February the first marks the start of Black History Month in several countries including the USA, Canada, and Germany. Across the Black diaspora, February is recognised as Black History Month in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Germany. Black History Month originated from the United States, created by historian Carter G. Woodson to celebrate and highlight the contributions of Black Americans in U.S. history while combating anti-Black racism in the US. It began as Black History Week in February 1926 and was later expanded by Black educators at Kent State University to a month long event in 1970. Since 1976, every US president has designated February as Black History Month. In the United States, Woodson's organisation, now known as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) , designates a theme each year. This year's theme is 'African Americans and Labour,' which explores the profound ways in which all types of work - free and unfree, skilled, and unskilled, vocational and voluntary – intersect with the experiences, history, and culture of Black people. The Black History Month initiative has been adopted by other countries, including Canada , the United Kingdom, and Germany, as a means of tackling anti-Black racism and educating their populations about the significant contributions of Black people to each country's history and culture. , In Canada, their theme for Black History Month 2025 is 'Black Legacy and Leadership: Celebrating Canadian History and Uplifting Future Generations.' This theme acknowledges the diversity of Black Canadians, the importance of Black leadership and the legacy being built for future generations. Throughout February, join us in learning about the Black Americans who have contributed to the lives and culture of the United Kingdom. For example, Ira Alridge , Britain’s first Black Shakespearean actor, jazz singer Adelaide Hall , a household name in 1930s and 1940s Britain who supported the British war effort, and Amanda Aldridge , a British opera singer and prolific composer of romantic 'parlour music.' Or explore our features on James Baldwin , Mama Cox , and find out about the 2WW Black American army troops in our articles: The Six Triple Eight movie celebrates the forgotten African American female army unit and African American GIs in the UK during 2WW - crossing the colour bar. You can also check out our media recommendations for the month. Remember, you can explore Black British History beyond just one month. We're committed to helping guide you on your journey of learning about UK Black History throughout the entire year. Check out our social media accounts or subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter for regular updates!

The first of February marks the start of Pride month in the UK. Throughout the month of February, join us in learning about the Black Britons who have led the way in LGBT+ history in the UK and explore stories behind some of these Black Britons. Remember, you can explore Black British History beyond a designated month and we’re committed to helping guide you through your journey learning about UK Black History all throughout the year. Start your journey today by learning about Black British LGBT+ trailblazers: Ivor Cummings, Pearl Alcock, Justin Fashanu, and Olive Morris. Check out our social media accounts or subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter for regular updates!

Una Marson was one of Jamacia's most influential feminist thinkers. She was a poet, playwright, editor, activist and broadcaster. On the 10th October 2021, Google Doodle , illustrated by UK-based guest artist Sarah Madden , celebrates one of Jamaica’s most influential feminist thinkers—the writer, advocate, and broadcaster Una Marson . Marson was the first Black woman to be employed as a radio producer at the BBC, where she recorded several significant interviews including one with swing band icon Ken “Snakehips” Johnson, which took place on this day in 1940. Una Marson was born on February 6, 1905, in Santa Cruz, Jamaica. Marson became Jamaica’s first woman magazine publisher and editor in 1928 when she established “The Cosmopolitan”—a publication focused on gender issues and social injustice. The inspiration she drew from London’s political and literary climate led her to move to the city in 1933. Shocked by the racism she encountered, she started fighting for equal rights alongside fellow Caribbean immigrant Dr. Harold Moody , the founder of civil rights group The League of Coloured Peoples. Marson returned home in 1936 to cultivate a new generation of Jamaican writers. While writing her own poetry and plays—which she often self-financed—she founded Jamaica’s Save the Children Fund. After relocating again to England in 1938, she took a position at the BBC, where she worked with George Orwell, read her poetry alongside T.S. Eliot, and produced the popular weekly program “Calling the West Indies.” First broadcast in 1943, it featured poems and short stories by Caribbean authors, giving an international platform and voice to writers such as Samuel Selvon . It also publicized both a woman's perspective to the largely male-dominated Black Internationalist Movement and a culturally relevant voice to Britain's growing Caribbean community. Marson’s literary contributions are not widely known, and even less is known of her later life. However, it was her writing and poetry that influenced the broadcasting she is best known for, and has broadened her legacy for future generations to discover. In 2009, her achievements were celebrated with an installation of a Blue Plaque—which honors individuals who have had great impacts on their community and beyond—at her former home in London’s Brunswick Park. Here’s to a cultural groundbreaker—thank you Una Marson!

Close to three million American servicemen and women passed through Britain during the Second World War. Their arrival was heralded as a ‘friendly invasion’ when the first American GIs landed on Britain’s shores in 1942 bringing with them candy, Coca-Cola, cigarettes, nylons, and racial segregation. In his essays George Orwell alluded to the oft-quoted assertion that American GIs were “oversexed, overpaid and over here”. But he qualified this with the observation that: “the general consensus of opinion is that the only American soldiers with decent manners are Negroes.” Around 240,000 of the US troops who came to Britain were African Americans. Unlike their fellow American comrades, who took on the full suite of responsibilities offered by the military from commanders to combat troops to cooks, Black GIs were largely consigned to service and supply roles. Black construction engineers, for example, were among some of the first US Army Air Force units to arrive in Britain in 1942. They were tasked with building the airfields from which vast fleets of American bombers and fighters would be launched as part of the Allied aerial campaign. The work was characterised by long hours of physical labour, and uncomfortable accommodation, made all the worse by the British weather, but it’s importance in facilitating the American war effort cannot be overstated. They built airbases, including Lakenheath and Mildenhall. Most were in labour companies, engineers, stevedores and transport units. Many were based in the Bristol area because of the docks there. They had their barracks in Bedminster, Brislington, Henleaze, Shirehampton and the Muller Orphanage at Ashley Down. Before the first American troops arrived in 1942, the Black population of Britain – around 8,000 to 10,000 people – was largely congregated in urban port areas. American troops, on the other hand, would be stationed all over the UK. They were posted in rural towns and villages from the Yorkshire Moors to the Forest of Dean to the Somerset Levels; in the southwest they were preparing for the D-day landings. Churchill’s Tory government were apprehensive about how British society might react to a segregated foreign force arriving on their shores and asked the US government to not send Black GIs but they declined. Realising that the arrival of strictly segregated American battalions would introduce formal apartheid to British soil, the government found itself in a bind. Not wanting to alienate its desperately needed new ally, but also not wanting to undermine its propaganda efforts in the empire, the war cabinet fudged the issue. The British authorities would not organise segregated facilities nor enforce segregation in non-US Army facilities. In response the US Army administration encouraged separate days during the week for black and white troops to have leave passes. The US military actively developed a policy that involved the segregation of many facilities in Britain. For example, two separate Red Cross centres existed in Bristol: St George Street for black GIs; and Berkeley Square for whites. This uneasy pragmatic accommodation of segregation was reflected in other areas of society. On a local level, business-owners were often concerned that if they didn’t respect the segregationist rules of the US armed forces, they would lose American custom altogether. Since the arrival of the American troops had resulted in an uplift in the UK war torn economy. As the first African American journalist to cover the war overseas, Roi Ottley wrote in 1942: ‘When the manager of a restaurant was questioned recently about refusing service to a Negro soldier, he had a ready answer. “White Americans say they will not patronize my place if Negroes were served.” In 1943, African American servicemen were banned from a bar in Bath in an attempt to appease white American soldiers. While in August of the same year, the Trinidadian professional cricketer, Learie Constantine and his family’s hotel reservation was cut short because of complaints from white American miliary serviceman. Learie, famously sued the hotel and was awarded damages. In contrast, attitudes of the British public toward African American troops were initially favourable despite the existence of an unofficial