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Leighton Rhett Radford " Darcus" Howe (26 February 1943 – 1 April 2017) "Civil rights activist Darcus Howe dies aged 74". , BBC News, 2 April 2017. was a British broadcaster, writer and racial justice campaigner. Originally from Trinidad, Howe arrived in England as a teenager in 1961, intending to study law and settling in London. There he joined the British Black Panthers, a group named in sympathy with the US Black Panther Party.
He came to public attention in 1970 as one of the nine protestors, known as the Mangrove Nine, arrested and tried on charges that included conspiracy to incite a riot, following a protest against repeated police raids of The Mangrove restaurant in Notting Hill, London. They were all acquitted of the most serious charges and the trial became the first judicial acknowledgement of behaviour (the repeated raids) motivated by racial hatred, rather than legitimate crime control, within the Metropolitan Police. In 1981, he was instrumental in organising a 20,000-strong "Black People's Day of Action" in protest at the handling of the investigation into the New Cross house fire, in which 13 black teenagers died.
Howe was an editor of Race Today, and chairman of the Notting Hill Carnival. He was best known as a television broadcaster 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. "Darcus Howe" , IMDb.Davies, Caroline, "Darcus Howe, writer, broadcaster and civil rights campaigner, dies aged 74". , The Guardian, 2 April 2017. His television work also included White Tribe (2000), a look at modern Britain and its loss of "Englishness"; Slave Nation (2001); Who You Callin' a Nigger? (2004); and Is This My Country? (2006), a search for his West Indian identity. "Darcus Howe season". , Channel 4. Retrieved 13 August 2011.Vallely, Paul, "Darcus Howe: The bruiser" , The Independent, 21 October 2005. He was a columnist for the New StatesmanPeter Wilby,
[http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2017/04/remembering-great-darcus-howe-gibraltar-s-phoney-war-and-cricket-s-brain-freeze "Remembering the great Darcus Howe, Gibraltar's phoney war, and cricket's brain freeze"]. , ''New Statesman'', 11 April 2017.
and ''The Voice'',[http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/leading-activist-darcus-howe-dies-aged-74 "Leading Activist Darcus Howe Dies Aged 74"] , ''The Voice'', 2 April 2017. as well as writing for other national publications including ''[[The Guardian]]''.[https://www.theguardian.com/profile/darcus-howe Darcus Howe profile page] , ''The Guardian''. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
At the age of 18, after leaving QRC, Howe moved to England,Howe, Darcus, "The heroic struggle of black parenthood". , New Statesman, 12 March 2007. Retrieved 4 April 2017. arriving on the SS Antilles at Southampton on 11 April 1961, after a two-week journey, and taking a train on to London Waterloo station.Bunce, Robin, and Paul Field, Darcus Howe: A Political Biography, London: Bloomsbury, 2014, p. 23. He intended to study law, but after two years at Middle Temple he left, becoming more involved with journalism. In 1969, he returned to Trinidad,Bunce and Field (2014), p. 72. where his cousin (some sources give James as Howe's uncle but records from Howe's archive at the Columbia University established that their shared ancestor, Joshua Rudder, was James's grandfather and Howe's great-grandfather, making them first cousins once removed) and mentor, radical intellectual C. L. R. James, inspired him to combine writing with political activism. A brief spell as assistant editor on the Vanguard, weekly newspaper of the Oilfields Workers' Trade Union, was followed by a return to Britain.Howe, Darcus, "Nelson Mandela, CLR James and the Brixton radicals: how South Africa inspired South London". , Red Pepper, 6 December 2013.
Howe became a member of the British Black Panther Movement, and adopted the nickname "Darcus" around that time.James Heartfield, "Darcus Howe: fearless in thought and deed" , Spiked, 3 April 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2017 In the summer of 1970 he 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".Howe, Darcus, "If I pleaded guilty, said the lawyer, I'd only get five years". , New Statesman, 4 December 1998. Retrieved 4 April 2017. 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. In what would come to be considered a landmark case, Howe elected to represent himself. He and four of his co-defendants were acquitted of all charges after a 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. "Brawl in dock at Old Bailey", The Glasgow Herald, 13 November 1971. The judge stated that there was "evidence of racial hatred on both sides".
