Welcome To Black History Month

Welcome to Black History Month

At City College, Manchester

" At City College we want to be a college that promotes equality of opportunity, value the positive aspects of our diversity and where people are neither excluded nor disabled by the attitudes, barriers and prejudices of wider society."

Willie Mills, Principal

The Black History Month is an important medium for sharing Black history and culture with the wider public. History is fundamental to learning about ourselves and learning about others; this event therefore gives the people in Britain a unique opportunity to explore and learn more about Black history and culture. Britain is strong today because of the contributions made by the Black and Asian communities within our society. Yet these contributions have often been overlooked. Black History Month provides the opportunity to raise awareness and celebrate the heritage of the minority ethnic communities within our country. It also gives the public the opportunity to learn, discuss and pay tribute to the important role that Black people and minority ethnic groups played in shaping the history of this country. Tony Blair – British Prime Minister

A history of achievement City College with its diverse learners and staff have celebrated Black History Month for the last few years. This year’s Black History Month aims to be bigger and better than before.

October is Black History Month - an opportunity to celebrate the huge and positive contribution that black and minority ethnic communities have made to societies across the globe and throughout the centuries. We hope to provide you with a tiny glimpse of that contribution and will encourage you to actively celebrate the diversity that exists within your own department.

What is Black History Month?

Black History Month was the brainchild of Carter

Woodson who was born in Virginia in 1875.

The son of former slaves, Woodson was

able to transcend the poverty of his childhood

through his intellectual and academic achievements

becoming Dean at Howard University in

Washington.

Woodson recognised that black accomplishments

were ignored in standard history textbooks, and

sought to bolster a wider knowledge of black

achievement.

Black History Month Carter G Woodson The Father of Black History Month

Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished... Lose the inspiration that comes from the teaching of history. Carter G. Woodson

Today’s Heroes & Sheroes

Shaun Wright-Phillips At the age of 15 Shaun Wright-Phillips was rejected by Nottingham Forest for supposedly being 'too small', and was quickly snapped up by Manchester City. Arguably one of the most exciting talents to come out of an English academy, on 18th August, 2004 Wright-Phillips was called up for his England debut against Ukraine. He came on as a substitute at half-time and scored an impressive goal. He made his first start for England against Holland on 9th February, 2004. Widely agreed upon as the stand-out player for Man City, in 2004-2005 he earned a place in the final 6 nominees for PFA young player of the year and the Barclaycard team of the season. On 17th July, 2005 Wright-Phillips moved to Jose Mourinho's Chelsea for £21m.

Amir Khan Khan rose to fame as Britain’s sole representative in boxing at the 2004 Athens Olympics, winning a silver medal at the age of 17 in the lightweight boxing category. He was Britain's youngest Olympic boxer since Colin Jones in 1976. He lost in the final to Mario Kindelan of Cuba, who was widely regarded as the best pound for pound amateur boxer in the world. In 2005 he avenged this loss by defeating Kindelan in his last amateur fight. Despite declaring after the 2004 Olympics that he would pursue a Gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Khan turned professional in 2005.

DARREN CAMPBELL He is started his athletic career with the Sales Harriers in Manchester. He went on to become the most successful British athlete at junior level, winning 4 gold and 2 silver medals at international championships. In the Athens 2004 Olympics, Campbell was plagued with injury and did not make the finals in his individual events, the 100m & 200m. However,, his team spirit prevailed and he made sure he held on for his 4x100m relay team, beating the US team and getting gold in a shock win. He is married with 2 children.

Born in Clapham, South London in 1972, Richard claims he always wanted to be a performer. His inspiration has come from other comedians like Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock, and his comedic style can be described as an amalgam of these three, with a healthy dose Afro Caribbean and South London humour. After graduating with a business degree, he did a one-off gig at 'The Spot' in Covent Garden, and from there his popularity grew. He did guest spots on 'The A- Force', BBC2's late night black entertainment programme, as well as sketches on 'The Real McCoy' and 'Five Night Stand'. He has had his own talk show on Channel Four, hosted 'Singled Out' and 'MTV Select' on MTV, and currently does work on the BBC digital channels. Richard Blackwood Comedian and TV presenter

CRAIG DAVID This Southampton-born MC rose from humble beginnings working in a McDonalds restaurant to becoming a fledgling star on the burgeoning garage scene. But he didn’t stop there: his debut album, Born to Do it , topped the charts and went on to sell more than 17 million copies. Since then, Craig has enjoyed incredible success globally, even cracking through the tough nut that is America.

Born on September 27th, 1953, in London of Jamaican parents, Abbott was educated at Harrow County Girls' Grammar School and Newnham College, Cambridge, with an MA in History. A journalist by profession, she worked as an administrative trainee with the Home Office; Race Relations Officer for the National Council for Civil Liberties; a reporter with TV AM and Thames Television; Public Relations Officer with the GLC and Head of Lambeth Council's Press Office. Abbott was active in the Black Sections movement within the Labour Party and in community politics, including OWAAD (Organisation of Women of African and Asian Descent); the "Scrap Sus" campaign to ban police stop-and-search tactics levelled at Black youth, and was a founder member of the Black Media Workers' Organisation. Diane Abbott First black woman MP

Viv Anderson broke through the taboos to become the first black player to appear in a full international for England, making his senior debut against Czechoslovakia in 1978. However, this classy full-back or central defender and his excellent ball-skills deserve to be remembered for more than just that. During a long and glittering career with some of England's leading clubs, he won everything the domestic game had to offer. Viv won the European Cup 1979, 1980; European Super cup 1979 and played for Nottingham Forest, Arsenal, Manchester United, Sheffield Wednesday, Barnsley, and Middlesbrough during his distinguished career, before he become assistant manager to Bryan Robson at Middlesbrough. Viv Anderson First black footballer to represent England

John Amaechi, forward/centre for the Houston Rockets is a rare thing - a Briton currently playing in America's National Basketball Association. He received special recognition in the NBA's Hall of Fame for scoring first points in the new millennium. In addition to his many athletic accomplishments, Amaechi is also a philanthropist who has devoted much of his time and finances to various charities and non-profit organizations. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, on November 26, 1970, Amaechi was raised by his mother in Manchester, with his two younger sisters. He attended Stockport Grammar School, where he began his athletic career as an aspiring rugby player and it was only a chance outing at the local basketball court that enticed Amaechi to give basketball a try. Soon basketball became his passion and by the age of 16, his dream was to play basketball professionally in the NBA. He and his mother formulated a plan for launching his career. Realizing that the best chance for stardom would be in the United States, Amaechi moved to Toledo, Ohio. For over five years Amaechi has run the most successful Basketball Camps in both the United States and England. Amaechi's greatest contribution to date for young people in the UK has been the construction of the Amaechi Basketball Centre (ABC) in Manchester, which opened in August 2002. He is the sole benefactor for this $4 million facility and this latest endeavour promises to be an invaluable asset for the entire nation. John Amaechi B asketball player for Houston Rockets

