For a long time Black British Activism and the Civil Rights Movement have been understood as distinct from each other, but their history is one that is deeply intertwined
Sydney Johnson
Living as an African American in the United Kingdom, you can draw connections between the local movements within Black British activism and what you have witnessed in your home country. Both unique manifestations of a global struggle, Black activism on both sides of the Atlantic is intersectional at its core. These countries have a long history of racial injustice, histories of resistance that have been fought tirelessly by Black people. While there are nuances surrounding activist movements in both countries, these movements share a fundamental thing in common - their intersectionality.
18th Century Black Activism
The rich history of Black British activism is comprised of narratives, experiences, triumphs and challenges that have shaped the existence of the community in the United Kingdom for hundreds of years. In the 18th century, major cities in the UK like London, Bristol and Manchester were home to a flourishing community of Black individuals. By the thousands, they actively participated in many hubs of influence for artistic, political and activist movements.
Black British abolitionists like Olaudah Equiano were part of the many influential leaders who spearheaded campaigns against the transatlantic slave trade in the country. Equinao spent his lifetime participating in the abolitionist movement and became one of the founders of the ‘Sons of Africa’ political group in the late 17th century, which campaigned for the end of chattel slavery. Equinao’s work in literature also helped act as a catalyst for change within the Black activist space in Great Britain. After writing his autobiography “The interesting Narrative of the Life of Oladuah Equinao” (1789), a decade later it helped influence parliament into passing the Slave Trade Act of 1807, which was made to diminish Britian’s role in the Atlantic slave trade, leading to a ripple through the country.
This type of activism can be compared to abolitionists in the US such as Fredrick Douglass, who also spearheaded a movement against the transatlantic slave trade through public opinion and personal testimonies. Douglass became one of the most influential leaders of the anti-slavery movement in the United States during the 18th and 19th century. During the Civil War, Frederick Douglass began his activism within the space through his antislavery literature, in which he wrote about his own personal experiences, with his autobiography The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written By Himself being his most notable piece. He also worked as a journalist for multiple abolitionist newspapers and established his own newspaper in 1847 called “The North Star”, further contributing to the abolitionist movement. Nonetheless, he strove to go beyond the abolitionist movement. Following the post-Civil war era, Douglass’ work in the activist space and support from the masses in the field helped get him into office. He served in multiple positions including as an ambassador to the Dominican Republic, making him the first African American man to hold a position in high office.
Both Equiano and Douglass were pioneers of their time, and paved the foundations for the continuation of Black activism on both sides of the Atlantic.
Multiculturalism meets racist resistance
In 1948, the arrival of the HMT Empire Windrush from the Caribbean began the influential wave of Caribbean migration to the UK. They faced high levels of racism and discrimination in housing and employment in the country. Racist violence broke out in the 1958 Notting Hill and 1958 Nottingham Race riots, with local tensions escalating into aggression against Black British communities. The hostile treatment they faced sparked community activism at the grassroots in response.
In response to the racist 1968 Commonwealth Immigrants Act, Black Brits who were inspired by the Black Panther Movement in the United States, established the Black British Panther Movement in order to fight racial oppression, anti immigration sentiment, and police brutality. The creation of the Black British Panther Movement derived from the late 1964 and early 1965 visits of civil rights activist Malcolm X in the English town of Smethwick, following a high-profile racist election.
In the United States, the Great Migration, which lasted from the early start of the Jim Crow Era in 1916 to the late 1970s, had a great impact on the resistance against racism in employment. Like the Windrush generation in the UK, these migrants faced severe racism, housing discrimination, and inequality in employment upon arrival in cities like Chicago and New York. This period saw the movement of millions of African Americans from the South to urbanized cities in the North and West. Driven by a need to flee segregation and pursue better opportunities, this migration served as a movement against racial discrimination in the employment sector.
Both Black Panther Movements in the UK and US ran awareness around educational opportunities for Black individuals, specially the Black youth.The Black British Panther Movement organized activities including study groups and Black film nights. The communities that these activist networks offered were safe havens for Black people in both the UK and US at a time when racist discrimination was at a high.
The UK Brixton Uprising and the Detroit Uprising
In the 80s, racial tensions in the UK were at an all time high, Black British activism within inner cities were divided. The London Metropolitan Police carried out operations through racist “sus” laws, or formerly known as suspected persons, which allowed them to arrest someone that they believed was “intending to commit” a crime, leading to the further criminalisation of Black people.
In 1981, a 10-day operation known as “Operation Swamp” was carried out, during which 150 disguised officers carried out the arrests of 150 Black individuals. This alone sparked a feeling of outrage and distrust of the police within the country, leading to the Brixton Uprising. The uprising lasted for two days from April 10th to the 12th, unfolding as a protest from the Black community against the constant and excessive force of “stop and search” from police against the Black British population.
Similarly, in the U.S. the 1967 Detroit and Newark Riots were also ignited by racial tensions between flourishing Black neighborhoods and police, where it was to be seen an influx of excessive police brutality. Like in Brixton, these uprisings were protests against the police for their failure to address institutionalized racism within the police department. Millions across the country in the U.S. and U.K. saw these defining moments in Black activism as a call to change the institutionalized racism that existed within their country.
Police Brutality Continued: The Murder of Stephen Lawrence
People-power led resistance to police brutality continued into the next decade, when in 1993 tragedy struck in east-London when 18 year old Stephen Lawrence was murdered in a racially motivated attack by a gang of white men. Notable figures including Nelson Mandela met with Stephen’s family to share their condolences and expressed the need for more action from the police to tackle the racism rife within the institution.
Stephen’s mother, Doreen Delceita Lawrence, continues to campaign for racial justice for Black British youth and has been a member of the House of Lords of the United Kingdom since 2013. In an interview with the Evening Standard, Doreen noted “Within the black community, how we’re treated, how crime’s investigated, we’re never seen as a group of people that should have justice. So everything that we’ve had, we’ve had to fight for — and continue to fight.”
In the US Tamir Rice, a 12-year old African American boy, was killed on November 22, 2014 in Cleveland, Ohio by a policeman who shot Rice for holding a toy gun while he was on a playground. The officer who fatally killed Rice was officially sacked, but only four years later after the Cleveland grand jury declined to indict him in the boy's death. Widespread protests revolved around the country and Rice immediately became a symbol for the Black Lives Matter movement in the country. These stories, intertwined across decades and continents, highlight the push for equality and justice for Black people globally, and the vital role of public pressure in demanding meaningful change for institutionalised racism.
The importance of the history and evolution of Black British activism alongside US Black Activism should not go unnoticed. The evolution of Black British culture carries a significance of recognition. Notably, the mixture of activism within this vibrant community, when viewed through a Transatlantic lens, reveals that there are many shared experiences. Black activism in both the U.S. and the UK has evolved through similar experiences of racial oppression, discrimination, and systemic violence. While the contexts of each country are distinct, the fight for racial equality remains a global one.
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