Virgillo Hunter, Author at

Student Historian

Virgillo Amando Hunter is a Ph.D. Student of Modern British History at the University of East Anglia, England, with interests in British-Caribbean families, oral history and Caribbean migratory cultures in the Twentieth century. Currently, he is writing his dissertation on British-Caribbean families in post-war Britain to further developing his interests in the second-generation, culture between generations, and the impact of the 1980s Brixton Uprisings on families. On completion of his degree in 2021, he is considering going into teaching and researching.

Olive Elaine Morris (1952-1979)

Olive Elaine Morris was a member of the British Black Panther Party and a grassroots activist in Great Britain. Morris was born in St. Catherine, Jamaica on June 26, 1952. Her parents migrated to post-World War II Great Britain while Morris and her siblings were … Read MoreOlive Elaine Morris (1952-1979)

The Bristol Bus Boycott of 1963

On April 30, 1963, Bristol’s black population protested the Bristol Omnibus Company and the Transportation and General Workers’ Union (TGWU) racist employment practices. By 1963, an estimated 6,000 black people in Bristol. Unlike the hiring and visibility of black bus crews in cities such as … Read MoreThe Bristol Bus Boycott of 1963

The Windrush Generation (1948- )

Although persons of African ancestry had resided in Great Britain since the time of the Roman conquest, their numbers and influence increased dramatically in the years immediately after World War II. On June 22, 1948 the HMT Empire Windrush, carrying over a thousand passengers, docked … Read MoreThe Windrush Generation (1948- )

The New Cross Fire (January 18, 1981)

On Sunday, January 18, 1981, thirteen black youths attending a birthday party in Deptford, South London was killed in an alleged racially-motivated house fire. The New Cross Fire tragedy highlighted hostility between black Britons, the police and the media. On the night of the fire, … Read MoreThe New Cross Fire (January 18, 1981)

Justin Soni Fashanu (1961-1998)

Justin Soni Fashanu was Britain’s first black openly gay footballer to earn a £1 million transfer fees contract. Born in East London on February 19, 1961 to Pearl Lawrence, a British-Guyanese nurse, and Patrick Fashanu, a Nigerian barrister, Fashanu was one of the couple’s three … Read MoreJustin Soni Fashanu (1961-1998)

British West Indian Regiment (BWIR) (1915-1918)

On August 4, 1914, Britain joined the Great War. The First World War, 1914-1918, is usually viewed as a predominantly white European conflict. In fact, many Africans, Asians, black Britons, and Caribbeans fought for the British Empire. At the beginning of the war, the British War Office, however, was reluctant to allow blacks to enlist … Read MoreBritish West Indian Regiment (BWIR) (1915-1918)

Britain’s 1919 Race Riots

The 1919 race riots in Great Britain’s seaport areas such as Liverpool, Cardiff, and Salford were stoked by social, economic, and political anxieties and anger by white union workers and demobilized white servicemen against blacks, Arabs, Chinese, and ethnic minority communities and businesses. It was one of Britain’s … Read MoreBritain’s 1919 Race Riots

Michael X (1933-1975)

Michael de Frietas, later known as Michael Abdul Malik and Michael X, was a controversial black revolutionary figure born in Port-au-Spain, Trinidad in 1933. He was mixed-race. Iona Brown, his mother, was working-class and a known African spiritualist in their community in Trinidad. His estranged father, Emmanuel de Frietas, was Portuguese and … Read MoreMichael X (1933-1975)

Kelso Benjamin Cochrane (1926-1959)

Kelso Benjamin Cochrane, one of the early victims of racial violence against West Indians in London, UK, was born on September 26, 1926, in Johnson’s Point, Antigua to Joanna Valentine and Stanley Cochrane. He was born into a working-class family and was a carpenter. At the age of nineteen, he moved to Dominica. … Read MoreKelso Benjamin Cochrane (1926-1959)