B orn in May 1970, to Valerie Campbell, a fashion designer and model. Naomi began her career at 15, when Beth Boldt, an agent at Elite, spotted her walking down a London Street near Covent Garden and offered to have her pictures taken. She spent two years on the Paris runway; hit the cover of French Vogue and a year later made history again, when her face--and legs--appeared on the cover of American Vogue, making her the first black woman to appear on the number one fashion magazine in the States. Naomi Campbell Supermodel who is frequently hailed among the world's most beautiful woman

Born in Trinidad in 1939, Trevor worked in various aspects of the media including local newspapers, radio and television. He joined the Caribbean regional service of the BBC World Service in 1960 as a producer, before moving to London at the end of that decade to work for the corporation (BBC Radio, London). Moving to Independent Television News (ITN) in 1973, he rose steadily through the ranks. He's served as news, sports and diplomatic correspondent before moving on to become diplomatic editor and newscaster. Twice voted Newscaster of the year, McDonald is perceived as the face of ITN after years of fronting its flagship 'News at Ten' bulletin. An accomplished journalist, he has penned several books including autobiographies on cricketers Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards. His own biography, 'Fortunate Circumstances', was published in 1993. In 1992 he received an OBE in the Queen's Honours List, and received a knighthood in 1999. He continues to be the anchor for the News at Ten, and presents Tonight with Trevor McDonald, which was launched in 1999. Sir Trevor MacDonald Renowned broadcaster and first UK Black TV news anchorman

Sports fanatic Ade was on the Great Britain Wheelchair Basketball team which won the gold medal at the Paralympics World Cup in Manchester in 2005 and bronze medal at the Athens Paralympics in 2004. Ade was awarded an MBE for his services to disabled sports in the Queen's Birthday Honours. Ade Adepitan MBE

Sajid Mahmood Sajid Mahmood was called into the England squad for the first time after being named in the 14-man party for the 2004 NatWest Series. The pace bowler has come through the ranks at Lancashire and then impressed at the ECB’s National Academy and on the A team’s tour of Malaysia and India in 2004. Mahmood started his career playing in the Bolton League and was called into Lancashire’s youth side, where he took four wickets on his debut and was awarded a year’s scholarship before earning a contract in 2003. Was named in the ECB National Academy Squad for winter 2005-06 after a season in which he helped Lancashire win the Frizzell County Championship Division Two title although he was restricted to six appearances. Mahmood made his Test debut against Sri Lanka in 2006 and made an immediate impact, taking five wickets in the match including three in his first four overs.

BEVERLEY MALONE General Secretary Royal College of Nursing “ We must celebrate our successes every inch of the way. Success comes in pieces and you might be dead before you get to the end. Get energy from every step you take.”

OZWALD BOATENG Oswald is an example to those who feel like giving up anytime they don’t reach their goals. Mr. Boateng hasn’t exactly had it easy: in 1998, just as he was becoming established on the international fashion scene, a big order from the Far East was cancelled and it wiped him out. He’s since rebuilt his business so successfully that he is now menswear creative director for the French fashion label Givenchy. The role was created especially for Boateng and it’s the first time that a black designer has had such a powerful role within a major fashion house.

COLIN SALMON Even if this actor doesn’t make it to being the first black 007, he still has all the attributes of an old-fashioned lady-killer. Standing at more than 6ft 5in and classically handsome, Colin’s trademark roles are authoritarian characters with booming voices. His role in AvP : Alien vs Predator was written especially for him.

Frank Bruno is one of Britain's best loved sportsmen. Bruno was renowned for his punches, but his fame rested as much on his charm outside the ring as his power in it. Franklyn Roy Bruno was born at Hammersmith Hospital in London. He was the youngest of 6 children from the union of his parents Lynette & Robert Bruno. Michael, Eddie, Faye Joanne, and Angela are his siblings. His parents settled down in Wandsworth in London. His father Robert who was from Dominica passed away in 1975, while his mother Lynette is a district nurse and a Pentecostal lay preacher from Jamaica. His amateur career culminated with Frank boxing for Young England and becoming the youngest Amateur British Champion at 18. As a professional fighter he weighed 247lbs and stood 6'3" tall. He amassed a record of 40-4 losing world title fights to Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Tim Witherspoon, and James "Bone crusher" Smith; fighting a total of 167 rounds, winning 38 inside the distance, and 17 of those by knockout. Frank's career peaked on 3rd September 1995 when he beat Oliver McCall on points at Wembley Stadium to become the World Boxing Council Heavyweight Champion. He retired from boxing in August 1996. Frank was awarded an MBE in 1990. Frank Bruno (Former World Heavyweight Champion)

PAULETTE SIMPSON CHIEF UK REP Jamaica National Building Society “ Women don’t have to behave like men in the work place to be successful. Our femininity enables us to see things from a different perspective”

Black History Month Quiz

Which of these was invented by a Black

person?

A. pencil sharpener

B. the super-computer

C. the gas mask

D. the fountain pen

Answers

All of them!

A. J.L Love invented pencil sharpeners in 1897

B. Dr. Philip Emeagwali developed the super-computer between 1970-1989)

C. Garret Morgan invented the gas mark in 1914

D. W.B Purvis invented the fountain pen in 1890

DAVID LAMMY MP He is often referred to as the ‘black Blair’ and with good reason. Since stepping into the late Bernie Grant’s shoes as MP for Tottenham in 2000, Lammy has become Britain’s highest-ranking MP and is being touted as the first black prime minister in the country. Whether it happens or not, David Lammy is aware of the magnitude of the situation. I am just doing my job, but the idea of being the black prime minister in a predominately white country has a nice, controversial ring to it!”

Rt Hon Paul Boateng

First black cabinet minister and joint first black MP. His political life began with membership in the Labour party in 1966 and he became a prominent member of the Greater London Council 1981-86, serving as chair of the Police Committee. Elected as MP for Brent South in 1987 he won the elections with an overwhelming seventy-three percent of the vote.

Paul Boateng was appointed as a cabinet minister on 29 May 2002 and he is the first Black Cabinet minister - 110 years after the first Black MP was elected. He now serves as the British High Commissioner to South Africa.

ELIZABETH OUZA National Sales Director Mary Kay Cosmetics UK “ Help enough people to get what they want and you’ll get what you want”

MARY FOULKES OBE DIVERSITY & EQUALITIES DIRECTOR HSBC Bank Plc. “ If the people around you are feeling down, don’t offer sympathy offer positive advice”.

Reuben Singh

The UK's youngest self-made millionaire, believes age is never a barrier to having entrepreneurial vision

A multi-millionaire with an established track record as an entrepreneur, and a key figure at the heart of New Labour's aim to make business sexy. But Reuben Singh is no ordinary corporate high-flyer.

Only 27, he has been setting the UK business world alight since 17, when he juggled his A-levels with a venture that earned him a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the UK's youngest self-made millionaire.

FLOELLA BENJAMEN OBE

Trevor Philips

Writer, broadcaster, journalist and Deputy Leader of the Greater London Authority. Trevor Philips is now Chair of the Commission For Racial Equality.

