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Find out about the theme for this year's Black History Month:
Week 1
Black people in Politics
1987 Diane Abbott and Bernie Grant
In the 1987 General Election four black MPs were elected, all Labour. Two of them stood out as activists and community-minded MPs who spent the rest of their careers highlighting racial injustice and fighting for equality.
Diane Abbott
Diane Abbott's career is, by any standards, inspirational. Brought up by a working class Jamaican parents, she went to Newnham College, Cambridge, became the first black female MP in the UK in 1987. Over 35 years she has been a tireless campaigner for anti-racist education and remains a staunch defender of her community. Most recently, she led the campaign to get justice for Child Q, following what appeared to be institutionally racist behaviour by a school and the police in her constituency of Haringey.
Watch the video to see her talk about her career in politics.
Bernie Grant
Bernie Grant was the child of teachers from Guyana. He was a community activist and Labour councillor in the 1980s and was elected as the MP for Tottenham. He campaigned to defend young black people against racist policing. He also used Parliament to campaign against apartheid in South Africa. He was instrumental in getting the Laboour Party to create 'black sections' so that black and minority ethnic people would have a voice in the party.
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