Black Power and resistance 1965-2020

• Black and Asian activists confronted racism in different ways: by protesting, using the legal system, strengthening their communities, and celebrating their history and culture
• The murder of the Black teenager Stephen Lawrence and the struggle for justice in this case was a key turning point in how racism is understood and legally defined.
• The aims and ideas of the Black Power movement have continued into the Black Lives Matter movement.

Racial discrimination was made illegal through the Race Relations Acts of 1965 and 1968. However, these laws did not bring racist practices, racial violence and hostility to an end. The growth in immigration and the presence of Black and Asian people in Britain continued to be talked about as if it were a problem.

In 1968, a Conservative Party MP, Enoch Powell, gave a speech that came to be known as the ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech. In it he claimed that too many Black and Asian people had settled in Britain and that they could never fully be integrated into British society. He argued that their presence would lead to racial violence. The speech used very inflammatory, offensive racist language.

Many political figures were outraged by Powell’s speech. The next day Powell was dismissed from the shadow cabinet. However, Powell also gained a huge following and support for his ideas. His speech led to an increase in racial violence, hostility, and abuse.

By the late 1960s a Black Power movement developed in Britain - as it had in the United States. In this movement, activists focused on strengthening their communities by helping them develop awareness and pride in their Black identity. They also thought people should be able to defend themselves, if attacked violently. Black Power organisations were radical in their anti-racism and organised to demand equality and justice.

The most influential Black power activist organisation was the British Black Panthers - they were led by Althea Jones-Lecointe after 1968. She came to Britain from Trinidad to study at University College London. She spoke out boldly against racism around the world and racial injustice suffered by the Black community in Britain.

The Black Panthers believed the authorities that were supposed to protect and support people, were often the ones who discriminated against them. The Black Panthers worked against racism in the following ways:

• Led campaigns and marches against police brutality
• Exposed racism and discrimination in employment, education, and housing.
• Produced newsletters and a newspaper

Race Today was a publication which was printed from 1969 - 1988. In 1972 it became less neutral and more radical. It was edited by Darcus Howe from 1973 and included work by Farrukh Dhondy, Mala Senand and Jean Ambrose, these activist-writers became known as the Race Today Collective. These journalists used the publication as a tool to campaign against racism and showcase Black art, culture, and history. Race Today was also committed to solidarity with all people who were fighting against exploitation, colonialism and racism.

The Black Power movement saw Black and Asian communities work together in solidarity to fight against racism in Britain.

The Mangrove restaurant in Notting Hill opened in 1968 and became a hub for the Black community.

• It was a meeting place for activists, artists and intellectuals who contributed to its vibrancy.
• It was targeted by a group of police officers who raided the restaurant 12 times between 1969 and 1970.
• None of the raids led to any evidence of criminal or illegal activity being found.

Frank Critchlow, the restaurant's owner, wrote to the Race Relations Board in protest against the unlawful discrimination he faced from the police and authorities as a Black British citizen. The Mangrove restaurant customers and community were fed up with the being harassed and discriminated against. They set up the Action Committee for the Defence of Mangrove.

On 9 August, 1970, 150 people marched to the local police station in protest. Home Office documents reported that the police deliberately used heavy-handed tactics against the protesters to target and undermine the Black Power movement.

The police arrested several people including Frank Critchlow, Darcus Howe, and Althea Jones-LeCointe. Even though a magistrate judge had already ruled that they were not guilty, nine activists were put on trial at the Old Bailey. Howe and Jones-Lecointe successfully defended themselves by showing that their treatment was a continuation of a long history of colonialism and racism. The Mangrove Nine were found not guilty of the charge of inciting a riot. In the judge’s closing statement, he stated that there was evidence that the police involved in the case held racist beliefs.

On 18 January 1981, a suspected racistarsonattack took place in London. Thirteen young Black people were killed and over 50 were injured in a fire in a house in New Cross, southeast London. People had gathered at the house to celebrate the 16th birthday of Yvonne Ruddock and the 18th birthday of Angela Jackson. Yvonne was killed in the fire.

Several racially motivated attacks had recently happened in the local area - where the National Front was also known to operate. There were no arrests made and the police said it was not a racist attack. There was also a lack of sympathy shown by the government and authorities to this tragedy.

In response to the fire and the events which followed the New Cross Massacre Action Committee was set up. They organised a national demonstration on 2 March that was called The Black People’s Day of Action. “13 dead, and nothing said” became one of the rallying cries of the protesters. Around 20,000 people marched, and it was the largest mass movement for racial justice in Britain at the time.

Racial tension continued to grow between the police and Black community because of how the police handled investigations into racial violence. Many people in the Black community felt the police did little to protect them or arrest those who committed crimes against the Black community.

Stephen Lawrence was 18 years old when he was murdered in an unprovoked, racially motivated attack at a bus stop in Eltham, southeast London, in April 1993. He was studying for his A-levels and wished to be an architect.

On 4 May 1993, the Lawrence family held a press conference to explain that not enough was being done to catch Stephen’s killers. On 6 May, they also met with Nelson Mandela, who also spoke out about the injustice of Stephen’s murder. Other Black and Asian young men and teenagers had also been killed in racially motivated attacks in South East London and surrounding areas in the years before Stephen’s murder.

The names of five suspects of Stephen’s murder were given to the Metropolitan Police repeatedly. But it was not until two weeks later that the suspects were arrested. Only two of the suspects were charged with murder. However, the charges were dropped by the government’s prosecuting service (CPS) who said there was insufficient evidence to take the pair to court.

After the CPS dropped the murder charges and the police made no more arrests by 1996, Stephen’s parents decided to take out a private prosecution case against three of the suspects. The outcome of this case was that the suspects were found not guilty.

There was growing pressure on the police and government to ensure justice was served in this case. In 1998, a public inquiry into Stephen’s death produced the MacPherson report. The report stated that Stephen’s murder was racially motivated, and that the police’s handling of the case was also driven by incompetence, institutional racism and leadership failures.

One of the Macpherson report’s recommendations led to the introduction of a new law to make legal protections against racism stronger. The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 extended the 1976 Race Relations Act. Under the new law, a duty was placed on public sector organisations like schools, hospitals and the police to advance equality in their organisations.

In 2012, nineteen years after Stephen's murder, the double jeopardy rule was changed and new forensic analysis of evidence was used in a case against two of the suspects Gary Dobson and David Norris - who had previously been found not guilty. They were then found guilty and given a life sentence.

Stephen’s parents were relentless in the pursuit of justice. Stephen’s mother Doreen Lawrence continued to campaign for victims of racist crime. In recognition of her dedication to this work, she was made a Baroness in 2013.

Policing has often been at the centre of campaigns for racial justice in the UK. Activists have campaigned against the disproportionate amount of times Black people are stopped and searched, are imprisoned, or die in police custody.

The Black Lives Matter movement is a global movement that began in 2013. In the United States of America, George Floyd, a black man, was killed by a white police officer on 25 May 2020. His death sparked protests in many countries across the world, including the UK. Many protesters marched as part of the Black Lives Matter movement - which campaigns for freedom, justice and equality. In May and June 2020, thousands of people across the UK took part in anti-racism protests.