TREVOR NELSON MBE More than just a DJ, Trevor Nelson is responsible for making sure that music of black origin, namely soul, hop-hop and R&B, is recognised in this country. He shares his love of music via his immensely popular shows on Radio One, MTV Base and global club night, The Lick. Recently Nelson looked at the impact of soul music on British culture through the Channel 4 programme Soul Nation . He received an MBE in 2000 for his work as a Millennium Volunteer ambassador. With his cheeky-chappy grin, Nelson continues to unite people under one umbrella.

ADRIAN LESTER Birmingham born Adrian is one of the most consistent actors around, on both stage and screen. In 1996, he won the prestigious Olivier award for his role in the theatre production, Company. He made his big break into film with Primary Colors, in which he played right-hand man to an American president. Adrian is about to present a documentary as part of the BBC Africa season, discussing the extraordinary contributions that black people have made to the world. He is married to actress Lolita Chakrabarti and they have 2 daughters.

Several inventions by people of African descent have had a profound impact on human advancement. Light Bulbs (Louis Latimer), Traffic Lights (Garret Morgan), Electric railway conductors (Granville T Woods), Truck Refrigeration units for Transporting food on LDV's (Frederick Jones), Airplane propeller (James S Adams), Guitar (Robert Flemming), Gas Mask (Garrett Morgan), Blood banks/separation of blood plasma (Dr. Richard Drew), Improved kidney transplants (Samuel L Kountz), Automatic locomotive lubricator (Elijah McCoy), First open heart surgery (Dr. Daniel Hale). Did you know?

The British Black Experience

There has been a black presence in the

UK well before the 1940s and 1950s.

Historical evidence from literature,

parish and army records shows that black

people have been contributing and

enriching British society some 400 years

before the Empire Windrush docked

at Tilbury.

England's first Black queen, mother of the Black Prince Queen Phillipa Philippa was the daughter of William of Hainault, a lord in part of what is now Belgium. When she was nine the King of England, Edward II, decided that he would marry his son, the future Edward III, to her, and sent one of his bishops, a Bishop Stapeldon, to look at her. He described her thus: Four years later Prince Edward went to visit his bride-to-be and her family, and fell in live with her. She was betrothed to him and in 1327, when she was only 14, she arrived in England. The next year, when she was 15, they married and were crowned King and Queen in 1330 when she was heavily pregnant with her first child and only 17. This first child was called Edward, like his father, but is better known as the Black Prince. Many say that he was called this because of the colour of his armour, but there are records that show that he was called 'black' when he was very small. The French called him 'Le Noir'. Philippa was a remarkable woman. She was very wise and was known and loved by the English for her kindliness and restraint. When the King was abroad she ruled in his absence. Queen's College in Oxford University was founded under her direction by her chaplain, Robert de Eglesfield in 1341 when she was 28. She brought many artists and scholars from Hainault who contributed to English culture. When she died, Edward never really recovered, and she was much mourned by him and the country. King Edward had a beautiful sculpture made for her tomb which you can see today at Westminster Abbey.

Dadabhai Noaroji

Before the mass waves of immigration in the 1950s the there had been three Indian MPs in the British Parliament, all representing different political parties. The first was Dadabhai Noaroji, who was the first Indian ever to run for Parliament.

He lost the election battle and was literally catapulted to fame by his loss because his running for Parliament caused the Prime Minister 'Lord Salisbury' to comment that the British Constituencies had not yet reached the point where they would elect a 'Black man'. This made him a much-talked about figure, and when he stood again for Parliament in 1892 for Finsbury Park, he was elected and held the seat for three years. He died in 1916 aged 91.

Phyliss Wheatley

Phyliss Wheatley was the first Black woman to be

published in London. Her book, 'Poems on various

subjects, religious and moral ' consisted of 39

poems. She was bought as a slave in Boston

Massachusetts aged seven and was immediately

segregated from the other slaves and taught to read

and write.

Wheatley showed an understanding of the roles

black people played in white society on both sides

of the Atlantic.

Piara Khabra

Piara S Khabra is a JP and

Labour MP for Ealing

Southall. A former teacher

and social worker, he is the

oldest MP in the Commons.

He has represented his

constituency since 1992.

William Cuffay

William Cuffay was one of the principle leaders of the Chartist movement, the first mass political movement of the British working class. He was born in Chatham Kent in 1788, the son of an African Slave. Cuffay became a journeyman Taylor.

He became the delegate of the Westminster Chartists to the Metropolitan Council. In 1842 Cuffay was elected the President of the Metropolitan Delegate Council.

He was mocked by the press of Britain's ruling classes. 'Punch' called him ' The black man and his party'

Shapurji Satlakvala

Reputedly the most radical Indian involved in British politics. He fought hard for the rights of the British Working class and for the national liberation of India from British rule.

Born in Bombay, he came to England in 1905 and was an active member of the Communist party until he died in 1936.

He won a seat in Parliament for the Labour party in 1922, lost it in 1923, and regained it again in 1924 as a communist candidate.

Claudia Jones

Claudia Jones was born in Trinidad in 1915. She moved with her family to Harlem where she became a leading figure in Communist and black politics. Due to Mcarthyism she was forced to leave the USA and moved to London in 1955,

She continued to be politically active and became involved in civil rights campaigns amongst the West Indian Community. In 1958 the year of the Notting Hill riots she founded the first major black post- war newspaper "The West Indian Gazette" and also helped launch the Notting Hill Carnival, which today is world famous.

Ignatius Sancho Ignatius Sancho was the first African prose writer whose work was published in England. A former slave and renowned shopkeeper, Sancho came to England at the age of two, in 1731. It was from his Grocers shop on Charles Street in Westminster that Sancho wrote his famous letters, and received his correspondents who included Garrick, The Montagues, the sculptor Nollekins and the writer Laurence Sterne. Amongst his achievements Sancho was almost certainly the model for a character 'Shina Cambo' in the 1790 novel 'Memoirs and opinions of Mr Blenfield'. This novel is perhaps the first instance in English Literature where white men visit the home of a Black family as equals and when black people are shown as integrated into White English Society. Sancho died in 1780, two years after his death his Letters were published. They attracted over 1,200 subscribers, the highest subscription of any author of his time for 70 years. He was also painted by Gainsborough and it is also likely that he was depicted in Hogarths' Taste of the high Life 1742.

Mary Seacole

Mary Seacole is, without a doubt one of the unsung heroines of British History. She was one of the two famous women who aided British troops in the Crimea. Her contemporary, Florence Nightingale has been lionised and is renowned and celebrated to this day. Mary Seacole however today remains largely forgotten.

Of Jamaican origin Mary learned her nursing skills from her mother who had kept a boarding house for invalid soldiers. Mary heard of the collapse of the British nursing system in the Crimea and headed for London in 1845. She applied to the War Office to offer her series as a nurse, however she was turned down she believed the reason to be colour prejudice.

