Thirty years ago, the designer Jon Daniel started and led a campaign to put black people on Royal Mail stamps (They have all earned Britain’s thanks: 20 Black heroes who should be on a postage stamp, 28 October). He designed and printed postcards with his own stamps on one side and the Royal Mail’s address on the other. In a pre-internet age, his word-of-mouth campaign went viral. People sent these postcards to the Royal Mail in their hundreds.
Sadly, despite being overwhelmed by the public’s response, the Royal Mail ignored Jon’s campaign. However, he would use his designs and his stamp collection of leading black figures for his 2011 show Post-Colonial: Stamps from the African Diaspora, hosted by Stanley Gibbons at its shop on the Strand in London. The Guardian published an obituary of Jon in 2017. His crucial role in trying to put black heroes on British stamps three decades ago should be recognised today.
James McCarthy
Cambridge
