Beki Martin, the executive director of education charity Facing History and Ourselves UK, writes about the enduring legacy of Bristol activist Roy Hackett, who died last week.
Roy Hackett, a leading figure in the Bristol Bus Boycott, was born in Jamaica and came to Britain in 1952 in response to a government campaign calling for citizens of Commonwealth countries to move to the ‘motherland’.
The call was reinforced by the British Nationality Act of 1948, which gave all Commonwealth citizens British nationality and the right to live and work in the UK with their families. The government’s scheme sought Commonwealth citizens on account of their economic potential - the idea being that they would plug labour shortages, repair some of the damage caused by the Second World War and kickstart the economy.
