Leighton Rhett Radford "Darcus" Howe (26 February 1943 – 1 April 2017)
["Civil rights activist Darcus Howe dies aged 74"](_blank)
, BBC News, 2 April 2017. was a British broadcaster, writer
and racial justice campaigner. Originally from
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
, Howe arrived in England as a teenager in 1961, intending to study law and settling in London. There he joined the
British Black Panthers, a group named in sympathy with the
US Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Cali ...
.
He came to public attention in 1970 as one of the nine protestors, known as the
Mangrove Nine, arrested and tried on charges that included conspiracy to incite a riot, following a protest against repeated police raids of
The Mangrove restaurant in
Notting Hill
Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Roa ...
, London. They were all acquitted of the most serious charges and the trial became the first judicial acknowledgement of behaviour (the repeated raids) motivated by racial hatred, rather than legitimate
crime control, within the
Metropolitan Police. In 1981, he organised a 20,000-strong "Black People's Day of Action" in protest at the handling of the investigation into the
New Cross house fire, in which 13 black teenagers died.
Howe was an editor of ''
Race Today
''Race Today'' was a monthly (later bimonthly) British political magazine. Launched in 1969 by the Institute of Race Relations, it was from 1973 published by the ''Race Today'' Collective, which included figures such as Darcus Howe, Farrukh D ...
'', and chairman of the
Notting Hill Carnival. He was best known as a television broadcaster in the UK for his ''
Black on Black
''Black on Black'' is an album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released on RCA Victor in 1982.
Background
By 1981, Jennings excessive lifestyle had caught up to him financially. Despite a string of #1 albums and sellout concer ...
'' series on
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
, his current affairs programme ''Devil's Advocate'', and his work with
Tariq Ali on ''
Bandung File
Bandung ( su, ᮘᮔ᮪ᮓᮥᮀ, Bandung, ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of West Java. It has a population of 2,452,943 within its city limits according to the official estimates as at mid 2021, making it the fourth most ...
''. His television work also included ''White Tribe'' (2000), a look at modern Britain and its loss of "Englishness"; ''Slave Nation'' (2001); ''Who You Callin' a Nigger?'' (2004); and ''Is This My Country?'' (2006), a search for his West Indian identity.
[Vallely, Paul]
"Darcus Howe: The bruiser"
, ''The Independent'', 21 October 2005. He was a
columnist
A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the form of a short ess ...
for the ''
New Statesman
The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members o ...
'' and ''
The Voice''.
Early life, activism and writing
Leighton Rhett Radford Howe
["Darcus Howe Papers, 1965–2008"]
, Columbia University Libraries.[Bunce, Robin, and Paul Field]
"Darcus Howe obituary"
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide ...
'', 3 April 2017. . was born in
Moruga in Trinidad, the son of teacher Lucille (''née'' Rudder) and Cipriani Howe, an Anglican priest.
Howe was schooled in
Port of Spain
Port of Spain ( Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a munic ...
at
Queen's Royal College
Queen's Royal College ( St.Clair, Trinidad), referred to for short as QRC, or "The College" by alumni, is a secondary school in Trinidad and Tobago. Originally a boarding school and grammar school, the secular college is selective and noted for ...
(QRC),
where he won a scholarship.
At the age of 18, after leaving QRC, Howe moved to England, arriving on the
SS ''Antilles'' at
Southampton
Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...
[ on 11 April 1961, after a two-week journey, and taking a train on to ]London Waterloo station
Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Underground station of t ...
.[Bunce, Robin, and Paul Field]
''Darcus Howe: A Political Biography''
London: Bloomsbury, 2014, p. 23. He intended to study law, but after two years at Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...
he left, becoming more involved with journalism. In 1969, he returned to Trinidad, where his uncle and mentor, radical intellectual C. L. R. James
Cyril Lionel Robert James (4 January 1901 – 31 May 1989),Fraser, C. Gerald, '' The New York Times'', 2 June 1989. who sometimes wrote under the pen-name J. R. Johnson, was a Trinidadian historian, journalist and Marxist. His works are ...
