For the British Black List March 2014 http://www.thebritishblacklist.com/shakara-speaks-it-history-british-africarib-female-activists/
When discussing Black History, it is often said that the Black population in UK often know very little about the presence and contribution of Afrikan-Caribbean people to British History. The reasons given for this vary between a lack of knowledge on Black History in general, to the fact that recent history of our consistent presence in this country, dates back to the independence era’s of Afrikan and the Caribbean which is only approximately 60years ago. It would seem that previous generations did more to make history than document it, and today, the need for more detailed accounts of Black sojourn in Britain appear more relevant than ever as generations become more settled in the land of the former colonisers.
In December 2013, the Guardian carried a feature entitled “Britain’s black power movement is at risk of being forgotten, say historians”, in which it touched the various activities surrounding Darcus Howe and the Black Activists of the 6os and 70s. It is indeed noticeable that as and where a light is shone on ‘Black Britain’, Mary Seacole, Reggae Music and Black MP’s are among the primary focal points, in a manner that speaks to Black aspirations to be accepted by the status quo rather than challenge them. Challenges to ‘the system’ are often confined to the various so-called “riots”, such as Brixton, Broadwater Farm and many others throughout the UK during the 80s. Still these Black uprisings are discussed as mere spontaneous combustions, divorced from Black organizations from which they drew energy, focus and around which they revolved.
As TBBL continues to focus on prominent Black Women in the UK this month, I thought it would be appropriate to highlight just a few of the Black women grass roots activists, who have made a distinct contribution to the history of Afrikan-Caribbean people in Britain. So here goes:
CLAUDIA JONES
The mother of Notting Hill Carnival was born on the Island of Trinidad in 1915. Her family moved to New York in 1924 and would begin her activism a decade later, while embroiled in the vibrancy of Harlem’s world renowned Black community. She became one of many Black Activists attempting to inject and raise to profile of Black Race consciousness in the Communist movement, particularly as it related to Black women. Like Marcus Garvey before her, she would find herself under the radar of the FBI and following a number of imprisonments for “Anti-American Activity”, was deported from the USA, arriving in the UK in 1955.
From here, she would make her most indelible mark as an activist. By 1958 she had established the West Indian Workers and Students Association newspaper entitled “The West Indian Gazette and Afro-Asian Caribbean News”, which became a key institution for politicizing the black community. Alongside noted figures such as Amy Ashwood Garvey ( then also living in Britain), Jones would organize various campaigns against racist housing and employment policies, as characterized by the famous “No Blacks” signs that littered the front doors and windows of British streets during that period.
When in 1958, a gang of 400 white men began kicking in the doors and violently attacking Black men and women on the streets of Notting Hill, initial attempts at peaceful resolution were abandoned when it was realized that the police were not inclined to protect Black lives. As a result those who defended themselves would find themselves arrested as senior Police officials stated that the riot which was initiated was not by a racial attack but because of the act of“ruffians both coloured and white”. Claudia Jones stepped in calling for an organised defense of those Black men who were now on trial, resulting in the first carnival in St. Pancras Hall in 1979.
Claudia Jones remained a fierce anti-colonialist and anti western imperialist til her passing in 1964. As she wrote in her noted publication, “An End to the Neglect of the Problems of the Negro Woman”:
“The bourgeoisie is fearful of the militancy of the Negro woman, and for good reason. The capitalists know, far better than many progressives seem to know, that once Negro women begin to take action, the militancy of the whole Negro people, and thus of the anti-imperialist coalition, is greatly enhanced.”
SYBIL PHOENIX
Born in June 1927 in Guyana, Sybil Phoenix came to the UK from Guyana in 1957. Her career as an activist encompasses great entrepreneurial prowess, creative skill and a charitable spirit that is second to none. After quitting a canteen job, she began a home business as a seamstress and began fostering young girls in 1962. Phoenix fostered literally hundreds of young women, and through the Marsha Phoenix Memorial Trust (named after her daughter who died in a tragic car accident in 1973), developed a hostel to house young women in Lewisham.
