100 Great Black Britons

From abolitionists and Industrial Revolution-era social reformers to pioneers of modern nursing, beloved children's authors and recipients of the Victoria Cross, 100 Great Black Britons celebrates the many ways in which Black Britons have challenged and overcome racial barriers to make notable advances in their fields.

The arrival of the SS Empire Windrush in Britain from the Caribbean has been mythologised as the defining moment that changed Britain from an exclusively white country into a racially diverse one. Yet Africans have been present in Britain since Roman times and there has been a constant Black presence in Britain since the sixteenth century.

Alongside renowned and barrier-breaking Black artists, actors, musicians and politicians, Patrick Vernon and Angelina Osborne tell the stories of less well known or forgotten Black Britons, unravelling the pernicious myth that there is no Black British historical past.

In 2003, Vernon and Osborne, frustrated by the almost complete exclusion of the Black British community from mainstream notions of Britishness in education and popular media, launched their groundbreaking 100 Great Black Britons campaign, which invited the public to vote for the Black Briton they most admired. This book is a companion to a timely relaunch of this vital campaign.

In the wake of Brexit, the 2018 Windrush Scandal, the rise of right-wing populism and the disproportionately devastating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on Black communities throughout the UK, 100 Great Black Britons recognises and celebrates Black Britons who have surmounted racial and social obstacles to empower others. They are an integral part of Britain's rich history.