Nubian Jak Community Trust (NJCT) is a commemorative plaque and sculpture scheme founded by Jak Beula that highlights the historic contributions of

Black and minority ethnic A number of different systems of classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom exist. These schemata have been the subject of debate, including about the nature of ethnicity, how or whether it can be categorised, and the relationship betwe ...

people in Britain. The first NJCT heritage plaque, honouring

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

, was unveiled in 2006 after "two years of research and behind the scenes negotiating". The scheme has been run and managed by the

not-for-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

Nubian Jak Trust Ltd since August 2016, with a remit to commemorate and celebrate the diverse history of modern

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

. Its objectives include the promotion of social

equality Equality may refer to: Society * Political equality, in which all members of a society are of equal standing ** Consociationalism, in which an ethnically, religiously, or linguistically divided state functions by cooperation of each group's elite ...

and to encourage activities that promote

cultural diversity Cultural diversity is the quality of diverse or different cultures, as opposed to monoculture, the global monoculture, or a homogenization of cultures, akin to cultural evolution. The term "cultural diversity" can also refer to having different cu ...

in society.

Overview

The Trust was founded by Jak Beula and works in partnership with educational groups, cultural institutions, local government, and public- and private-sector organizations. Its activities include exhibitions, seminars, workshops, and learning programmes, as well as managing a national plaque and sculpture scheme. The scheme, which is the only one of its kind in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, highlights BME presence in Britain by commemorating individuals who have made a recognisable contribution to the nation. These individuals (mostly deceased) are either nominated by members of the public, or recommended by a special panel within the Trust, to receive a

commemorative plaque A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...

. One of the most famous plaques of recent years is the

Blue Plaque,Hugh Muir
"Blue plaque marks flats that put Marley on road to fame"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 27 October 2006. which the Nubian Jak Community Trust arranged in partnership with the Mayor of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in October 2006. It was the first commemorative event organised by the Nubian Jak Community Trust, as well as also being County Hall's first ever blue plaque. The installation of the Bob Marley plaque was filmed as a feature for a 90-minute ''

Arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

'' documentary aired on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

the following October called ''Bob Marley: Exodus 77.'' The next three Nubian Jak Community Trust plaques were installed as part of the bicentenary commemoration for the British abolition of the

Slave Trade Act 1807 The Slave Trade Act 1807, officially An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom prohibiting the slave trade in the British Empire. Although it did not abolish the practice of slavery, it ...

. The first of the plaques installed in 2007 had a public ceremony unveiling inside

Luton Town Hall Luton Town Hall is a building at the junction between Manchester Street, Upper George Street and George Street, Luton, England; the current building was completed in 1936 on the site of the older Town Hall, which was burnt down 19 July 1919, fol ...

in February 2007. The Luton Bicentenary Plaque"Nubian Jak Community Trust Commemorative Plaques 2006 – 2012"
SlidePlayer. is now installed outside Luton Central Library in Central Square. This was followed by the historic plaque to

Ignatius Sancho Charles Ignatius Sancho ( – 14 December 1780) was a British abolitionist, writer and composer. Born on a slave ship in the Atlantic, Sancho was sold into slavery in the Spanish colony of New Granada. After his parents died, Sancho's owner t ...

"Ignatius Sancho"
The Abolition of Slavery in London, 21 September 2012. erected in October 2007 at the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

in the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and London boroughs, borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of cent ...

, near which site Sancho lived and had a grocery store. It is the only black plaque in

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It is the main ...

. A couple of weeks later, on 26 October,Caroline Mallan
"Slave girl's bravery remembered"
BBC News, 26 October 2007. another NJCT bronze plaque was installed on Senate House, part of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, to

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

-born

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

and author

Mary Prince Mary Prince (c. 1 October 1788 – after 1833) was a British abolitionist and autobiographer, born in Bermuda to a slave family of African descent. After being sold a number of times, and being moved around the Caribbean, she was brought to Engl ...

. On 24 August 2018, Nubian Jak unveiled the world's largest blue plaque, honouring the pioneers of the

Notting Hill Carnival The Notting Hill Carnival is an annual Caribbean festival event that has taken place in London since 1966

. By 2019, the Nubian Jak Community Trust Plaque Scheme had installed 50 commemorative plaques around the UK."Nubian Jak Community Trust Commemorative Plaques 2006 -2020"
Nubian Jak. In November 2020, the "Black Plaque Project", a joint campaign by Havas London and Nubian Jak Community Trust to honour Black Londoners, was launched to address the lack of diversity in the capital's "blue plaques". Nubian Jak blue plaques will subsequently replace the black plaques. On 1 April 2021, a blue plaque was installed at 16-18 Trinity Gardens, Brixton, where

Choice FM Capital XTRA (formerly Choice FM) is a Global-owned radio station that broadcasts on 96.9 FM and 107.1 FM in Greater London. Nationally, it is heard on DAB Digital Radio, Freesat, Sky, Virgin Media and Global Player. It specialises in hip ...