colour bar operating in Britain. Reports from the Home Intelligence Unit (set up in November 1939 to monitor British morale) frequently mentioned people’s appreciation of "the extremely pleasing manners of the coloured troops". They were seen as less boastful and bumptious than their white counterparts. Although they certainly encountered prejudice, Britain did not have mandated racial Jim Crow laws of the United States, and the African American soldiers were generally welcomed as allies in the fight against fascism. Roi Ottley, writing in the Chicago magazine Negro Digest in 1942, said that “amicable and smooth relations” had soon developed between “the Negro troops and their British hosts”. The British, he said, were “inclined to accept a man for his personal worth”. He quotes a soldier saying: “I’m treated so a man don’t know he’s coloured until he looks in the mirror.” Qualifying it with “The fact is, the British do draw racial distinctions, but not within the doors of the British Isles – at least not until the arrival of the white American soldiers. This is not to say the British are without racial prejudice. They do have it in a subtle form. But, in the main, it is confined to colonial and military officials who have spent their lives administering affairs in the coloured colonies and derive their incomes from them.” The African American servicemen were welcomed into the leisure time of their British hosts in ways that spread solidarity. A former GI, Cleother Hathcock, remembers: “At that time the Jitterbug was in and the blacks would get a buggin’ and the English just loved that. We would go into a dance hall and just take over the place because everybody wanted to learn how to do that American dance, the Jitterbug. They went wild over that." Because the freedoms enjoyed by African Americans conflicted with the de facto segregation of US forces, and the attitudes of the white majority, particularly Southerners. The fact that white women mixed with and dated black men – taboo in the US – infuriated some servicemen. Captain Vernon Gayle Alexander, a pilot from Kentucky, complained: “The blacks were dating the white girls and consequently if you went on a date [with] a white girl you don’t know if she’d been out with a coloured boy the night before or whether she hadn’t.” In some cases, US military police (MPs) tried to enforce segregation, by restricting entry to local pubs, or designating social nights as white or “coloured”. Irking some British locals. In Cambridge, when US troops tried to impose a colour bar, the landlords responded with signs that read: “Black Troops Only”. There were frequent clashes between black and white GIs. Usually between MPs trying to enforce discriminatory rules and African American soldiers – with the latter supported by British bystanders. According to Professor Alan Rice of the University of Central Lancashire, there were 44 such clashes between November 1943 and February 1944 alone. The most well-known being the Park Street Riot in Bristol , a racial incident in September 1943 in Launceston in Cornwall and the Battle of Bamber Bridge in Lancashire . The latter was incorporated into the plot of the recent The Railway Children Returns sequel. Fist fights almost always broke out when black and white GIs were drinking in the same pub. There were some shootings, most by whites against blacks. (Major General Ira Eaker, commander of the Eighth Air Force, declared that white troops were responsible for 90 per cent of the trouble), and a few killings — all covered up by the army. A US survey of soldiers' mail during the war revealed that white troops were particularly indignant about the public association of white women with black soldiers, which was unremarkable in Britain. However, when British women started having relationships with African American GIs, the Home Intelligence Report in August 1942 noted: "adverse comment is reported over girls who 'walk out' with coloured troops". If women in relationships with African American Black GIs went on to have children, they frequently faced a barrage of criticism. By October 1943 the Home Intelligence Unit was mentioning people’s rising concern about "the growing number of illegitimate babies, many of coloured men." It is estimated that approximately 2,000 ‘brown babies’ were born in Britain during the war and nearly all of them were illegitimate. Every American serviceman had to receive permission to marry from his commanding officer (who in the UK were nearly all white) with avoidance a court-martialled offence. But for an African American GI wanting to marry a white British woman, permission was invariably refused. According to former GI Ormus Davenport, writing after the war, the US Army "unofficially had a 'gentleman's agreement' which became in practice official policy. The agreement said 'No negro soldier or sailor will be given permission to marry any British white girl!'... Not one GI bride going back to the US under the US government scheme is the wife of a Negro". If pushed, the commanding officers would mention that in the US, 30 of the (then) 48 States had anti-miscegenation laws, forbidding marriage between white and Black people. The experience of African American soldiers in Britain during the Second World War, perfectly encapsulates the UK’s complex relationship to race. As writer Afua Hirsch wrote in the Guardian newspaper: “That this racism was allowed to play itself out on British soil is a stain on the record of Britain’s government, with its cowardly failure to protect not just British law, but also the many Black British and colonial subjects who found themselves caught up in the hostile attitudes of white Americans.” Whilst the vast majority of the UK public warmly welcomed the African American soldiers as fellow fighters against fascism. In fact, in 2010 researchers found that the presence of African American soldiers in the UK and subsequent encounters with the local population had been shown to have reduced racial prejudice against Black people, even decades later in those rural areas. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_Street_riot#:~:text=During%20World%20War%20II%2C%20African,because%20of%20the%20docks%20there https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/aug/05/an-american-uprising-in-second-world-war-england-by-kate-werran-review https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/they-treated-us-royally-the-experiences-of-black-americans-in-britain-during-the-second-world-war https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_v_Imperial_Hotels_Ltd https://theconversation.com/black-troops-were-welcome-in-britain-but-jim-crow-wasnt-the-race-riot-of-one-night-in-june-1943-98120 https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/history/957502/the-battle-of-bamber-bridge https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/stories/brown-babies-of-second-world-war David Schindler, Mark Westcott, Shocking Racial Attitudes: Black G.I.s in Europe, The Review of Economic Studies, Volume 88, Issue 1, January 2021, Pages 489–520, https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdaa039

Black History Month UK 2023 'Before Windrush' - exploring the lives and stories of B lack Britons who were living in the UK before the arrival of Empire Windrush in 1948. From Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent to Princess Alice of Greece, princess nurses have gifted their talents to hospitals and medicine, particularly during wartime. However, missing from this history of royal altruism are the African princesses – notably Princess Omo-Oba Adenrele Ademola. (1) Princess Adenrele Ademola or Omo-Oba Adenrele Ademola was born in Nigeria on 2 January 1916. She was the daughter of Ladapo Ademola, the Alake of Abeokuta. She arrived in Britain on 29 June 1935, and initially stayed at the West African Students’ Union's hostel in Camden Town. This space acted as a haven for Ademola, as it did for many other African students and visitors during the early 20th century. It is here that she attended social events and committees, and the Africa Hostel is noted as her residence address until she returned to Lagos temporarily in 1936. (1) During her early career in Britain, Ademola balanced her role as a princess with the demands of her vocation as a nurse. As a princess, she returned to England in 1937 with her father and brother, Prince Ademola III (the future Chief Justice for the Federation of Nigeria) for the coronation of King George, staying at the Grosvenor Hotel, London. (1) While it’s unclear whether Princess Ademola attended the coronation of George VI on 12 May 1937, she attended many royal social events from May to July 1937, including royal garden parties at Buckingham Palace and a royal gathering hosted by her father at the Mayfair Hotel, in May 1937. She also conducted royal visits to the Mayor and Mayoress of London at Mansion House and notably the Carreras cigarette factory in June 1937. It is likely that she continued to attend royal appointments until her father’s departure to Paris in early July 1937. (1) She attended a school in Somerset for two years, and by January 1938 had started training as a nurse at Guy's Hospital. A photograph of Ademola appeared in a 1942 pamphlet about the BBC's international activity. The film ‘Nurse Ademola’ centralised her role as a nurse but is now lost. Made in 1943 or 1944–5, it was a 16mm silent newsreel film in a series for the Colonial Film Unit called The British Empire at War. (2) The Colonial Film Unit was established in 1939 as part of the Ministry of Information to tell “the story of the War with the right propaganda.” During WW2 Britain pumped propaganda into Africa on an unprecedented scale as information offices were established in the colonies and propaganda activities directed and co-ordinated by the Ministry of Information in London. (1) War information and propaganda were communicated via radio broadcasts, touring cinema and loudspeaker vans, the press and through public meetings. The propaganda