From 1973 to 1985, Howe served as editor of the magazine Race Today (1973–88), which was originally connected with the Institute of Race Relations. "Race Today" , George Padmore Institute website. As Howe recalled in 2013:
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. Linton Kwesi Johnson contributed a song, "Man Free (For Darcus Howe)", to the campaign for his release.
Howe was involved over many years with the Notting Hill Carnival, both as a participant — in 1971 he founded the Renegades steelband, sponsored by Race Today and eventually called Mangrove/RenegadesBlagrove, Ishmahil, and Margaret Busby (eds), Carnival: A Photographic and Testimonial History of the Notting Hill Carnival, London: Rice N Peas, 2017 (), pp. 259, 261. — and as Chair of the Carnival Development Committee, elected in April 1977.Blagrove and Busby (2014), p. 345.
In 1981, Howe was instrumental in organising a 20,000-strong "Black People's Day of Action" in protest at the handling of the investigation into the New Cross house fire, in which 13 black teenagers died; Kehinde Andrews noted in The Guaardian: "His key skill, as one of the main figures in the anti-racist, anti-police brutality movement, was to translate the energy and anger of street protests into government action. He had a major impact on Lord Scarman, who was commissioned to investigate the causes of the 1981 riots. The rebellions in Brixton and elsewhere against the sus laws had shaken the nation; the Scarman Report was the first in Britain to take the police force to task for racial bias."
In October 2005, Howe presented a Channel 4 documentary entitled 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, of which Amiri was later found not guilty at the Old Bailey. "Son of Mine", Channel4.com.
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 comedian Joan Rivers. "Joan Rivers Confronts Darcus Howe's "Racist" Remark on BBC Radio (Audio)" (19 October 2005). YouTube. 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". "Race row disrupts Radio 4 debate", BBC website, 19 October 2005. "Transcript of BBC radio race row", BBC News, 20 October 2005.
Is This My Country? (Paul Yule, 2006) was a reflection on his life and a search for his West Indian identity in the face of strident calls for assertions of Britishness by the political elite.
Howe was one of several public figures who fell foul of satirist and prankster Chris Morris on Morris's show Brass Eye, in the final episode, "Decline". Instead of a legitimate interview, Morris hurled a volley of degrading insults at him, before quickly apologising and claiming to have mistakenly read out the introduction to Robert Elms.
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."Pangburn, D. J., " Writer Darcus Howe Rips BBC on Coverage of London Riots. ", Death and Taxes, 9 August 2011.
Howe was married to the British editor and activist Leila Hassan, who succeeded him as editor of Race Today. The 2005 Channel 4 documentary Son of Mine examines Howe's relationship with his 20-year-old son Amiri Howe, who faced jail for charges related to stolen passports. Howe's daughter Tamara Howe was a director of production for London Weekend Television before moving to the BBC, where she rose to be Controller of Business, Comedy & Entertainment, Television. "Tamara Howe, Controller of Business, Comedy & Entertainment, Television". , About the BBC.
Howe also had a relationship with fellow Black Panther and Mangrove Nine member Barbara Beese, and they have a son, Darcus Beese, who is a former president of Island Records.
Howe was diagnosed with prostate cancer in April 2007 and he subsequently campaigned for more men to get tested. He died aged 74 on 1 April 2017, at his home in Streatham, London, where he lived with his wife Leila Howe. An event in his honour, "Tribute to Darcus, Man Free", took place at the Black Cultural Archives on Sunday, 9 April. "Darcus Howe Funeral Arrangements Announced", The Voice, 11 April 2017. . On 20 April, his funeral service was held at All Saints Notting Hill Church, following the cortege's procession through Brixton, with wreath-laying at the Railton Road building where the Race Today collective was formerly based. "Wreath for Darcus Howe on Railton Road" , Brixton Blog,
The Darcus Howe Papers – containing "correspondence, writings, interview transcripts, court reports and transcripts, printed material, and audio and video tapes regarding the life and work of journalist and activist, Darcus Howe—a British citizen and native of Trinidad" – are archived at Columbia University Libraries.
Actor Malachi Kirby portrays Howe in the Mangrove episode of Steve McQueen's 2020 film anthology/television miniseries Small Axe.
Linton Kwesi Johnson wrote about Darcus Howe in the song “Man Free” on his 1978 debut album Dread Beat an' Blood.
