Friends of Bogle , support group for Bogle-L'Ouverture publishing house

Friends of Bogle , support group for Bogle-L'Ouverture publishing house

A loyal group of supporters worked closely with Bogle-L'Ouverture from it's inception in 1969. In 1979 they organised the 10th anniversary celebration of the publishing house and at that time they were already calling themselves 'Friends of Bogle'. In the minutes of 10/11/79 they are listed as Steve Lewis, Noreen Forbes, Maureen Stone, Anne Braithwaite, Rolston Callendar, Keith Waithe, Eric Huntley, Jessica Huntley, Leila, Leeland, Shirley, John and Errol.

In 1986 they drew up a constitution which defined clearly their aims and objectives. The committee were Tony Nelson, Anne Johnson, Steve lewis, Karlene Rickards, Claire Villaruel, Keith Waithe, Hazel Alexander, Jessica Huntley and Eric Huntley. The proposed aims were to:

• support the work of Bogle-L'Ouverture (publishing)
• co-operate with Jessica and Eric Huntley in organising poetry readings/book launchings and promotions and discussions on current events which bring more people in touch with the bookshop and with current cultural and political life.
• fund raise when possible
• in order to support the publishing.
• develop the practices of multi-culturalism through the promotion of crafts, education and cultural programmes,

• enrich the quality of life in Ealing by involving members of the community in creative activity.

  The group's greatest support/achievement was in March 1991. An appeal to save Bogle-L'Ouverture was raised by Operation Headstart asking the 'African community to recognise the incalucuable services Sister Jessica and Brother Eric have made to our community for over a quarter of a century. The bookshop has closed and the publishing is under threat. The amount needed to re-start the company is estimated at £3,000 to £5,000. Donations to be sent to Friends of Bogle.'

  In October 1996 a Business Plan was created with the following mission statement: Friends of Bogle is committed to:

• Developing a strong readership of African and Caribbean literature throughout the UK and other European countries.
• Providing a coherent structure which would allow potential writers of Afro-Caribbean literature the opportunity to publish their works.
• Securing adequate resources and create the environment to promote works of Black writers currently writing in the UK market.
• Working in partnership with other established publishers to enhance the readership of Afro-Caribbean literature.
• Ensure Friends of Bogle is recognised as a fully fledged publishing house.

• Secure a readership market world-wide over a period by carefully planned achievable targets.

  By 1996 the group was responsible for publishing several mainstream writers and were associated with 'allowing the voices of Creole and other black dialects to be heard as never before in the the United Kingdom.' They had also published political writers whose work the mainstream press would have been reluctant to publish. Part of their established track record was the publication of 'Come From That Window Child, 'Child Race Class & Democracy' and 'A Hero'.

  The group's skills were used to organise the following:

• 10th Anniversary celebration and a commemorative journal
• Saturday Supplementary School at Ealing Technical College,
• The Marcus Garvey Centenary Celebrations
• The Book Fair and the production of the record of performances
• A Conference in support of the Miners' Strike
• Support for the Newcross Massacre March
• Support to the ANC against the aparthied regime in South Africa

• The Walter Rodney Memorial lectures

  Other Friends of Bogle Activities included trying to establish the:

• International Children's Bookfair Society. The Patrons of this group included Jessica Huntley and John Agard. They aimed to set up a children's fair to raise the standard of literature for young people.

• Carl Kirton's Culture World. The Friends made an application to create a video about the recording engineer Carl Kirton which chronicled his involvement in collecting records from Calypso to Jazz to contemporary music and his wider involvement in other cultural activities such as dance and poetry from other cultures notably Asian and Irish.

  Marcus Garvey Centenary Celebrations:

  Marcus Garvey a Black Jamaican writer, left the Caribbean to live in New York. There he became politicised and campaigned for Black people to be aware of their history. He advocated a return to Africa and created the Black Star Line shipping company.

  This event was celebrated internationally and the Friends held a cultural extravaganza at Ealing Town Hall to mark the occasion. Part of their brief was not only to co-ordinate celebration events in Ealing but to make contact with other groups. They provided the Marcus Garvey exhibition boards which were displayed at the launch in Lambeth. They brought an international flavour to it by including Indian and Chilean entertainers. The Garvey biography for primary schools was completed and a second biography for secondary schools was placed on the forthcoming titles list.