Black Liberation Front

The Black Liberation Front (BLF) was a Black nationalist, Pan-African and African socialist organisation in the United Kingdom, operating from 1971 to 1993. It was considered one of the most effective Black power organisations in the UK, and was subjected to threats and attacks from the National Front, attacks in the media, harassment from the police, and state surveillance. It was involved in supplementary schools, affordable housing, support for prisoners, and community bookshops, primarily in London.

More secretive than the British Black Panthers, most of their members remained anonymous. Tony Soares is known as one of the founders. Other known members include Joan Anim-Addo, Jackie Daniel, Lennox Drayton, Terry Rocque, N N A Pepukayi, Desrie Thomson-George, Winston Trew, Tee White and Ansel Wong. Similar to other Black British political groups of the time, but unlike their American counterparts, the BLF embraced political Blackness – representing people of African, Asian and Caribbean heritage.

The BLF had links with Pan-African groups worldwide, often sending money to Africa, and helped organize African Liberation Day celebrations in the 1970s and 1980s. BLF ran street stalls to sell books and posters, including one on Acklam Road, near Westway, North Kensington. They also published the Grassroots Newspaper, which often featured creative work alongside news on anticolonial movements back in Africa and the Caribbean.