When discussing Black radicalism and liberation, one might quickly refer to the American civil rights movements, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, or the Black Panther movements. At a stretch maybe the work of Marcus Garvey (let alone Amy Jacques Garvey) may be mentioned or Kwame Ture. But what about Britain? It had its lane of radicals and organizations such as the United Coloured People’s Association (UPCA) and the Black Women’s Mutual Aid (BWMA) that attempted to resist capitalism and colonialism.
This is extremely important when discussing struggles and activism by Black people living in Britain in contrast to the United States. British Black power bridged the divide between Asian, Afrikan, and West Indian immigrants and the various ways they were exploited through colonialism. Noticing third-world struggles and liberation was a distinct difference between Black power in the United States and Black power in Britain because collective and interracial unity was the main goal of the different British Black Power movements.
Black women have often been left to lurk in the shadows when it comes to politics and without any representation on the political stage. Yet, without their tenacity and their rejection of racial and gender barriers to equality, the progress and initiative of the Black experience would not have been possible. For decades they were excluded from radical organizations and activities not just by White women but also by Black men. There are only a few globally known Black women of history compared to the hundreds of Black women who dared to stand up against racial and gender issues and social reform for several issues such as feminism, poverty, and capitalism to name a few. Their efforts to lead and be the face of movements were mostly overshadowed by Black men who would garner more attention and longtime credit for their successes in historical change. A lack of female recognition in and for movements that strived for Black liberation most of the time was rooted in having to contend with the double jeopardy of both gendered and racial stereotypes.
Many of the ideals held by Black women have been even more progressive as their aims and demands aligned with being an intersectional feminist where women of different races, classes, and sexualities were acknowledged in their struggle. Where Black woman activists around the UK can differ from those celebrated in the US is the need to break down and connect the racial divide that transpires between racial groups.
“Kath Locke and Coca Clarke are just a few of the Black women who are almost forgotten when discussing Black history”
The achievements of sisters Kath Locke and Coca Clarke are just a few of the Black women who are almost forgotten when discussing Black history. Especially Black history in Britain. But their efforts in changing the experience of Black locals living in the local district of Hulme in Manchester have permanently altered what was once a negative trajectory during the 1960s-80s.
The pair, alongside their younger sister who died untimely, Ada Phillips, began their activism by sharing their experience living in the North of England as British-born Afrikan-descent women. Their experiences had already exposed them to inequality, injustice, and politics at a young age which would later make them one of the most radical faces in the North.
Their father, Alfred Lawrence, born Anya Azura, was from Nigeria and worked as a seaman and part playwright and performer. His performances were often inspired by the Afrikan continent and culture, which led his young daughters to be appreciative of their heritage.
Clarke had once said about her dad’s performances: “It was kind of political all our lives, in the sense that we knew that we were [B[lack. A lot of [B]lack children in those days didn’t accept their colour, but we were brought up to be proud of being Afri[k]an. We had to walk straight! My dad used to do that [mimics gesture] at the back, to make us walk straight with our shoulders. ‘Don’t let anybody touch your hair! You’re not freaks!’”
Despite being in the education system Clarke had somehow managed to leave school without learning how to properly read or write. Locke, whilst in Blackpool had passed her school exams for the 11+, but had not been accepted into a grammar school because she was Black. This was a pattern similar to West Indian children during the late 20th century. The crisis of schooling was no secret in the British Education system when it came to Black students. Black children were classified as a special case where many were sent to Educationally Subnormal Schools (ESN), and considered to have low IQ levels. But for Black families, education didn’t start in school but in the communities in which they were born and welcomed. Education has always been a cultural weapon used against Black people, as education can lead to a means of political freedom. Locke and Clarke realized that would be a force to fight for democratic and equal rights as it would allow the Black community to resist the wider institutions and spaces they were a part of in their everyday lives.
“Education has always been a cultural weapon used against Black people, as education can lead to a means of political freedom”
Enter the 1960s when radicalism started to get a bigger recognition. The Black Power Movement aka the Black Liberation Movement had been initiated in the United States, Malcolm X started separating himself from the Nation of Islam, Martin Luther King Jr became a national figure for change and it seemed there was hope for Afrikan-Americans, compared to their British counterparts. It was these major events that had often overshadowed what was occurring in smaller cities and areas around the UK. The Windrush generation from the Caribbean changed the discourse of what and who was considered British on a wider scale. Moss Side in Manchester had become a haven for some Black people who had moved from the Caribbean, and by the 1950s the area occupied 60 percent of Manchester’s Black families. This high proportion of Black residents was seen as a great threat to the local authorities, who wanted to target Black resident’s homes for demolitions to push them out of the area altogether. Clarke and Locke were some of the first people to realize that attention had to be paid to regional communities just as much as national communities, therefore, forming the Moss Side People’s Association and the Moss Side Housing Action Group. There had been many efforts to remove the Black presence in these areas, such as the color bar where pubs were able to refuse to serve Black and Asian customers or force them to drink in a separate room. One notorious case of this was at the Old Abbey Taphouse on the Greenheys estate between Hulme and Moss Side where local world-title-winning boxer, trade unionist, and organizer, Len Johnson was refused a round of drinks for his friends and thrown out of the establishment by police.
