Black heroes who helped shape Britain – 100 Great Black Britons 2020
A new book called ‘100 Great Black Britons’ looks at the impact black Brits past and present have made in the UK, from modern heroes like Sir Lenny Henry to John Blanke, a trumpeter who performed at the funeral of Henry VII.
It’s an extraordinary list… ranging from 21st century household names to little- known figures from history.
But what the stories of these 100 Great Black Britons show, is their considerable and varied contribution.
The original list was launched as part of a campaign for recognition in 2003 but it has now been updated in a new book based on 2019.
Celebrities such as Sir Lenny Henry and Dame Kelly Holmes are there, but so also are a Tudor trumpeter, a 19th century taxider- mist and many other fascinating figures.
The 100 Great Black Britons 2020 list
Victor Adebowale
Baron Adebowale CBE
Adedoyin Olayiwola Adepitan MBE
Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock MBE
Professor Hakim Adi
Sir David Adjaye OBE, RA and Elsie Owusu OBE, RIBA
Akala
John Akomfrah CBE
Ira Aldridge
Valerie Amos, Baroness Amos CH
Kehinde Andrews
Sir Lenny Henry CBE
Professor Dame Elizabeth Anionwu DBE
Dr Elaine Arnold
Amma Asante MBE
Winifred Atwell
Dame Jocelyn Barrow DBE
Lance Sergeant Johnson Beharry VC, COG
Dame Floella Benjamin of Beckenham DBE, DL
Munroe Bergdorf
Jak Beula Dodd
Karen Blackett OBE
Malorie Blackman OBE
John Blanke
Dennis Bovell
Sonia Boyce OBE, RA
Dr Aggrey Burke
Vanley Burke
Margaret Busby OBE, FRSL
Dawn Butler
Earl Cameron CBE
Betty Campbell MBE
Naomi Campbell
Queen Charlotte
Edric Connor
Lloyd Coxsone
William Cuffay
Quobna Ottobah Cugoano
Dame Linda Dobbs DBE
John Edmonstone
Idris Elba OBE
Edward Enninful OBE
Olaudah Equiano
Bernardine Evaristo MBE,
FRSL
Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah CBE
Lenford Kwesi Garrison
George the Poet
Paul Gilroy
Bernie Grant
Stuart Hall
Lewis Hamilton MBE
Lubaina Himid CBE, RA
Dame Kelly Holmes DBE
Darcus Howe
Rose Hudson-Wilkin MBE
Eric Huntley and Jessica Huntley
Professor Augustine ‘Gus’ John
Linton Kwesi Johnson
Claudia Jones
Sheku Kanneh-Mason MBE
Jackie Kay CBE
Sam King MBE
Kwame Kwei-Armah OBE
John La Rose
David Lammy
Marai Larasi MBE
Doreen Lawrence, Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon OBE
Andrea Levy
Sir Steven McQueen CBE
Dr Harold Moody
Olive Morris
Grace Nichols and John Agard
Chinyere (Chi-chi) Nwanoku OBE
David Adetayo Olusoga OBE
Phyllis Opoku-Gyimah ‘Lady Phyll’
Olivette Otele
Horace Ové CBE
David Oyelowo OBE
George Padmore
Professor Sir Geoff Palmer OBE
Alex Pascall OBE
David Pitt, Baron Pitt of Hampstead
Mary Prince
Marvin Rees
Bill Richmond and Thomas Molyneux
Marcia Rigg
Ignatius Sancho
Stafford Scott
Mary Seacole
Menelik Shabazz
Yinka Shonibare CBE, RA
Paul Stephenson OBE
Stormzy
Robert Wedderburn and William Davidson
Dame Sharon White DBE
Henry Sylvester Williams
Allan Wilmot
Simon Woolley, Baron Woolley of Woodford
Gary Younge
Benjamin Zephaniah
100 Great Black Britons The Book!
Patrick Vernon’s landmark 100 Great Black Britons campaign of 2003 was one of the most successful movements to focus on the role of people of African and Caribbean descent in British history. Frustrated by the widespread and continuing exclusion of the black British community from the mainstream popular conception of ‘Britishness’, despite black people having lived in Britain for over a thousand years, Vernon set up a public poll in which anyone could vote for the black Briton they most admired.
Now, with this book, Vernon and Osborne have relaunched the campaign with an updated list of names and accompanying portraits – including new role models and previously little-known historical figures. Each entry explores in depth the individual’s contribution to British history – a contribution that too often has been either overlooked or dismissed.
In the wake of the 2018 Windrush scandal, and against the backdrop of Brexit, the rise of right-wing populism and the continuing inequality faced by black communities across the UK, the need for this campaign is greater than ever.
Pre-order your copy via these links:
Waterstones bit.ly/2R7Qoo3
Foyles bit.ly/2ZlG5RP
Amazon amzn.to/32elq3P
Hive bit.ly/2DIWc45