Influential-Black-Britons-Book
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YOUR STORY, OUR HISTORY Inspirational stories exploring the lives of black Britons who have impacted UK laws and equal rights. learning.parliament.uk Contents This resource contains Olaudah Equiano stories of influential Having bought his way out of slavery, Olaudah wrote important black Britons who have letters to parliamentarians influencing the new laws that finally impacted UK laws and ended slavery. equal rights. Launched to mark Black History Mary Prince Month 2020, this Her powerful story of slavery helped to change the views resource can be used of Parliament and those of the British people. throughout the academic year to embed stories of Claudia Jones important black Britons Civil rights activist Claudia Jones, started her own newspaper across the curriculum. to share stories of black British people. She is also the founder of the Notting Hill carnival celebrating Caribbean culture. Lord Learie Constantine Famous cricketer, equal rights champion and the first black member of the House of Lords. Bernie Grant MP One of the first black African MPs ever to be voted into the House of Commons in 1987 and life-long fighter for equal rights. Eniola Aluko Decorated British footballer and trained solicitor who bravely shone a light on racism and bullying in football at a select committee. Tell your own story Students can use the templates to create their own portraits and stories of the inspirational people featured, or of their own local or family black history hero. Activities • Who is your black history hero? • Changing laws Created by Machel Bogues and Holly Greenland Illustrated by Onyinye Iwu Published September 2020 Please share your feedback UK Parliament is committed to producing learning resources that are accurate, high-quality and accessible, your feedback is important to make this happen: [email protected] Olaudah Equiano (around 1745 – 1797) Olaudah Equiano was born in a place he called ‘Eboe’ in what is now southern Nigeria. When he was about eleven he and his sister were kidnapped and sold into slavery. Olaudah was sent away from his home and his family and forced to work for others. He was taken to the Caribbean first, and then to America. There he was sold to a Royal Navy officer called Lieutenant Michael Pascal, who gave him a new name ‘Gustavus Vassa’, after a Swedish king. Olaudah travelled the oceans with Pascal for about eight years. In this time he taught himself to read and write. He was sold twice more and continued to travel on ships. Olaudah began to make his own money by secretly buying and selling things. In three years he made enough money to buy his freedom by paying £40 to the slave owner to release him. Olaudah then spent twenty years working and travelling the world as a free man, including taking trips to Turkey and the Arctic. In the 1780s he came to London where he joined a group of people working to end slavery. Olaudah thought that his story could help to change people’s minds about slavery. He wrote a book called ‘The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano’ and travelled around Britain and Ireland to tell people about it. Soon many people had heard of Olaudah Equiano and his important book. He decided he must now speak directly to Parliament about changing the law to end the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Olaudah attended debates in the House of Commons and sent letters to members of Parliament to share his views. One of his letters, to Lord Hawkesbury, was even read out at a parliamentary committee to show that the law must be changed to end slavery for good. It was a long fight, but slowly the actions of people like Olaudah Equiano changed people’s views and new laws were put in place. In 1833 slavery was finally ended in Britain. Today we remember Olaudah Equiano for his important book and his letters especially to parliamentarians. His story helped to change the views of the British people and Parliament on the long journey to ending slavery. Mary Prince (1788 – around 1833) Mary Prince was born into slavery in Bermuda over two hundred years ago. When she was about twelve years old, Mary and two of her sisters were taken from their family and sold to three different families. This meant she was forced to work every day for no money. She had no family to care for her and wasn’t allowed to go to school. She was treated very badly. Her job was to work in salt ponds where she had to collect salt from the water. She worked in the burning sun and it left her with painful blisters. Mary was sold three more times and moved around the Caribbean, before ending up in Antigua working for the Woods family. In Antigua, Mary got married before being forced by the Woods to travel to London and leave her family behind her yet again. When Mary arrived in London she escaped from Mr and Mrs Woods and took shelter with a group called the Anti-Slavery Society. They wanted to end slavery around the world. Mary wanted to return to her husband in Antigua but she was scared. She knew that if she returned she risked being forced to be a slave again. She decided that she must tell her story and let people know what it was like to be enslaved and why slavery must be stopped. In 1829 she became the first black woman to petition Parliament about abolition. At this time it was the British who ruled in Antigua and other countries where slavery continued. If slavery was to be ended, Parliament in Britain must change their laws. Her powerful book ‘The History of Mary Prince’ was published in 1831. It was read by many people and was used by Parliament to help change the law. It was not a quick or easy change, but in 1833 Parliament passed a new law that ended slavery and finally gave many people their freedom. We don’t know what happened later in Mary’s life, but we remember her today for the important role she played in ending slavery by telling her story even when people didn’t want to hear it. Claudia Jones (1915 – 1964) Claudia Jones was born in Trinidad in 1915 and spent much of her early life in America where she was a journalist. She wrote about the unfair treatment of black women that she saw and experienced. Claudia was also a member of a political party that the government in America did not agree with. Because of this, in 1955 she was sent away to England. Claudia settled in London, where there was a community of black British people who had travelled to England from the Caribbean. This community were not welcomed by everyone, and Claudia was shocked to discover that even a finding a place to live was hard if you were black. There were no laws in place to protect people from being turned away based just on the colour of their skin or where they came from. Claudia wanted to tell people how unfair this was, but she felt that black people didn’t have a way to get their voices heard. So in 1958 Claudia started her own newspaper, called the West Indian Gazette, which challenged racism. Claudia continued to work with other groups to campaign for equal rights for black Britons and protested against racist laws. She wanted everyone to have the same rights to good housing, education and jobs. Claudia’s work was very important in changing the laws in the UK and paved the way for much stronger equal rights laws in the future. But this wasn’t all that Claudia did. After a period of fighting in the UK, where some black people were even attacked, Claudia wanted to find a way for black Britons to come together to celebrate and support each other. So, she decided to bring a big Caribbean carnival to London! The carnival was a grand event held in St Pancras Town Hall filled with music and dancing. It was even shown on television by the BBC. This event became the Notting Hill Carnival as it’s known today. It is one of the biggest and most spectacular carnivals in the world. As well as campaigning to improve UK laws and fight for equal rights, Claudia will be remembered for helping to introduce Caribbean culture to British life. Learie Constantine (1901 – 1971) Learie Constantine was born in Trinidad in 1901. Just like his dad, he was brilliant at cricket. He won big games and important awards in Trinidad and on his trips to England. But Learie found that he wasn’t always treated fairly. On one occasion, after playing in a big charity cricket match in London, Learie and his family were turned away from a hotel. They were refused the room based only on the colour of their skin. He knew this was unfair and that he must do something about it. He took the hotel to court to prove that they had treated him and his family unfairly. And he won! But he didn’t stop there. Learie continued to speak out when he saw inequality. He was able to use his voice in his new role as the High Commissioner for Trinidad and Tobago. This included supporting a bus boycott in Bristol. Here, a bus company had refused to allow black people to work on buses. Learie backed a local group who asked people in Bristol not to use the buses until the company changed its rules.