The Black Liberation Front (BLF) was a

Black nationalist Black nationalism is a nationalist movement which seeks representation for Black people as a distinct national identity, especially in racialized, colonial and postcolonial societies. Its earliest proponents saw it as a way to advocate for ...

Pan-African Pan-Africanism is a nationalist movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all indigenous peoples and diasporas of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the Trans-Sa ...

and

African socialist African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** List ...

organisation in the United Kingdom, operating from 1971 to 1993. It was considered one of the most effective

Black power Black power is a list of political slogans, political slogan and a name which is given to various associated ideologies which aim to achieve self-determination for black people. It is primarily, but not exclusively, used in the United States b ...

organisations in the UK, and was subjected to threats and attacks from the National Front, attacks in the media, harassment from the police, and state surveillance. It was involved in

supplementary school A supplementary school is a community-based initiative to provide additional educational support for children also attending mainstream schools. They are often geared to provide specific language, cultural and religious teaching for children from ...

affordable housing Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median, as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on ...

, support for prisoners, and community bookshops, primarily in London. More secretive than the

British Black Panthers The British Black Panthers (BBP) or the British Black Panther movement (BPM) was a Black Power organisation in the United Kingdom that fought for the rights of black people and racial minorities in the country. The BBP were inspired by the US ...

, most of their members remained anonymous. Tony Soares is known as one of the founders. Other known members include

Joan Anim-Addo Joan Anim-Addo is a Grenadian-born academic, poet, playwright and publisher, who is Emeritus Professor of Caribbean Literature and Culture in the English and Creative Writing Department at Goldsmiths, University of London, where she co-founded ...

, Jackie Daniel, Lennox Drayton, Terry Rocque, N N A Pepukayi, Desrie Thomson-George, Winston Trew, Tee White and

Ansel Wong Ansel Keith David Wong (born 4 October 1945"Papers of Ansel Wong"< ...

. Similar to other

Black British Black British people or Black Britons"Black Briton, N." ''Oxford English Dictionary''. Oxford UP. December 2024. https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/1136579918. are a multi-ethnic group of British people of List of ethnic groups of Africa, Sub-Saharan ...

political groups of the time, but unlike their American counterparts, the BLF embraced political Blackness – representing people of African, Asian and Caribbean heritage.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. The BLF had links with Pan-African groups worldwide, often sending money to Africa, and helped organize

African Liberation Day Africa Day (formerly African Freedom Day and African Liberation Day) is the annual commemoration of the foundation of the Organization of African Unity on 25 May 1963. It is celebrated in various countries on the African continent as well as a ...

celebrations in the 1970s and 1980s. BLF ran street stalls to sell books and posters, including one on Acklam Road, near Westway,

North Kensington North Kensington is an area of west and northwest London. It is north of Notting Hill and south of Kensal Green predominately in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and partly in the London Borough of Brent and City of Westminster. The ...

. They also published the ''Grassroots Newspaper'', which often featured creative work alongside news on anticolonial movements back in Africa and the Caribbean.

History

BLF emerged from the North and West London branches of the British Black Panthers Movement (BBPM) in early 1971. 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 Cultural nationalism is a term used by scholars of nationalism to describe efforts among intellectuals to promote the formation of national communities through emphasis on a common culture. It is contrasted with "political" nationalism, which r ...

. 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.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. He had previously published a transcription of a

Stokely Carmichael Kwame Ture (; born Stokely Standiford Churchill Carmichael; June 29, 1941November 15, 1998) was an American activist who played a major role in the civil rights movement in the United States and the global pan-African movement. Born in Trini ...

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. Rather than revolution in Britain, the BLF focussed on "survival for Black people in Britain and socialism in their homelands". In April 1971, shortly after forming, the BLF held a rally in

Methodist Central Hall, Westminster The Methodist Central Hall (also known as Central Hall Westminster) is a multi-purpose venue in the City of Westminster, London, serving primarily as a Methodist church and a conference centre. The building also houses an art gallery, a restaur ...

with the BBPM and the

Black Unity and Freedom Party In politics and history the Black Unity and Freedom Party (BUFP) (c. 1970 – 1999) was a political organisation that was part of Britain's Black Power and Far left, Radical left movements. Birth The BUFP held its first congress in London on 2 ...

(BUFP). American Panther George Jackson spoke at the event, which raised £2,000 and drew an audience of three thousand. In November 1971, American civil rights activist

Robert F. Williams Robert Franklin Williams (February 26, 1925 – October 15, 1996) was an American civil rights leader and author best known for serving as president of the Monroe, North Carolina chapter of the NAACP in the 1950s and into 1961. He succeeded ...

wrote to Soares for support, asking the BLF to protest against his extradition from

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

, to

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. The BLF protested outside the US embassy to raise international awareness of the situation, although Williams was eventually extradited in 1975. In 1972, the Fasimbas () 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. The BLF was based at 61

Golborne Road Golborne Road is a street in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London's Kensal Town. The road runs east from Portobello Road to Kensal Road. Golborne Road is situated just north of and parallel to the Westway; it also joins Porto ...

until 1986, when it moved to 71 Golborne Road. The Golborne Road site included a shopfront for the BLF's newspaper ''Grassroots''.

Education

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 Ladbroke Grove ( ) is a road in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, which passes through Kensal Green and Notting Hill, running north–south between Harrow Road and Holland Park Avenue. It is also the name of the sur ...

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. It had a sister organisation for young people called the Fasimbas.

Grassroots

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

Welfare and housing schemes

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, focussing especially on young people and mothers. In 1988, Ujima opened a refuge for Black women fleeing

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

. By 2008, when Ujima was merged into

London and Quadrant L&Q (London & Quadrant Housing Trust) is a housing association operating in Greater London, the South East, East Anglia, and parts of the North West (under its subsidiary company Trafford Housing Trust). L&Q's registered office is based in Strat ...

, its assets were valued at £2 billion.

Legacy

The group was the focus of the

Heritage Lottery The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were t ...

-funded project ''Black Political Activism in Britain - The Black Liberation Front (BLF) 1971-1994'' and Steve McQueen's ''Small Axe.''

References