Not discouraged she funded her own trip to the Crimea where she immediately set about tending to the sick and wounded. She set up her own store where she sold medicines and supplies.

Olaudah Equiano

Olaudah Equiano, was a former slave who managed to buy his freedom in later life.

At the age of forty four he wrote and published his autobiography, ‘The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African. Written by Himself’, which he registered at Stationer's Hall, London, in 1789. More than two centuries later, this work is recognised not only as one of the first works published in England by an African. It is unique in his recollection of traditional African life before the advent of the European slave trade. Equiano also records his central role, along with Granville Sharpe, in the British Abolitionist Movement. As a major voice in this movement, Equiano petitioned the Queen of England in 1788. He was appointed commissary of provisions and stores to the expedition to resettle London's poor Blacks in Sierra Leone..

Ottobah Cuggano

Ottobah Cuggano was born around 1757 in Ghana, he was kidnapped as a slave at around thirteen. He came to England from Grenada in 1752 and was set free. He was advised to be baptised to avoid being resold into Slavery he took the name John Stuart. He had close association with Oloudah Equiano and Granville Sharp.

The following year he published 'Thoughts and Sentiments On The Evil and Wicked Traffic Of Slavery"and "The Commerce of The Human Species" . The book sets about demolishing the arguments for slavery. It was ground breaking in its content because Cuggano declared that the enslaved Blacks had both the moral right and the moral duty to resist their masters.

“ If any man should buy another man...and compel him to his service and slavery without any agreement of that man to serve him, the enslaver is a robber and a defrauder of that man every day. Wherefore it is as much the duty of a man who is robbed in that manner to get out of the hands of his enslaver, as it the duty of any honest community of men to get out of the hands of thieves and villains...”

Cuggano publicly demanded the abolition of the slave trade and the emancipation of the slaves. It was ideas such as Cuganno's which paved the way for the beginning of Pan Africanism.

Harold Moody

Dr. Harold Moody was born in Kingston Jamaica in 1882 and came to London in 1904 to study medicine at Kings College. Despite being an excellent student and the recipient of many prizes - Moody found it difficult to get both work and lodgings.

Eventually he set up his own successful practice in Peckham where he met and married an English nurse.

A devout Christian he was elected to the chair of the Colonial Missionary Society's board of directors in 1921 and was also involved in other philanthropic bodies. He used his position to assist black people who sought his help and advise. Having experienced difficulties in finding work and lodgings, Moody could easily relate to their hardships.

Sir M. Bhownagree

Sir M.Bhownagree was the MP for Bethnal Green North East for ten years. Born in Bombay in 1851. He was called to the Bar in 1885. Bhownagree made links with Indian students living in London and involved in their welfare and education.

In addition to this he lobbied Parliament for the rights of Indian subjects and also for the rights of Indians living in South Africa.

Robert Wedderburn

Robert Wedderburn was born in Jamaica in 1762 and he came to England in 1778.

Wedderburn was also an anti Slavery campaigner, he sent the first revolutionary papers from England to the West Indies. This was called 'The axe laid to the root , or a fatal blow to oppressions being an address to the planters and Negroes of the island of Jamaica' For this Wedderburn was arrested and found guilty of 'Blasphemous libel' He served 2 years in Carlisle jail and when he was released wrote and released his autobiography entitled ' The Horrors of Slavery'.

William Davidson

William Davidson was born in Kingston Jamaica in 1786 He came to Britain aged 14 and was deeply affected by the Peterloo Massacre in which more than 500 people were injured and 11 killed. He was a co-conspirator in a plan to blow up parliament.

Lord David Pitt

Lord David Pitt, Lord Pitt of Hampstead, now deceased was the longest serving Black Parliamentarian, having been granted a life peerage in 1975.

Born in Grenada, he came to Britain in 1933 to study medicine at Edinburgh University. He served as a Member of London County Council and a Chairperson of the Greater London Council and, from 1985-88, as President of the British Medical Association.

Sophia Duleep Singh

An active and vociferous campaigner for the suffragette movement.

She was the daughter of Majarah Duleep Singh, the last sovereign of the Sikh empire.

John Richard Archer

John Richard Archer was Britain's first black Mayor. He was also the first black person to hold civic office in Britain as councillor, alderman and then mayor.

Archer was born in Liverpool in 1836 to a Barbadian father and an Irish mother. He settled in Battersea in London around 1890 with his black Canadian wife, there they opened an award winning photographic studio in Battersea Park Road.

He came to prominence as an outstanding public speaker when he supported John Burns in the 1905 General Election. Then, in 1906 he won the local election and became Britain’s first British-born black Councillor. Until he was nominated there was no mention by the opposition parties of his colour.

Stephen Lawrence

On the 22nd April 1993, teenager Stephen Lawrence was murdered by five white youths at a bus stop in Eltham, South-east London. The public inquiry into his murder has led to a number of changes for the police, local authorities and communities across the UK.

Doreen Lawrence “ No family should ever experience the last two years of our lives. This is the worst kind of fame. We have been brought into the public spotlight not by our own acts, but by the failure of others who were under a public duty to act…”

27 years of race legislation

The first Race Relations Act was passed in

1976 (as amended in 2000) made it unlawful to discriminate against anyone on the grounds of race, colour, ethnicity, nationality including citizenship. It applies in the areas of jobs, education, employment, housing and the provision of goods and services.

27 years of race legislation

The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 places a general duty on all public authorities to have due regard to the promotion of race equality. This means that they must:

eliminate unlawful discrimination

promote equality of opportunity

promote good race relations

Taking the diversity challenge

Extend your personal support and endorsement of diversity initiatives

Use your position to put race and other issues firmly on the agenda

Encourage leadership amongst your peers and colleagues

Set an example

The Transatlantic connection

This section briefly examines the contribution made by African Americans and their immense impact on our modern conceptions of freedom and justice as well as literature, politics, education, science and technology .

Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King was a critical figure in the Civil Rights Movement. His commitment to the principles of non-violent social change often the face of unimaginable violence remains an inspiration for those challenging forms of injustice.

“ ...There is nothing more dangerous than to build a society, with a large segment of people in that society, who feel that they have no stake in it; who feel that they have nothing to lose. People who have a stake in their society, protect that society, but when they don't have it, they unconsciously want to destroy it.”

I have a dream... “ I have a dream that one day my four little children will live in a nation Where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their characters When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city We will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Mahatma Ghandi

Assumed a critical role in the struggle for independence. He advocated non-violent protest and religious tolerance.

“ Non violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man."

Rosa Parks

The ‘mother’ of the modern-day civil rights movement. She held a pivotal role in the bus boycotts which eventually ruled Montgomery’s public transport segregation unconstitutional.

She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1999.

Malcolm X

Black nationalist who challenged the efficacy of non-violence in creating social change. Malcolm X advocated pride in African heritage and economic

self-sufficiency.

“ You cannot separate peace from freedom, because no one is at peace until they have their freedom...”

Harriet Tubman

A former slave who led more than

300 slaves across the deep- South

to their freedom through the

Underground Railroad.

