From 1951 to 1958, approximately 2,500 armed forces members of the United States Air Force were deployed at RAF Manston near Ramsgate. Of these personnel, 200 were African American and a variety of other ethnic backgrounds.

American servicemen stationed abroad were still mandated to abide by domestic regulations, including the notorious Jim Crow laws which actively oppressed African-Americans and other non-white communities. Disobedience of these oppressive norms commonly led to harsh retribution in the form of verbal abuse, fines, jail time, physical punishment or even death. These abhorrent statutes barred minorities from exercising basic rights such as education and suffrage.

In our latest episode of the Being... series, we talk to Sabina Desir. Sabina is the curator of the Banned exhibition at the Turner Contemporary and also serves as the Artistic Director of the Freedom Road Project in Ramsgate. In the episode, Sabina discusses the work of Richard Birch and Charlie Evaristo-Boyce, explains its significance, and shares some of the untold stories surrounding the African American servicemen who were stationed at RAF Manston in the 1950s.