Darcus Howe

Darcus Howe (born 1943) is a British broadcaster, writer,^[1] and civil liberties campaigner. Originally from Trinidad, Howe arrived in England intending to study law, where he joined the British Black Panthers, the first such branch of the organization outside the United States.^[2] He came to public attention in 1970 as one of the Mangrove Nine, when he marched to the police station in Notting Hill, London, to protest against police raids of the Mangrove restaurant, and again in 1981 when he organized a 20,000-strong "Black People's March" in protest at the handling of the investigation into the New Cross Fire, in which 13 black teenagers died.^[3]

He is a former editor of Race Today, and former chair of the Notting Hill Carnival. He is best known in the UK for his Black on Black series on Channel 4; his current affairs programme, Devil's Advocate; and his work with Tariq Ali on Bandung File. His television work also includes White Tribe (2000), a look at modern Britain and its loss of "Englishness"; Slave Nation (2001); and Who You Callin' a Nigger? (2004).^[4] He writes columns for New Statesman and The Voice.

Early life and early career

Howe (christened Leighton Rhett Radford)^[5] was born in Moruga,^[6] Trinidad, the son of an Anglican priest. He first moved to England at the age of 18,^[7] arriving on the SS Antilles at Southampton.^[8] He intended to study law at Middle Temple, but left the law for journalism. He returned to Trinidad, where his uncle and mentor, radical intellectual CLR James, inspired him to combine writing with political activism. A brief spell as assistant editor on the Trinidad trade union paper The Vanguard was followed by a return to Britain, where he served as editor of the magazine Race Today from 1973 to 1985.^[9]

He became a member of the British Black Panther Movement, and in the summer of 1970 took part in a protest against the frequent police raids of the Mangrove restaurant in Notting Hill, where he worked on the till. The restaurant had become a meeting place for black people, serving as what Howe called the "headquarters of radical chic".^[10] It was raided 12 times between January 1969 and July 1970 by police looking for drugs, and so 150 demonstrators marched on the local police station in protest, a demonstration that ended in violence. Six weeks later, Howe and eight others—the Mangrove Nine—were arrested for riot, affray and assault.^[11] He and four of his co-defendants were acquitted of all charges after a celebrated 55-day trial in 1971 at the Old Bailey, which included an unsuccessful demand by Howe for an all-black jury, and fighting in the dock when some of the defendants tried to punch the prison officers.^[12] The judge stated that there was "evidence of racial hatred on both sides"—the first acknowledgement from a British judge that there was racial hatred in the Metropolitan Police Service.^[13]

In 1977 Howe was sentenced to three months' imprisonment for assault, after a racially motivated altercation at a London Underground Station, but was released upon appeal after protests over his arrest.^[8][14] Linton Kwesi Johnson contributed a song, "Man Free (For Darcus Howe)", to the campaign for his release.^[15]

Broadcasting career

In 1982, Howe began his broadcasting career on Channel 4's television series Black on Black, later co-editor with Tariq Ali of Bandung File and more recently White Tribe, a look at modern day Britain and its loss of "Englishness". Howe has continued to write in the New Statesman and fronted the Channel 4 current affairs programme Devil's Advocate. He was a keynote speaker at the 2005 Belfast Film Festival's "Film and Racism" seminar and presented his documentary Who You Callin' a Nigger? at the festival.

In October 2005, Howe presented a Channel 4 documentary Son of Mine, about his troubled relationship with his 20-year-old son Amiri, who had been caught handling stolen passports, shoplifting, and accused of attempted rape.^[16][17]

Howe appeared on the discussion programme, Midweek (on BBC Radio 4), to promote the documentary on 19 October 2005 and, live on air, became involved in an angry debate with American comedienne Joan Rivers. The dispute began when Howe suggested that Rivers was offended by the use of the term "black"; Rivers objected strongly to the suggestion that she was racist and accused Howe of having a "chip on his shoulder".^[18][19]

Howe was one of several public figures who fell foul of perennial satirist and prankster Chris Morris on Morris' show Brass Eye, in the final episode, "Decline".

BBC interview

Howe was interviewed by Fiona Armstrong for BBC News on 9 August 2011 during the 2011 England riots.^[20] During the interview, Armstrong twice referred to him as "Marcus Dowe," then asked: "You are not a stranger to riots yourself, I understand, are you? You have taken part in them yourself." Howe denied this, saying: "I have never taken part in a single riot. I've been part of demonstrations that ended up in a conflict. Have some respect for an old West Indian Negro, and stop accusing me of being a rioter. Because you wanted for me to get abusive, you just sound idiotic—have some respect."^[21] The BBC apologised for any offence the interview caused,^[22] and said "it had not intended to show him any disrespect".^[23]

Asked about the unfolding situation in London, Howe discussed the death of Mark Duggan: "What I am not – what I'm concerned about more than anything else, there's a young man called Mark Duggan. He has parents, he has brothers, he has sisters, and two yards away from where he lives, a police officer blew his head off."^[24]

Personal life

Howe has been married three times and has seven children. The 2005 Channel 4 documentary Son of Mine examines Howe's relationship with his 20-year-old son Amiri, who faced jail for charges related to stolen passports.^[25] His daughter Tamara was a director of production for London Weekend Television. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in April 2007 and has since campaigned for more men to get tested.^[26]

A biography of Howe, Darcus Howe: a Political Biography, by Robin Bunce of Cambridge University and human rights activist Paul Field, is currently in preparation^[13] from Bloomsbury.^[27]

The Darcus Howe Papers are archived at Columbia University Libraries.^[5]

See also

• British African-Caribbean community

References

External links

• Bio", BlackinBritain.co.uk, accessed 13 August 2011.