As part of Black History Month 2025, St Catharine’s College History Society and the Faculty of Education hosted an evening event to mark the publication of Malik Al Nasir’s new book, Searching for My Slave Roots: From Guyana’s Sugar Plantations to Cambridge (William Collins, 2025). The event was sponsored by the University’s Legacies of Enslavement project and ThinkLab.
The book charts Malik Al Nasir’s two-decade journey to uncover his family’s history, drawing on more than 600 letters, photographs and papers—many sourced from auction sites such as eBay. His research reveals how the Sandbach Tinne dynasty profited from the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans and indentured labour, shaping British society across centuries.
Following a talk about the book, Malik Al Nasir (PhD candidate, Faculty of History and St Catharine’s College) was in conversation with Dr Amilcar Pereira from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Together, they explored themes of identity, archival recovery, and the enduring legacies of slavery and colonialism.
This event highlighted the importance of personal and institutional histories in understanding Britain’s role in enslavement and its impact today.
About the book and the author
Searching for My Slave Roots: From Guyana’s Sugar Plantations to Cambridge is a deeply personal account of Malik Al Nasir’s quest to uncover his ancestral past. What began with an interest in early Black footballer Andrew Watson—believing he might be related—led him to the Sandbach Tinne dynasty. The book weaves together archival discoveries with reflections on identity, justice, and the enduring legacies of slavery in modern Britain.
Malik Al Nasir is an author, filmmaker, performance poet, and award-winning academic from Liverpool. He began tracing his roots through Caribbean slavery more than 20 years ago, and his pioneering research has been recognised by Sir Hilary Beckles (Chair of the CARICOM Commission for Slavery Reparations), historian David Olusoga, and the University of Cambridge, where he is in the final stages of completing a PhD in History on a full scholarship.
The research underpinning Malik Al Nasir’s book draws on materials now available through the Sandbach Tinne Collection on the Cambridge Digital Library. This newly launched resource coincided with the book’s publication and makes the first tranche of historical records—letters, photographs, and papers—open to researchers and the public via Cambridge University Library.
Malik Al Nasir (PhD candidate, Faculty of History and St Catharine’s College, left) in conversation with Dr Amilcar Pereira (right) from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro