Jessica Huntley's Pan-African life : the decolonizing work of a radical Black activist / Claudia Tomlinson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Tomlinson, Claudia, author.

Series:

Black Literary and Cultural Expressions.

Black Literary and Cultural Expressions

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Huntley, Jessica, 1927-2013.

Huntley, Jessica.

Anti-imperialist movements.

Great Britain--Politics and government--1945-.

Great Britain.

Women political activists.

Guyana--Politics and government.

Guyana.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (257 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Distribution:

New York : Bloomsbury Publishing (US), 2024.

Place of Publication:

New York : Bloomsbury Academic, 2024.

System Details:

text file HTML

Summary:

A powerful biography that presents analysis of a black working-class woman who rose from a tenement slum in intensely racialized British Guiana to become a leading anti-colonialism, workers' rights and women's liberation activist in Britain. Jessica Huntley's Pan-African Life celebrates Huntley's importance as a leading figure in the Windrush-era resistance to the multiple, racialized injustices faced by black settlers, children and communities in Britain. Claudia Tomlinson details how Huntley became the elder stateswoman of radical black activism of her era through participation in decolonization movements and actions such as the Black Parents Movement and the International Bookfair of Radical Black and Third World Books, as well as her foundational role at Bogle L'Ouverture Publications, the leading black-led, pan-African publishing house and its associated radical bookshop. Based on extensive archival research and over 40 interviews with Huntley's closest family members, associates, comrades, authors, artists and friends, this book affords readers an opportunity to take a long-lensed view of the historical roots of the many contemporary racial injustices re-invigorated in recent debates. Tomlinson re-writes the history of a period and a struggle often told through a master discourse that is male, middle-class and privileged. In so doing, she shows how Jessica Huntley's fight for justice and the rights of all black people in Britain provides a useful lens into UK-based, black literary and cultural expression in the 20th century.

Contents:

List of Figures Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Introduction 1. Growing Up, Rising Up 2. Raised to Resist 3. The Emerging Activist 4. National Freedom and Women's Emancipation 5. 'Bound with the Chains of Colonialism and Imperialism' 6. Struggles in Male Ranks 7. An Old Fight in a New Place 8. Finding a Foothold in Activism in Britain 9. Becoming West Indian in Britain 10. 'A Political Act', Bogle L'Ouverture Publication's Early Work 11. 'A New Alternative in Publishing' 12. 'To Re-Write Our Own History': A Black Publishing Strategy 13. Growing a Pan-African Publishing Tradition 14. 'The Atmosphere Was Electric in the Shop': Bookshop Activism 15. 'Matriarch of the Movement for Black Rights in Britain, the World' 16. Fighting for Decolonization in Independent Guyana 17. Publishing Activity in Bogle L'Ouverture's Later Period 18. The Bookshop Goes Back Home Appendix A: Oral History Interviews Bibliography Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-5013-9459-2

1-5013-9457-6

1-5013-9458-4

OCLC:

1449646772