, inspired him to combine writing with political activism. A brief spell as assistant editor on the ''Vanguard'', weekly newspaper of the Oilfields Workers' Trade Union, was followed by a return to Britain.[Howe, Darcus]
"Nelson Mandela, CLR James and the Brixton radicals: how South Africa inspired South London"
, '' Red Pepper'', 6 December 2013.
Howe became a member of the British Black Panther Movement, and adopted the nickname "Darcus" around that time. In the summer of 1970 he took part in a protest against the frequent police raids of the Mangrove restaurant
The Mangrove was a Caribbean restaurant in Notting Hill, London, England. It was founded in 1968 and run by civil rights activist Frank Crichlow, eventually closing in 1992. It is known for the trial of a group of British black activists dubbe ...
in Notting Hill, where he worked on the till. The restaurant had become a meeting place for black people, serving as what Howe called the "headquarters of radical chic". It was raided 12 times between January 1969 and July 1970 by police looking for drugs, and so 150 demonstrators marched on the local police station in protest, a demonstration that ended in violence. Six weeks later, Howe and eight others (the Mangrove Nine) were arrested for riot, affray and assault. In what would come to be considered a landmark case, Howe elected to represent himself. He and four of his co-defendants were acquitted of all charges after a 55-day trial in 1971 at the Old Bailey, which included an unsuccessful demand by Howe for an all-black jury, and fighting in the dock when some of the defendants tried to punch the prison officers. The judge stated that there was "evidence of racial hatred on both sides".
From 1973 to 1985, Howe served as editor of the magazine ''Race Today
''Race Today'' was a monthly (later bimonthly) British political magazine. Launched in 1969 by the Institute of Race Relations, it was from 1973 published by the ''Race Today'' Collective, which included figures such as Darcus Howe, Farrukh D ...
'' (1973–88), which was originally connected with the Institute of Race Relations. As Howe recalled in 2013: When the institute set up ''Race Today'', it began by publishing mainly academic articles on the colonial territories. It later focused on British immigration, especially the children of the first generation, from India, Pakistan, Africa and the Caribbean. After a shift on the council in a more radical direction, they appointed me, the first black editor. We turned it into a radical black newspaper. We moved it to Brixton
Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th centu ...
, reoriented the whole journal, and worked with ex-Panthers who'd squatted in Brixton, including the writer and activist Farrukh Dhondy. The intention was to be aggressively campaigning, and to 'record and recognise' the emerging struggles in the black community.
The Brixton-based ''Race Today'' Collective also included Linton Kwesi Johnson, Barbara Beese
Barbara Beese (; born 2 January 1946) is a British activist, writer, and former member of the British Black Panthers. She is most notable as one of the Black activists known as the Mangrove Nine, charged in 1970 with inciting a riot, following a p ...
, and others. Howe's successor as editor, Leila Hassan
Leila Hassan Howe (born 13 June 1948) is a British editor and activist, who was a founding member of the Race Today Collective. She worked for the Institute of Race Relations and became editor of the ''Race Today'' journal in 1986. Hassan was al ...
, would eventually become his third wife.
In 1977, Howe was sentenced to three months' imprisonment for assault
An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in cri ...
, after a racially motivated altercation at a London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England.
The U ...
Station, but was released upon appeal after protests over his arrest. Linton Kwesi Johnson contributed a song, "Man Free (For Darcus Howe)", to the campaign for his release.
Howe was involved over many years with the Notting Hill Carnival, both as a participant — in 1971 he founded the Renegades steelband, sponsored by ''Race Today'' and eventually called Mangrove/Renegades — and as Chair of the Carnival Development Committee, elected in April 1977.
Broadcasting
In 1982, Howe began his broadcasting career on Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
's television series ''Black on Black
''Black on Black'' is an album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released on RCA Victor in 1982.
Background
By 1981, Jennings excessive lifestyle had caught up to him financially. Despite a string of #1 albums and sellout concer ...
'', was subsequently co-editor with Tariq Ali of ''Bandung File
Bandung ( su, ᮘᮔ᮪ᮓᮥᮀ, Bandung, ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of West Java. It has a population of 2,452,943 within its city limits according to the official estimates as at mid 2021, making it the fourth most ...
'' (1985–91) and later ''White Tribe'', a look at modern-day Britain and its loss of "Englishness". Howe continued to write in the ''New Statesman
The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members o ...