messages were aimed at keeping Africans war conscious, combatting apathy and ensuring their identification with the allied cause. The Film Unit produced 200 propaganda films on the African continent and closed down in 1955. (1) ‘Nurse Ademola’ played an important part in this as a uniquely feminine perspective. It ‘depicted an African nurse at various phases of training at one of the great London hospitals’, it was said to have inspired many African viewers at its screenings across West Africa. (1) When she arrived with her father in 1937, Princess Ademola was recorded as a ‘midwife’, which epitomises her presence in the historical records after this. In 1939 she was listed as a part of the nursing staff at St Saviour’s ward at Guy’s Hospital, and by 27 June 1941 she was a registered nurse at Guy’s hospital, having passed her nursing examinations after six years of training. (1) From 1941, she moves between hospitals and is recorded at Queen Charlotte’s Maternity Hospital in London before being listed at New End Hospital in Hampstead in December 1942, having passed her Central Midwives Board exam. (1) Ademola's patients apparently called her "fairy" as a term of endearment. "Everyone was very kind to me", she told journalists at the time. At this stage, her last definitive sighting in the archives was in September 1948, before her father’s departure from Nigeria and abdication of the throne. She returned from Lagos with a man believed to be her husband, Timothy Adeola Odutola, a 46-year-old trader. Here she again lists herself as a nurse, residing in Limpsfield, Surrey before moving, accompanied by her husband, to Balmoral Hostel in Queensgate Gardens, South Kensington in 1949. Little is known about her activity after the 1940s, with the last record of her being in 1949, when she was working as a nurse in South Kensington. Despite her royal status, the historical records about Princess Ademola are not detailed or complete. Research on her has been hampered by the haphazard recordings of her personal details such as name and birth dates. For example, The National Archives found five variations of her name whilst researching her. Such challenges are rife when examining Black populations and represent a larger issue: the failure to consider Black people/Black histories a priority. Contemporarily, the lives of Black people were considered ‘second-class’ and therefore detail and accuracy in records were deemed unnecessary. (1) But historians of Black history and community groups such as ourselves and the Young Historians Project, are beginning crucial initiatives to recognise and promote the histories of Black people in the British archives. The National Archives says: African nurses such as Princess Ademola, through their migration, settlement and contribution to British society, hold equal claim to the attentions of historical archives as any Florence Nightingale or Edith Cavell. They must also be recognised for their struggles against social and racial adversity. It is our responsibility to bring forth histories like Princess Ademola’s and transition the narrative of Black women in Britain from the abstract to the celebrated. Sources: https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/african-princess-in-guys-the-story-of-princess-adenrele-ademola/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omo-Oba_Adenrele_Ademola https://www.younghistoriansproject.org/early-women/princess-adenrele-ademola https://www.nursingtimes.net/news/global-nursing/london-trust-shines-a-light-on-inspirational-nigerian-princess-nurse-09-11-2022/ https://www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/news/unsung-nigerian-princess-nurse-inspires-todays-nurses The British Colonial Film Unit and sub-Saharan Africa, 1939–1945 by Rosaleen Smyth (1)

Black History Month UK 2023 'Before Windrush' - exploring the lives and stories of B lack Britons who were living in the UK before the arrival of Empire Windrush in 1948. Princess Tsehai Selassie, was the youngest child of Menen Asfaw and Ras Tafari, who would later be known as Emperor Haile Selassie I. She was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 13 October 1919. From age eight, she attended school in England and Switzerland, and during vacations travelled with her royal relatives to France and Germany, learning each country's language as well as English. Ethiopia, one of only two independent African nations (the other being Liberia) at the time, was invaded on 3 October 1935 by Fascist Italy under Mussolini. He wanted to boost his nation’s prestige which was wounded by its defeat to Ethiopia in the Battle of Adowa in 1896, which saved Ethiopia from Italian colonisation. The Italians committed countless atrocities on the independent African state. Poisonous gas, aerial bombardment, flame throwers, and concentration camps were all employed. They also imposed racial segregation and banned mixed marriage. When she was only 15, she gave an impassioned speech at the League of Nations on behalf of her besieged home nation of Ethiopia that had been invaded by Mussolini’s Fascist Italy. It garnered her international fame. (2) The Young Historians Project writes: Prince Tsehai was an irreverent woman who continued to speak on peace and use her status positively. She gave a speech for the Women’s Peace Crusade, and she was the only woman to speak at the Conference on African Peoples, Democracy and World Peace in 1939, held in London. As a sponsor in the creation of the Ethiopian Women’s Welfare Work Association (EWWWA), she worked to ensure the expansion and provision of health and welfare to Ethiopian people. The Princess and her family were sent to the safety of England by the Emperor after Ethiopia was invaded by Italy in 1935. After failing to get the League of Nations to condemn Italy and impose sanctions, he left Ethiopia to join his family in Bath, England where they lived in exile for five years (1936-1941). Princess Tsehai served as an interpreter for her mother and father, and she also became a spokesperson for her country, speaking before both large and small audiences about the plight of her people. At age 17, Princess Tsehai decided that she wanted to gain an education in nursing and build on the work she had started with the EWWWA. Her father gave his consent. Up until that time, no Ethiopian woman had ever trained as a nurse, and no woman of royal blood had ever worked at a profession. She would eventually return to Ethiopia to open medical centres. An interview was arranged for the Princess with the matron of London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children, where she began training as a resident student nurse in August 1936. (1) Following three years of training and attaining high marks in her final certificate in December 1939, she qualified as a state registered nurse for sick children. Footage showed the Princess smiling during her training on the ward , a figure treated with kindness by her fellow nurses. (2) Tsehai asked for no favors or special treatment, working alongside the other student nurses for the required 56 hours a week and earning a year's salary of £20. (1) On the 25 August 1939, she graduated as a State Registered Children's Nurse, then received permission to continue her studies at London's Guy's Hospital, with the intention of becoming a State Registered General Trained Nurse. (1) With the outbreak of WW2, the Probationers' School of Guy's had been moved to Pembury Hospital, some 29 miles southeast of London, and it was there that she enrolled in February 1940. The temporary housing for students was primitive, with no central heating and minimal sanitary facilities. The princess accepted a room with five other nurses, and when later offered an opportunity to move to a private nurses' home attached to the main hospital, turned it down. "I would not think of leaving the other nurses," she said. "I must be treated like everyone else." (1) After a year at Pembury, during which time the Nazis made their first mass air bombing on London, the Princess was transferred to Farnborough, another base hospital. In March 1941, she was transferred again, to Guy's Hospital in London. (1) She worked at Guy’s Hospital for two years, but on 5 May 1941, months before she was to take her final state examinations, the Princess was ordered by her father to return home with her mother. Three British Red Cross Nurses volunteered to accompany the royal party to help her continue her nursing work in Ethiopia. (2) On May 5, 1941, just months before she was to take her final state examinations, the Princess was ordered by her father to return home with her mother. Three British Red Cross Nurses volunteered to accompany the royal party to help her continue her nursing work in Ethiopia. The journey home took three months, during which time the liberation was completed. The Princess immediately went to work with the British Red Cross unit, setting up headquarters in the town of Dessie, which had suffered a massive air raid. They kept their London friends assessed of their progress through letters, one of which was published in the Nursing Mirror: We are running three large clinics: the largest is at Dessie, where we have an average of 150 patients. The second clinic is at Lake Haik, sixteen miles away—a most lovely place—and the third is at Bartie on the edge of the desert…. The Senior Political officer here at Dessie is quite sure the Unit has been the greatest thing done to help the people, for they were in grave distress. The Princess works in the morning very hard; we do the afternoons and evenings. She also reactivated the Ethiopian Women's Welfare Work Association, which had been shut down during the occupation. In April 1942, she married Lieutenant-General (later Brigadier-General) Lij Abiye Abebe, a former member of the emperor's imperial guard, whom she had met in England. Before leaving to live in the Welega Province, where Abiye was appointed governor there, she told an English journalist that she intended to carry on her work of establishing hospitals and medical service throughout her country. (1) Princess Tsehai did not have the opportunity to achieve her goals. Less than four months after her marriage, on August 17, 1942, she died from complications during childbirth in Lekempti, Ethiopia. Her baby did not survive. (1) Her patients and colleagues at GOSH would remember her fondly, providing glowing testimonials. Following her death, they led a memorial at the GOSH chapel. One matron reflected on her passion for nursing, "Practically her last words to me were: One day I shall open a children’s hospital: you must come and see it." (2) She was buried in the crypt of the Ba'eta Le Mariam Monastery in Addis Ababa that had been built as the mausoleum church of Emperor Menelik II. Emperor Haile Selassie founded the Princess Tsehai Memorial Hospital in her memory, which also served as a nursing school and received funding from her friends in England. After the 1974 revolution, the hospital was renamed the Armed Forces General Hospital. Sources: https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/tsahai-haile-selassie-1919-1942 (1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Tsehai https://museumandarchives.redcross.org.uk/objects/46898 http://www.rastafari-in-motion.org/princess-tsehai.html https://www.younghistoriansproject.org/early-women/princess-tsahai-selassie (2)