In March 2023, a special memorial edition of Race Today dedicated to Howe was published, linked to what would have been his 80th birthday and coinciding with the launch of the magazine's on-line archive at an event organised by the Darcus Howe Legacy Collective, hosted at Goldsmiths, University of London, at which journalist and broadcaster Gary Younge was the keynote speaker.
As editor
When the institute set up Race Today, it began by publishing mainly academic articles on the colonial territories. It later focused on British immigration, especially the children of the first generation, from India, Pakistan, Africa and the Caribbean. After a shift on the council in a more radical direction, they appointed me, the first black editor. We turned it into a radical black newspaper. We moved it to Brixton, reoriented the whole journal, and worked with ex-Panthers who'd squatted in Brixton, including the writer and activist Farrukh Dhondy. The intention was to be aggressively campaigning, and to 'record and recognise' the emerging struggles in the black community.
The Brixton-based Race Today Collective also included Linton Kwesi Johnson, Barbara Beese, and others. Howe's successor as editor, Leila Hassan, would eventually become his third wife.Renton, David (2017), Racism Had Taken a Beating, Review 31. (review of Robin Bunce and Paul Field, Darcus Howe: A Political Biography).
Broadcasting
In 1982, Howe began his broadcasting career on Channel 4's television series Black on Black, was subsequently co-editor with Tariq Ali of Bandung File (1985–91) "'Bandung File (1985–91)". , BFI, Screenonline. and later White Tribe, a look at modern-day Britain and its loss of Englishness. Howe continued to write in the New Statesman and fronted the Channel 4 current affairs programme Devil's Advocate (1992–96). 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.
2011 BBC interview
Howe was interviewed by Fiona Armstrong for BBC News on 9 August 2011 at the time of the 2011 England riots. "London Riots: BBC Interview Gets Testy" , Huffington Post, 10 August 2011. 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."Hughes, Sarah Anne. "BBC apologizes to Darcus Howe for ‘poorly phrased question’" , The Washington Post, 11 August 2011.
The BBC apologised for any offence the interview caused, "BBC News, England riots coverage", BBC complaints website, 10 August 2011. and said "it had not intended to show him any disrespect".Reporters: Anna Browning, Vanessa Barford, Fiona Bailey and Rebecca Cafe, "As it happened: England riots day five" , BBC News.
Marriage, children and death
Howe was married three times and had seven children.
19 April 2017.
Photiou, Andrea (20 April 2017), [http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/he-will-surely-be-missed-darcus-howe-casket-stops-se24 "'He Will Surely Be Missed': Darcus Howe Casket Stops In SE24"], ''The Voice''. .[[Wadsworth, Marc|Marc Wadsworth]] (20 April 2017), [https://thecroydoncitizen.com/history/tribute-darcus-howe/ "A tribute to Darcus Howe"], ''The Croydon Citizen''. . Those who gave spoken tributes and eulogies at the church included his daughter Tamara and [[Farrukh Dhondy]]. A note of condolence from [[Jeremy Corbyn]] was read out.Photiou, Andrea (21 April 2017), [http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/darcus-howe-funeral-pictures-and-heartfelt-words "Darcus Howe Funeral: Pictures And Heartfelt Words"], ''The Voice''. .
Academic legacy
Darcus Howe: a Political Biography, by Robin Bunce of Cambridge University and human rights activist Paul Field, was published in 2013 by Bloomsbury Academic, Darcus Howe: A Political Biography. , by Robin Bunce, Paul Field, Bloomsbury Publishing. . and in a 2017 paperback edition entitled Renegade: The Life and Times of Darcus Howe.Bunce, Robin, and Paul Field, Renegade: The Life and Times of Darcus Howe, Bloomsbury Paperbacks, 2017. .
In popular media
Howe appears in the 1973 Franco Rosso and John La Rose documentary film The Mangrove Nine. "The Mangrove Nine", IMDb.
Selected bibliography
See also
External links
Categories: 1943 Births, 2017 Deaths, Alumni Of Queen's Royal College, Trinidad, Black British Activists, Black British Journalists, Black British Television Personalities, British Anti-racism Activists, British Broadcasters, British Columnists, British Male Journalists, British People Convicted Of Assault, 20th-century British Criminals, British Television Presenters, British Writers, English People Of Trinidad And Tobago Descent, Members Of The Middle Temple, Trinidad And Tobago Emigrants To The United Kingdom, Trinidad And Tobago Journalists, People From Princes Town Region, Trinidad And Tobago Broadcasters
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