Eric Huntley – WHBBH3 Key Note Speaker
by mohajuru
What’s Happening in Black British History? III is delighted to have the publisher and activist Eric Huntley as its keynote speaker.
Eric, with his wife Jessica, was a pioneering Black political and social activist and radical book publisher born in what then was, British Guiana arrived in England in the 1950’s and became active in political and social issues relating to the British African Caribbean community’s in and around London.
For over 50 years the Huntley’s participated in many of the significant grassroots campaigns within the community. These included:
- A founder member of the Caribbean Education and Community Workers Association (CECWA)
- Helped form The Black Parents Movement (BPM) in 1975
- Organisers of the 1981 Black People’s Day of Action march
- Established The Supplementary School Movement in the community
- Created of Bogle L’Ouverture Publications, to promote radical Black writing.
Eric and Jessica Huntley importance to the community is reflected in their collected papers being taken into the London Metropolitan Archives – the Huntley Collection. They have an entry in London 1000 Years -Treasures from the Collections of the City of London.
The Huntley Archive and the Huntley’s contribution to Black British culture is currently being celebrated in an acclaimed exhibition at the Guildhall Art Gallery, London – No Colour Bar: Black British Art in Action 1960 to 1990.