She demonstrated unrivalled

leadership and courage often

risking her life for the sake of

others.

Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was one of the foremost leaders of the

abolitionist movement, which fought to end slavery within

the United States in the decades prior to the Civil War.

A brilliant speaker, Douglass was asked by the American

Anti-Slavery Society to engage in a tour of lectures, and so

became recognised as one of America's first great black

speakers. He won world fame when his autobiography was

publicised in 1845. Two years later he began publishing an

antislavery paper called the North Star.

Douglass served as an adviser to President Abraham

Lincoln during the Civil War and fought for the adoption of

constitutional amendments that guaranteed voting rights and

other civil liberties for African Americans

Sojourner Truth

A former slave who rose above her circumstances to become one of the most powerful speakers on anti-slavery and the rights of women. She dictated her memoirs ‘ The Narrative of Sojourner Truth’ in 1850.

Yaa Asantewa

Known as the ‘Queen Mother of Ejisu. She is reputed to be the driving force in Ghana’s fight from colonial rule. She is famed for the extraordinary leadership skills she demonstrated during the Yaa Asantewa war.

W E B Dubois

Powerful and gifted advocate of pan- Africanism who believed that knowledge could be used as a cure for prejudice. He produced works like the Souls of Black Folks and the Dusk of Dawn .

Marcus Garvey Marcus Garvey founder of the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) which advocated self-help and pride in African culture and heritage. Garvey felt that the freedom of black people could only be fully secured in Africa and launched the Liberia Plan in 1921. “ Up you mighty race, you can accomplish what you will..”

The UNIA Commission - Liberia Plan 1921

The Politicians

Nelson MANDELA Mandela completed his degree in Law at the University of Witwatersrand. In 1944 he helped found the ANC Youth League. He was elected national volunteer-in-chief of the 1952 Defiance Campaign. He was given a suspended sentence for his part in the campaign. By 1952 Mandela had opened the first black legal firm in the country. In the second half of the 'fifties, he was one of the accused in the Treason Trial. With Duma Nokwe, he conducted the defence. When the ANC was banned after the Sharpeville massacre in 1960, he was detained until 1961 when he went underground to lead a campaign for a new national convention. In 1962 Mandela left the country for military training in Algeria. On his return he was arrested for leaving the country illegally. He conducted his own defence. He was convicted and jailed for five years in November 1962. While serving his sentence, he was charged, in the Rivonia trial, with sabotage and sentenced to life imprisonment. Robben Island, where he was imprisoned, became a centre for learning, and Mandela was a central figure in the organised political education classes. In prison Mandela never compromised his political principles and was always a source of strength for the other prisoners. In the 'eighties he again rejected PW Botha's offer of freedom if he renounced violence. It is significant that shortly after his release on Sunday 11 February 1990, Mandela and his delegation agreed to the suspension of armed struggle. He was inaugurated as the first democratically elected State President of South Africa on 10 May 1994 - June 1999. Nelson Mandela retired from Public life in June 1999. He currently resides in his birthplace - Qunu, Transkei.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru F irst Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India was born at Allahabad on 14 November 1889. From the age of 15 to 23 Jawaharlal studied in England at Harrow, Cambridge and the Inner Temple returning to India in 1912. Jawaharlal Nehru remained the Prime Minister of India for 17 long years and can rightly be called the architect of modern India. He set India on the path of democracy and nurtured its institution - Parliament, multi-party system, independent judiciary and free press. He encouraged Panjayati Raj institutions. Nehru gained international recognition for opposing alliances with the great powers and for promoting neutralism (nonalignment). He advocated nonaggression and ending atomic bomb tests. But he was criticized when Indian forces seized Goa and other Portuguese territories in India in 1961. Nehru acted as a spokesman for non-aligned nations in Asia and Africa. He favoured admitting Communist China to the United Nations until Chinese forces attacked the Indian border in 1962.

Adam Clayton Powell

Adam Clayton Powell was the first black man to

serve on the New York City Council following his

election in 1941.

In 1945 he won election to the U.S. House of

Representatives as a Democrat from Harlem.

There he began a long fight against racial

segregation.

He served 11 successive terms in the House and

became chairman of its Education and Labour

Committee in 1960. In that capacity he played a

leading role in the passage of a minimum wage

act, antipoverty acts, and bills supporting

manpower training and federal aid to education.

Stokely Carmichael

Carmichael immigrated to New York City

in 1952, attended high school in the

Bronx, and enrolled at Howard University

in 1960. There he joined the Student

Non-violent Coordinating Committee

(SNCC) and the Non-violent Action

Group. In 1961 Carmichael was one of

several Freedom Riders who travelled

through the South challenging

segregation laws in interstate

transportation. Carmichael was later

closely involved in the development of

the Black Panther Party.

Anton Lembede Qualifying as a teacher, he enrolled with the University of South Africa (UNISA) were he managed to to obtain his BA and LLB degrees. Lembede contributed immensely in the drafting of the ANC Youth League Manifesto. Lembede also served in various ANC positions. In 1944 he was elected ANC Provincial Assistant Secretary in the Transvaal. Two years later Lembede was seconded to the ANC National Executive Committee and National Working Committee under the leadership of Dr Xuma. In 1945 Lembede, Water Sisulu and Oliver Tambo almost succeeded in persuading the Transvaal Congress to expel the communists from its membership as they were viciously attacking Africanism. He was at the forefront of the campaign by the ANC Youth League to destroy the Natives Representative Council and boycott elections under the Native Representatives Act of 1936. This earned him the respect of ANC leaders such as J.B Marks. He was regarded as the architect of the 1949 Programme of Action. In 1947 Lembede died of an undisclosed illness. His doctors could say nothing apart from saying he suffered from intestinal malfunctioning. He was 33 years of age when he died.

Barbara Jordan An American lawyer, educator, and politician who served as U.S. congressional representative from Texas (1972-78). She was the first black congresswoman to come from the Deep South. Although she acquired a reputation as an effective legislator, Jordan did not become a national figure until 1974, when her participation in the hearings held by the House Judiciary Committee on the impeachment of President Richard M. Nixon was televised nation-wide. Her keynote address at the 1976 Democratic National Convention confirmed her reputation as one of the most commanding and articulate public speakers of her era.

Whitney Young Jr.

U.S. civil rights leader who spearheaded the drive for

equal opportunity for African-Americans in U.S.

industry and government service during his 10 years as

head of the National Urban League (1961-71), the

world's largest social-civil rights organisation. Young

won an impressive reputation as a national black activist

who helped bridge the gap between white political

and business leaders and poor African-Americans and

militants.

He was particularly credited with persuading corporate

America and major foundations to aid the civil rights

movement through financial contributions in support of

self-help programs for jobs, housing, education, and

family rehabilitation.

