Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
Jessica Huntley and Eric Huntley, radical book publishers and pioneering Black political activists have been prolifically involved with the British African-Caribbean community's experience from the first arrival in England in 1956 to the first decade of the twenty-first century.
For over 50 years the Huntley's participated in many of the significant grassroots campaigns for racial and social justice that occurred on the national and international scene including the black supplementary schools movement of the 1960s and 70s, the Black Parents Movement which campaigned against the controversial 'Sus' laws and organised legal defence for black and Asian people arrested during the Southall riots of 1979, the New Cross Massacre Action Committee, organiser of the 1981 Black People's Day of Action march that attracted 20,000 black Britons from all over the country and was the largest protest march of black Britons to take place in Britain, and patronage of the Keskidee Centre, Britain's first Afro-Caribbean cultural centre from the 1970s to the 1990s.
The Huntleys were also active in international campaigns to end the South African apartheid regime, political repression in their home country Guyana and free American, former Black Panther and radio journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal who was on death row in Pennsylvania. Their publishing house Bogle L'Ouverture published landmark texts by Walter Rodney and Bernard Coard. They are highly respected within the black community as elders for their longstanding commitment, contribution and participation in radical movements and organisations that articulated the interests of the black community.
Jessica Elleisse Huntley nee Carroll (occasionally known as seko or sica by those close to her) was born in Bagotstown British Guiana on 23 February 1927 to Hectorine and James Carroll; she was the youngest of five children and had four brothers Robert, Munroe, Newburne and Hadden.
Eric Lindbergh Huntley was born 25 September 1929 Georgetown, British Guiana to Selina and Frank Huntley, he was one of twelve children, who included Vera, Stella, Ovid, Stella, Yvonne, Rudolph, Cyril, Patrick, Patsy, Nicholas and Audrey.
Jessica and Eric Huntley shared a similar political worldview and often worked together on a number of projects. For further information please see introductions to specific sections of the catalogue.