Today, tributes were paid to civil rights activist Roy Hackett, who died at the age of 93.
Mr. Hackett, who was born in Jamaica and immigrated to the UK when he was 24 years old, was a driving force behind the Bristol Bus Boycott in 1963, the first of its kind to combat discrimination in the workplace.
After the Bristol Omnibus Company prohibited hiring black and Asian drivers and conductors, the boycott got underway.
Mr. Hackett started his fervent campaign after witnessing a man sobbing because his employer would not hire him because he was black.
He entered the office and insisted that the company change its policy after being inspired by Rosa Parks.
Later, the tenacious campaigner organised protesters who marched through the city’s centre and blocked buses with their bodies to prevent them from moving.
“I lived in many places before I came to Bristol, and I never had racism as tough as back then,” the father of three once said.
The Commonwealth Coordinated Committee, which established the St. Paul’s Carnival in 1968, was co-founded by Mr. Hackett, who was given the honorary degrees of OBE in 2009 and MBE in 2020.
Asher Craig, Deputy mayor of Bristol, said: “The transition of Mr Hackett has hit many of us really hard.
“A humble, principled, freedom fighter – Bristol Bus Boycott, St Paul’s Carnival, Bristol West Indian Parents & Friends Association, Bristol Race Equality Council – his legacy will live on.”
In 1963, when it was lawful for British businesses to discriminate in the hiring process based on skin colour, Mr. Hackett spearheaded the boycott alongside Paul Stephenson, Owen Henry, and Guy Bailey.
In part motivated by Rosa Parks in the US, who in 1955 refused to give up her seat for a white passenger, he persuaded the 3000 strong Caribbean community to participate in the boycott.
Protesters blocked buses from moving by marching through the city’s main thoroughfares.
As a result of the company’s subsequent policy change and the boycott, the Race Relations Act of 1965 was made possible.
On August 28, the day Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” address in Washington, D.C., the union finally gave in to the demands of the boycotters, according to Mr. Hackett, after months of disruption.
He served as the association’s president for West Indian Parents and Friends. The organisation confronted the Bristol council and compelled it to take action on housing and employment issues. But the bus boycott was its most crucial effort.
According to Urban Kapital, Mr. Hackett claimed he was “born an activist” and felt it was his responsibility to speak out against racism anytime he did.
Bristol Lord Mayor, Paula O’Rourke, also paid tribute, saying: ‘So very sad to hear Bristol civil rights legend Roy Hackett, organiser of the Bristol bus boycott 1963 and founder of St Pauls Carnival has passed away. My thoughts are with Roy’s family and friends at this difficult time.’
George Ferguson, former Mayor of Bristol, also reached out on Twitter.
In a previous interview with BBC Ideas, Mr Hackett said: ‘It [Bristol] was hard for us to find a place to live, it was hard for a black man to find a job.’
‘I walked down Ashley Road looking for housing and found one house which didn’t have a card on it to one that said ‘no gypsies, no dogs, no Irish and no coloureds’.
‘The lady opened the door, saw me, and without saying a word, just slammed the door. It was a struggle, people were blatantly racist.’
Mr Hackett previously recalled how he had stood up to the bus company to the Guardian.
‘I was coming from Broadmead, Bristol, and saw this Jamaican bloke crying. I said, ‘Why are you crying?’,’ he said.