Windrush Month 2024 'Celebrating the Caribbean pioneers of the 1940s & 1950s' - exploring the lives and stories of the the early Caribbean people who came to Britain after the 2WW. The impact of the Caribbean passengers on HMT Windrush can not be ignored or forgotten. These individuals and those who followed in their wings, now referred to as the Windrush generation, opened the door to the multicultural Britain that is taken for granted today. And Sam King is a true proponent of their fighting spirit. He first came to the UK to volunteer to fight in the Second World War and later as a Windrush pioneer who became the first Black mayor of the London borough of Southwark and helped pave the way for Britain’s first multicultural street festival – Notting Hill Carnival. Sam Beaver King was born in the small village of Priestman’s River in the rural parish of Portland in Jamaica on 20 February 1926. He was born into a traditional Christian family and was the second eldest of ten children. As a youngster he worked on his father’s banana farm with the intention of taking over after his dad retired. But the war in Europe meant that his life was going to take a different path. King was planning to go to the United States to work when he spotted an advert in the Daily Gleaner appealing for volunteers for the British army. After passing the RAF test, he and the other men received a month’s basic training at an army camp in Kingston before travelling to the UK. The new recruits arrived in Greenock, near Glasgow, in November 1944. King recalled: "I left Portland, Jamaica, in temperatures of 75F. I landed at Greenock, which was 39F. I thought I was going to die.” Then moved onto RAF Hunmanby Moor in Filey, Yorkshire for technical and combat training. After three months, the men were split up into categories for ground crew training – King was posted to the fighter station RAF Hawking near Folkestone and served as an engineer. “My mother said, ‘Sam, the mother country is at war, go’. Let us get this straight: the Germans wanted to rule the world, and if Hitler had won, they would have put us [black people] in ovens and lit the fire. We had to fight for our own salvation.” Within a few months, King was promoted, and then trained as an aircraft engineer at RAF Locking in Somerset. He had another four postings, finishing in Yorkshire, at RAF Dishforth in Ripon, maintaining transport planes. King said of his war efforts, that the locals were welcoming and the few incidents of racism he experienced were from the American GIs. Indeed, during one posting in Rivenhall in Essex, Fred Seagraves, a serviceman he befriended, took him home to Nottingham to meet his parents. Mr and Mrs Seagraves became Sam’s English ‘Mam and Pap’ with whom he kept in touch until their death’s decades later. (1) In 1947, King’s war service officially came to an end and Sam, then aged 21, succumbed to RAF pressure to return to Jamaica. He had contemplated staying on in Britain after the war but recalled that attitudes suddenly seem to change overnight. “When we were in the uniform, you’re reasonably respected,” he said. When the war was over, they said, ‘What are you doing here? You should go home. I came to help them and now that they have their freedom, they said I should go home." King returned to a colonial Jamaica struggling to recover from the 1944 hurricane – of which an estimated 90% of Jamaica’s banana trees and 41% coconut trees were lost – and high unemployment rates. His family’s banana farm was devastated, and he found it difficult to find work because of the discriminatory racial policies of the British colonial rulers. King said, “I could not see myself making a headway socially or financially at Priestman’s River or in Jamaica for that matter.” He had changed but Jamaica had remained the same. In Tony Sewell’s 1998 book, Keep on Moving – A Windrush Legacy, he elaborated further: “Having been in England and read a few books I decided I could not live in a colony. Everything was done by Westminster through the Governor. Only one man in 10 had the vote and 85 per cent of the land belonged to big English landowners.”  (1) So, King – enticed by another Daily Gleaner advert – booked passage on the Empire Windrush to return to the UK and re-enlist. His family sold three cows to raise funds for a troop deck berth. On board, there was a bit of a holiday atmosphere, and special camaraderie among the RAF veterans. However, he noted in his memoir that there was also enough apprehension about the government turning the ship back that he organised two ex-RAF wireless operators to play dominoes outside the radio room – and monitor incoming messages. (2) King and his fellow West Indian passengers were met by officials from the Ministry of Labour and the Colonial Office. One was, the British civil servant   Ivor Cummings – the first Black official in the British Colonial Office – and of course, a curious British press. The welcome he received on his return was hardly fitting for a British ex-serviceman. Black men who had risked their lives during the war now faced a second battle. In his 1998 autobiography, Climbing Up the Rough Side of the Mountain, King recalled: “The host nation saw the influx as an imposition and became hostile ... The acute shortage of accommodation was the biggest problem facing immigrants who were arriving from the new Commonwealth countries.” (1) King re-enlisted in the RAF in 1948 and served until 1953. While Black service personnel found they were respected and supported when they were in uniform, civvy street was far too often a different story. Racism restricted job opportunities: Mr King applied unsuccessfully to the Metropolitan Police in 1953 – it took them another 14 years to appoint its first Black officer. Racial discrimination also made it extremely difficult for many Black people to find housing — and thereby start putting down roots. (2) In 1950, Mr King, then an RAF corporal, and his brother Wilton attempted to buy a house in Sears Street, Camberwell, but bank officials responded to a mortgage request with a letter suggesting he return to Jamaica. Mr King took the letter to the owner of the house, who was so disgusted that he gave him a mortgage himself. He made him swear on the bible that he would repay the cost of the house – £1,000 – in ten years’ time. He managed to do so in five years with the help of a ‘pardner’, a traditional Caribbean saving scheme, and by renting rooms to other West Indians. The Kings were the second Black family in Southwark to own a home. For other black Caribbean residents, the only way to own a home was to join a ‘pardner’ and Mr King took an active role in setting up many pardners. King left the armed forces in 1953 and joined the post office. No doubt, his status as an army veteran helped ensure that his application was successful, but throughout his career he repeatedly experienced racism. In his autobiography, Climbing Up the Rough Side of the Mountain on his experiences at the South Eastern District Office: “I was not welcomed by some; not a smile crossed the faces of those who were too busy guarding the overtime. I spoke only when necessary. One week into the post, I asked for overtime on the Irish section sorting letters beyond Dublin to Limerick. There, my colleagues saw that I was not as green and naive as they thought. One fellow in particular was most obnoxious whenever I put in for overtime work. He made hurtful remarks and was not co-operative. Others joined in, but I was there to do a job and nothing was going to make me flounder or even show resentment. My performance was far above these petty non-entities. I held fast to my integrity’. King worked for the Royal mail for 34 years, beginning as a postman in Waterloo and ending as senior manager for the South Eastern postal district. (He recalled being greeted with a heckle from a resentful white worker who yelled: “Send ‘em back!” King’s quick-witted riposte was: “I’m all in favour of sending them back, as long as you start with the Mayflower.”). (1) He became involved with the Brixton-based newspapers the West Indian Gazette and Afro-Asian Caribbean News, which had been founded in 1958 by the communist Trinidadian journalist Claudia Jones . He was among those who helped her to organise the first Caribbean-style indoor carnival at St Pancras town hall the following year, which laid the foundations for the Notting Hill carnival. (1) Faith played a significant role in his life, and like many African and Caribbean Christians in the 1940s and 1950s, he and his family had to hold their worship gatherings at home due to the racism they faced in British churches. When he and his first wife, Mae, moved to Herne