Henry Gunter

Henry Gunter (1920 – 23 July 2007) was a leading British communist and civil rights leader, most famous for his campaigns for racial equality in the English city of Birmingham.

[6] After arriving at the American-controlled Canal, Gunter witnessed racial segregation for the first time in his life because the United States enforced Jim Crow laws in every territory they occupied.

[6] After briefly returning to Jamaica, he moved to a northern region of the United States known as Milwaukee, where he began working with local unions and started writing newspaper articles.

[6] Gunter continued working in the United States until the end of World War II, becoming more deeply entrenched in the trade union movement and the fight for the rights of black people.

[4] Returning to Jamaica after World War II, Gunter joined the People's National Party and worked closely with one of their leaders, the communist icon Richard Hart.

[7] Job opportunities were extremely few after Gunter had been blocked from returning to the United States, so he chose to instead move to Britain, where he would then spend the remainder of his life, making his home in the English city of Birmingham sometime in 1949.

[1] During the 1950s, racial segregation in Britain, often dubbed the "colour bar", was particularly strong in Birmingham, and the local branch of the CPGB asked Gunter to write about the situation within the city.

[1] Gunter joined the Afro Caribbean Society and soon became its leader,[2] addressing public meetings on racism and organising marches under the banner "No Colour Bar to Housing and Jobs".