'' and fronted the Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
current affairs programme ''Devil's Advocate''. He was a keynote speaker
A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address. The keynote establishes the framework fo ...
at the 2005 Belfast Film Festival's "Film and Racism" seminar and presented his documentary ''Who You Callin' a Nigger?'' at the festival.
In October 2005, Howe presented a Channel 4 documentary entitled ''Son of Mine'', about his troubled relationship with his 20-year-old son Amiri, who had been caught handling stolen passports, shoplifting, and accused of attempted rape, of which Amiri was later found innocent at the Old Bailey.
Howe appeared on the discussion programme ''Midweek'' (on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...
) to promote the documentary on 19 October 2005 and, live on air, became involved in an angry debate with American comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolish (as in slapstick), or employing prop comedy. A comedian who addresses an audience dir ...
Joan Rivers. The dispute began when Howe suggested that Rivers was offended by the use of the term "Black"; Rivers objected strongly to the suggestion that she was racist and accused Howe of having a "chip on his shoulder".
''Is This My Country?'' (Paul Yule Paul Yule may refer to:
* Paul Yule (photojournalist) (born 1956), photojournalist and film maker
* Paul Alan Yule, German archaeologist
See also
* Paul Youll
Paul Youll (born 1965 in Hartlepool, England) is a science fiction and fantasy artist ...
, 2006) was a reflection on his life and a search for his West Indian identity in the face of strident calls for assertions of "Britishness" by the political elite.
Howe was one of several public figures who fell foul of satirist and prankster Chris Morris on Morris's show '' Brass Eye'', in the final episode, "Decline". Instead of a legitimate interview, Morris hurled a volley of degrading insults at him, before quickly apologising and claiming to have mistakenly read out the introduction to Robert Elms.
2011 BBC interview
Howe was interviewed by Fiona Armstrong for BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
on 9 August 2011 at the time of the 2011 England riots
The 2011 England riots, more widely known as the London riots, were a series of riots between 6 and 11 August 2011. Thousands of people rioted in cities and towns across England, which saw looting, arson, as well as mass deployment of police and ...
. During the interview, Armstrong twice referred to him as "Marcus Dowe", then asked: "You are not a stranger to riots yourself, I understand, are you? You have taken part in them yourself." Howe denied this, saying: "I have never taken part in a single riot. I've been part of demonstrations that ended up in a conflict. Have some respect for an old West Indian
A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). For more than 100 years the words ''West Indian'' specifically described natives of the West Indies, but by 1661 Europeans had begun to use it ...
Negro
In the English language, ''negro'' is a term historically used to denote persons considered to be of Black African heritage. The word ''negro'' means the color black in both Spanish and in Portuguese, where English took it from. The term can be ...
, and stop accusing me of being a rioter. Because you wanted for me to get abusive, you just sound idiotic—have some respect." The BBC apologised for any offence the interview caused, and said "it had not intended to show him any disrespect".
Asked about the unfolding situation in London, Howe discussed the death of Mark Duggan: "What I am not – what I'm concerned about more than anything else, there's a young man called Mark Duggan. He has parents, he has brothers, he has sisters, and two yards away from where he lives, a police officer blew his head off."
Marriage, children and death
Howe was married three times and had seven children.
Howe was married to the British editor and activist Leila Hassan
Leila Hassan Howe (born 13 June 1948) is a British editor and activist, who was a founding member of the Race Today Collective. She worked for the Institute of Race Relations and became editor of the ''Race Today'' journal in 1986. Hassan was al ...
, who succeeded him as editor of ''Race Today''. The 2005 Channel 4 documentary ''Son of Mine'' examines Howe's relationship with his 20-year-old son Amiri Howe, who faced jail for charges related to stolen passports. Howe's daughter was a director of production for London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 ...
before moving to the BBC, where she rose to be Controller of Business, Comedy & Entertainment, Television.
Howe also had a relationship with fellow Black Panther and Mangrove Nine member Barbara Beese
Barbara Beese (; born 2 January 1946) is a British activist, writer, and former member of the British Black Panthers. She is most notable as one of the Black activists known as the Mangrove Nine, charged in 1970 with inciting a riot, following a p ...