It is not surprising that the sisters knew they had to make a collective effort to protect their community. The Moss Side People’s Association and the Moss Side Housing Action Group aimed to make sure residents were involved and aware of the government’s plan to get rid of their communities. Stopping the demolitions was a main aim for the sisters, yet was unsuccessful as the tractors came in and forced many residents and owners out of their homes. The local authorities were obliged to give compulsory funds to the dispersed families and residents but gave a considerably smaller amount than what their homes were worth. The initial assignment had been a failure but a success in collective organizing in Manchester and gave hope for the North to possess a group of organizations that had been similar in London to the UCPA. Their presence was so monumental that the sister’s home in Moss Side, 22 Monton Street, had become a beacon of where Black activists felt they could be trusted to further their work for the community. The pair was a necessity in developing the radical change in Manchester, having the ability to pull people together for the importance of collective organization.
Locke’s efforts for radicalism had often gone unnoticed as she formed and participated in many political groups. The Black Unity and Freedom Party (BUFP) was committed to working towards a global social revolution and despite Locke’s ability to lead the group, her presence was overshadowed by Ron Phillips. Phillps was a notable activist in his own right and his friendship with Locke formed through their shared interest in destroying the capitalist system. Yet, Phillps had on multiple occasions been accused of mistreating the Black women around him and had clearly expressed that he saw women as commodities. Swiftly, Phillps had been removed from the party as Locke and Clarke understood that the dignity, treatment, and respect for Black women must be upheld to align with Black consciousness.
The need for Black women to be involved in politics was not lost on Locke as she co-founded Manchester Black Women’s Mutual Aid organization alongside Elouise Edwards. This not only addressed the racism in Britain experienced socially, and economically but also through education. Its core aim was to create a healthy dialogue between parents and schools so Black children had the chance to succeed. Mothers would meet on Sundays to address their children’s issues but this type of women’s organizing didn’t last long as the lack of men involved started to create a backlash from men in the community. Some had instead received it as a negative organization with an anti-male agenda and slowly the BWMA had begun to fizzle out. There was not the same emphasis on change for women-led organizations, and the likes of Locke and Clarke had to scour out different ways to run groups that allowed women to take leadership roles.
Clarke—who realized the removal of Black women from radical group history through the intersections of racism and misogyny— recalled that she was constantly fighting all her life:
“We’ve always had to fight, we had to battle in school, because we were the only [B]lack family in Blackpool at the time. In those days they said ‘coloured.’ I’ve always had to fight from being grown up, being called the n-word, and one time – I was 13 – I had to fight a big woman because she said: ‘Go down the other end of the street, where your mother is married to a n- man!’”
Coca Clarke, Interviewed at Coca’s home in Moss Side, 2018
She, alongside her two sisters and many others, initiated The Manchester Black Women’s Co-operative (MBWC) in 1975. This was to empower Black mothers and give them training to re-enter the workforce and obtain the skills that would empower them. Financial and professional power had not been accessible for them compared to their male counterparts so this gave Black women of different generations the opportunity to come together to mentor each other. The group had led a statement about their position of the MBWC and its frustrations with its support which said: “The need for a Women’s Co-operative is greater now than it was five years ago because these conditions had not improved. The Black Women’s Co-op is the only training scheme that is staffed and controlled by women. It was never conceived that men would be dictating the ideology and activities of a woman’s Co-op. Women need to achieve success in the field of education, and authority without the psychological control of men.”
This group was met with resistance from the men who organized the George Jackson House Trust (GJHT), an organization that gave accommodation for Black youth. Some of the women’s activities had been funded under the endorsement of the GJHT, therefore, Ron Phillps had been able to claim a part of the MBWC. What would’ve been a local meeting for the MBWC turned out to be a suspension when they found themselves locked out from their establishment. After the MBWC decided to do a ten-day and night occupation of their building, the organization transformed into Abasindi, which means survivors in Zulu. Abasindi’s goal was to help women struggle for liberation and organize their own needs and politics. They were to raise their own money to fund activities and workshops that had improved the well-being of Black women in the area.
Women’s struggle for liberation was the root and cause of the creation of the organizations mentioned: Moss Side People’s Association, the Moss Side Housing Action Group, Manchester Black Women’s Mutual Aid, and Abasindi. In 1996 the Kath Locke Centre opened in Hulme to remember the efforts taken on by the eldest sister to make Moss Side and Hulme a safe space for Black communities. Kath Locke and Coca Clarke alongside many other Black women from the North were a vital part of radicalism for their communities. The need for Black women’s organizing was not always accepted and respected but the challenges and obstacles they confronted were met with solutions to ensure that their community was able to collectively organize and develop themselves. Their activism was more than Black women’s empowerment but challenging White supremacy as a whole and understanding the complexities of each colonial struggle. The efforts of Kath Locke, Ada Phillips, and Coca Clarke must be remembered and regarded as some of the wider well-known Black activists globally. Their stories show us that the push for perseverance and constant morale can not be lost when trying to make a change.
A great read. I’m a Mancunian myself, and these women’s role was news to me.