10 Black British Activists You Should Know
John Ridley’s Guerrilla, a miniseries set during 70’s London that centres a couple who set up an underground activist group has created some controversy when it was released this year. There were many that felt that he had erased the stories of black female activists and criticised Freida Pinto’s casting in the lead role instead of a black woman. I watched the series and thought Pinto was pretty good; her character was intended to represent Asian women like Mala Sen who were active in Black Power Movements at that time but I also found it problematic that two black women with the strongest presence in the show were both portrayed so negatively.
Zawe Ashton’s character is a leader in the black community who sides with the moderates but divided members into good and bad to seek white validation. Wunmi Mosakua plays a sex worker who is a police informant through her affair with a white Chief Inspector. Many won’t be familiar with the black female activists during the 70’s and 80’s in places like Brixton and Hackney because there is hardly any information about them; my knowledge was certainly limited to the most prominent members of the British Black Panthers like Olive Morris. Black women were at the forefront of these uprisings and deserved a platform in Ridley’s show that was representative of that.
Here’s my list of Black British Female Activists from history through to the present day.
*Note this article was originally published in August 2017 to included Nimco Ali who has now been removed due to her feminism and activism lacking empathy and intersectionality over recent years.
MARTHA OSAMOR
Martha is a founding member of United Black Women’s Action Group and a member of the Black Sections in the Labour party. She continues to be active in her local community, most notably with her fight against the treatment Mark Duggan and his family received.
MIA MORRIS
Mia is one of the founding members of the Organisation of Women of Asian and African Descent, these days she is a consultant in community based work regarding black history.
MELBA WILSON OBE
Melba was a grassroots activist in the ‘Brixton Black Women’s Group’. She now focuses on race equality within mental health.
LINDA BELLOS OBE
Linda was active during uprisings of the 80’s and 90’s. She had a career in mainstream politics and is a gay rights activist who advocates for equality and diversity.
DR JAN MCKENLEY
Jan was a founding member of the Hackney Black Women’s Consciousness Raising Group. Working within social care and education, she is currently Director of Public Service @ Heart.
FEMI OTITOJU
Femi is the founder of Challenge Consultancy an organisation committed to Equality and Diversity and to helping organisations implement them into the work place.
JACQUELINE DYER MBE
Jacqueline Dyer is one of the founding members of Black Thrive, an organisation that promotes the wellbeing of black communities through a multiple approaches to deliver changes in the system. She is also a Trustee of Stonewall
LADY PHYLL OPOKU-GYIMAH
Lady Phyll is the Executive Director of UK Black Pride which she co-founded in 2005, the organisation is dedicated to celebrating and advocating for black LGBTQ+ culture in the UK by fostering “unity and co-operation among all Black people of African, Asian, Caribbean, Middle Eastern and Latin American descent, as well as their friends and families, who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender.” She also an Executive Director at Kaleidoscope Trust, an activist, trade unionist, columnist and more!
CHARDINE TAYLOR STONE
Chardine is the founder of Black Girls Picnic which advocates self care for black women and girls. She is also set up the Stop Rainbow Racism campaign which works to stop racist performances in LGBTQ+ venues.
MARAI LARASI
Marai is the Director of Imkaan, a UK based black feminist organisation that is dedicated to addressing violence against women and girls.
Thanks to Black Twitter, Facebook, the British Library and the Fighters Archive for kick starting my research. Check out Gal Dem which is an excellent resource to find out about the women in the Black British Panthers.
