The civil rights activist Roy Hackett, who was one of the lead organisers of the Bristol bus boycott, has died at the age of 93.
The 1963 campaign, which lasted four months, mobilised people across the city to stop using Bristol Omnibus Company buses because of its refusal to hire black and Asian people. At the time, a "colour bar" in Britain meant that people from minority ethnic backgrounds could legally be banned from housing, employment, and public places.
The protests that followed not only forced the company to change its policies but paved the way in passing the Race Relations Act of 1965 and 1968. Hackett was appointed an OBE in 2009 and an MBE in 2020.
The Bristol lord mayor, Paula O'Rourke, paid tribute to the civil rights campaigner. "So very sad to hear Bristol civil rights legend Roy Hackett, organiser of the Bristol bus boycott 1963 and founder of St Pauls Carnival, has passed away. My thoughts are with Roy's family and friends at this difficult time."
This story is from the August 04, 2022 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the August 04, 2022 edition of The Guardian.
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