‘Roy Hackett gave me and many others the strength and inspiration to tackle racism’

Bristol has celebrated and commemorated the life of a legend Roy Hackett.

Yet we will know Roy’s life extended beyond the city walls.

I credit Roy as one of the key elements for improving the lives of the Black community in Bristol through his selfless work. He has had also had a major impact in changing race relations in Britain and progressing social justice.

Born in Jamaica in 1928, Roy emigrated to the UK in 1952, arriving in Liverpool at the age of 24. He moved to Bristol, accepting a role at the Hinckley Point power station in 1957.

However, it wasn’t an easy road. In his inspiring lifetime, he experienced racism and discrimination and then helped others to fight against it.

Roy felt the full effects of the colour bar first-hand when he applied for labouring work and was instantly informed the job wouldn’t be his. The company told him that ‘they didn’t hire Africans’, which he felt was an insult as a proud holder of a British passport that he carried on his speaking engagements.

His late-wife, Ena, also applied for a job as a bus conductor and, despite meeting all of the requirements, she too was refused.

Roy, along with three other members of the Black community, set up the West Indian Development Council. It was here that he worked alongside activist Dr Paul Stephenson OBE and Guy Reid Bailey, and also his mentor Owain Henry, to fight racism.

Roy played a prominent role in the Bristol Bus Boycott of 1963, inspired by Rosa Parks. The boycott aimed to lift a ban that the Bristol Omnibus Company and the unions had put in place to prevent Black people from working on the buses.

Roy organised blockades and sit-down protests, laying down in front of buses in Lawrence Hill.

Roy played a prominent role in the Bristol Bus Boycott of 1963 -photo: Barbara Evripidou

Students played a prominent role in the protests, as documented in historian Dr Madge Dresser’s book Black and White on the Buses, and the University of Bristol awarded Roy a doctorate in science at the funeral.

The protest proved successful and the ban was lifted. It was announced on the day Dr King delivered his I Have a Dream speech. Raghbir Singh became the first person of colour on the buses as the colour bar was broken. The Bristol Bus Boycott led to the Race Relations Act of 1965, championed by Tony Benn, who was the MP for Bristol South at the time. This act paved the way for various female, disability, religion, age and LGBT equality laws in Britain under the UK 2010 Equalities Act.

Roy was the co-founder of the Bristol West Indian Parents and Friends Association, also known as the Commonwealth Co-ordinated Committee (CCC). The group was a precursor for the St Paul’s Carnival, which Roy supported until his death.

Hundreds turned out to pay their respects to Roy Hackett – photo: Betty Woolerton

Roy was awarded numerous awards, including the MBE in 2020 and also an award from The High Commissioner of Jamaica. Roy supported several community groups in Bristol and was a regular guest on Ujima Radio, supporting the Dubplate to Dubstep and Black & Green projects that we ran.

He gave talks to our students at UWE Bristol about activism during our Windrush Generations project at UWE Bristol and is honoured with a mural as one of Michele Curtis’ Seven Saints of St Paul’s.

Roy and other community leaders, such as Barbera Dettering and the late Leo Goodridge, gave me and many others strength and inspiration to tackle racism and inequality. He will be deeply missed by many beyond his grieving family, however the legacy of his lifetime of achievements will last for generations.

Dr Roger Griffith MBE is a writer, UWE Bristol lecturer and consultant and CEO of his community consultancy Creative Connex.

Main photo: Stacie Shelton

Read more:

• Saying goodbye to Bristol civil rights legend Roy Hackett 
• Bristol civil rights hero Roy Hackett dies 
• Telling the story of the Bristol Bus Boycott 

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