Darcus Howe: A Political Biography

by Robin Bunce, Paul Field

Overview

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com.

Darcus Howe: a Political Biography examines the struggle for racial justice in Britain, through the lens of one of Britain's most prominent and controversial black journalists and campaigners.

Born in Trinidad during the dying days of British colonialism, Howe became an uncompromising champion of racial justice. The book examines how Howe's unique political outlook was inspired by the example of his friend and mentor C.L.R. James, and forged in the heat of the American civil rights movement, as well as Trinidad's Black Power Revolution.

The book sheds new light on Howe's leading role in the defining struggles in Britain against institutional racism in the police, the courts and the media. It focuses on his part as a defendant in the trial of the Mangrove Nine, the high point of Black Power in Britain; his role in conceiving and organizing the Black People's Day of Action, the largest ever demonstration by the black community in Britain; and his later work as one of a prominent journalist and political commentator.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781849666510
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	12/05/2013
Series:	Criminal Practice Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	589 KB

About the Author

Robin Bunce is Director of Studies for Politics at Homerton College, Cambridge, UK, and a Bye-Fellow in History at St Edmund's College, Cambridge. He is the author of a study of Thomas Hobbes for Continuum's Major Conservative and Libertarian Thinkers series (2009) and he has published several books on civil rights in America for the schools market. He is also an editor of Twentieth Century History Review.

Paul Field worked as a journalist for many years specializing in issues of policing, asylum and institutional racism, before becoming a lawyer specializing in the fields of discrimination and employment.
Robin Bunce is a Fellow of Homerton College, University of Cambridge. He specialises in the history of ideas, particularly the recent history of black radicalism in Britain. He has written for The Guardian, The Huffington Post, The Independent and the New Statesman. Together with Samara Linton he published Diane Abbott: the Authorised Biography in 2020.
Paul Field worked as a journalist for many years, specialising in issues of policing, asylum and institutional racism, before becoming a lawyer specialising in the fields of discrimination and employment. Together with Robin Bunce, he was also a historical consultant on the Steve McQueen film Mangrove, and Rogan Productions' Black Power: A British Story of Resistance.

Table of Contents

Author ' s Preface
Introduction – 'Darcus Howe is a West Indian'
1 Son of a Preacher Man
2 ' Dabbling with Revolution ' : Black Power Comes to Britain
3 Know Yourself
4 Cause for Concern
5 ' Darcus Howe is not a Comedian '
6 Revolution in Trinidad: 'Seize Power and send for James'
7 A Resting Place in Babylon: Frank Crichlow and the Mangrove
8 Demonstration
9 Clampdown
10 55 Days at the Old Bailey
11 Towards Racial Justice
12 Race Today: 'Come what may here to stay'
13 Ten Years on bail: 'Darcus outta jail'
14 'Thirteen Dead and Nothing Said'
15 Insurrection
16 Carnival: Revolutionaries Don't Wear Glitter
17 Playing Devil's Advocate
18 Slave Nation
19 Fight to the Finish
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Darcus Howe has had a somewhat dramatic personal and political life, both of which are sewn together seamlessly in the forthcoming book Darcus Howe: A Political Biography.” —Subi Shah, New Internationalist magazine

“An obvious candidate [for the Orwell Prize] from this year's nominees is Robin Bunce and Paul Field's “political biography” of the activist and journalist Darcus Howe. The book is political in far more than its content: as the authors rightly say, Britain's Black Power movement is in danger of being written out of history.” —Conrad Landin, The Independent

“The first detailed history of black power in Britain . . . Bunce and Paul Field have published a political biography of Darcus Howe – one of the most significant black activists in Britain – using him as a framework for a history of the black power movement in Britain.” —Mark Brown, The Guardian

“This new book, co-authored by the Haldane Society's Paul Field, is passionately conceived, thoroughly researched, and very well written. It is thoroughly recommended ... I can also vouch for the authors' accuracy and objectivity, and the skill with which they bring key events of the last forty plus years to life ... Howe was never an organiser, nor a leader. But he has played a very considerable role in the movement for a distinctive Black British identity. This new book brings the man and forty years of tumultuous history to life, and never forgets the role of the political analysis which Howe learnt from C. L. R. James.” —Bill Bowring, Professor of Law, University of London, Socialist Lawyer

