The golden jubilee of the Mangrove will be celebrated with a community day on All Saint’s Road, London W11, on Sunday 16 September from 12 noon to 8pm.
The celebration marks an anniversary of huge historical significance for the Caribbean community. Frank Crichlow’s Mangrove restaurant became the scene of a series of unwarranted police raids that led to a landmark case against ‘the Mangrove Nine’. Against all the odds, they won their case, striking a notable blow against British state racism.
Dignitaries and speakers honouring the Mangrove Nine’s legacy of struggle and resistance will include Althea Jones-LeCointe, one of the original nine defendants and the considered leader of the British Black Panthers; Michael Mansfield QC, barrister for Frank Crichlow; and Clive ‘Mash Up’ Phillip, co-founder of the Mangrove Steel Band, which was formed shortly after the case.
Billed as a Family Fun Day, it will offer a host of activities for all ages. There will be plenty to amuse the young ones; from face painting to steelpan and mas-making workshops. Visitors can also take part in a history walk, to learn about the various businesses that operated in and around All Saints Road over the decades. Photographs and biographies will recall the people who carried out such important work during that period in history.
Artists, DJs and steelbands will keep the atmosphere lively all the way into the evening. Among those providing the music will be Metronomes, Ebony and, of course, Mangrove Steel Band, the winner of this year’s Panorama.
The organisers emphasised that they are using this opportunity to honour Raymond ‘Moses’ Bernard, a Mangrove veteran who sadly lost his life in the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017.
A special souvenir brochure, marking one of the most important legacies of black radical resistance in the UK, will be available on the day.
