The Life and Times of Bernie Grant

From militant socialist, active trades unionist, and anti-racist campaigner, Bernie Grant became Leader of a London local authority, and one of the first Black MP's in modern times. He left an indelible impression on those who knew him and gained a reputation, locally, nationally and internationally, as an uncompromising campaigner against injustice both contemporary and historical.

By presenting a selection of relevant material from the Bernie Grant Archive, the People's Champion exhibition aims to document the early influences on his life, and to illustrate the many challenges he presented to the British establishment and to the international order - during a long career in which he became a voice for many marginalized communities over a crucial period in race relations history.

Images, memorabilia and textual documents all serve to provide a snapshot of the extensive local, national and international scope of Bernie Grant's personal and public contribution to shaping British society. In fighting the underbelly of racism and mobilizing on key causes affecting oppressed peoples everywhere, Bernie Grant aroused fierce controversy, as he used his elected authority, and the oxygen of adverse publicity to give a voice to the voiceless. The exhibition portrays this vividly, showing the depth of the hostility he faced for example, from sections of the public, press and media, from political opponents, and even from his own party.

In contrast, he was a highly popular figure amongst those for whom he spoke out, and he came to be regarded as an authentic and influential voice at national level by the time of his death. As the exhibition shows, he exploited his Parliamentary office to the full to champion the cause of the underdog, and especially that of the black and minority ethnic community.

The following online display shows only a small selection from the physical Exhibition which will be in show from 31st March 2004 for one month, at Bruce Castle Museum in his former Tottenham constituency. It serves as a visual taster for those who want to know about Bernie Grant the man, and of some of the questions which he posed to his own and to future generations. The selection of items is set in the context of one of the most politically polarized periods in modern British history.

Bernard Alexander Montgomery Grant was born in Georgetown, in the then British Guiana, a British Colony, on 17th February 1944. His parents Eric and Lily were both teachers and he was the second son of their five children. He received a typically English style colonial education, largely in Georgetown, but spent 3 years at the Government School in remote Ituni, where his father was Headmaster for a period. He was greatly influenced by the contact this brought with Guyana's native Amerindian people's. His secondary education was at St Stanislaus college, where he received a classical secondary education, taught by Irish Jesuit priests. Although a popular and clever pupil, he showed early signs of dislike of authority!

In his own words:
"We knew everything about England. We had English history, we knew the English customs, Guyana had an English government and the country was run by English civil servants, the whole system was orchestrated to England. The judges were English, white people controlled the banks and so on. So we were very well versed in the British, and particularly the English, way of life. I was never impressed with the 'mother of Parliaments' myth and all that. On the contrary, I was aware of what the empire had been about, the way that the British had colonized the world. It made me angry."

"I was politically rebellious. I knew what was going on around the world, especially in Africa and Cuba. I was still in Guyana during the Cuban revolution so Che Guevara and Fidel Castro were big heroes to us. So I was certainly not one of those people who saw Britain as the mother country and made that the reason for their coming. As far as I was concerned I came here to get some qualifications and go back home".

The issue of race was a strong undercurrent in Guyanese society, and he described in a radio interview the discrimination which felt against him as a black child. The country experienced political turmoil during his early years, and in 1953, British troops marched through Georgetown to seize power from the elected Government. At the same time, news of liberation movements in Africa and Cuba reached the young "Monty", who listened intently to radio reports of these events.