Frank Crichlow
| Frank Crichlow | |
|---|---|
| Born | 13th July, 1932 Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago |
| Died | 15th September, 2015 (Age 78) London, UK |
| Cause of death | Prostate cancer |
| Occupation | Community activist |
Frank Gilbert Crichlow (13 July 1932 – 15 September 2010) was a British community activist and civil rights campaigner, who became known in 1960s London as a godfather of black radicalism. He was a central figure in the Notting Hill Carnival, his restaurant the Mangrove serving for many years as the base from which activists, musicians and artists organised the event, as well as becoming "the symbol of resistance to police persecution".
Originally from Woodbrook, Port of Spain, Trinidad, Frank Crichlow arrived in England in June 1953 on the SS Colombie, among the first wave of post-war immigrants from the Caribbean. He lived in Paddington at first, working for British Rail, then formed the Starlight Four band in 1956. Margaret Busby writes in The Guardian that the band had a few television and radio appearances, which in 1959 gave Crichlow enough money to open the El Rio cafe in Notting Hill at 127 Westbourne Park Road. The cafe became a fashionable meeting place, with Christine Keeler and John Profumo as customers, and provided a safe place for black people to meet. Crichlow described it as a school or university for hustlers.
In 1968 he opened the Mangrove restaurant at 8 All Saints Road, Notting Hill, attracting both unwelcome police attention and celebrity visitors such as Diana Ross and the Supremes, Vanessa Redgrave, and Sammy Davis Jr. The restaurant was raided six times in the first year, though nothing was found. Crichlow, Darcus Howe, and several others marched on the police station in 1970 in protest against the constant police attention. Charged with incitement to riot, the Mangrove Nine, as they became known, were acquitted during a celebrated trial that lasted 55 days in 1971, and which involved Howe unsuccessfully demanding an all-black jury. Crichlow called the trial "a turning point for black people."
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