Coming of Age : 1976 and the Road to Anti-Racism

Art, Activism, Race and Social Justice - 1900/1976
1954
Movement for Colonial
Freedom
After the end of World War 2,
many felt that they now deserved
independence. This Congress is
widely considered to have been
the most important. Organised by
the influential Trinidadian pan-
Africanist George Padmore and
Ghanaian independence leader
Kwame Nkrumah, it was
attended by 90 delegates, 26 from
Africa. They included many
scholars, intellectuals and
political activists including
American activist and academic
W. E. B. Du Bois, and black
activists from across Britain.
Marion Glean prominent role within
the black community. Glean brought
together Alan Lovell and Michael
Randle, who were pacifists and former
members of the Committee of 100, with
other friends who had written for Peace
News including an Asian woman,
Ranjana Ash (an active member of the
Movement for Colonial Freedom),
C. L. R. James and Barry Reckord.
The initial outcome was that a debating
group called Multi-Racial Britain was
formed; however, when Martin Luther
King, Jr was on his way to Stockholm to
receive the Nobel Peace Prize, Glean
arranged with Bayard Rustin for King
to come to London to address a meeting,
which was chaired by David Pitt.
According to The Guardian′s report at
the time: "Mrs Glean, hastily assembled
about 30 Indians, Pakistanis, West Indians,
and Africans...at the Hilton Hotel in
London, where Dr King spoke for only a
few minutes. The whole discussion lasted
only an hour and a half, but at the end of
it the Campaign Against Racial
Discrimination (CARD) was formed.
1957
Pakistani Welfare Association
Established in 1957 to address the needs of the Pakistani community across
the UK.
1958
Nottingham and Notting Hill riots
On 23rd August 1958 civil unrest erupted in Nottingham as a result of racist attacks in the St. Annes
area. A week later rioting erupted in Notting Hill. It began at around midnight on 30 August and
lasted a week. Crowds of up to 400 white youths chased Caribbeans in North Kensington. Petrol
bombs and milk bottles were thrown at houses. Trouble spread to Paddington, Notting Dale,
Shepherd's Bush and Marylebone. Some 140 people were arrested, largely White, but including some
of the Black victims who had armed themselves in self-defence.
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