Celebrating Black Excellence

Charles Ignatius Sancho

c.1729 – 14th December 1780

British abolitionist, writer, business owner and composer.

He was the first known/recorded person of African descent to vote in a British general election. Born on a slave ship in the Atlantic, Sancho died in London on 14th December 1780.

Click here to read and learn more!

Dr Leroy Logan MBE

Born in 1957 in London - current

Dr Leroy is a former superintendent in the Metropolitan police. He retired in 2013 after 30 years' service. He is also a former chair and founding member of the Black Police Association. Leroy is one of UK’s most highly decorated and well known black police officers. A highly respected and well-regarded commentator on policing in black communities, he believes that there is still much work to do in creating a more equitable and fair criminal justice system.

Click here to watch and learn more!

First Pan African Congress

23rd - 25th July 1900

The First Pan-African Conference was held in London (just prior to the Paris Exhibition of 1900) to allow tourists of African descent to attend both events. Organised primarily by the Trinidadian barrister, Henry Sylvester Williams, the conference took place in Westminster Town Hall and was attended by 37 delegates and about 10 other participants and observers from Africa.

Click here to watch and learn more!

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

15th August 1875 – 1st September 1912

British Classical composer, musician and conductor.

Coleridge-Taylor spent most of his life in Croydon, Surrey. He had 3 tours in the USA, and his greatest success was undoubtedly his cantata Hiawatha's Wedding Feast, which was widely performed by choral groups in England during Coleridge-Taylor's lifetime and in the decades after his death. Coleridge-Taylor was 37 when he died of pneumonia. 

Click here to watch and learn more!

John Richard Archer

8th June 1863 – 14th July 1932

British politician and political activist.

In 1913 he was elected elected Mayor of Battersea, becoming the first black mayor of a borough in London. He was a notable Pan-Africanist and the founding president of the African Progress Union.

Click here to watch and learn more!

Bernie Grant

17 February 1944 – 8 April 2000

British politician and political activist.

Elected to Parliament in 1987, as one of the first black MP's in modern times. He famously attended his first State Opening of Parliament in African dress. In Parliament he founded the Parliamentary Black Caucus, and took a leading role in establishing contacts with black people and politicians throughout the world. He travelled widely, especially to Africa and the Caribbean.

Click here to read and learn more!

Professor Cecil Gutzmore

Born in 1944 in Jamaica – Current

Community activist, historian and former university lecturer.

Elder Cecil has been an ardent campaigner for Black Civil Rights in the UK, and having delivered powerful lectures and published articles in this regard, he is well respected and he is well known for his contribution in Hidden Empire: Catch a Fire (1996), Black Power: A British Story of Resistance (2021), and Uprising (2021).

Click here to watch and learn more!

Betty Campbell MBE

6th November 1934 – 13th October 2017

Betty was a Welsh community activist, who was Wales' first Black head teacher.

Under Campbell's leadership, Mount Stuart School raised its profile across the United Kingdom, and became a template for multicultural education. She became a member of the Home Office's race advisory committee and a member of the Commission for Racial Equality. In 1998, as a member of the Commission for Racial Equality, she was invited to meet Nelson Mandela on his only visit to Wales.

Click here to read and learn more!

Dianne Abbot MP

September 1953 – current

British politician and political activist.

Diane is a British Labour Party politician who was a member of the Shadow Cabinet. She was first elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hackney North and Stoke Newington at the 1987 general election, when she became the first black woman to have a seat in the House of Commons, and  she remains the longest-serving Black MP in the House of Commons.

Click here to watch and learn more!

Linda Bellos OBE

December 1950 – current

British businesswoman and political activist.

Linda was elected to Lambeth Borough Council in London in 1985 and was the leader of the council from 1986 to 1988. In the African Jubilee Year 1987-88, following her political career, Linda became the co-founder of Black History Month UK.

Click here to watch and learn more!

Claudia Jones

21st February 1915 – 24th December 1964

Journalist and political activist.

Trinidadian social and political activist and journalist Claudia Jones fought for equality for blacks and the poor in both the United States and England. She also helped organise the first West Indian Carnival in London, England. The festivities subsequently grew into the Notting Hill Carnival, a summer street festival in London featuring Caribbean food, dance, and costumes.

Click here to read and learn more!