Introducing: Trapped History

Introducing: Trapped History

From It's a Continent by W!ZARD Studios

June 24, 2025 · 34 min

About this episode

The episode celebrates the life of John La Rose and discusses the implications of renaming a street in his honor amidst cultural and political tensions.

Here’s a great episode from the archives of the wonderful Trapped History podcast – where hosts, Oswin and Carla, share hidden stories of unsung heroes. In this episode, they introduce us to one of the most important – and most overlooked – cultural icons of the last 60 years: John La Rose. Helping to forge a Black British identity, John set up dozens of political, cultural and community organisations and campaigned for justice for the victims of police brutality and of the New Cross Fire. So it seemed obvious – and right – to name a street in his honour. But the backlash over the renaming of Black Boy Lane threw John and everything he stood for back into the cultural and political spotlight. So tune in for this celebration of John’s life as Oswin and Carla — joined by their very special guest the magnificent Joris Lechene — try to understand how a simple street renaming can ignite intolerance and expose racism. And as a bonus, you also get to hear Joris's nomination for the Trapped History Hall of Fame. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

People in this episode

Hosts: Oswin, Carla

Guest: Joris Lechene

Topics covered

  • Black British identity
  • cultural icons
  • police brutality
  • community organizations
  • racism
  • street renaming

Keywords

  • John La Rose
  • Black Boy Lane
  • Trapped History
  • cultural icons
  • racism
  • police brutality
  • community organizations

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Trapped History

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