In an attempt to create a home for Black youth who were facing the brunt of police brutality and racial violence on London streets, Sybil Phoenix began a program that raised £75, 000 (£65, 000 of which she raised personally) in order to establish the Moonshot Community Centre in Lewisham. Known as the first Black Youth club in Britain, Moonshot was burned down by white racists in 1977. An undeterred Phoneix rose from the ashes, rebuilding the centre on the same spot four years later in 1981.
This rebuilding was timely, as Moonshot would become the central point for the New Cross Massacre action Committee, organizing the Black communities response to the atrocity that was the New Cross Massacre (1981), where a suspected racist fire bomb attack took the lives of 13 Black youth. Mama Phoenix stood at the forefront of that campaign and would be a leading figure in the organising of the Black People’s day of Action, March 2nd 1981.
Sybil Phoenix’s other achievements include the establishment of “Phoenix Afro-European Fashions” dress making school, and the writing of her Yellow Paper, which galvanised the Methodist Church in the UK around the issue of racism and racial injustice. At the age of 87, Mama Phoenix is still active in Lewisham to this day and took time to join the hundreds at the National Black People’s Day of Action 2014, at which she received a standing ovation for services to the Black community.
MARTHA OSAMOR
There was a time when the link between grass roots activism and Black political aspirations were much closer than they are today. In fact many of those who were seen as best suited to serve in political office were among those who were prominent in the various Black community campaigns on the ground – Martha Osamor was one such woman.
Born in Nigeria, Osamor became known on the London scene for her activism against Police Brutality, particularly in Tottenham. The area was then a vibrant hotspot for various Pan-Afrikanists and other Black organizations revolving around the Broadwater Farm estate. 15 years of constant activism made her a favourite among the strong Black community in London; by a Black community who were felt they could effect real change in their communities by taking the charge of the electoral system.
After backing the Labour Party’s attempts to stop Margret Thatcher restricting local councils’ ability to spend on behalf of its constituents Mama Osamor joined the Labour Party as an elected councillor in 1986. After Stuart Holland stepped down as councilor of Vauxhall, a south London constituency with a strong Black presence, the Black community felt it time that one of their own control that seat and Martha Osamor became the candidate of choice.
She was seen as a radical from the moment of her election, no doubt her defense of Winston Silcott, Mark Braithwaite and Engin Raghip (aka the Broadwater Farm three) – three men falsely accused of killing PC Blakelock during the Broadwater Farm uprising (1985), did not help that perception. Osamor would win the Labour by-election easily, making her by far the people’s choice to stand for the seat on behalf of the party; an election that many suggest she would have easily won.
However, Neil Kinnock (then party leader) and the National Elective Council would have none of it. Determined that no“Extremists” would stand on the Ballot, they moved to over rule her candidacy and replaced her with the far less supported Kate Hoey and as if this was not enough, Osamor was then met with a barrage of disciplinary procedures for undefined offences. Designed more than anything to besmirch her name, none of these charges would stand up to scrutiny.
Though she remained a member of the Labour Party, Martha Osamor remained far more active in the community itself. She was involved in the establishment of the Tottenham Law Society, providing free legal advice to the local community and used her position to direct funds to urban development programs. She galvanized local youth around a programme for the community takeover of Rainbow centre in Finsbury Park, famous as the scene of Bob Marley’s historic 1977 London showcase (Now UCKG Church building). Her efforts would have seen the establishment of a community cinema, radio station and recording studio among other assets. Though the plan never quite came to fruition the vision and intention behind it behind it remain a lesson to this day. Mama Osamor, now 73 has more recently campaigned in support of Mark Duggan’s family’s campaign for justice. As she told news reporters at the Duggan Vigil in January:
“I knew Mark Duggan when he was a little boy. So little has changed over the years…. Here am I picketing outside Tottenham police station yet again.”
The above represents just a few of the notable names among Black activism in the UK and represent a broad, though not exhaustive range of political ideas and persuasions. Whatever side we lean on, whatever ideals we are personally persuaded by, the above contributions and the contributions of so much more, are worthy of note and recognition. So – for their contributions and the lessons there in, Claudia Jones, Sybil Phoenix and Martha Osamor – we salute you.
Good fascinating insights and yet why document our history without adding a massive emphasis on protecting it