Dorothy Kuya
Born(1933-03-16)16 March 1933
Toxteth, Liverpool, England
Died23 December 2013(2013-12-23) (aged 80)
NationalityBritish
CitizenshipUnited Kingdom
Organization(s)National Assembly of Women (NAW).
Teachers Against Racism.
Known forLeading British communist activist.
Successful campaign to create Liverpool's International Slavery Museum
Political partyCommunist Party of Great Britain (CPGB)

Dorothy Kuya (16 March 1933 – 23 December 2013) was a leading British communist and human rights activist from Liverpool, the co-founder of Teachers Against Racism, and the general secretary of the National Assembly of Women (NAW). She was a life-long member of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB), and was most famous for being Liverpool's first community relations officer,[1] and for leading a successful campaign to establish Liverpool's International Slavery Museum.[2] During the mid-1980s, Kuya served as the chair of the London housing association Ujima, and built the organisation into the largest black-led social enterprise in Europe.[3]

She was described by the Director of National Museums Liverpool as "Liverpool's greatest fighter against racism and racial intolerance" and "one of the country's leading figures in combating inequality."[4]

Early life

Dorothy Kuya was born in Toxteth, Liverpool,[5] on 16 March 1933; her father was a black man from Sierra Leone and her mother was a white British woman and native "Liverpudlian".[3][6] Her father disappeared and her mother remarried a young Nigerian man whom Dorothy regarded as her father and took his second name, Kuya.[6] Dorothy grew up in Liverpool 8, a working-class area, which was one of the oldest black communities in Britain.[6] The Kuya family and their neighbours suffered heavy racial discrimination and the worst housing and unemployment levels in the city.[6] When remembering her childhood, Dorothy Kuya recalled: "You'd be hard pressed to find a Black face in Liverpool city centre only twenty minutes away by foot."[6] Despite the overwhelming poverty, the community was very close-knit and home to many active social clubs that reflected the cultural diversity of its resident.[6]

The poverty, racism and unemployment that Kuya experienced growing up in Liverpool inspired her to become a communist. She attended her first meeting of the Young Communist League (YCL) at 13 years old,[7] going on to join the League and its parent party the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) in the 1940s.[6] She became an active member, selling the Daily Worker on Liverpool streets and addressing communist meetings as a speaker.[6] One of her proudest memories of her activism as a young YCL and CPGB member was greeting American civil rights leader Paul Robeson with a bouquet of flowers during his tour of Britain in 1949.[6] Working with the CPGB also brought her into contact with Pablo Picasso, who was a frequent guest of British communists.[3]

Adult life

In her professional life, Kuya trained to become a nurse and then a teacher.[3][6] She moved to London to start teaching in a north London school, and she joined her local branch of the CPGB.[8] During her time as a London teacher, Kuya met fellow communist teacher Bridget Harriss, and the two of them co-founded the organisation Teachers Against Racism. Kuya also became friends with another communist activist called Ken Forge, who like Kuya had joined the CPGB communist party after experiencing anti-black racism in Britain.[8] With Kuya's help, Forge was able to establish the first Black Studies course in a south London comprehensive school.[8] Kuya also became a friend of American black rights activist Vinie Burrows.

Kuya became heavily involved with an influential academic journal called Dragon's Teeth, which published research investigating racism and sexism within British children's books, and also suggested alternatives.[8] In connection with this journal, she established the Racism Awareness Unit, with financial support from the Greater London Council.[8] Kuya was also an active member of the National Assembly of Women (NAW), ensuring that anti-racist activism stayed at the forefront of their campaigns, and was eventually elected their general secretary.[8] Kuya's contributions to the study of British racism were included within the communist publication Black and Blue: Racism and the Police State.[8] During the 1980s, Kuya became the Head of Race Equality for Haringey Council, and worked closely with Labour Party MP Bernie Grant.[8]

During the mid-1980s, Kuya became the chair of Ujima, a London housing association, and in that role she helped steer the organisation into becoming the largest black-led social enterprise in Europe.[3]

The entrance to Liverpool's International Slavery Museum, created partially as a result of Kuya's campaign activism

Return to Liverpool

Kuya returned to living in Liverpool, where she bought a house in Liverpool 8, the same community where she was raised.[8] She created and directed the Liverpool Slavery History Trail tours, which sought to uncover hidden-histories in the city.[3] During this time, Kuya dedicated herself to anti-racist activism and pushed for the creation of a slavery museum in Liverpool, a city that had been heavily involved in the transatlantic slave trade.[8][9] Her campaign was successful, and she played a key role in the development of Liverpool's International Slavery Museum,[10] which opened in August 2007.[3] According to her biographers, Kuya was "overjoyed when the Slavery Museum opened" and labelled the museum itself as a "tribute to her vision and determination".[8] She also advocated for the observation of a Slavery Remembrance Day, first held in 1999 and since then held annually on 23 August.[11]

Death and legacy

Kuya died on 23 December 2013.[2][3]

Since her death, she has been universally recognised as one of Liverpool's most influential activists, and one of the most highly accomplished anti-racist campaigners in the UK.