, the UK's only black radio station to have held a London-wide commercial licence, was launched, co-founded by

Neil Kenlock Neil Emile Elias Kenlock (born 1950) is a Jamaican-born photographer and media professional who has lived in London since the 1960s. During the 1960s and 1970s, Kenlock was the official photographer of the British Black Panthers, and he has be ...

and

Yvonne Thompson file:Changing World of Work at the Hospital Club London Dr Yvonne Thompson CBE.jpg, Yvonne Thompson CBE Yvonne Thompson, , is a British business leader, who was a founding member of radio station Choice FM, music editor of ''Root'' magazine, mana ...

Nubian Jak Community Trust plaques 2006–present

Laurie Cunningham 1956-1989 football legend pioneering England International played for Leyton Orient FC 1974-1977

Ida B Wells blue plaque unveiling - 2019-02-12 - Andy Mabbett - 31

* The Honourable

plaque: October 2006 * Luton Bicentenary plaque: February 2007 *

plaque (Stone): October 2007 *

plaque (Bronze): October 2007 *

Connie Mark Constance Winifred Mark, MBE, BEM (née McDonald, previously Goodridge; 21 December 1923 – 3 June 2007) was a Jamaican-born community organiser and activist. She served as a medical secretary in the Auxiliary Territorial Service in World War ...

plaque: May 2008 *

Claudia Jones Claudia Vera Jones (; 21 February 1915 – 24 December 1964) was a Trinidad and Tobago-born journalist and activist. As a child, she migrated with her family to the US, where she became a Communist political activist, feminist and black national ...

plaque x 2 (Bronze and Blue): August 2008 *

Kelso Cochrane Kelso may refer to: Places Australia * Kelso, New South Wales * Kelso, Tasmania * Kelso, Queensland Canada * Kelso Conservation Area, Ontario, containing Lake Kelso ** Kelso, a village in Regional Municipality of Halton, Ontario New Zealand *Kels ...

plaque: May 2009 * Chief

Amy Ashwood Garvey Amy Ashwood Garvey (''née'' Ashwood; 10 January 1897 – 3 May 1969) was a Jamaican Pan-Africanist activist. She was a director of the Black Star Line Steamship Corporation, and along with her former husband Marcus Garvey she founded the ''Neg ...

plaque: November 2009 *

ANC The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

anniversary plaque: February 2010 * Learie, Lord Constantine plaque: September 2010 *

Rudy Narayan use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = 28 June 1998 , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coo ...

plaque: November 2010 * Mayor John Archer Plaque: December 2010 *

New Cross Fire The New Cross house fire was a conflagration, fire that occurred during a party at a house in New Cross, south-east London, in the early hours of Sunday, 18 January 1981. The blaze killed 13 young black people aged between 14 and 22, and one su ...

plaque: January 2011 *

George Padmore George Padmore (28 June 1903 – 23 September 1959), born Malcolm Ivan Meredith Nurse, was a leading Pan-Africanist, journalist, and author. He left his native Trinidad in 1924 to study medicine in the United States, where he also joined the Com ...

Plaque: June 2011 *

plaque: August 2011Hazelann Williams
"Notting Hill Carnival 'Mothers' Honoured"
''The Voice'', 26 August 2011. *

Rhaune Laslett Rhaune Laslett (15 November 1919 – 28 April 2002) was a community activist and the principal organiser of the Notting Hill Fayre or Festival, that evolved into the Notting Hill Carnival. Biography Rhaune Laslett was born Freda Pulverness i ...

plaque: August 2011 * Frank Crichlow plaque: December 2011 *

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of Is ...

plaque: February 2012 *

Dennis Brown Dennis Emmanuel Brown CD (1 February 1957 – 1 July 1999) was a Jamaican reggae singer. During his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was aged eleven, he recorded more than 75 albums and was one of the major stars of l ...

plaque: April 2012 * Russell Henderson plaque: August 2012 * Leslie Palmer plaque: August 2012 *

Arthur Wint Arthur Stanley Wint OD MBE (25 May 1920 – 19 October 1992) was a Jamaican Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot during the Second World War, sprinter, physician, and later High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Competing at the 1948 and 1952 Olympi ...

plaque: October 2012 *

Bernie Grant Bernard Alexander Montgomery Grant (17 February 1944 – 8 April 2000) was a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Tottenham, London, from 1987 to his death in 2000. Biography Bernie Grant was born in Georgetow ...