Shaka Zulu Zulu King T hrough incredible atrocities and cruelties the infamous Zulu warrior Shaka gained control over a number of Zulu clans. He expanded his territory systematically. As a young man, Shaka joined the army of Dingiswayo and soon became its highest commander. With the support of Dingiswayo he gained supremacy over the Zulu clan, enforcing his claim against his opponents. Under Shaka the Zulu territory expanded phenomenally. All the clans had to subject themselves to the one leader. At the beginning of the 19th century, Shaka had created the most powerful kingdom in the whole of southern Africa. Towards the end of his reign, Shaka used his power even more destructively. He chased his army from one battle to the next, and the cruelties against his enemies became more outrageous. Eventually Shaka was assassinated by his half-brother Dingane in 1828.

James Baldwin African -American essayist, novelist, and playwright whose eloquence and passion on the subject of race in America made him an important voice, particularly in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the United States and, later, through much of western Europe. His novels included classics such as the semi-autobiographical , Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953), and in his play about a woman evangelist, The Amen Corner (performed in New York City, 1965). In 1957 he returned to the United States and became an active participant in the civil-rights struggle that swept the nation. His book of essays, Nobody Knows My Name (1961), explores black-white relations in the United States. This theme also was central to his novel Another Country (1962), which examines sexual as well as racial issues.

Rev Jesse Jackson

A key figure within the

modern civil rights

movement. He is perhaps

best remembered for his

two runs at the Democratic

presidential nomination .

Oliver Tambo The Eastern Cape assembly of chiefs, granted Tambo a bursary of £30 a year to further his education at Forth Hare University. Tambo initially decided to study medicine, but at the time no medical school would accept Black students. He opted for a course in sciences and three years later graduated with a B.Sc. degree in mathematics and physics. In the aftermath of the Sharpeville Massacre Tambo embarked on a 'Mission in Exile' in order to gain international support for the South African liberation movement. Tambo emerged as one of the foremost advocates of women's rights within the movement. During the 1980's Tambo, as the president of the ANC, was increasingly recognised by the Organisation for African Unity as a head of state in exile. During the early hours of the morning of 23 April 1993 Oliver Reginald Tambo suffered a massive and fatal stroke. He was honoured with a state funeral where scores of friends, supporters and heads of state bade him farewell. His epitaph is perhaps best expressed in his own words, when he said that: "It is our responsibility to break down barriers of division and create a country where there will be neither Whites nor Blacks, just South Africans, free and united in diversity."

Akbar the Great 1543 - 1605 A.D. He was the greatest of the Moguls, the Muslim dynasty that dominated India between the early 15th and 18th centuries. Akbar inherited the throne, after the sudden death of his father king Humayun , at the age of 13, in 1556. In 1579 he abolished the Jizya , a tax imposed on all but the poorest non-Muslims. He defeated an impregnable Hindu fortress in Rajasthan and went on to marry the Rajput princess Padmini, who was permitted to conduct Hindu rites in the harem. Akbar was an illiterate man, perhaps because of dyslexia, he loved learning and disputation. Akbar came up with his own "religion of god' Din-i-Ilahi, more a fraternal order, headed by himself, than a religion, based on a creed of harmony among peoples and a practice that involved making disciples of his leading nobles. Unsurprisingly, Muslim clerics saw this as blasphemy. Eventually, it became official policy to discourage, if not to prohibit, Islamic forms of prayer . Akbar paid the price in an abortive rebellion by his son, claiming to be a defender of the faith. Akbar softened towards Islam thereafter, and is thought to have died, in 1605, a Muslim, not an apostate.

The writers

Maya Angelou African-American poet whose several volumes of autobiography explore the themes of economic, racial, and sexual oppression. Her early life is the focus of Angelou's first autobiographical work, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970). Subsequent volumes of autobiography include Gather Together in My Name (1974), Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas (1976), The Heart of a Woman (1981), and All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986). In 1981 she became a professor of American studies at Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, N.C. Among numerous other honours she was awarded was her invitation to compose and deliver a poem for the inauguration of former President Bill Clinton in 1993.

Toni Morrison

African- American writer noted for her

examination of black experience (particularly

black female experience) within the black

community. She received the Nobel Prize for

Literature in 1993. Her critically acclaimed

Beloved (1987), winner of the Pulitzer Prize for

fiction, is based on the true story of a runaway

slave who, at the point of recapture, kills

her infant daughter in order to spare her a life

of slavery.

Richard Wright

Born near Mississippi, The grandson of former slaves,

Richard Wright became a novelist and short-story writer,

who was among the first black American writers to

protest against the treatment of black people by white

people.

Notably in his novel Native Son (1940) and his

autobiography, Black Boy (1945), he inaugurated the

tradition of protest explored by other black writers after

World War II.

He first came to the general public's attention with a

volume of novellas, Uncle Tom's Children (1938), based

on the question: How may a black man live in a country

that denies his humanity?

Alice Walker

An African-American writer whose novels, short stories, and poems were noted for their insightful treatment of African-American culture.

Her novels focus particularly on women, most notably The Colour Purple which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1983.

Amiri Bakara

Playwright, poet, novelist, and essayist who wrote of the

experiences and anger of African- Americans with an

affirmation of black life.

Bakara published his first major collection of poetry,

Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note, in 1961. The

poems in The Dead Lecturer (1964) are notable for their

strong imagery and lyrical treatment of violence. This was

followed by Black Art (1966), Black Magic (1969), and many

subsequent verse collections. Some of Bakara's poems

reflect his interest in blues and jazz, which he wrote

about in Blues People: Negro Music in White America (1963)

and Black Music (1967). Bakara founded the Black Arts

Repertory Theatre in Harlem in 1965.

Ralph Ellison

African- American teacher and writer who won

eminence with his first and only novel, Invisible

Man (1952).

The story tells of a naive and idealistic Southern

black youth who goes to Harlem, joins the fight

against racism and ends up ignored by his fellow

blacks as well as by whites. After his novel

appeared, Ellison published only two collections of

essays, Shadow and Act (1964) and Going to the

Territory (1986). He left a second novel unfinished at

his death. Flying Home and Other Stories was

published posthumously in 1996.

Ntozake Shange

African-American author of plays, poetry, and fiction noted for their feminist

themes and racial and sexual anger.

Her 1975 theatre piece For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When

the Rainbow Is Enuf quickly brought her fame. For Colored Girls is a group of

20 poems for seven actors on the power of black women to survive in the face

of despair and pain. It ran for seven months Off-Broadway in New York City,

then moved to Broadway and was subsequently produced throughout the

United States and on television.

Shange created a number of other theatre works that employed poetry,

dance, and music while abandoning conventions of plot and character

development.

One of the most popular of these was her 1980 adaptation of Bertolt Brecht's

Mother Courage, featuring a black family in the time of the American Civil

War.

Ishmael Reed

Founder of an underground newspaper that

achieved a national reputation. Also organised

The American Festival of Negro Art. His first

novel, The Free-Lance Pallbearers, was

published in 1967. Reed's novels are marked by

surrealism, satire, and political and racial

commentary. They depict human history as a

cycle of battles between oppressed people and

their oppressors. His other works include

Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down (1969)

and Mumbo Jumbo (1972) amongst many

others.

