Bristol Bus Boycott legacy celebrated by mayor Marvin Rees

The Mayor of Bristol is due to honour Bristol Bus Boycott pioneers in one of his final addresses in office.

Marvin Rees is speaking at the ninth Paul Stephenson Lecture, taking place in Bristol for the first time.

The "standing on the shoulders of giants" event will see Guy Reid-Bailey OBE and Barbara Dettering honoured with Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Plans to mark the 60th anniversary of Mr Stephenson's one-man-sit-in of the Bay Horse Pub will also be announced.

Mr Stephenson, a social worker, organised the Bristol Bus Boycott on 29 April, 1963, in response to Mr Reid-Bailey being denied a job as a bus driver, aged 18, because of its policy to only hire white people to work on the buses.

He led a peaceful, purposeful protest and alongside many others, marched for freedom, jobs and equality.

On August 28th - the same day as Dr Martin Luther King Jr gave his "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington DC in the US - the Bristol Bus Boycott defeated the colour bar as operated by the Bristol Omnibus Company.

On 10 April, 1964, Mr Stephenson began a one-person sit-in at the Bay Horse Pub in Bristol.

The events of that day paved the way for implementing the Race Relations Act 1965, the UK's first anti-racism law.

Julz Davis of Curiosity UnLtd, organiser of the Paul Stephenson Lecture, said: "Bristol is a proud city of protest, home to the Bristol Bus Boycott and the birthplace of the Race Relations Act 1965.

"Having played a pivotal role, Paul Stephenson is not just a Bristol icon but a national hero."

He said Curiosity UnLtd had partnered with Diversity UK, Burges Salmon, and Triodos Bank to celebrate Paul Stephenson's "immense contribution to a better Bristol and Britain. An enduring legacy that we all continue to benefit from".

Mr Stevenson received Freedom of the City in 2007.

Mr Reid-Bailey, who will be honoured at the event, received an apology from the council in 2022, 60 years after he was denied a job because of the colour of his skin.

The Civil-Rights activist also founded the first black housing association in Bristol in 1985.

Civil-Rights campaigner Barbara Dettering will also receive a lifetime achievement award for her community work.

Ms Dettering was a key member of Bristol West Indian Parents' and Friends' Association and one of the seven saints of St Pauls, Bristol, who put on the first carnival in 1968 to celebrate the unity that helped to end the "colour bar" on the city's buses.

Mr Reid-Bailey and Ms Dettering were granted Freedom of the City status alongside (posthumously), Roy Becket OBE, Owen Henry, Audley Evans, and Prince Brown in December 2022.

The Paul Stephenson Lecture is being held on Thursday between 18:30 BST and 21:30 at Burges Salmon.

The lecture is the "crowning jewel" in a city-wide two-week-long programme of events between 22 April to 6 May, commemorating when the Bristol Bus Boycott began, Mr Davis said.

As well as the Bristol Bus Boycott's legacy, Mayor Marvin Rees is due to reflect on his eight years in office and share thoughts on Dr Martin Luther King Jr, and the toppling of the statue of Edward Colston in June 2020.

The statue is now on display in the city's M Shed museum.

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