Civil rights activist Roy Hackett, who was one of the main organizers of the Bristol bus boycott, has died aged 93.
The 1963 campaign, which lasted four months, mobilized people across the city to stop using Bristol Omnibus Company buses because of their refusal to hire black and Asian people. At the time, a “colour bar” in Britain meant that people of minority ethnic origin could be legally barred from housing, work and public places.
The protests that followed not only forced the company to change its policies, but paved the way for the passing of the Race Relations Act 1965 and 1968. Hackett was made an OBE in 2009 and an MBE in 2020.
Bristol Mayor Paula O’Rourke paid tribute to the civil rights campaigner, saying: “It is very sad to hear that Bristol civil rights legend Roy Hackett, organizer of the 1963 Bristol Bus Boycott and founder of St Pauls Carnival has passed away. My thoughts are with Roy’s family and friends at this difficult time.”
Hackett, who once said he was “born an activist,” grew up in Trench Town in Kingston, Jamaica. He moved to Britain in 1952, living in Liverpool, London and Wolverhampton, before settling in Bristol.
He described his early years in the UK as a “dog’s life”, due to the difficulty of finding work and housing. “Housing was the biggest issue, because they were strictly against us,” Hackett previously told the Guardian.
A mural in Bristol in tribute to Roy Hackett. Photograph: Olumedia/The Guardian
Hackett helped organize the bus boycott along with Owen Henry, Audley Evans, Prince Brown and Paul Stephenson. Partly inspired by the US civil rights movement and the successful bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, in which Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, the group mobilized the 3,000-strong Caribbean community of the city.
The boycott, which activists announced at a press conference on 29 April 1963, is believed to be the first of its kind in Britain.
Hackett went on to co-found the Commonwealth Coordinated Committee, which established Bristol’s St Pauls Carnival in 1968. The group’s campaigns pressured the local council to take action on housing and employment. The committee still operates today as the Bristol West Indian Association of Parents and Friends.
In 1959, Hackett married his childhood sweetheart Ena, who arrived in Bristol in 1958. He leaves behind three children.
George Ferguson, a former mayor of Bristol, also sent his condolences, saying: “Bristol honors the brave civil rights campaigner of the 1960s who influenced British legislation on racial discrimination.”
Bristol Deputy Mayor Asher Craig said: “Mr Hackett’s transition has affected many of us deeply. A humble, principled freedom fighter and: the Bristol Bus Boycott, the Bristol Carnival St Paul’s, the Bristol Association of Indian Parents and Friends, the Bristol Race Equality Council, his legacy will live on.”
Kehinde Andrews, professor of black studies at Birmingham City University and author who interviewed Hackett in 2020, said: “Hackett’s life is a testament to the strong history of black activism in Britain and how we do better to remember her. He was a powerful, thoughtful and funny man. His willpower came through even when I spoke to him in his 90s. We have lost a legend.”
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Organizations also paid tribute, with the race equality think tank Runnymede Trust tweeting it was “deeply saddened to learn of the death of Roy Hackett, a UK civil rights icon”, while the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants said: “Very sad news. Roy Hackett was one of the leaders of the Bristol Bus Boycott in 1963, which overturned the color bar and helped lead to the first Race Relations Act .
“We fought for what we have now. Let’s move on. Rest in power, Roy.