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Draft:Black Liberation Front

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The Black Liberation Front (BLF) was a nationalist, Pan-African and African socialist organisation in the United Kingdom, which ran from 1971 to 1993.[1] It was considered one of the most effective Black Power organizations in the UK, despite threats and attacks from the National Front, attacks in the media, harassment from the police, and state surveillance.[1][2][3] It was involved in supplementary schools, affordable housing, support for prisoners, and community bookshops, primarily in London.[4]

More secretive than the British Black Panthers, most of their members remained anonymous.[5] Tony Soares is known as one of the founders.[6] Other known members include Joan Anim-Addo, Jackie Daniel, Lennox Drayton, Terry Rocque, N N A Pepukayi, Desrie Thomson-George, Winston Trew, Tee White and Ansel Wong.[6] Similar to other Black British political groups of the time, but unlike their American counterparts, the BLF embraced political Blackness – welcoming people of African, Asian and Caribbean heritage.[7]

The BLF had links with Pan-African groups worldwide, often sending money back to Africa, and helped organize the Africa Liberation Day celebrations in the 1970s and 1980s. BLF ran street stalls to sell books and posters, including one on Acklam Road, near Westway, North Kensington.[8] They also published the Grassroots Newspaper, which often featured creative work, alongside news on anti-colonial movements back in Africa and the Caribbean.[1][4]

History

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BLF emerged from the North and West London branches of the British Black Panthers Movement (BBPM) in early 1971.[9] These former BLF members intended to move away from BBPM's rigid Marxist-Leninism towards a general focus on Black working-class concerns, drawing some inspiration from Black cultural nationalism.[9][10] Tony Soares, who had previously been a part of the BBPM's North London branch, said the Panthers had become "infiltrated by the Marxist and Trotskyite groups" which ordinary people wouldn't relate to.[11] He had previously published a transcription of a Stokely Carmichael speech as the Afro-Asian Liberation Front in London in 1967, and would later help the North London branch of BBPM become the Black Liberation Front.[11][7] Rather than revolution in Britain, the BLF focussed on "survival for Black people in Britain and socialism in their homelands".[11]

In April 1971, shortly after forming, the BLF held a rally in Westminster’s Central Hall with the BBPM and the Black Unity and Freedom Party (BUFP). American Panther George Jackson spoke at the event, which raised £2,000 and drew an audience of three thousand.[9] In November 1971, American civil rights activist Robert F. Williams wrote to Soares for support, asking the BLF to protest against his extradition from Ann Arbor, Michigan, to North Carolina. The BLF protested outside the US embassy to raise international awareness of the situation, although Williams was eventually extradited in 1975.[9][12]

In 1972, the Fasimbas (Young Lions) merged into the BLF. Founded in 1970, the Fasimbas were originally the youth wing of the South East London Parents’ Organisation (SELPO), and offered supplemental education, self-defence classes, and performing arts for young Black people.[13][14]

Education

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BLF was especially concerned with educational inequalities in the UK. Because Black-authored books were extremely difficult to source in London at the time, the BLF established three book shops filled with Black history, Black politics and Black literature. The Grassroots Storefront on Ladbroke Grove was one of these bookshops, and became a community hub. The Operation Headstart bookshop provided information for young people and at the weekends, volunteers ran maths, English and Black history classes there.[1] It had a sister organisation for young people called the Fasimbas.[6]

Grassroots

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Grassroots: Black Community New (sometimes styled Grass Roots)[15] was the BLF's newspaper. It ran from 1978–1986, and was available in cities across the UK.[16]

Welfare and housing schemes

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BLF ran prisoner welfare schemes, and schemes to support Black women. In 1977, Ujima Housing Association was established by the BLF to address issues around discrimination in housing. Young people and mothers were especially welcome. In 1988, Ujima opened a refuge for Black women fleeing domestic violence.[17] By 2008, when Ujima was merged into London and Quadrant, its assets were valued at £2 billion.[1]

Legacy

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The group was the focus of the Heritage Lottery-funded project Black Political Activism in Britain - The Black Liberation Front (BLF) 1971-1994 and Steve McQueen's Small Axe.[18][6]

Further reading

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  • Trew, Winston N. Black for a Cause. Derbyshire: Derwent Press, 2010.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Sigaud, J. (2020-10-17). "Black Liberation Front, 1971-1993 - A Blue Print for Activism Today". EDITIONS Black History Month, Magazines, Windrush 75, Newsletters & Publications©. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
  2. ^ "The Black Liberation Front + Q&A". Black History Walks. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
  3. ^ UCL (2021-04-12). "VIRTUAL: The Black Liberation Front Q&A". Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS). Retrieved 2024-02-01.
  4. ^ a b "Black Liberation Front". younghistoriansproje. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
  5. ^ "The Black Power Movement". Google Arts & Culture. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
  6. ^ a b c d "OLD BLF Exhibition". younghistoriansproje. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
  7. ^ a b Angelo, AnneMarie (2013). 'Any Name That Has Power': The Black Panthers of Israel, the United Kingdom, and the United States, 1948-1977. Dissertation, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/7264.
  8. ^ Owusu, Kwesi, ed. (2000). Black British culture and society: a text-reader. London; New York: Routledge. p. 345. ISBN 978-0-415-17845-7.
  9. ^ a b c d Angelo, Anne-Marie (2018). ""Black Oppressed People All over the World Are One": The British Black Panthers' Grassroots Internationalism, 1969–73". Journal of Civil and Human Rights. 4 (1): 64–97. doi:10.5406/jcivihumarigh.4.1.0064. ISSN 2378-4245.
  10. ^ Wild, Rosalind Eleanor. “Black was the colour of our fight. Black power in Britain, 1955–1976.” (2008). 104–5.
  11. ^ a b c Angelo, Anne-Marie. "“We All Became Black”: Tony Soares, African-American Internationalists, and Anti-imperialism." The Other Special Relationship: Race, Rights, and Riots in Britain and the United States (2015): 95-102.
  12. ^ Li, Hongshan (2024). Fighting on the Cultural Front: U.S.-China Relations in the Cold War. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231207058. 289.
  13. ^ Uk, Blam (2024-01-04). Global Black Narratives for the Classroom: Britain and Europe: Practical Lesson Plans, Worksheets and Activities for Ages 7-11 (1 ed.). London: Routledge. p. 116. doi:10.4324/9781003194378. ISBN 978-1-003-19437-8.
  14. ^ Prescod, Colin (2011-10-31). "Book Review: Black for a Cause … Not Just Because …". Race & Class. 53 (2): 97–100. doi:10.1177/0306396811414494. ISSN 0306-3968 – via Sage Journals.
  15. ^ Grass Roots: Black Community News. May-June 1983. London. p. 5.
  16. ^ Miller, Milo, ed. (2023). Speak Out!: The Brixton Black Women's Group. London: Verso. p. 251. ISBN 9781804291979.
  17. ^ "Positive Action and Racial Equality in Housing". JSTOR. Commission for Racial Equality: 30. 1989-11-30.
  18. ^ Jones, Ellen E. (2021-03-25). "Black Power: A British Story of Resistance review – a tortuous fight for justice". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
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