From left to right, Dr Marie-Anne Gournet (University of Bristol), Clive Smith (filmmaker and community activist), Jacqui Wilson (local radio broadcaster), Dr Guy Bailey OBE (civil rights activist), Rodney Wilson (Director of Elite Solicitors)
Friday 18th October 2024 at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, the hall welcomes illustrious veterans and esteemed Bristolians. They assembled to watch an exclusive film screening featuring one of their leading Civil Rights activist, Dr Guy Bailey OBE. The documentary is titled: Beyond the Scars: Guy Bailey's impact on Bristol by Clive Smith.
Fortunately, although a Londoner born in Paris, I was invited by Rodney Wilson, Dr Guy Bailey's nephew and a well respected solicitor. My attendance was the outcome of a conversation we had couple of months ago. We agreed on the fact that mediatic stories about Black British people can be narrowed to a London centric Black narrative and that it was necessary to include and engage with other Black communities in the UK, with a rich diasporic heritage.
That very night, watching the documentary, conversing with attendees and listening to the Q&A, it was evident to me that Black Bristol had and still has a considerable impact on the UK at a local and national level. Its very DNA has birthed countless pioneering initiatives and housed groundbreakers. On the panel alone sat Dr. Guy Bailey, a lead figure in the 1963 Bristol Bus Boycott, which paved the way for the Race Relations Act 1965. Dr. Marie-Anne Gournet, Associate Professor in Lifelong Learning and Inclusive Pedagogy at Bristol University, is currently formulating ways to include the stories of Bristol's diaspora in school curriculums. Clive Smith, a well respected community activist, has filmed and archived countless local stories through his organisation AS IT IS TV. The community leaders are still progressive, still looking at creative and purposeful ways of making a positive impact to anchor and empower the younger generation.
Let's consider some of these groundbreaking stories starting with the 1960's. Bristol had an estimated 3,000 residents of West Indian origin (compared to approx 30,000 nowadays based on a 2021 census). Some had served in the British military during World War II and some had emigrated to Britain more recently, known today as the Windrush generation (1948-1973). Regrettably, all over the UK, it was the era of “no gypsies, no dogs, no Irish and no coloured* (1)". A large number lived in an area called City Road in St Pauls. They suffered discrimination in housing and employment, and many encountered violence from Teddy Boy and Hells Angels gangs of white British youths.
As I interviewed Dr Guy Bailey, he recalls "When I first arrived here, I was terrorised by white young men and they didn't seem to respect me because I was Black and I had to go through the problem of walking on the street and being attacked by Teddy Boys and Hells Angels".
In the screening of Beyond the Scars by Clive Smith, Dr Guy Bailey also explains how he was brutally assaulted and hit at the back of his head, to the point of fresh blood dripping on his neck, whilst on his way to a local shop to buy paraffin to warm the house. At the time, Black people didn't receive medical support which left him to this day with a bad wound and an ever present emotional and physical scar.
As a result of this hostile climate, the West Indian community organised itself socially, politically and economically, setting up their own churches and associations, including the Commonwealth Coordinated Committe (CCC) established in 1962 by Roy Hackett, Owen Henry, and Clifford Drummond to improve the quality of life in Bristol's St Pauls neighbourhood. The group began to act as a representative body to advocate for West Indian and African citizens’ rights. One of their foremost grievances was the colour bar operated by the Bristol Omnibus Company, which had been a nationalised company owned by the British government since 1950, and operated through the Transport Holding Company. Although there was a reported labour shortage on buses, black prospective employees were refused work as bus crews. 18 year old Guy Bailey at the time, recalls how his job interview was cancelled by the Bristol Omnibus Company when it was told that he was West Indian. It wasn't the first time Black Bristolians were refused job interviews on the basis of race but it was to be the last. 4 young West Indian activists namely Roy Hackett, Owen Henry, Audley Evans and Prince Brown and their spokesperson, Paul Stephenson, who was the city's first black youth officer, called for a boycott.
Inspired by the US civil rights movement and Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her seat on a bus in Alabama leading to the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 ; they announced a Bristol Bus Boycott at a press conference on 29th April 1963. They asked the people of Bristol to refrain from using buses until the colour bar was lifted and received widespread support from diverse community groups, whites included. Groups were physically sitting on the road preventing buses from operating. Students from Bristol University held a protest March to the bus station and the local headquarters of the TGWU (Transport and General Worker's Union) on 1st May 1963. They also supported throughout the boycott lying in front of buses. The city stood still as Black Bristolians and allies displayed a magnificent show of strength, solidarity and resilience. After four months of tensed negotiations between the bus company and the union, seeing many political officials and civil groups join the cause, a mass meeting of 500 bus workers agreed on 27th August to end the colour bar. On 28th August 1963, Ian Patey, TGWU General Manager, announced that there would be no more discrimination in employing bus crews. Incidentally, it was on the same day that Martin Luther King made his famous speech "I Have a Dream" at the March in Washington. In September 1963, Norman Samuels from Jamaica became the first Black appointed bus driver in Bristol. In 1965, the Race Relations Act was the first UK legislation on racial discrimination punishable by 5 months in prison, a £5000 fine or both.
