2 April 2018 - Justin Cochrane is appointed as the new Head Coach of the England U15 Football Team.

Justin Vincent Cochrane (born 26 January 1982, in Hackney, London) is a former professional footballer who last played for Boreham Wood and the Antigua and Barbuda national football team.He was previously at several clubs between 2000-2013 -Queens Park Rangers, Hayes, Crewe, Gillingham, Rotherham, Yeovil Town, Millwall,Rusdhen & Diamonds, Aldershot, Hayes & Yeading.

Justin  was formely youth team coach at Tottenham Hotspur football club.

1 April 2017 - , the playwright, screenwriter and mentor to many, who tragically passed away on April 1st.  Parv pioneered the telling of stories that showed the realities and absurdities of British Asian life. See Hall of Fame for Biography

31 March 2018 - Anthony Joshua becomes the undefeated and  unified World Heavyweight Boxing Champion by defeating the  previously unbeaten WBO World Heavyweight Champion, Jospeh Parker in a unanimous points decision in front of 80,000 in Cardiff Wales. He thus becomes the  WBA, WBO, IBF & IBO Champion. Only the WBC Title Holder, Deontay Wilder, the undefeated WBC Champion from the United States stands between Joshua becoming the first undisputed World Champion since Britains Lennox Lewis in  2003. 

30 March 2020 - Douglas "Brother Dougie" Williams, "Mr.Tottenham" Community Activist,  for more than 30 years, popular DJ on SLR Radio dies. One of the causes close to him was his campaign to promote more effective parenting within the Black Community . From tackling gun and knife crime, issues of mental health, promoting better education, improving personal relationships, Douglas Williams would organise an event or support other activists at their events and across communities. His spirituality was a source of strength and inspiration to him.  

29 March 2018 - In the first event of its kind, Digital and Culture Secretary Matt Hancock brought together more than 100 organisations from across the digital, culture, media and sporting worlds to address diversity concerns.

The diversity forum, hosted at the world famous Abbey Road Studios, is part of the Government’s mission to create a fairer society where success is based on merit, not privilege.

The forum was attended by high-profile figures including former paralympian Lady Tanni Grey-Thompson, CodeFirstGirls’ Chief Executive Amali de Alwis, ITV's Head of Diversity Ade Rawcliffe, Chair of UK Music’s Diversity Taskforce Keith Harris and Sport England’s Director of Insight Lisa O’Keefe.

With thanks to the Voice Online for the above information.

17 March 2017 - Adam Regis 15, nephew of  ex Athlete John Regis MBE,is  stabbed to death in Plaistow, Newham, east London. The killers were described in media reports as five black youths, who fled in a car. He had been following in his uncle's footsteps as an athlete

26 February 2015 -The masked Islamic State militant known as "Jihadi John", responsible for the beheadings of numerous Western hostages, is named as Mohammed Emwazi from West London  

24 February 1998 - The 1952 conviction of Mahmood Hussein Mattan (1923–3 September 1952) who was  executed by hanging is quashed having been the first case  referred to the Court of Appeal by the newly formed Criminal Cases Review Commission. See Timeline 3 September 1952 and timeline 3 September 2022.

23 February 2018 -Eddie Amoo ,Lead singer with the Real Thing, the band that shot to fame in the 1970s with hits such as You to Me Are Everything dies. See Hall of Fame for Biography of Real Thing

22 February 2017 - UK Government do not deny or confirm that the 17 detainees from Guantanemo Bay have been paid £20m in compensation for their detention without trial.

21 February 2018 -  South London grime superstar Stormzy does "the double" as he wins  best British male and best British album for Gang Signs and Prayer at the Brit Awards Ceremony held at the London 02 Arena. Then makes national news in freestyle criticism of the PrimeMinister Theresa May asking "Where is the money for Grenfell?".

19 February 1995 - Reigning Olympics 100m Champion, Linford Christie breaks  200m world indoor recordin a time of 20.25sec, aged 34 at a meeting in Liévin, France.

