The Battle for Freedom: The Mangrove Demonstration (1970)

• In Event: New Directions in the Field of Black Women's History

Abstract

On Sunday, August 9th, 1970, West Indians and anti-racist activists in London flooded the streets of Notting Hill in protest against the racial violence and prejudices that they experienced from the police and white Britons in the metropole. Among the protestors was Trinidadian-born Altheia Jones-Lecointe, leader of the anti-colonial organization, the Black Panther Movement. She along with fellow members of the Black Power organization mobilized groups of West Indian men and women down the streets of Notting Hill cultivating anticolonial sentiments. They demanded the end to both state and police violence which contributed to the mounting oppressions they faced in respect to immigration, employment, inadequate housing, and education.

The Black Power demonstration garnered national attention with news outlets highlighting the injuries of the police officers and the arrests of the demonstrators. Altheia Jones-Lecointe along with eight other protestors, who were recognized as members of the “militant” organization, were each charged. Their cases went to trial, making them widely known as the Mangrove Nine. Representing herself, Jones-Lecointe highlighted the racial undertones that permeated throughout Britain’s police force. Her participation in mobilizing West Indians and substantiating ideas of belonging is instructive of Jones-Lecointe’s political engagement in radical politics. After the trial of the Mangrove Nine, Judge Edward Clark, the presiding judge concluded, “What this case has shown apart from anything else, and shown regrettably, is that there is racial hatred on both sides.” This groundbreaking court case changed the life of this revolutionary figure who found herself on the front pages of news reports and various media outlets—yet her story remains largely untold. This paper aims to excavate the political life and legacy of Altheia Jones-Lecointe to further understand the unjust and racialized political environment that Black West Indians entered as they articulated their rights as British citizens in the metropole.

Author

• Jada Gannaway, Michigan State University