The history of slavery in Australia is a history that has been largely silenced. In 2020, then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison went as far as to claim that ‘there was no slavery in Australia’. In Black Convicts, Santilla Chingaipe problematises this view, showing how Australia was built on not just the work of Black convicts and slaves, but also enslavers. This is the history that we as a nation inherit.

Chingaipe takes us through a history of British slavery pre-Australian colonisation, highlighting that by the time Britain reached these shores, slavery was already entrenched in the British economy and ideology. Enslaved or formerly enslaved African people sometimes came to Britain, and from there, some came to Australia on the First Fleet. Other African convicts came to Australia in the years to come. Very occasionally, Black people of African descent arrived in Australia as free people.

As far as the archives allow, Chingaipe considers the lives of individual Black convicts in Australia. They are not simply history, but people. However, especially in the days of early colonisation, information is limited. That the archives aren’t neutral is forefront of this work. Black Convicts engages not just with history, but also with historiography. What kind of stories do we tell when we tell history? And what kind of stories do we not tell, do we hide, do we erase? What kind of stories are we ignorant of? Chingaipe gives us no excuse to be ignorant of this one – the history of Black convicts and slaves in Australia is finally visible, and essential reading for all.