Albert Murray

An African-American essayist and critic whose writings assert the vitality

and the powerful influence of black people in forming American

traditions.

Murray's collection of essays, The Omni-Americans (1970), used

historical fact, literature, and music to attack false perceptions of black

American life. South to a Very Old Place (1971) recorded his visit to

scenes of his segregated boyhood during the 1920s. In Stomping the

Blues

(1976), he maintained that blues and jazz musical styles developed as

affirmative responses to misery. He also co-wrote Count Basie's

autobiography Good Morning Blues (1985) as well as a host of other

novels.

Ernest Gaines

African-American writer whose fiction, as exemplified by The

Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1971), his most acclaimed work,

reflects African-American experience and the oral tradition of his rural

Louisiana childhood.

Gaines's novels are peopled with well-drawn, recognisable characters who

live in rural Louisiana, often in a fictional plantation area named Bayonne

that some critics have compared to William Faulkner's imaginary county.

In addition to The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, a fictional

personal history spanning the period from the Civil War to the Civil

Rights Movement of the 1960s.

Ann Petry

African-American novelist, journalist, and biographer whose works

offered a unique perspective on black life in small-town New England.

She began her career as a journalist, writing for the Amsterdam News

(1938-41) and the Peoples' Voice of Harlem (1941-44), and then studied

creative writing at Columbia University (1944-46).

Her first novel, The Street (1946), became a best-seller and was critically

acclaimed for its portrayal of a working-class black woman, Lutie

Johnson, who dreams of getting out of Harlem but is inevitably thwarted

by the pressures of poverty and racism. It was one of the first novels by an

African-American woman to receive widespread acclaim .

John Hope Franklin

African American historian and educator noted for his

reappraisal of the American Civil War era and the

importance of the black struggle in shaping modern

American identity. He also helped fashion the legal

brief that led to the historic Supreme Court decision

outlawing public school segregation, Brown v. Board of

Education of Topeka .

Franklin first gained international attention with the

publication of From Slavery to Freedom (1947; 7th ed.,

1994). In 1995 U.S. President Bill Clinton honoured

Franklin with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes was a talented poet

and essayist. Amongst his most

celebrated works are ‘The Negro and

the Racial Mountain’ and ‘The Negro

Speaks of Rivers’.

“ We build our temples for tomorrow, as strong as we know how and we stand on the top of the mountain, free within ourselves."

The educators and the inventors

Janie Barrett-Porter

African-American welfare worker and educator who developed a school to rehabilitate previously-incarcerated African-American girls by improving their self-reliance and discipline. She established an informal day-care school which grew rapidly. By 1890 it became formally organised as the Locust Street Settlement,, the nation's first settlement house for African-Americans. In 1902 she and her husband built a separate structure on their property to house the settlement's numerous activities, which included clubs, classes in domestic skills, and recreation; many of these activities were funded by Northern philanthropists.

In 1908 Barrett led in the founding and became president of the Virginia State Federation of Colored Women's Clubs. Through the federation she worked to raise money for a residential industrial school for young African-American girls who had been incarcerated.

Lewis Latimer 1848-1928 Lewis Latimer 1848-1928 Lewis Latimer invented the water closet for railroad cars, an electric lamp with an inexpensive carbon filament and a threaded wooden socket for light bulbs. Lewis Latimer was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts in 1848. He was the son of George and Rebecca Latimer, escaped slaves from Virginia. When Lewis Latimer was a boy his father George was arrested and tried as a slave fugitive. The judge ordered his return to Virginia and slavery, but money was raised by the local community to pay for George Latimer's freedom. George Latimer later went underground fearing his re-enslavement, a great hardship for Lewis' family. Lewis Latimer enlisted in the Union Navy at the age of 15 by forging the age on his birth certificate. Upon the completion of his military service, Lewis Latimer returned to Boston, Massachusetts where he was employed by the patent solicitors Crosby & Gould. While working in the office Lewis began the study of drafting and eventually became their head draftsmen. During his employment with Crosby & Gould, Latimer drafted the patent drawings for Alexander Graham Bell's patent application for the telephone, spending long nights with the inventor. Bell rushed his patent application to the patent office mere hours ahead of the competition and won the patent rights to the telephone with the help of Latimer.

Mary Mcleod Bethune

African-American educator who was active in national black affairs and a special adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt on the problems of minority groups.

George Washington Garver

African-American agricultural chemist, agronomist, and inventor whose development of new products derived from peanuts sweet potatoes, and Soya beans helped revolutionise the agricultural economy of the South. For most of his career he taught and conducted research at the Tuskegee University.

With thanks to the Tuskegee Institute, Alabama - Photograph by P Polk

Charles Richard Drew

American physician and surgeon who was an authority on the preservation of human blood for transfusion.

Drew was educated at Amherst College (graduated 1926), McGill University, Montreal (1933), and Columbia University (1940). While earning his doctorate at Columbia in the late 1930s, he conducted research into the properties and preservation of blood plasma. He soon developed efficient ways to process and store large quantities of blood plasma in "blood banks." As the leading authority in the field, he organised and directed the blood-plasma programs of the United States and Great Britain in the early years of World War II, while also agitating the authorities to stop excluding the blood of blacks from plasma-supply networks.

Drew resigned his official posts in 1942 after the armed forces ruled that the blood of blacks would be accepted but would have to be stored separately from that of whites.

Franklin Frazier Schomburg Centre for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations American sociologist whose work on black social structures provided insights into and solutions to many of the problems affecting the black community. He taught sociology at Morehouse College, Atlanta, where he organised the Atlanta University School of Social Work (for blacks), later becoming its director. With the controversy surrounding the publication (1927) of "The Pathology of Race Prejudice" in Forum. He served as director of the Division of Applied Social Sciences UNESCO (1951-53), where he worked on the Tension and Social Change Project, assessing the interactions between people of different races and cultures and the effect of these interactions on each community. His writings include The Negro Family in the United States (1939), among the first sociological works on black culture written by a black man.

John Hope

African American educator and advocate of advanced liberal-arts instruction for blacks at a time when the opposing views of Booker T. Washington for technical training held sway. Hope became the president of Atlanta University, the first graduate school for blacks, and he was one of the founders of the Niagara Movement , which was a forerunner of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) .

By courtesy of Atlanta University, Georgia; photograph, Blackstone Studios, Inc.

Charles Johnson

Sociologist, authority on race relations, and the first black president (1946-56) of Fisk University, Nashville.

His first important writing, The Negro in Chicago (1922), was a sociological study of the race riot in that city in July 1919. His research technique, called "community self-survey of race relations," facilitated the gathering of sociological data and interpretations from both blacks and whites. After directing research for the National Urban League , New York City, he served as chairman of the social sciences department at Fisk (1928-47). After World War II he helped to plan the reorganisation of the Japanese educational system.

In Growing Up in the Black Belt (1941), Johnson denied the common assertion that U.S. race relations constitute a true caste system; he pointed out that the status of the Negro in American society did not have universal acquiescence or a religious basis. Among his other books are The Negro in American Civilisation (1930), The Negro College Graduate (1936), and Patterns of Negro Segregation (1943).

