League of Coloured Peoples

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League of Coloured Peoples
AbbreviationLCP
Formation1931
Founder
Britain
Location
  • London, England
PublicationThe Keys

The League of Coloured Peoples (LCP) was a British

Britain. In 1933, the organisation began publication of the civil-rights journal, The Keys
. The LCP was a powerful civil-rights force until its dissolution in 1951.

The beginning

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).[1][2][3] On this night, they formed The League of Coloured Peoples.[4]

Its inaugural executive committee[5] included:

Also present at the inaugural meeting was Stella Thomas, who would go on to become the first woman magistrate in West Africa.

Other prominent members included C. L. R. James, Jomo Kenyatta and Una Marson.[1]

Aims

At the inaugural meeting, the League of Coloured Peoples established four main aims, printed in each issue of The Keys:[4][6]

  • To promote and protect the Social, Educational, Economic and Political Interests of its members;
  • To interest members in the Welfare of Coloured Peoples in all parts of the World;
  • To improve relations between the Races;
  • To cooperate and affiliate with organisations sympathetic to coloured people

In 1937, a fifth aim was added:

  • To render such financial assistance to coloured people in distress as lies within our capacity.

Activities

The colour bar in the workplace

From its inception in 1931 until the outbreak of

Harold Moody
's personal struggles in that area. By 1935, a branch of the league focusing on equality in the shipping industry had grown to over 80 members. During the 1930s, The League of Coloured Peoples struck many blows for blacks in the workplace.

The Charter of Coloured People

The Charter of Coloured People "demanded full self-government at the earliest opportunity for people living under British colonial rule, and an end to discrimination on racial grounds in all spheres of public life in the UK."[7]

During the Second World War

During the Second World War the LCP continued to highlight discrimination. Authorities organising the evacuation of children from the big towns found it very difficult to find families who would take in coloured children, and the LCP lobbied against this. Moody died in 1947 at the age of 64, somewhat worn out by his efforts with the League. His successor as President was the surgeon Dr Robert Cole but Cole resigned in 1949 and within two years the League dissolved.[8] Sometime before the LCP was dissolved, it was said to have enjoyed close contacts with the London branch of the Caribbean Labour Congress led by Billy Strachan.[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Harold Moody", Making Britain, The Open University.
  2. ^ Barbara P. Josiah, "Moody, Harold Arundel", Encyclopedia.com, 2005.
  3. ^ "Afro-metropolis: Black Political and Cultural Associations in Interwar London, University of California Press, p. 39.
  4. ^ a b Peter Fryer, Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain, London: Pluto Press, 1984, p. 327.
  5. ^ John Simkin, "Harold Moody", Spartacus Educational.
  6. ^ "Objectives of the League of Coloured Peoples", taken from The Keys, 1933. British Library.
  7. ^ Amma Fosuah Poku, "THIS DAY IN HISTORY: 8th October 1882", Modern Ghana, 9 October 2012.
  8. ^ "Description of 'The League of Coloured Peoples [founded in 1931]., 1942 - 1950. Papers of Dr Robert Benjamin Ageh Wellesley Cole". Archives Hub. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  9. ISSN 2055-7035
    . Retrieved 8 May 2023.

External links