Stepping forward to the last decades, I interviewed Madu Ellis, Director of Operations at Ujima Radio for the past 16 years. For the short anecdote, Ujima radio used to be a pirate radio which was so popular that it was granted its own licence and has been serving the cultural needs of African descendants in Bristol and nearby towns for almost two decades. Madu confirmed that, in his view, Bristol was always seeing progressive, institutional and cultural, changes. One major change was the arrival of Marvin Rees OBE, a British Labour Party politician of African descent, who served as the second and final Mayor of Bristol from 2016 to 2024. Marvin Rees advocated for Inclusive Growth and had a vision for a Shared and One City. In an article by the CPP (Centre for Progressive Policy)*(2) in 2019, Marvin Rees stated "Inclusive growth is an essential and integral part of the One City vision. The economic theme of the One City Plan underlines the role of inclusive growth with its aim that by 2050 everyone in Bristol will contribute to a sustainable, inclusive and growing economy from which all will benefit.The economy theme consists of three main objectives. First, tackle persistent worklessness and economic exclusion. Second, economic growth through boosting productivity and, third, improved integration between neighbourhoods and employers."
Madu also explained to me how terms and jargon such as BAME were no longer used. To him, seeing members of the Black community thrive in institutional spaces and places were all positive changes. He concluded by mentioning Rodney Wilson, who is the first Bristol born Black man, admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court and High Court in 1999. Rodney has now been in the legal profession for more than 30 years.
Having the filmscreening of Dr Guy Bailey's by Clive Smith at Bristol Museum is another win. Upon my arrival and being introduced to Clive Smith, I asked him how he got access to that iconic place. He explained how he'd already contributed to a local projet with the museum's outreach team and how the city intended to open and give more frequent access to community projects from diverse backgrounds. Bristol Museum actually boldly states on its site its aims and objectives in line with Bristol City Council's equalities and inclusion policy 2018-2023 (3) and has an appointed Decolonisation Working Group. One of their objectives is to "..recognise and celebrate the wide-ranging and positive contributions that people of colour and other diaspora communities, who have been historically disadvantaged by the legacies of colonialism, have made, through our programmes and activities*(4)." Guy Bailey's Impact on Bristol filmscreening on site is a direct outcome and Clive Smith is very aware that the Black community needs to be qualitative and diverse in proposing projects that gives a broader perspective of its talents and areas of influence and excellence. No doubt he will continue to be instrumental and relevant to sharing success stories from Black Bristolians in institutional spaces and places.
Clive Smith, community activist and founder of AS IT IS TV
However, in spite of all these wins, Bristol groundbreakers do overstand that nothing can be taken for granted. The recent "far right" riots across the UK in August 2024, spanning over several days, fuelled by racial and religious hatred is a painful wake-up call. Seeing white mobs attack hotels housing migrants, trying to set the buildings alight and pulling people from their cars show that racism is still present. Although adressed at a legislative level, it still lurks in the heart of the whites whose forefathers once said "we don't want them on here, that's the main reason. There ain't going to be enough work for the whites, let alone the blacks." As the poet Nia Bimkubwa exhorted all on the night, "it's been almost 60 years since the first Race Relations Act and we are now talking about the Race Equality Act; the change must first take place in the heart of each individual." It echoed the words of Dr. Guy Bailey reminding us that humanity is one. It has no colour. We are all equal.
To end the night, I wanted to talk to a millenial and spoke to Dr Guy Bailey's grand-nephew, Rayan. I asked him about his experience listening to his grand-uncle and hearing about the Bristol Bus Boycott. He explained that although it was motivational, it was also sad to realise all that Blacks went through and yet, we were still discussing racism 60 years later. His generation wanted to focus on solutions in eradicating systemic racism and see tangible outcomes. No sugar-coating but a display of strength and excellence.
So... there it was. It was all confirmed to me through the research, the stories, the conversations. The DNA of Black Bristol is ever progressive, groundbreaking, far reaching. It is handed over from father to son, from mother to daughter, from uncle to nephew and auntie to niece. A family affair turned into a collective vision, forever impacting the UK nationally and with the rise of this upcoming generation, the city will emerge into a "Global Bristol" making their mark in our world.
From left to right, Rayan Wilson, grand-nephew, Rodney Wilson, nephew and Rayan's Father, Dr Guy Bailey, Uncle and Grand-Uncle
Sources:
(1) How the Bristol bus boycott changed UK civil rights - Witness History, BBC World Service https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQXwh__d2S4
Kommentare