March 2nd is the 45th anniversary of the National Black People’s Day of Action, “an unprecedented display of black political power” that mobilised between 20,000 and 60,000 people for a march through the streets of London to protest recent New Cross Massacre in particular and endemic racism in UK society in General. (1)
As “unprecedented” as the day may have been, it has to be seen as part of a trajectory of Afrikan activism in the country. A few years earlier a gathering at a Pan-African Congress Movement Afrika Liberstion Day even in Handsworth Park, Birmingham was “thought to be Britain’s largest gathering ever of black people at that time.” (2)
Ideally, this demonstration of collective thought and action should have been parlayed into a mass movement. But within months the underlying level of factionalism was publicly rearing its head, with one prominent figure stating:
“We have the small minority of blacks who believe in the “back-to-Africa” idea, or nonsense like hating the white man. These elements represent the A-hole end of black politics.” (3)
Which is not to say there were not gains made during the decade such as a burgeoning Black Arts Movement, mirroring it’s 1960s USA counterpart but a key part of the momentum was lost, evidenced by the closure of the Race Today journal in 1988. (4)
In 2011 a concerted effort to revive the Black People’s Day of Action, even calling for it to be a public holiday, was advanced by the interim National Afrikan People’s Parliament (iNAPP). (5) This effectively lasted until iNAPP’s implosion in 2015. (6)
A confluence of factors drove the activism witnessed from the 1970s into the 1980s. One was the overtly hostile (i.e. racist) social environment An environment many are saying has made a comeback in the current climate. (7)
However, a key factor in the resistance to these tendencies in the 1970s and 1980s was Rastafari which especially appealed to young people with its positive affirmation on identity, culture and history. (8)
There some antipation of a revival of Rastari in the social and cultural sphere in 2014 the organising of the first and to date the most successful Reparations March. When different elements and different agendas emerged the initial energy dissipated. (9)
Today the iNAPP mantle has been taken up by the Pan-Afrikan People’s Parliament that is making steady progress in a sometimes challenging atmosphere. It remains to be seen whether it can galanise a similar range of forces of previous generations and consolidate the mass movement that we previously failed to do.
(1) Linton Kwesi Johnson (2011) We Have Not Forgotten in Johnson, John La Rose, The New Cross Massacre Story. New Beacon Books / George Padmore Institute. p. 1 At Auntie Jean’s Afrikan Culture Market on 18/01/21, Elder Herukhuti, one of the organisers, put the figure at 60,000; Sarah Parker Remond Centre (22/02/21) The Black People’s Day of Action 40 years on. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/racism-racialisation/black-peoples-day-action-40-years
(2) Caroline Raphael (17/06/18) The untold story of African Liberation Day. https://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/untold-story-african-liberation-day.
(3) Desmond Hunt (1981) An interview with Linton Kwesi Johnson in The Other Side ‘zine. https://standupandspit.wordpress.com/2014/06/10/linton-kwesi-johnson-1981/
(4) Keith Piper (03/03/23) Keith Piper on the Legacies of the BLK Art Group. https://www.frieze.com/article/keith-piper-legacies-blk-art-group; Bryan Knight (10/07/20) Black Britannia: The Race Today Collective Demonstrated the Radical Potential of Journalism. https://novaramedia.com/2020/07/10/black-britannia-the-race-today-collective-demonstrated-the-radical-potential-of-journalism/
(5) The interim National Afrikan People’s Parliament (04/08/15) Press Release: National Black People’s Day Of Action 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20150804235938/http://inapp.org.uk/video-vaults/press-release
(6) iNAPP Council of Elders (15/05/15) Statement From iNAPP Council of Elders. https://web.archive.org/web/20150515165628/http://www.inapp.org.uk/
(7) Isata Kanneh (27/04/23) Leading by example – the resurgence of racism in politics. https://www.bevanfoundation.org/views/leading-by-example-the-resurgence-of-racism-in-politics/; Nicholas Cecil (27/10/25) Racism of 70s and 80s back on the streets of London, warns Cabinet minister Wes Streeting. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/racism-london-reform-uk-wes-streeting-advert-nigel-farage-b1254970.html; Chay Quinn (27/11/25) Sir Salman Rushdie tells LBC he thinks 1970s-style casual racism has returned to the UK. https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/salman-rushdie-casual-racism-uk-1970s-satanic-verses-andrew-marr-5HjdNZd_2/
(8) Makonnen Sankofa (2022) The Rise of Rastafari: Resistance, Redemption & Repatriation (Second Edition).Peaches Publications.
(9) Sheeba Levi-Stewart (2025) Reparations: Beware The Bandwagonists. Pan-Afrikan People’s Parliament Newsletter. Issue 1
Black People’s Day of Action 1981 – Will we see the like again?
1) What caused the heightned level of activism in the 70s & 80s?
2) What role did factionalism play in undermining the Movement?
3) Are current social conditions really similar to the hostile 70s & 80s?
4) What would it take to mount a meaningful response?
Our Special Guest:
Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka: Resident guest who is Spiritual Leader of the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement and an Afrikan-Centred Education Consultant. Bro. Ldr is a veteran activist of over 40 years standing, a featured columnist in The Whirlwind newspaper and author of Mosiah Daily Affirmations and Education: An African-Centred Approach To Excellence.
*******
Sistah Space Winter Appeal: https://pay.collctiv.com/sistah-space-winter-appeal-58453
Support the T21 Alchemy campaign: https://www.gofundme.com/f/t21-alchemy-raising-consciousness-around-around-disability
Support the Black Child Down Syndrome Project: https://blackchilddownsyndrome.com/about-us/