The Communist Party of Britain, the successor to the original Communist Party of Great Britain, considers Dorothy Kuya as "one of the Communist Party's most important Black members from the 1940s to the 1980s".[12]

Journalist Louis Julienne described Kuya as a "great daughter of Liverpool" and "a tireless campaigner against discrimination and racism."[13]

In 2022, the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool published an animated video describing Dorothy Kuya's life and praising her work.[14]

Annual memorial lectures

To honour her, National Museums Liverpool renamed their annual "Slavery Remembrance Day Memorial Lecture" as the "Dorothy Kuya Slavery Remembrance Memorial Lecture Series".[4][11][15] In 2015, Nelson Mandela's grandson was scheduled to give a speech at the annual lectures; however, he called off his visit citing family reasons.[16] Other lecturers in the series have included:

Liverpool University residential hall

In 2021, a residence hall belonging to the University of Liverpool, which was formerly known as "Gladstone Hall", was renamed after Dorothy Kuya.[11][23] Gladstone Hall was originally named after former UK Prime Minister William Gladstone whose family became rich through the slave trade. More than 4,465 students of the University of Liverpool voted on a historical figure they believed would be a suitable replacement,[24] and the winner of the vote was Dorothy Kuya.[25][26] The University of Liverpool described Kuya as a "tireless campaigner for racial equality".[1] The university also promised in April 2021 that they would soon erect a memorial plaque to Dorothy Kuya before the new academic year.[1]

The Dorothy Kuya Creative Archives Project

In 2023, it was announced that National Museums Liverpool had commissioned the community organisation Writing on the Wall to develop a Creative Heritage Programme working with Kuya's archives.[27]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "William Gladstone: Liverpool students rename hall after anti-racism activist". BBC. 29 April 2021. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  2. 1 2 Barlow, Eleanor (2 January 2014). "Leading Liverpool anti-racist campaigner dies". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Julienne, Louis (14 January 2014). "Dorothy Kuya - Obituary". Nerve Magazine. Catalyst Media. Archived from the original on 20 August 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Tribute To Dorothy Kuya: Memorial Lecture will be named after anti-racism campaigner". liverpoolmuseums.org.uk. Archived from the original on 20 October 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  5. ↑ "Liverpool To Honour Its 'Greatest Fighter Against Racism'". The Voice. 24 April 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Meddick, Simon; Liz Payne; Phil Katz (2020). Red Lives: Communists and the Struggle for Socialism. UK: Manifesto Press Cooperative Limited. p. 119. ISBN 978-1-907464-45-4.
  7. ↑ Graham, Patrick (15 November 2022). "Campaigner worked tirelessly to improve community despite racism". Liverpool Echo.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Meddick; Payne; Katz (2020). Red Lives. p. 120.
  9. ↑ Cobbinah, Angela (28 December 2013). "Dorothy Kuya RIP, 1933-2013". Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  10. ↑ Rand, Lisa (7 October 2019). "The black activists, heroes and trailblazers who transformed Liverpool". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  11. 1 2 3 University of Liverpool Library (13 June 2022). "Dorothy Kuya: a tireless campaigner for race equality". University of Liverpool. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  12. ↑ Horsley, David. "Dorothy Kuya". communistparty.org.uk. Archived from the original on 15 August 2020. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  13. ↑ Julienne, Louis (15 January 2014). "Tribute To Liverpool's First Lady Of Civil Rights". The Voice. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  14. ↑ "The Life of Dorothy Kuya | International Slavery Museum | National Museums Liverpool". YouTube. 18 August 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  15. ↑ Harris, Rachel (20 August 2020). "Dorothy Kuya Slavery Remembrance Memorial Lecture Series 2020 Zita Holbourne". Black History Month. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  16. ↑ Neild, Larry (20 August 2015). "Mandela's Grandson Calls Off Visit To Liverpool". Confidentials Liverpool. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  17. ↑ Saunders, Lawrence (29 July 2016). "Multi award-winning hip-hop artist to give slavery lecture". Your Magazine Liverpool. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  18. ↑ "National Museums Liverpool – Slavery remembrance Lecture 2019". Alt A Review. 10 August 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  19. ↑ "Zita Holbourne". Dorothy Kuya Slavery Remembrance Memorial Lecture Series 2020. National Museums Liverpool. 22 August 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  20. ↑ "Stephen A. Small". African American Studies. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  21. ↑ "Professor Stephen Small". National Museums Liverpool. 25 August 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  22. ↑ "Professor Hakim Adi | Slavery Remembrance Day 2023 | National Museums Liverpool". YouTube. 30 August 2023.
  23. ↑ Wace, Charlotte (3 May 2021). "University of Liverpool drops William Gladstone's name from building over links to slavery - News". The Times. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  24. ↑ Watts, Angus (27 April 2021). "Dorothy Kuya Halls of Residence: Gladstone Halls renamed". Liverpool Guild Student Media. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  25. ↑ "Winner of vote announced for renamed Hall of Residence". University of Liverpool. 27 April 2021. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  26. ↑ Evans, Rachel (29 April 2021). "Gladstone Halls to be renamed after Dorothy Kuya from today". The Tab. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  27. ↑ "Dorothy Kuya Creative Archives Project". Retrieved 7 May 2023.
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