MP Plaque: October 2012 * Samuel Coleridge Taylor Plaque: December 2012 *

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...

plaque: February 2013 * Frank Bates plaque: May 2013 *

Stephen Lawrence Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

anniversary plaque: June 2013 *Pete Robinson Plaque: July 2013 *

Laurie Cunningham Laurence Paul Cunningham (8 March 1956 – 15 July 1989) was an English professional footballer. A left winger, he notably played in England, France and Spain, where he became the first ever British player to sign for Real Madrid. Cunningham ...

plaque: October 2013 * Dr John Alcindor plaque: July 2014 *

George Africanus George John Scipio Africanus (c. 1763 – 19 May 1834) was a West African former slave who became a successful entrepreneur in Nottingham, England. Early years The early life of George Africanus is obscure. Calculating his birth year from his bu ...

plaque: October 2014 *

Walter Tull Walter Daniel John Tull (28 April 1888 – 25 March 1918) was an English professional footballer and British Army officer of Afro-Caribbean descent. He played as an inside forward and half back for Clapton, Tottenham Hotspur and Northampton Tow ...

plaque: October 2014 *

Sidney Bechet Sidney Bechet (May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He was one of the first important soloists in jazz, and first recorded several months before trumpeter Louis Armstrong. His erratic temp ...

plaque: November 2014 *

British West Indies Regiment The British West Indies Regiment was a unit of the British Army during the First World War, formed from volunteers from British colonies in the West Indies. Formation In 1915 the British Army formed a second West Indies regiment from Caribbean ...

Seaford plaques x 2, November 2015 and March 2018 *

Cy Grant Cyril Ewart Lionel "Cy" Grant (8 November 1919 – 13 February 2010) was a Guyanese actor, musician, writer, and poet. In the 1950s, he became the first black person to be featured regularly on television in Britain,Kurt Barling '' The Inde ...

plaque: November 2017 *

Notting Hill Carnival The Notting Hill Carnival is an annual Caribbean festival event that has taken place in London since 1966

Pioneers plaque: August 2018 * Daphne Steele plaque: 16 October 2018 * Eric Huntley and

Jessica Huntley Jessica Elleisse Huntley (née Carroll; 23 February 1927 – 13 October 2013) was an African-Guyanese-British woman, a political reformer, prominent race equality campaigner, the pioneering British publisher of black and Asian literature, and a ...

plaque: October 2018 *

Ida B. Wells Ida B. Wells (full name: Ida Bell Wells-Barnett) (July 16, 1862 – March 25, 1931) was an American investigative journalist, educator, and early leader in the civil rights movement. She was one of the founders of the National Association for ...

plaque, 12 February 2019 * Harold Moody,

League of Coloured Peoples The League of Coloured Peoples (LCP) was a British civil-rights organization that was founded in 1931 in London by Jamaican-born physician and campaigner Harold Moody with the goal of racial equality around the world, a primary focus being on bl ...

anniversary plaque: 13 March 2019 * Cecile Nobrega plaque, 1 June 2019. * Plaque commemorating the contribution of African-American soldiers based in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, installed at

RAF Carew Cheriton Royal Air Force Carew Cheriton or more simply RAF Carew Cheriton is a former Royal Air Force station of Coastal and Training Command near Carew, Pembrokeshire. It was sited north west of Tenby. It was built on the site of RNAS Pembroke (aka ...

on the 75th anniversary of the

D-Day landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

, 6 June 2019. *

Phillis Wheatley Phillis Wheatley Peters, also spelled Phyllis and Wheatly ( – December 5, 1784) was an American author who is considered the first African-American author of a published book of poetry. Gates, Henry Louis, ''Trials of Phillis Wheatley: Ameri ...

plaque, 16 July 2019. * Bob Marley,

Peter Tosh Winston Hubert McIntosh, OM (19 October 1944 – 11 September 1987), professionally known as Peter Tosh, was a Jamaican reggae musician. Along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, he was one of the core members of the band the Wailers (1963� ...

