Guardian arts and culture correspondent Lanre Bakare discusses the Mangrove Nine, a group of black activists who found themselves on trial at the Old Bailey in 1971 after protesting against police harassment. Their story became a landmark moment in British history, though many have never heard of it
The Mangrove restaurant in Notting Hill, London opened in 1968 and quickly became a key meeting place for London’s black community, hosting everyone from intellectuals and activists such as Darcus Howe and Altheia Jones-LeCointe to Bob Marley. But its popularity made it a target for west London’s police, who constantly raided the Mangrove, ostensibly to seize drugs that were never found. Jeb Johnson, who used to spend time in the Mangrove during that period, tells Anushka Asthana about how disturbing the raids were for everyone.
In 1970, Frank Crichlow, the owner, planned a protest outside west London police stations, but things descended into chaos on the residential Portnall Road, which the police claimed was entirely the fault of the protesters. Crichlow, Jones-LeCointe and Howe were eventually charged, along with Rupert Boyce, Rhodan Gordon, Anthony Innis, Barbara Beese, Rothwell Kentish and Godfrey Millett.
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