Hill in south London in 1958, they didn't feel welcomed at the local Baptist church and never returned, although they allowed their children to attend Sunday school there. Years later, as the Mayor of Southwark, he was invited as a guest to the same church, and he made sure to be addressed as ‘Your Worship’ and wore his full regalia as Mayor, which he considered as 'poetic justice' for the church to give him the respect and recognition he deserved. He was involved in community activism on migrant welfare issues and was active in the post workers’ union. He joined the Labour party, too, seeing it as a political vehicle that could improve the life of black people. In 1982 he was elected the Labour member of Southwark council for Bellenden ward, Peckham, and a year later, when the Labour party Black Sections campaign for greater representation was formed, he was nominated to become mayor. At the time, the National Front was very active in the area. “[They] let it be known that if Sam King became the mayor of Southwark, they were going to slit my throat and burn down my house. My reply was ... I am not against them slitting my throat, but they must not burn down my house, because it is not a council house.” In 1983, King was elected as Mayor of the London Borough of Southwark, making history as the first Black mayor of Southwark, in the face of abuse and death threats. This milestone came seventy years after John Richard Archer became the first Black mayor of a London borough back in 1913. As Mayor of Southwark, he played an active role in pushing to get the pirate stations playing gospel music to become community radio stations. But this was rejected by the Home Secretary, Leon Brittan, but it didn’t deter him and others, and, in many ways laid the foundation for Premier Christian Radio to be awarded a license years later. Sam, alongside Diane Louise Jordan, was instrumental in organising the first gospel-inspired BBC 'Songs of Praise' at Southwark Cathedral in April 1985. This ground-breaking event allowed the British public to experience gospel music and Pentecostal fellowship on a BBC national show for the first time. The programme also served as a platform for Basil Meade and the London Gospel Community Choir, providing them with national exposure. As a result of the event's success, the BBC began incorporating more gospel music into their various shows. In his capacity as a local councillor, Sam presented several motions to the British Council of Churches to enable Black Majority Churches to rent or purchase church venues that were derelict or underutilized. This motion played a crucial role in facilitating the growth of Black-led church buildings and places of worship. After retiring from local politics, King focussed on preserving the experiences of his generation. He founded the Windrush Foundation with Arthur Torrington in 1996 to recognise and keep alive the memories of the young men and women who were among the first wave of post war settlers in the UK. In his later years, Sam King was best known for his efforts to establish the anniversary of the Empire Windrush's arrival as a holiday, earning him the nickname "Mr. Windrush." In 1998, he was awarded the MBE during the 50th anniversary celebrations for Windrush and also published his autobiography, "Climbing Up the Rough Side of the Mountain." In 2009, a public vote led to the installation of a Southwark blue plaque at his long-time home on Warmington Road. This was followed by the freedom of the borough of Southwark being granted to him in May 2016. Sam King MBE died on 17 June 2016, less than a week before the 68th anniversary of his arrival on the Empire Windrush: more than 500 people attended his funeral at Southwark Cathedral.  Arthur Torrington, a close friend and colleague, paid a heartfelt tribute to Sam, describing him as: “a giant with a voice that commanded respect that provided a positive message to all about the contribution of the Caribbean community but the wider benefits of migration. We need to give our gratitude to men and women like Sam who made sacrifices and laid the foundations that we take for granted today in the community.” Two years after King's death, the UK government officially designated the 22 June as Windrush Day to recognise the contributions of the Windrush generation's contributions in helping to rebuild a post-war Britain. King paved the way for people such as Labour MP Diane Abbott , who aptly said after his death “[King] played a crucial role in breaking down barriers for Black people in politics. [For] someone like me, who was fortunate to become an MP, [I} stand on the shoulders of people like Sam King.” Sources: "Sam King 'Mr Windrush' Ebook". Windrush Foundation https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jun/30/sam-king-obituary?CMP=share_btn_tw (1) https://www.keepthefaith.co.uk/2016/07/06/sam-king-mbe-by-patrick-vernon-obe/ https://southwarkheritage.wordpress.com/2020/06/19/sam-king-and-the-windrush/ (2) https://archive.voice-online.co.uk/article/mr-windrush-sam-king-passes-away-90 https://www.postalmuseum.org/blog/sam-king-a-postal-worker-of-the-windrush-generation/#:~:text=Sam%20King%20is%20celebrated%20for,today's%20Notting%20Hill%20Carnival%20%E2%80%93%20and https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/families/time-travel-tv/a-significant-person/

Check out our list of books to read and enjoy during this year's Black HistoryMonth UK that includes fiction and non-fiction titles. You can purchases any of the books listed in our IBHM Heritage shop on our IBHM Heritage shop , which helps support IBHM-UK website and independent bookshops. Diane Abbott - A Woman Like Me Our book of the month and the perfect companion to this year’s Black History Month UK theme of ‘Celebrating Changemakers.’ From challenging expectations as a bright and restless child of the Windrush generation to making history as the first elected Black female MP in the UK, Diane Abbott has seen it all. A Woman Like Me  takes readers through Diane’s incredible journey, painting a vivid picture of growing up in 1960s North London with her working-class Jamaican parents, before entering the hallowed halls of Cambridge University to study history. Ever since the day she first walked through the House of Commons as the first Black woman MP, she has been a fearless and vocal champion for the causes that have made Britain what it is today, whether it’s increasing access to education for Black children and speaking out against the Iraq war or advocating tirelessly for refugees and immigrants. A unique figure in British public life, Diane has often had nothing but the courage of her convictions to carry her through incredibly hostile environments, from torrential abuse in the mainstream media and on social media, to being shunned by the political establishment, including by her own party. Written with frankness and wry humour, A Woman Like Me is an inspirational account that celebrates how one woman succeeded against massive odds and built an extraordinary legacy. The List by Yomi Adegoke The debut novel of Yomi Adegoke was a Sunday Times bestseller and a Richard and Judy Book Club pick. In "The List," Yomi Adegoke delves into the complexities of modern womanhood through the story of a young woman grappling with societal expectations and personal ambition. After being handed a list of attributes she "should" possess, she embarks on a journey of self-discovery, navigating relationships, career pressures, and cultural norms. Adegoke’s sharp wit and poignant insights reveal the struggles and triumphs of balancing identity and ambition in a world that often seeks to define women. The novel is a fresh and relatable exploration of empowerment and the quest for authenticity. Black History for Every Day of the Year by David Olusoga "Black History for Every Day of the Year" by David Olusoga offers a compelling exploration of Black history through 365 thought-provoking entries, one for each day. Each entry highlights significant figures, events, and cultural milestones, illustrating the richness and diversity of Black experiences across the globe. Olusoga weaves together stories of resistance, achievement, and influence, encouraging readers to reflect on the impact of Black history in shaping the present and future. This engaging and accessible anthology serves as both a celebration and an essential resource for understanding the contributions of Black individuals throughout history. Take a Hint Danny Brown by Talia Hibbert In "Take a Hint, Dani Brown," Talia Hibbert delivers a delightful romantic comedy centered on Dani Brown, a no-nonsense PhD student focused on her career and avoiding relationships. When a playful encounter with her friend Zaf, a charming security guard and former rugby player, goes viral, they enter a fake dating scenario to boost his charity efforts. As they navigate the challenges of their growing connection, Dani discovers the complexities of love, vulnerability, and trust. Hibbert’s sharp wit and dynamic characters create a heartwarming tale that explores themes of self-discovery, friendship, and the power of love. No Place Like Home: Family, Food and Finding Your Place by Charlene White In No Place Like Home , journalist, broadcaster and tv host Charlene White boldly shares her own story and understanding of home as a Jamaican Londoner exploring all the smells, memories and voices from her childhood. Alongside her personal story, White interviews eight individuals who give their perspectives on home and their experiences that are shaped by myriad events from difficult family situations to desperate political upheaval and war. No Place Like Home is a powerful and heartfelt exploration of family, food and finding your place, as well as the moments in history that have changed the way we feel about the simplest of terms: 'home'. Ordinary People by Diane Evans In "Ordinary People," Diane Evans weaves together the lives of diverse characters in contemporary Britain, exploring themes of love, loss, and resilience as they