, and

Bunny Wailer Neville O'Riley Livingston (10 April 1947 – 2 March 2021), known professionally as Bunny Wailer, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and percussionist. He was an original member of reggae group The Wailers along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. ...

plaque at the former site of Basing Street Studios in London where The Wailers' albums ''

Catch a Fire ''Catch a Fire'' is the fifth studio album by the reggae band The Wailers (aka Bob Marley and the Wailers), released in April 1973. It was their first album released by Island Records. After finishing a UK tour with Johnny Nash, they had star ...

'' and '' Burnin''' were completed, as well as the Bob Marley and the Wailers album ''

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...

'', October 2019. * "In Memory of

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa (Roman province), Africa. As a young man he advanced thro ...

145–211, African Roman Emperor", October 2019. * Longfield Hall (home of the Dark and Light Theatre) plaque, 27 October 2019. *

Emma Clarke Emma Clarke (born 1971) is an English writer of comedy and drama scripts and an award-winning voice-over artist, best known as the voice of the automated messages on the Bakerloo, Central and Waterloo & City lines of the London Underground. Most ...

plaque, 2 December 2019. * Dr George Alfred Busby plaque, 9 March 2020. *

Crystal Palace Bowl The Crystal Palace Park Concert Platform, formerly the Crystal Palace Bowl, is an outdoor stage and performance venue in Crystal Palace Park in the London Borough of Bromley. History The Crystal Palace Bowl was constructed in 1961. It origina ...

, venue where Bob Marley played his last and biggest London concert and debuted "

Redemption Song "Redemption Song" is a song by Jamaican singer Bob Marley. It is the final track on Bob Marley and the Wailers' twelfth album, ''Uprising'', produced by Chris Blackwell and released by Island Records. The song is considered one of Marley's gre ...

". *

Winifred Atwell Una Winifred Atwell (27 February or 27 April 1910 or 1914There is some uncertainty over her date and year of birth. Many sources suggest 27 February 1914, but there is a strong suggestion that her birthday was 27 April. Most sources give her ye ...

, at the site of her former hair salon, Chaucer Road, Brixton, south London, November 2020. * Len Dyke, Dudley Dryden and Tony Wade, proprietors of the pioneering Dyke & Dryden Black haircare business, at the site of a wig and cosmetic shop they ran in

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Waltham ...

, November 2020. *

Errol Brown Lester Errol Brown MBE (12 November 1943 – 6 May 2015) was a British-Jamaican singer and songwriter, best known as the frontman of the soul and funk band Hot Chocolate. In 2004, Brown received the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contributi ...

, Black plaque outside the RAK Studios in St John's Wood, November 2020. *

, blue plaque, Trinity Gardens, Brixton, 1 April 2021. *

William Cuffay William Cuffay (1788 – July 1870) was a Chartist leader in early Victorian London. Chatham Cuffay William was mixed-race, the son of an English woman from Gillingham, Kent, Juliana Fox, and a man of African heritage, Chatham Cuffay, who wa ...

and his father Chatham Cuffay, plaque at

Chatham Historic Dockyard The Historic Dockyard Chatham is a maritime museum on part of the site of the former royal/naval dockyard at Chatham in Kent, South East England. Chatham Dockyard covered 400 acres (1.6 km²) and was one of the Royal Navy's main faciliti ...

, 15 July 2021. *

Darcus Howe Leighton Rhett Radford "Darcus" Howe (26 February 1943 – 1 April 2017)"Civil ...

, Railton Road, Brixton, 4 January 2022.

African and Caribbean War Memorial

Armistice Day Armistice Day, later known as Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth and Veterans Day in the United States, is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark Armistice of 11 November 1918, the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I a ...

2014, as part of the four-year centenary commemorating

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the Nubian Jak Community Trust temporarily displayed Britain's first dedicated

African and Caribbean War Memorial The African and Caribbean War Memorial in Brixton, London, is the United Kingdom's national memorial to African people, African and Caribbean people, Caribbean service personnel who fought in the World War I, First and World War II, Second World ...

to servicemen and women from Africa and the Caribbean, who served alongside Britain and the Allied Forces during World War I and

at the Black Cultural Archives in

Brixton Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th ce ...

, before its eventual permanent installation on London's

Windrush Square Windrush Square (often referred to by its original name, Brixton Oval) is an open public space in the centre of Brixton, South London, occupying an area in front of the Brixton Tate Library. After changing its name to Tate Gardens, it was again ...

, on 22 June 2017."African and Caribbean war memorial finally unveiled in Brixton"
ODN, 22 June 2017.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Nubian Jak Community Trust
website.
"Discover Multicultural Gems Of London"
''artdaily''. Blue plaques Black_elite