Linton Kwesi Johnson, political activist, poet and reggae artist, was born in Chapelton, Jamaica in 1952. After his parents’ divorce, Johnson was raised by his grandmother. Johnson left his small parish in 1963 and moved to London, UK to be with his mother, where he attended Tulse Hill secondary school. Johnson became increasingly aware … Read MoreLinton Kwesi Johnson (1952- )
On the 23rd of August 1958, the country’s “forgotten” race riot unfolded on the streets of Nottingham, England. This culmination of simmering tension, sparked finally over opposition to interracial romance, was a pre-cursor to the mass violence that followed a week later in the London … Read MoreNottingham Riots (1958)
Artist and academic Jefferson Eugene Grigsby, Jr., was born on October 15, 1918 in Greensboro, North Carolina. His interest and enjoyment in art and creativity began in childhood and was later pursued through formal education. He earned a BA from Morehouse College in 1938 and … Read MoreJefferson Eugene Grigsby Jr. (1918- )
Amidst racial intolerance and competition over resources, the white working class of the Notting Hill area, London, UK, launched an attack against members of the black community on August 30, 1958. Forced to arm themselves in defense, the confrontation lasted a week. The roots of … Read MoreThe Notting Hill Riots (1958)
Zadie Smith, writer and essayist, was born in the London, UK borough of Brent on October 25, 1975. Smith was named Sadie by her mother, a Jamaican immigrant who arrived in London in the late 1970s, and her English father. Smith enjoyed tap dancing as … Read MoreZadie Smith (1975- )
Benjamin Zephaniah, poet, playwright, novelist and activist, was born on April 15, 1958, the first of eight children, in Birmingham, England. Zephaniah grew up in Wandsworth until the age of nine when his mother, a Jamaican nurse, fled his father, a postman from Barbados. Leaving … Read MoreBenjamin Zephaniah (1958- )
Anne Wortham, a prolific academic who has opposed aspects of the traditional civil rights movement, was born on November 26th, 1941, in Jackson, Tennessee. The first of five children, she was raised in the segregated South, where her parents instilled in her religious beliefs and … Read MoreAnne Wortham (1941- )
Born on the 17th of February 1944 in Georgetown, Guyana, Bernie Grant was elected to the British House of Commons in 1987 to serve as one of the country’s first black Members of Parliament (MPs). With a head teacher for a father and a teacher … Read MoreBernie Grant (1944-2000)
Diane Abbott, the first black woman to be elected to the British Parliament, was born to Jamaican immigrant parents in 1953. Growing up in Paddington, London, she attended Harrow County grammar school before pursuing studies in History to Master’s level at Newnham College, Cambridge. Upon … Read MoreDiane Abbott (1953- )
Born to a Ghanaian father and a Scottish mother in Hackney, London, Paul Yaw Boateng became one of the first black British Members of Parliament in the general election of 1987. In 2002 he became the first Afro-Briton to serve in the Prime Minister’s Cabinet. … Read MorePaul Yaw Boateng (1951- )