navigate everyday struggles and the search for connection. Two couples find themselves at a moment of reckoning. Melissa has a new baby and doesn't want to let it change her. Damian has lost his father and intends not to let it get to him. Michael is still in love with Melissa but can't quite get close enough to her to stay faithful. Stephanie just wants to live a normal, happy life on the commuter belt with Damian and their three children, but his bereavement is getting in the way. Lemin Sissay - My Name is Why In "My Name Is Why," Lemn Sissay recounts his tumultuous upbringing in the British care system, revealing the profound impact of displacement and neglect. Separated from his family and enduring a series of foster placements, Sissay's journey is one of resilience and self-discovery. Through poetry and poignant storytelling, he explores themes of identity, belonging, and the quest for love. This powerful memoir sheds light on systemic failures while celebrating the strength of the human spirit and the importance of finding one's voice. Candice Brathwaite - Manifesto In "Manifesto," Candice Brathwaite passionately advocates for change, exploring themes of race, motherhood, and empowerment. Through personal anecdotes and cultural critique, she challenges societal norms and encourages Black women to embrace their voices. Brathwaite's powerful narrative serves as both a celebration of resilience and a call to action for future generations. Caleb Azumah Nelson - Small Worlds In "Small Worlds," Caleb Azumah Nelson explores the intertwined lives of two young Black artists in South London. As they navigate love, grief, and the complexities of their identities, the novel captures the beauty and fragility of human connections, emphasizing the impact of shared experiences and the quest for belonging. Zeinab Badawi - An African History of Africa: From the Dawn of Humanity to Independence In "An African History of Africa," Zeinab Badawi presents a comprehensive narrative tracing the continent's history from its ancient origins to the dawn of independence. Through rich storytelling and insightful analysis, she explores the diverse cultures, civilizations, and significant events that shaped Africa. Badawi emphasizes the resilience and contributions of African peoples, challenging stereotypes and offering a nuanced understanding of the continent's past. This engaging work serves as both an educational resource and a celebration of Africa's profound legacy. Maurice Burton & Paul Jones - The Maurice Burton Way - Britain’s first Black Cycling Champion In "The Maurice Burton Way," co-authored by Maurice Burton and Paul Jones, the story chronicles the life of Britain’s first Black cycling champion. Burton shares his journey from the challenges of a young Black athlete in a predominantly white sport to achieving national acclaim. The book highlights his dedication, resilience, and passion for cycling while addressing issues of race and representation in sports. Through personal anecdotes and reflections, Burton inspires readers to pursue their dreams against all odds and embrace diversity in athletics. Jeffrey Boakye - Black, Listed: Black British Culture Explored In "Black, Listed: Black British Culture Explored," Jeffrey Boakye delves into the multifaceted landscape of Black British identity through a rich tapestry of personal experiences, cultural references, and historical context. He examines the complexities of race, representation, and belonging, using insightful commentary to explore the influence of music, literature, and film on Black British culture. Boakye's engaging prose invites readers to reflect on the nuances of identity and the importance of celebrating diverse narratives within contemporary British society, fostering a deeper understanding of cultural heritage. You can purchases any of the books listed in our IBHM Heritage shop on IBHM Heritage shop , which helps support IBHM-UK website and independent bookshops. Disclosure: If you buy books linked to our site, we may earn a commission from Bookshop.org , whose fees support independent bookshops.

Black History Month UK 2022 'Sharing Journeys' campaign - In the first of our history in the making articles, we'll be exploring the life and career of the cabinet minister, Kemi Badenoch. Kemi Badenoch was born Olukemi Olufunto Adegoke on 2 January 1980 in Wimbledon, London, to Femi and Deyi Adegoke. Her father was a GP and her mother a professor of physiology. She spent her childhood growing up on both sides of the Atlantic where her psychology professor mother had lecturing jobs. Life became increasingly hard for her family when Nigeria was thrown into political chaos after a military coup in the early eighties. The country was racked with financial ruin and severe human rights abuses. The Nigerian naira was devalued and the country was temporarily suspended from the Commonwealth for executing nine environmentalists including Nobel prize nominee Ken Saro-Wiwa . Living in such dire conditions, Badenoch’s father took the difficult decision to send her to the UK. She recalls: that Nigeria’s currency had suddenly become worth 10% of what it had been and “my Dad [had to] spend several months’ pay on my ticket. We went to the travel agent with all his savings stuffed in a plastic carrier bag. He had £100 left when he’d paid for my ticket, and he gave it to me to take to England. So that’s all I had when I arrived.” “But I was so excited. When I saw my British passport it was like Willy Wonka’s golden ticket. It was amazing, a very special privilege to be a citizen of this country. Many people use citizenship as an international travel document, but to me it was much more than that. I think of this country with affection, feeling, loyalty. Its values make it special.” At the age of 16, Badenoch returned to the UK to stay with her mum’s best friend in Wimbledon. Whilst studying for her A Levels at Phoenix College in south London she worked at Mcdonald’s and other jobs. She told the Times of her time at McDonald’s: “You would have people from college who would turn up and laugh at me because I was there with my hat and badge and I didn’t have any stars. But it was what I had to do. I didn’t have money. My parents weren’t here and I was living with family friends. So I had a roof over my head, but I needed to earn to live. There’s dignity that you just get from working and earning your own money.” After graduating from Sussex University with a degree in computer systems engineering, she worked for Logica, claiming she was “once the only woman on a building site with 300 men!” She then moved on to work for the Royal Bank of Scotland as a system analyst before pursuing a career in banking. She became an associate director at the private bank Coutts from 2006 to 2013. Developing an interest in law and politics, she began studying law at Birbeck, University of London and completed her LLB in 2009. She then took the tentative steps to move into politics while working as a director of the digital department at the influential right-wing magazine The Spectator. In 2015, she became a member of the National Assembly, going on to retain her seat in the Assembly in the 2016 election. Badenoch joined the Conservative party in 2005 and spent several years trying to get elected to Parliament. A year after being elected to the National Assembly, she was shortlisted by the Conservative Party for a marginal seat in the Hampstead and Kilburn consistency in the 2017 general election. She was unsuccessful but was ultimately selected as a Conservative candidate for Saffron Waldon, a safe seat for the Tories, which she held with 37,629 votes and a majority of 24,966. In her maiden speech as an MP on 19 July, she described the vote for Brexit as “the greatest vote of confidence in the project of the United Kingdom” and cited her personal heroes as Conservative politicians Winston Churchill, Airey Neave, and Margaret Thatcher. In July 2019, Badenoch joined Boris Johnson’s government as a junior minister in the role of Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Children and Families). She bounced around several junior ministerial roles before being promoted to Minister of State for Equalities; and appointed Minister of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government. Within days of her appointments, the latter title was renamed “Minister of State for Levelling Up Communities.” Her tenure as Minister of State for Equalities was sometimes mired in controversy. During a debate in the House of Commons in April 2021, Badenoch criticised the Labour Party’s response to a report compiled by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities which declared Britain was not institutionally racist. Labour had described the report as “cherry-picking of data”, while the party’s former frontbench MP Dawn Butler claimed the report was “gaslighting on a national scale”, describing those who put it together as “racial gatekeepers”. Badenoch accused Labour of "wilful misrepresentations" over the report and responded to Butler's comments by stating "It is wrong to accuse those who argue for a different approach as being racism deniers or race traitors. It's even more irresponsible, dangerously so, to call ethnic minority people racial slurs like Uncle Toms, coconuts, house slaves or house negroes for daring to think differently." In a Black History Month debate in the House of Commons in October 2020, she reiterated the government's opposition to primary and secondary schools teaching white privilege and similar "elements of critical race theory" as uncontested facts. ConservativeHome readers voted Badenoch's speech on critical race theory 2020 'speech of the year', in which she said that any school that teaches "elements of political race theory as fact, or which promotes partisan political views such as defunding the police without offering a balanced treatment of opposing views, is breaking the law". Badenoch has been dubbed the UK’s Candace Owens by her critics on the left because of her controversial opinions on race and equality. Shortly after her appointment as Minister of State for Equalities 2021, Vice News said they had received leaked audio from 2018 in which Badenoch mocked gay marriage, referred to trans women as "men" and used the term transsexual which is considered offensive by some trans people. During the comments reportedly made in her Commons office in 2018, Ms Badenoch is alleged to have said: “Now it’s not just about being free to marry who you want, you now want to have men using women’s bathrooms.” Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner labelled the remarks “disgusting” and LGBT charity Stonewall said the comments were “hurtful and harmful”. In response, a government spokesperson said: “The 2018 comment has been taken out of context, with the Minister making a clear point about striking the balance for equality and fairness when there are multiple and often competing demands between different groups. It should not be used to misrepresent her views.” Tipped as a possible contender in the run-up for the Conservative Party leadership election in 2019. She instead supported the campaign of Michael Gove. Twenty-five months later, after the resignation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, she threw her hat into the ring. Ranked as an outsider, she campaigned on the “anti-woke” platform and small government pitch becoming the new darling of the right of the Tory party. "I came to this country aged 16 and now I am standing for prime minister - isn't that amazing? I was born in this country but I didn't grow up here… And I don't understand why people want to ignore all of the good things and only focus on the bad things and use the bad things to tell the story." According to The Sunday Times, Badenoch entered the race as “a relatively unknown minister for local government” but “within a week emerged as the insurgent candidate to become Britain’s next prime minister". On 16 July, a ConservativeHome survey found Badenoch to be the favoured candidate of members by a double-digit margin. She was eliminated in the fourth round of voting, winning 59 votes in that round, the fewest of the four remaining candidates. On the 6th September, Kemi Badenoch was appointed Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade. It is her first cabinet post and she’s tipped to take another shot at the top job when the time comes. “Running doesn’t have to mean winning,” said one admiring MP, who backed Liz Truss for the leader. “Running means getting ready to win later.” Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kemi_Badenoch https://www.standard.co.uk/insider/who-is-kemi-badenoch-tory-leadership-candidate-b1012442.html https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-62176280 https://www.politico.eu/article/kemi-badenoch-british-pm-tory-race/

In recent years, the stories of Black British servicewomen such as Lillian Bader and Amelia King , who served during the Second World War, have gained increasing recognition. However, the contributions of African American servicewomen stationed in the UK, especially the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, remain largely unknown. Tyler Perry’s latest film shines a spotlight on the remarkable, little-known story of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. This pioneering, all-women, predominantly Black unit became the first and only Women’s Army Corps (WAC) battalion of colour to serve overseas during WWII. "I seldom heard anything about Black women serving in World War Two; it's like they were deleted from history," said Col Edna Cummings, a retired US Army officer who served for 25 years. The film was inspired by an article in WWII History magazine by Kevin M. Hymel, which detailed the accomplishments of the 6888th. As depicted in Perry’s movie, the women of the "Six Triple Eight" served with exceptional commitment, surpassing expectations despite relentless discrimination and doubt. While the film captivates audiences with its drama, the true story of the 6888th is equally extraordinary. In 1941, as America entered the war, women across the country fought for the right to enlist in the military. Leading the movement were trailblazers like Dovey Johnson Roundtree—one of the first Black female officers in the US Army—and Civil Rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune (portrayed by Oprah Winfrey). Bethune partnered with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt (Susan Sarandon) and Congresswoman Edith Nourse Rogers to draft the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) resolution. The resolution passed in 1942, and by 1943, the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) was established, granting both white and Black women the right to serve. Initially, only white WAC soldiers were deployed overseas. But thanks to the advocacy of Bethune and Roosevelt, this policy changed, paving the way for the formation of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. On 3 February 1945, the Six Triple Eight boarded the liner Île de France . During their transatlantic journey, they faced the constant threat of German U-boats. Halfway across, the women were informed they were bound for Britain. The ship docked in Glasgow on 11 February, and the battalion travelled by train to Birmingham in the Midlands. Upon arrival, the women were struck by the extensive bomb damage the city had endured during the war. Despite these challenges, the local community greeted them with a mix of curiosity and warmth. While some locals harboured racist views, many extended invitations and welcomed the newcomers. African American troops had been stationed in Britain since 1942, though they were mostly concentrated in the South-West and East of England. In Birmingham, the Six Triple Eight were billeted at King Edward’s School in Edgbaston, a boys’ boarding school requisitioned for wartime use. However, the facilities were poorly equipped to accommodate women. Evelyn Johnson, one of the battalion’s new arrivals, recalled the difficulties of adapting to such conditions. Discrimination extended beyond living arrangements. The American Red Cross refused hotel accommodations to Black auxiliary corps members, instead designating a separate facility for them in London. Furious, Charity Adams, the battalion’s commanding officer, led a boycott of the organisation’s facilities. “The Red Cross wanted to set up another hotel for the Black WACs, and I promised them that it would be over my dead body before anybody slept there. And nobody slept there to my knowledge,” she stated in an oral history recorded by the US Army Women’s Museum. Despite these obstacles, the 6888th operated as a self-sufficient unit. They established their own dining hall, medical staff, and military police, the latter receiving jiu-jitsu training instead of weapons. Yet working conditions were far from ideal. When the battalion arrived in Birmingham, they were confronted with the monumental task of clearing a two-year backlog of 17 million pieces of mail. The morale of U.S. troops in Europe had been severely affected by the lack of communication from home, and the 6888th was charged with rectifying this situation. The battalion’s motto became “No mail, low morale,” and they worked tirelessly in difficult conditions. There were at least six warehouses full of undelivered mail, including many packages containing spoiled food, such as cake and fried chicken, which had grown mouldy and attracted rats. Once the mail was ready for sorting, the women worked under blackout conditions, with factory windows painted dark to shield their activity from German forces. Eye strain became a frequent issue among the clerks. The freezing winter weather added to their challenges. The warehouses lacked heating, forcing the women to wear ski trousers, field jackets, and other cold-weather gear just to stay warm while working. Despite these hardships, the 6888th defied expectations. Under the leadership of Major Adams, the unit worked seven days a week, in three shifts, to process 65,000 pieces of mail per shift. They implemented their own efficient systems, cross-referencing incomplete addresses and using military serial numbers to ensure that mail reached its rightful recipients. What was supposed to be a six-month assignment was completed in just three months, with the battalion clearing the backlog by May 1945. Early in the operation, a general attempted to send an officer to "tell them how to do it right", but Major Adams responded, "Sir, over my dead body, sir!" By the time the same general visited the unit in France, his attitude had changed, and he appreciated the 6888th's accomplishments. After clearing the mail backlog in Birmingham, UK, the women of the 6888th moved on to Rouen, France, where they continued their work. Tragically, while in France, the battalion suffered its first casualties when Private Mary Bankston and Private Mary Barlow were killed in a vehicle accident on July 8, 1945. Sergeant Dolores Browne also succumbed to her injuries five days later. Despite these losses, the battalion persevered and cleared the mail backlog. Despite their heroic efforts, the 6888th received little to no public recognition for their service at the time. They were disbanded at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and the significant contributions of these women remained largely overlooked for decades. It wasn’t until 64 years later, in February 2009, that the women of the 6888th received the recognition they deserved. A ceremony at the Women’s Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery honoured their service. Of the 855 women who comprised the 6888th, only three survivors could be located and brought to the ceremony: Alyce Dixon, Mary Ragland, and Gladys Shuster Carter. Dixon and Ragland were also honoured by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama in 2009. The battalion’s legacy continued to be honoured in subsequent years. In 2016, the 6888th was inducted into the U.S. Army Women's Foundation