WHEN YOU mention the civil rights movement, what comes to mind for most people is the struggle for equal rights under the law that took place in America and saw its leaders such as Dr Martin Luther King Jnr and Medgar Evers rise to world prominence.

But the racism and discrimination faced by African Americans was echoed in post-war Britain.

The new arrivals frequently faced housing discrimination, being forced to pay landlords high rents for overcrowded and unsanitary living conditions. And signs like “No blacks, no Irish, no dogs” were not uncommon in 1960s Britain.

The Windrush Generation’s struggles sparked the birth of a grassroots activist movement aimed at achieving racial equality and civil rights. 

It was a movement that led to huge changes in society, among them the passing of landmark race relations legislation and the election of Black and minority ethnic members of parliament.

Among those who made a significant impact in the early years of that movement Claudia Jones, an activist and journalist born in Trinidad and Tobago.

In her youth, she migrated to the United States, where she became a Communist political activist, feminist, and Black nationalist. But facing persecution by the US authorities she was deported in 1955 later finding refuge in Britain.

Arriving in London at a time when the Black community was steadily growing, Jones recognised its need to get organised if racism was to be effectively tackled.

She was the driving force behind the launch of the West Indian Gazette in March 1958, the first major Black newspaper in Britain, located above a Brixton barbershop.

Four months after the newspaper’s launch riots erupted in Notting Hill, west London. The area’s large Caribbean community HAD became a target for the open hostility of white working-class youth, commonly referred to as ‘Teddy Boys’.

Racial tensions were also fuelled by right-wing political groups such as the British Union of Fascists who tried to rally locals with the slogan ‘Keep Britain White.’

The riots, which followed an earlier outbreak of racial violence in Nottingham, led to the hospitalisation of three Black men for several weeks.

The Notting Hill “racial riots” as the media referred to them at the time shocked the country  into realising that the racial tensions that existed in Britain were not so different from those in the American South.

Determined to find solutions Jones began launching events that emphasised the richness of Caribbean culture and history  in direct response to the hostility displayed by white racists.

The events she organised are widely seen as the forerunners of the first Notting Hill Carnival in 1964.

 Another person who played a key role in campaigning for the rights of Black people in the 1960s is Paul Stephenson.

In 1963, Stephenson, then a 26-year-old teacher,  led a boycott against the Bristol Omnibus Company. 

Black Bristolians, largely based in the St Pauls area of the city, faced discrimination in housing, employment, and violence from white British Teddy Boy gangs.

The West Indian Association was formed to try and address these challenges. One of its primary concerns was the Bristol Omnibus Company’s colour bar policy, which denied employment to Black and Asian workers.

Inspired by the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955 Stephenson organised a 60-day bus boycott that gained national media exposure and substantial public support.

Politicians and church groups were among those who backed the campaign.

 On August 28 1963, the company finally lifted its employment colour ban, a decision which was announced on the same day as Martin Luther King Jr’s iconic “I have a dream” speech.

The Bristol Bus Boycott is widely credited with influencing the introduction of the Race Relations Act in 1965, which prohibited racial discrimination in public spaces.

Stephenson continued to make headlines when he faced trial for his refusal to leave a pub until he was served a beer.

However activists found the 1965 Race Relations Act inadequate as it failed to address discrimination in housing and employment. Pressure groups emerged with a determination to amend the legislation.

Among them was the Campaign Against Racial Discrimination (CARD), a group inspired by Martin Luther King Jr.’s visit to Britain in December 1964.

CARD also arose from the frustration over the major political parties’ seeming lack of action against racial discrimination.

Among its founding members were the Trinidadian historian CLR James, Dame Jocelyn Barrow who became CARD’s General Secretary, and its chair Dr David Pitt, a doctor who had moved to Britain from Grenada. 

In 1959, Pitt had become the first person of African Caribbean heritage to stand as a parliamentary candidate, representing Labour in Hampstead.

Under Pitt’s leadership CARD adopted the lobbying techniques of America’s  NAACP which involved urging  CARD members to write to their local MPs in an effort to raise awareness about ongoing discrimination.

CARD’s 1966 ‘Summer Project’ exposed the weaknesses of the 1965 Race Relations Act. The initiative involved sending students to test housing and job opportunities, revealing widespread racial bias. Over 150 complaints were filed, highlighting the need for additional legislation.

Several national newspapers covered CARD’s testing campaign and published editorials in favour of extending the Race Relations Act.