“This is a long overdue and badly needed biographical portrait of the black Trinidadian political radical and broadcaster Darcus Howe, who as one of the leading ideological agitators of the British Black Power Movement made a critical contribution to the shaping of modern multiracial and multicultural 'postcolonial' Britain...The pioneering efforts of Bunce and Field, undertaken in close collaboration with Howe himself and his partner, Leila Hassan, mean that for the first time the essential facts of Howe's life and work are presented in one volume, complete with some remarkable photographs. At least some aspects of the fascinating, gripping, and often inspiring record of activism and campaigning that emerges will doubtless be new to the vast majority of readers, and the authors are to be commended for making this such an accessible and readable narrative that illuminates the wider civil rights and black liberation struggle in Britain.” —Christian Høgsbjerg, University of York, Twentieth Century British History

“Just how far the British Left needs to travel in order to reshape its politics via the Black British experience is revealed by the superb Darcus Howe: A Political Biography which via personal testimony revisits a history of migration, self-self-organisaton and resistance which exists largely outside of traditional Left politics.” —Mark Perryman, Philosophy Football, Counterfire

“This biography of Darcus Howe is undoubtedly a labour of love. Robin Bunce and Paul Field have made a creditable attempt to chart postwar black activism though one man's life. And there can be no other person more appropriate to build the story around - because Darcus Howe is one of the standout activists and public intellectuals of his generation ... for many of us, he will always be that man in the dock at the Mangrove trail, standing up to an institutioanlly racist state - and standing up for us all. This meticulous biography sets out the facts about a life and an era that should be far more widely known.” —Diane Abbott MP, The New Statesman

“At least some aspects of the fascinating, gripping, and often inspiring record of activism and campaigning that emerges will doubtless be new to the vast majority of readers, and the authors are to be commended for making this such an accessible and readable narrative that illuminates the wider civil rights and black liberation struggle in Britain.” —Christian Hogsbjerg, Journal of Palestine Studies

“This fascinating political biography of Darcus Howe will teach even the most knowledgeable of students of Caribbean history and the struggles of the diaspora many valuable lessons... Howe survived police harassment, imprisonment, death threats from the Trinidadian state and the pressure to metamorphose into a middle class peacemaker that went with becoming something of a media star and then broadcaster. It is a testimony to the strength of his resolve that he still remains committed to struggle from below - a struggle in which black people had to find their voice but also one where he did not give up totally on the possibilities of wider class unity, although it was perhaps for others to concentrate on this. Howe persists as a troublemaker and this book is a fitting and honest testimony to his continuing contribution to the struggle for black liberation and radical change.” —Gary McFarlane, International Socialism

“One of the most exciting books on the shelves at the moment” —Left Futures

“This book is a an invaluable contribution to a vital task: uncovering the history of black activism in Britain and its relationship to global trends. The authors place the meaning and impact of Black Power, so often caricatured, in a richly chronicled context. In the spirit of CLR James, a figure who rightly presides over the book, as he did over the life of its subject, they focus on grass-roots creativity, on the interventions of people on the margins. In so doing, they bring to life a series of dramatic struggles, including the Black Power revolt in Trinidad, the persecution of the Mangrove restaurant in Notting Hill and the ground-breaking resistance to it, the New Cross fire and the Brixton riots of 1981. The book is a powerful reminder of much of our recent history, a history in danger of being forgotten or filed away under glib rubrics.” —Mike Marqusee, author of Redemption Song: Muhammed Ali and the Spirit of the Sixties (2005).

“Darcus Howe has been a towering figure,a powerful voice and an indominatable spirit for nearly half a century. His life embraces the history and critical importance of the struggle for justice and equality before the law. The lessons so graphically described in this book should not be forgotten by anyone lest we be condemned to relive them.” —Michael Mansfield, Professor of Law at City University and Visiting Professor of Law at Birkbeck London, UK

“Bruce and Field's new biography shows Howe as an indomitable class fighter, a man who refuses to allow even the threat of prison, or a diagnosis of cancer to silence him...The story of their [Howe and CLR James] personal relationship and thie response to British society is interweaved into the narrative of this text, a story that remains little known outside of the black community...For those interested in the significance and development of black urban politics in Britain, this book offers an informative, stimulating and at times controversial read.” —Jacqueline Walker, author of Pilgrim State (Sceptre, 2008), writing in Labour Briefing

“This riveting study illuminates the complexity of Darcus Howe's lifelong dedication to radical politics. Diligently researched and engagingly written, this remarkable book articulates and salutes a unique presence in modern British history; an activist whose stance against racial oppression remains undiminished, unapologetic and uncompromising, in a contemporary world too-often dominated by the shape-shifting of spin and short-term reactive thinking.” —Deirdre Osborne, Goldsmiths College, University of London

From the Publisher

This fascinating political biography of Darcus Howe will teach even the most knowledgeable of students of Caribbean history and the struggles of the diaspora many valuable lessons... Howe survived police harassment, imprisonment, death threats from the Trinidadian state and the pressure to metamorphose into a middle class peacemaker that went with becoming something of a media star and then broadcaster. It is a testimony to the strength of his resolve that he still remains committed to struggle from below - a struggle in which black people had to find their voice but also one where he did not give up totally on the possibilities of wider class unity, although it was perhaps for others to concentrate on this. Howe persists as a troublemaker and this book is a fitting and honest testimony to his continuing contribution to the struggle for black liberation and radical change.