18 February 2003  - Lenford Kwesi Garrison, dies aged  just 59. He was named as one of the "Greatest Black Britons", according to a list produced by Every Generation Media. The Jamaican-born photographer and educationalist was  one of the founding members of the Black Cultural Archives (BCA), a lasting legacy that combines everything Garrison was passionate about.

Thanks to the Voice Newspaper for the above information. See also our Hall of Fame. 

17 January 2019 -New Research shows that  Black Britons and those of south Asian origin face “shocking” discrimination in the labour market at levels unchanged since the late 1960s.

A study by experts based at the Centre for Social Investigation at Nuffield College, University of Oxford, found applicants from minority ethnic backgrounds had to send 80% more applications to get a positive response from an employer than a white person of British origin.

A linked study by the same researchers, comparing their results with similar field experiments dating back to 1969, found discrimination against black Britons and those of south Asian origin – particularly Pakistanis – unchanged over almost 50 years.

The research, part of a larger cross-national project funded by the European Union and shared exclusively with the Guardian before its official launch, prompted concerns that race relations legislation had failed.

It echoes findings published as part of the Guardian’s Bias in Britain  that  people from minority ethnic backgrounds face discrimination when seeking a room to rent. In a snapshot survey of online flatshare ads the Guardian found that an applicant called Muhammad was significantly less likely to receive a positive response than an applicant called David.

With thanks to The Guardian for the above information

17 February 2015 - Abid Naseer, a man who plotted a terrorist attack on a shopping centre in Manchester in 2009, which would have reportedly only come second to the September 11 attacks in its impact, stands on trial in the United States.

16 February 2017 - HRH Prince of Wales makes an official visit to the new home of the Black Cultural Archives in Brixton and praises their work and contribution to developing the education and heritage contribution of peoples of African and Carribean descent.   

15 February 1954 -The Movement for Colonial Freedom was a political civil rights advocacy group founded in the United Kingdom in by Fenner Brockway.  It had the support of many MPs including Harold Wilson, Barbara Castle and Tony Benn. It also had backing among celebrities such as Benjamin Britten and in the universities. In 1970 the Movement was renamed Liberation

 14 February 1997 - The Daily Mail newspaper uses its front page to name the five men it says killed Stephen Lawrence. It invites them to sue if it is wrong.

13 February 1998 - Imran Khan (15) , Glasgow, Scotland dies eight days after being stabbed in street fight between a group of Asian boys and four white youths. Colin Gilmour serving seven years for his attempted murder, while his brother Craig was given two years for slashing a second Asian boy in the group.

12 February 1992 - Seal wins  Best British Video for Killer at the BRIT Awards

11 February 1985 - Sade Wins Best Album at the BRIT Awards with Diamond Life

10 February 2014 - Stuart McPhail Hall, FBA  a Jamaican-born cultural theorist, political activist and sociologist dies. See Heroes section for full biography. 

8 February 2021 - Death of Anthony Norman Collins at the age of 94.  He managed Rochdale between 1960 and 1967, becoming the first black manager in the Football League and leading them to the 1962 Football League Cup Final, their only major final appearance.

See Hall of Fame for Biography.

7 February 2018 - A cutting-edge scientific analysis shows that a Briton from 10,000 years ago had dark brown skin and blue eyes.

Researchers from London's Natural History Museum extracted DNA from Cheddar Man, Britain's oldest complete skeleton, which was discovered in 1903. University College London researchers then used the subsequent genome analysis for a facial reconstruction.

It underlines the fact that the lighter skin characteristic of modern Europeans is a relatively recent phenomenon. No prehistoric Briton of this age had previously had their genome analysed.

As such, the analysis provides valuable new insights into the first people to resettle Britain after the last Ice Age.

With thanks to the BBC for the above information.

6 February 2009 -Bashir Ahmad who made history when he was elected to the Scottish Parliament to represent the Glasgow region at the 2007 election,dies. He was the first MSP to be elected from Asian-Scots, Muslim and non-White backgrounds. See Hall of Fame for more information