, and they have a son, Darcus Beese
Darcus Beese OBE (born 1969) is a British music executive and the former president and Chief Executive Officer of Island Records from his appointment in 2018 till his departure on 3 February 2021. During his time at the label, he signed severa ...
, who is president of Island Records
Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, an ...
.
Howe was diagnosed with prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that su ...
in April 2007 and he subsequently campaigned for more men to get tested. He died aged 74 on 1 April 2017, at his home in Streatham, London, where he lived with his wife Leila Howe. An event in his honour, "Tribute to Darcus, Man Free", took place at the Black Cultural Archives
Black Cultural Archives (BCA) is an archive and heritage centre in Brixton, London, devoted to the histories of people of African and Caribbean descent in Britain. Also known as BCA, it was founded in 1981, by educationalist and historian Len Gar ...
on Sunday, 9 April. On 20 April, his funeral service was held at All Saints Notting Hill
All Saints Notting Hill is a Church of England parish church in Talbot Road, Notting Hill, London. It is a Victorian Gothic Revival stone building with polychromatic decoration. The west tower has five stages with the stump of a spire, and the ...
Church, following the cortege's procession through Brixton, with wreath-laying at the Railton Road building where the ''Race Today'' collective was formerly based. Those who gave spoken tributes and eulogies at the church included his daughter Tamara and Farrukh Dhondy. A note of condolence from Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the pol ...
was read out.
Academic legacy
''Darcus Howe: a Political Biography'', by Robin Bunce of Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
and human rights activist Paul Field, was published in 2013 by Bloomsbury Academic, and in a 2017 paperback edition entitled ''Renegade: The Life and Times of Darcus Howe''.
The Darcus Howe Papers – containing "correspondence, writings, interview transcripts, court reports and transcripts, printed material, and audio and video tapes regarding the life and work of journalist and activist, Darcus Howe—a British citizen and native of Trinidad" – are archived at Columbia University Libraries
Columbia University Libraries is the library system of Columbia University and one of the largest academic library systems in North America. With 15.0 million volumes and over 160,000 journals and serials, as well as extensive electronic resource ...
.
In popular media
Howe appears in the 1973 Franco Rosso and John La Rose documentary film ''The Mangrove Nine''.
Actor Malachi Kirby portrays Howe in the ''Mangrove
A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in several ...
'' episode of Steve McQueen's 2020 film anthology/television miniseries '' Small Axe''.
Linton Kwesi Johnson wrote about Darcus Howe in the song “Man Free” on his album '' Dread Beat an' Blood''
Selected bibliography
* ''Black Sections in the Labour Party'', London: Creation for Liberation, 1985.
* ''President Nyerere in Conversation with Darcus Howe and Tariq Ali'', London: Creation for Liberation, 1986.
* ''From Bobby to Babylon: Blacks and the British Police'', London: Race Today Publications, 1988.
As editor
* '' The Road Make to Walk on Carnival Day: The Battle for the West Indian Carnival in Britain'', London: Race Today Collective, 1977.
* With Margaret Busby, ''C. L. R. James's 80th Birthday Lectures'', London: Creation for Liberation, 1984.
See also
*British African-Caribbean community
British African-Caribbean people are an ethnic group in the United Kingdom. They are British citizens whose ancestry originates from the Caribbean or they are nationals of the Caribbean who reside in the UK. There are some self-identified Afr ...
References
External links
*, BlackinBritain.co.uk. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
"Darcus Howe and Britain's Black Power movement"
1900–2000s, ''Our Migration Story''.
* Christian Høgsbjerg
"Darcus Howe: Black Power in the New Left"
(obituary), '' Socialist Review'' 424 (May 2017).
"A Political Life - Darcus Howe and Robin Bunce"
YouTube video, 10 August 2015.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howe, Darcus
1943 births
2017 deaths
Alumni of Queen's Royal College, Trinidad
Black British activists
Black British television personalities
Black British writers
British anti-racism activists
British broadcasters
British columnists
British male journalists
British people convicted of assault
British television presenters
British writers
English people of Trinidad and Tobago descent
Members of the Middle Temple
Trinidad and Tobago emigrants to the United Kingdom
Trinidad and Tobago journalists