News / Bristol Bus Boycott
Bus Boycott to be remembered with designs on dozens of bus stops
Some of the pioneers of the Bristol Bus Boycott have recalled the roles they played in the campaign from 1963 which led to the passing of the Race Relations Act.
A bus with designs remembering the boycott was commissioned last year to mark the 60th anniversary.
Now, a search has been launched for artwork commemorating the boycott that will feature the work of three artists at dozens of bus stops across the city.
is needed now More than ever
The initiative is a partnership between ‘think-and-do tank’ Curiosity UnLtd and outdoor advertising giant Clear Channel, whose social value coordinator Helen Green said that the bus stop screens “will be transformed into a platform to exhibit the vibrant voices and creativity of Bristol’s residents”.
Green added: “By offering space on our screens, we hope to amplify the diverse perspectives that make Bristol the incredible community it is.”
Barbara Dettering played an important role in the Bristol Bus Boycott campaign and was one of the founders of St Paul’s Carnival – photo: Martin Booth
Among some of the Bristol Bus Boycott elders who had gathered at a bus stop on St Augustine’s Parade was Barbara Dettering, whose face is familiar from one of the Seven Saints of St Paul’s murals next to St Agnes Park.
Dettering, 84, who lives in Eastville, and has three children, five grandchildren and 11 great-children, was born in British Guyana in 1939 and moved to Bristol in 1961, becoming a social worker as well as being one of the founders of St Paul’s Carnival.
“The boycott is part of Bristol,” Dettering told Bristol24/7.
“It’s the result of what was going on at that time with the non-employment of Black people on the buses and elsewhere.
“Once someone was blatantly refused an interview, we thought something had to be done.
“I got involved when I was walking through St Paul’s and there was a peaceful demonstration.
“I enquired what it was all about, was told what it was about and I thought, ‘oh well, I’m all for that’. That’s how I got involved.
“So it’s very important that these things continue to be brought to the fore, to the minds of the young people of today because a lot of them don’t know what went on in those days.
“They see the buses now. They see Black people on them. They don’t know what we had to do in order for that to happen so this is very very important.”
For more information about the design competition, visit www.curiosityunltd.com
Main photo by Martin Booth, left to right: Tina Johnson, Lilleith Morrison, Cherry Hartley, Barbara Dettering, Joyce Morris-Wisdom and Timothy Morris-Wisdom
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