Hall of Fame. A monument dedicated to the battalion was unveiled at Fort Leavenworth in 2018, and in 2019, a blue plaque was presented at King Edward's School in Birmingham, commemorating the women's stay there during the war. On March 14, 2022, President Joe Biden signed a bill awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to the 6888th, marking the culmination of years of advocacy and recognition. But the story of the 6888th’s contributions has now reached a global audience. In 2023, the descendants of the women visited Birmingham to trace their ancestors’ steps, with local historian Garry Stewart helping to organise the tour. The visit underscored the significance of their service, not only in shaping the lives of their descendants but also in impacting the Black community in Birmingham. West Midlands local historian Garry Stewart said: "For us here in Birmingham, it's a really important story. We're able to show how Black heritage in the city is established as far back as 1945 and way beyond that." On May 13, 2019, the US Ambassador to the UK presented a blue plaque to King Edward's School to commemorate the 6888th's achievements while in Birmingham. The plaque is now on the itinerary of guided tours organised by Birmingham's Black Heritage Walks Network. Olivia Brechon-Smith, a maths teacher at King Edward's School (KES), said: "The impact that an all-black battalion of women stationed at KES means so much to me, it's inspiring as a Black woman. Coming from a family descended from the Windrush generation, it's such a big community in Birmingham but isn't publicised as well as it could [be], and people knowing about the 6888 being here is so prominent in Birmingham's history." Their story is set to be told on both the stage and the screen. Blair Underwood is an executive producer of a Broadway musical about the battalion, while prolific film director Tyler Perry has brought their story to the global streaming platform Netflix . The movie debuted on 20 December 2024, attracting 52.4 million views and spending four weeks in Netflix's global film top ten. The women of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion overcame immense challenges during World War II, breaking barriers for Black women in the military. Their remarkable contributions are finally receiving the recognition they deserve, ensuring their legacy will inspire future generations for years to come. Sources: History's Heroes - History's Secret Heroes - Series 1 - 2. Charity Adams and the 6888 - BBC Sounds Pioneering US WW2 black women drama shot at Duxford museum - BBC News Six Triple Eight: The battalion of black women erased from history - BBC News The Six Triple Eight helped rewrite the rules on who could be a soldier – the real story behind the Netflix film IWM INTERVIEW WITH EVELYN CLARISSE MARTIN-JOHNSON [Allocated Title] | Imperial War Museums 6888th Central Postal Battalion | Our Heritage Magazine Online Photo Credits: 1.U.S. National Archives

In Remembrance Month, Steve McQueen’s latest film Blitz continues his exploration of forgotten histories within the UK Black community. Following his previous anthology series about the Caribbean diaspora from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s , Blitz  shifts its focus to the overlooked experiences of Black people living in the UK during the devastating 1940-1 Nazi bombing campaign. The Blitz holds a mystical place in the British collective memory. It symbolizes a time of defiance, when Britain endured eight months of German bombing and was said to embody the famed "Blitz spirit." This period, marked by Britain standing alone after the fall of France, is mythologised as a symbol of resilience. However, the reality is more complex. In recent years, historians have begun to shed light on the critical role that Britain’s colonies played in the war effort. West Indian volunteers, who had witnessed the rise of fascism in Europe and racial segregation in Ethiopia after its invasion by Italy in 1935, were determined to fight against Hitler, fearing a Nazi victory would reintroduce slavery in the Caribbean. Alongside them, over 2.5 million Indians and more than 500,000 Africans were forcibly conscripted to serve on various fronts during World War II, including at Dunkirk. McQueen’s Blitz  offers a different perspective by portraying the lives of Black Britons during the Blitz, moving beyond the myths and clichés. The film follows nine-year-old George (newcomer Elliott Heffernan) on a harrowing journey through bombed-out London in search of his mother, Rita (Saoirse Ronan). His journey offers a stark portrayal of the devastation and humanity experienced by Londoners during this dark period. Although McQueen’s film aims for historical accuracy, he does not see it as a direct attempt to "correct" the historical record. "I'm not interested in correcting anything," McQueen said at the London Film Festival. "I'm an artist, and I love to work on things that mean something to me. This film is about a working-class family, a family drama set against the backdrop of a historical epic." At the same festival, McQueen shared the inspiration behind Blitz , explaining that he first thought about the Blitz in the early 2000s. His interest was piqued when he discovered a photograph of a young Black boy with a suitcase standing on a train platform, an image that lingered in his mind. McQueen’s experience as the official War Artist for the UK during the Iraq War, along with his research for his anthology film series Small Axe , led him to further explore London’s wartime diversity, particularly the experiences of Black, Jewish, and Chinese communities during the Blitz. Before its theatrical release, there was a small but vocal opposition to the film, especially on platforms like X (formerly Twitter), where McQueen’s movie was labelled as fabricated ‘woke’ nonsense. Detractors were unwilling to believe that George’s story, or the experiences of those he meets on his adventure, could be true. This reaction highlights the challenge McQueen faces in presenting a more inclusive and complex portrayal of Britain’s wartime history, one that includes the often-forgotten roles of Black and mixed-race individuals.   In Blitz , George’s story intertwines with the lives of several historical figures, including Ife, a Nigerian air-raid warden based on the real-life Ita Ekpenyon , a Nigerian lawyer who moved to the UK in the 1920s. Ekpenyon was later recruited as an air-raid warden and faced xenophobia while performing his duties in bomb shelters, a story previously highlighted in the 2021 BBC documentary Blitz Spirit with Lucy Worsley . The film also dramatizes the 1941 bombing of the Café de Paris in Leicester Square, where 34 people died, including British-Guyanese bandleader Ken "Snakehips" Johnson  and close friend of Ivor Cummings . This tragic event highlights a lesser-known aspect of the Blitz: the looting of bodies after some bombings. Johnson’s death, as well as that of his bandmates, is brought to life in McQueen’s film, which sheds light on the Black musicians who contributed to the UK’s wartime culture. Blitz  also features a diverse cast of characters, including Doris, a mixed-race Black woman working in an armament factory alongside Rita, and UK singer Celeste, who portrays a nightclub singer in the style of British artist Evelyn Dove . These characters highlight the often-overlooked contributions of mixed-race Black women to the British war effort, such as Lillian Baden  and Amelia King , who served in the Women’s Land Army during the war. The film draws attention to the real experiences of mixed-race Black evacuees during the war, including Paul Stephenson, leader of the Bristol Bus Boycott, who was evacuated at the age of three. In his autobiography Memoirs of a Black English Man , Stephenson recalls being evacuated to a care home in Great Dunmow with seven white children. He formed lifelong friendships and cherished his time in the countryside, a reflection of the often-forgotten history of mixed-race Black evacuees. An excellent article on The Mixed Museum website  further explores the experiences of mixed-race Black evacuees, highlighting figures like young sisters Stephanie and Constance Anita, who were evacuated from London to Stanion, Northamptonshire, and Marie Kamara, an eight-year-old mixed-race Black girl evacuated from East London to Winchester. These stories are rarely told but form a significant part of Britain’s wartime history. In focusing on the forgotten stories of individuals who were often sidelined in post-war narratives, Blitz  cuts through decades of nostalgia and brings the human experience of the Blitz to life. The film reveals the diverse and vital roles played by these communities during a time of national crisis, offering a more nuanced and inclusive perspective on Britain’s wartime history. Blitz  was released in selected cinemas in the US and UK on 1 November 2024 and began streaming on Apple TV+ on 22 November 2024. Photo Credits: 1. Elliott Heffernan in Blitz. Source: Apple TV+. 2. Saoirse Ronan and Elliott Heffernan in Blitz. Source: Apple TV+.

Every year on the 22nd June the UK commemorates the contributions of Caribbean people to the post-war economy on Windrush Day . We’ll not only recognise the day but celebrate the whole of the month as Windrush Month , and this year we’ll be exploring the lives and impact of the Windrush generation through our theme ‘Celebrating the Caribbean pioneers of 1940s and 1950s Britain.' ​ The HMT Empire Windrush is widely recognised today for bringing one of the first large groups of post-war West Indian immigrants to the United Kingdom. However, the Empire Windrush wasn't the only ship. In fact, there are two ships documented to have sailed from the Caribbean to the UK  before the Windrush’s arrival in June 1948. We'll be taking a closer look at this story and also examining the lives of some of the early Caribbean pioneers of the 1940s and 1950s such as: Sam King ,  Althea McNish and David Pitt, Baron Pitt of Hampstead . ​