Fisk University News Bureau

Percy Lavon Julian

African American chemist, synthesist of cortisone, hormones, and other products from Soya beans.

Early in his career Julian attracted attention for synthesizing the drug physostigmine, used to treat glaucoma. He refined a Soya protein that became the basis of Aero-Foam, a foam fire extinguisher used by the U.S. Navy in World War II. He led research that resulted in quantity production of the hormones progesterone (female) and testosterone (male) and of cortisone drugs.

In 1950 Julian, was named "Chicago's Man of the Year" in a Chicago Sun-Times poll, but his home was bombed and burned when he moved to the all-white suburb of Oak Park. He was active as a fund-raiser for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for their project to sue to enforce civil-rights legislation.

UPI/Corbis-Bettmann

Alain Locke

African-American educator, writer, and philosopher.

Graduated in philosophy from Harvard University (1907), Locke was the first black Rhodes scholar, studying at Oxford (1907-10) and the University of Berlin (1910-11). He received his PhD. in philosophy from Harvard (1918).

Locke stimulated and guided artistic activities and promoted the recognition and respect of blacks by the total American community. Having studied African culture and traced its influences upon Western civilisation, he urged black painters, sculptors, and musicians to look to African sources for identity and to discover materials and techniques for their work. He encouraged black authors to seek subjects in black life and to set high artistic standards for themselves.

Locke edited the Bronze Booklet studies of cultural achievements by blacks. For almost two decades he annually reviewed literature by and about blacks in Opportunity and Phylon,

By courtesy of Howard University, Washington, D.C

Thurgood Marshall

The first black member of the U.S. Supreme Court. As an attorney he successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954), in which racial segregation in American public schools was declared unconstitutional.

In September 1961, Marshall was nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit by President John F. Kennedy, but opposition from Southern senators delayed his confirmation for several months. President Lyndon B. Johnson named Marshall U.S. solicitor general in July 1965 and nominated him to the Supreme Court in June 1967.

The Scientists

Edward Bouchet

Bouchet studied graduate physics at Yale, where he was awarded a Ph.D. in 1876. Bouchet was the first African American to earn a doctorate degree from an American university.

Benjamin Banneker

Banneker taught himself astronomy and advanced mathematics.

Working largely alone, with few visitors, he compiled results which he published in his Almanac.

Katherine Johnson

Katherine G. Johnson has worked for NASA with the tracking teams of manned and unmanned orbital missions. Ms. Johnson is an Aerospace Technologist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Langley Research Centre, Hampton, Virginia. Trained as a mathematician and physicist in West Virginia, she has worked on challenging problems of interplanetary trajectories, space navigation, and the orbits of spacecraft.

Ernest Wilkins Jr.

This scientist’s primary achievement has been the development of radiation shielding against gamma radiation, emitted during electron decay of the Sun and other nuclear sources. He developed mathematical models by which the amount of gamma radiation absorbed by a given material can be calculated. This technique of calculating radioactive absorption is widely used among researcher in space and nuclear science projects.

Meredith Gourdine

Responsible for the engineering technique termed Incineraid for aiding in the removal of smoke from buildings. His work on gas dispersion developed techniques for dispersing fog from airport runways

Ruth Ella Moore

Ruth Ella Moore was born in 1903. She received a Ph.D. in Bacteriology from Ohio State University in 1933 becoming the first black female to earn a Ph.D. in Bacteriology.

Reva K. Williams

Dr. Reva Kay Williams is the first person to successfully work out the Penrose Mechanism to extract energy from a black hole. She is the first African-American female Ph.D in Astrophysics.

Earnest Coleman

Dr. Coleman has received recognition for his contributions to the education of students in physics, particularly disadvantaged students, and for his contributions to the field of physics research and its applications to physics education.

Mae Jemison The First Black Woman Astronaut Astronauts aren't born — they go to school and learn about science just like everyone else! Dr. Mae Jemison's curiosity and energy led her to learn about many things. In college, Mae studied the physical and social sciences, and learned to speak Russian and the African language Swahili. She earned a degree in chemical engineering and African studies. After college, she studied medicine for four years, and became a medical doctor. In 1987, Mae was accepted into NASA's astronaut program. When the space shuttle Endeavour launched into orbit in 1992, Mae became the first Black woman to orbit the earth. Mae looked down from the shuttle and saw Chicago. She remembered visiting the library, making science fair projects, and dancing. "I felt like I belonged right there in space," she remembers. "I realized I would feel comfortable anywhere in the universe — because I belonged to and was a part of it, as much as any star, planet, asteroid, comet, or nebula."

Slavery: The Triangular Trade

Many people do not realise that Britain played

a major part in the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade

or The Triangular Trade as it became known.

Some of Britain’s Major Sea Ports such as

Liverpool and Bristol flourished on the

Wealth earned from Slavery. These cities

subsequently have large black populations

today.

The Slave Trade

The slave trade was also known as the

‘ Triangle Trade’ and was made up of three

distinct journeys.

The outward passage

The middle passage

The return passage

The Outward Passage

During the outward journey, merchants

travelling to Africa would often compile a

shopping list and would carry with them large

quantities of trinkets, alcohol, firearms,

cotton goods and copper rods to trade for

slaves. Once traders acquired their slaves they

were often held in holding cells until the

slave ships arrived.

The voyage that carried Africans into slavery across the Atlantic was known as the middle passage.

The Middle Passage

Slaves were housed in the ship's hold like any other cargo. The men were kept in chains while women and children were allowed to go free. Slaves lay on specially built shelves with about 0.5 metres of vertical space, the men still fettered in pairs. As long as they were in the hold slaves had to remain lying flat on their backs. Once the available spaces were filled the captains would set sail.

The Return Passage

A Having loaded the ships with sugar, tobacco and rum paid for from the proceeds of the sale of slaves, the captains would try to set sail for England on the final part of their triangular voyage before the 'Hurricane season' began in mid-July. This was to avoid much higher insurance rates which were demanded for ships leaving at more 'dangerous' times of year. Captains would always wish to be fully loaded, to ensure greater profit. The journey home, following trade winds, could be expected to take between 6-8 weeks.

The Return Passage Sugar barrels being unloaded at Bristol upon the return of the slave ship

Slaves were an important minority of the population in both the Africa's and the Americas (and in certain places on both continents slaves constituted the majority of the population). At least as many slaves were made and kept in the Africa's as were forcibly transported as human cargo westward across the Atlantic. People on the western side of the Atlantic are usually unaware of this fact because they know so little about Africans and their history.

There were far fewer slaves in Europe than in the Africa's or the Americas, but Europeans and their economies were central to creating the demand which sparked enslavement's within Africa, financing the Atlantic slave trade, transporting slaves, and benefiting economically from slave labour both in the Americas and in Africa.

“ Equality and diversity are the roots of a thriving society - if people are valued as individuals they can make a full contribution at work and home.”