. Louisa also works as an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion consultant, and, along with Louise Boston-Mammah, is co-director of The Inclusion Agency. She is a sought-after speaker on rural racism, black history, mental health and marginalisation.
Read Louisa’s poem online here, and listen to the BBC Upload episode here. Louisa also features in a short film by RAMM about ‘Portrait of a Man in a Red Suit’ – watch on YouTube.
Author photo © Robin Mills
