Florence Eshalomi

I thank my hon. Friend for making that important point. It is good that English Heritage is considering that plaque—probably one of the most northern such plaques outside London. It is important that we recognise the rich contribution of many black Britons right across the UK. I hope that she will be successful in her pursuit of the plaque. The theme of this year’s Black History Month debate is “Honouring Our Communities”, which gives us the opportunity to recognise people from black communities up and down the country who work every day to make their area and our society better. They are people who start a business, mentor young people or volunteer their time to help run a community space, and whose contributions too often go unrecognised or underappreciated. Although Black History Month is about celebrating black Britons who have delivered outstanding achievements across society, who have helped to forge the country and who are here today through their visibility, it is also about recognising people in all parts of the country who may not make the news nationally, but who everyone in their neighbourhood knows. These are people like Lorna Jackson MBE. Coming to England aged five, Lorna went on to be an educator for nearly 50 years and a headteacher for 25 years. Today, she continues to serve a diverse community in east London. They are people like Claudia Jones, a Trinidad and Tobago-born activist and journalist who was granted asylum in the UK after facing political persecution in the US. In 1958, Claudia Jones founded the West Indian Gazette close to where I grew up in Brixton. The West Indian Gazette is often referred to as the first black newspaper in Britain. After the race riots of 1958, she organised the first Caribbean carnival in the UK, to coincide with the annual tradition in Trinidad, but as London is definitely a lot colder than Trinidad in January, the carnival was held at St Pancras town hall. It was a predecessor of Notting Hill carnival, which started in 1966 and continues to be a true celebration of culture and heritage to this day—thankfully in August and not in winter! My hon. Friend the Member for Carlisle (Ms Minns) highlighted blue plaques. I was honoured to attend the unveiling of the English Heritage blue plaque dedicated to Claudia Jones three years ago, on 5 October 2023, outside a terraced house in my Vauxhall constituency that Jones called home for nearly four years—her longest place of residency in London.