International Socialism Gary McFarlane

This biography of Darcus Howe is undoubtedly a labour of love. Robin Bunce and Paul Field have made a creditable attempt to chart postwar black activism though one man's life. And there can be no other person more appropriate to build the story around - because Darcus Howe is one of the standout activists and public intellectuals of his generation ... for many of us, he will always be that man in the dock at the Mangrove trail, standing up to an institutioanlly racist state - and standing up for us all. This meticulous biography sets out the facts about a life and an era that should be far more widely known.

The New Statesman

Just how far the British Left needs to travel in order to reshape its politics via the Black British experience is revealed by the superb Darcus Howe: A Political Biography which via personal testimony revisits a history of migration, self-self-organisaton and resistance which exists largely outside of traditional Left politics.

Counterfire

One of the most exciting books on the shelves at the moment

Left Futures

Bruce and Field's new biography shows Howe as an indomitable class fighter, a man who refuses to allow even the threat of prison, or a diagnosis of cancer to silence him...The story of their [Howe and CLR James] personal relationship and thie response to British society is interweaved into the narrative of this text, a story that remains little known outside of the black community...For those interested in the significance and development of black urban politics in Britain, this book offers an informative, stimulating and at times controversial read.

writing in Labour Briefing

Darcus Howe has been a towering figure,a powerful voice and an indominatable spirit for nearly half a century. His life embraces the history and critical importance of the struggle for justice and equality before the law. The lessons so graphically described in this book should not be forgotten by anyone lest we be condemned to relive them.

Michael Mansfield

This is a long overdue and badly needed biographical portrait of the black Trinidadian political radical and broadcaster Darcus Howe, who as one of the leading ideological agitators of the British Black Power Movement made a critical contribution to the shaping of modern multiracial and multicultural 'postcolonial' Britain...The pioneering efforts of Bunce and Field, undertaken in close collaboration with Howe himself and his partner, Leila Hassan, mean that for the first time the essential facts of Howe's life and work are presented in one volume, complete with some remarkable photographs. At least some aspects of the fascinating, gripping, and often inspiring record of activism and campaigning that emerges will doubtless be new to the vast majority of readers, and the authors are to be commended for making this such an accessible and readable narrative that illuminates the wider civil rights and black liberation struggle in Britain.

Twentieth Century British History

This book is a an invaluable contribution to a vital task: uncovering the history of black activism in Britain and its relationship to global trends. The authors place the meaning and impact of Black Power, so often caricatured, in a richly chronicled context. In the spirit of CLR James, a figure who rightly presides over the book, as he did over the life of its subject, they focus on grass-roots creativity, on the interventions of people on the margins. In so doing, they bring to life a series of dramatic struggles, including the Black Power revolt in Trinidad, the persecution of the Mangrove restaurant in Notting Hill and the ground-breaking resistance to it, the New Cross fire and the Brixton riots of 1981. The book is a powerful reminder of much of our recent history, a history in danger of being forgotten or filed away under glib rubrics.

author of Redemption Song: Muhammed Ali and th Mike Marqusee

This new book, co-authored by the Haldane Society's Paul Field, is passionately conceived, thoroughly researched, and very well written. It is thoroughly recommended ... I can also vouch for the authors' accuracy and objectivity, and the skill with which they bring key events of the last forty plus years to life ... Howe was never an organiser, nor a leader. But he has played a very considerable role in the movement for a distinctive Black British identity. This new book brings the man and forty years of tumultuous history to life, and never forgets the role of the political analysis which Howe learnt from C. L. R. James.

Socialist Lawyer

The first detailed history of black power in Britain . . . Bunce and Paul Field have published a political biography of Darcus Howe - one of the most significant black activists in Britain - using him as a framework for a history of the black power movement in Britain.

The Guardian

An obvious candidate [for the Orwell Prize] from this year's nominees is Robin Bunce and Paul Field's "political biography" of the activist and journalist Darcus Howe. The book is political in far more than its content: as the authors rightly say, Britain's Black Power movement is in danger of being written out of history.

The Independent

Darcus Howe has had a somewhat dramatic personal and political life, both of which are sewn together seamlessly in the forthcoming book Darcus Howe: A Political Biography.

New Internationalist magazine