The campaign led to the 1968 Race Relations Act, banning discrimination in housing, employment, and public services.

Pitt went on to become the first Black chair of the Greater London Council. He later became a life peer in the House of Lords where he played a leading role in campaigning for the introduction of the 1976 Race Relations Act.

Dame Barrow became a prominent figure in the fields of race equality, education, and public service, with notable roles in the BBC and a number of educational institutions. She received numerous awards for her work, including an OBE in 1972.

However, despite its success CARD was short-lived.

Its emphasis on including White liberals and establishment figures as part of its efforts to mobilise the community alienated an emerging generation of radicalised activists.

In the late 1960s, a shift occurred as young people, inspired by the Black Power movement in the US, challenged discrimination more overtly.

The movement was fuelled by increasing racism in Britain. Politicians like Wolverhampton South MP Enoch Powell blamed immigrants for a range of social and economic issues and attracted controversy with his Rivers of Blood speech in 1968.  

Although not a member of the government Powell’s agenda was reflected in the legislation that was passed by such as the 1971 Immigration Act which restricted the ability of people from the Caribbean, Asia and Africa to emigrate to Britain whilst favouring White migrants.

In 1970, Black Power activists organised a march in Notting Hill to protest against police harassment and the repeated raids on the Mangrove Restaurant, a cultural hub founded by Frank Crichlow.

Despite the raids, no evidence of illegal activity was ever found. Crichlow, a Trinidadian migrant and businessman, tried to address the situation through legal channels.

Darcus Howe, a young Black activist and writer who had moved to the UK from Trinidad to study law, played a prominent role in organising protests against the Mangrove raids.

Inspired by the American Black Panthers and his Trinidadian roots, he urged Crichlow to take more direct action to challenge the police’s actions.

Howe led 150 protesters on a peaceful march to Notting Hill police stations in August 1970. However heavy-handed policing saw the march end in violence.

The subsequent trial of the Mangrove Nine attracted widespread public and media attention when Howe and another defendant, Althea Jones-LeCointe, chose to represent themselves.

They also requested an all-Black jury. Although the request was denied two Black jurors were chosen.

During the trial, evidence of police brutality and racism emerged. After 55 days all 9 defendants were found innocent of inciting a riot.

The jury rejected the police claims that The Mangrove was a criminal den.

Their acquittal marked a significant triumph for Black protest. The Mangrove 9’s bravery and defiance in the face of heavy-handed policing empowered civil rights activists and others in the Black community with the knowledge that institutional racism could be successfully challenged.

When Bernie Grant and Diane Abbott became the first Caribbean heritage MPs to enter the House of Commons in 1987, it was heralded as an event that helped change the face of politics in Britain.

Along with their fellow newly-elected Labour MPs Keith Vaz and Paul Boateng they blazed a path for other Black and minority ethnic MPs to follow.  

It was a journey that had begun with the rise of the Black Power movement of the 1960s and 70s and the huge impact of the Mangrove 9 case.

It continued with trade union activism, anti-apartheid campaigns and a grassroots community response

cuts to public services and a growing race and class divide.

The riots of the 1980s were a turning point that awakened a disinterested Britain to the demands of marginalised Black communities.

The decade also saw the emergence of a powerful network of Black and minority ethnic councillors and council leaders pushing for the adoption by the major political parties,  Labour in particular, of strategies to address racial inequality.

Black activists advocated for greater representation within the Labour Party leading to the launch of the Labour Party Black Sections in 1983.

Many of its leading lights were either born in the Caribbean or had parents from the islands.

This included people like journalist and activist Marc Wadsworth and Bill Morris who went on to become Britain’s first Black trade union general secretary when he was elected to lead the Transport and General Workers Union in 1992.

During his illustrious trade union career, Morris tackled a number of issues that affected Black workers.

The relentless determination of visionaries like Claudia Jones, Paul Stephenson and organisations such as the Labour Party Black Sections paved the way for today’s Black and minority ethnic MPs.

However, as the country gears up to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Windrush Generation questions remain over the future of this movement.

The Black voluntary sector, which once served as a vibrant platform for aspiring activists, local councillors, and MPs, has suffered severe blows due to government funding cuts in recent years.

While there are some who believe that this has led to a fading of grassroots activism others believe that a campaigning zeal lives on in a new generation of young people who share their ideas about creating a fairer and more equal society on social media.

They say that the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement in recent years following the 2020 death of George Floyd has ensured that the flame lit by the likes of Jones, Howe and Grant still burns brightly.