workingclasshistory:

On this day, 17 May 1959, Kelso Cochrane was fatally stabbed in a racist attack in West London, UK. His murder would become a catalytic event in race relations at the time which eventually led to the formation of the now world famous Notting Hill Carnival. Cochrane was a recent immigrant from North America, having being born in Antigua. Working as a carpenter he aspired to be a lawyer and settled in the Notting Hill area of West London, with a large Caribbean population. At the time the area was a hotbed of activity for British fascists and there were frequent violent confrontations with groups of Black men. Police investigating the murder were accused of being involved in a cover up and the murdered has never been identified. A huge funeral procession drew the eyes of the press and the government was eventually pressured into launching an investigation into race relations. Cochrane’s murder along with general racial tensions in the area led local community activist Rhaune Laslett to organise a small community street fair to bring recent immigrants together in the area in the mid-1960s. This would eventually become the Notting Hill Carnival, which is attended by over a million people each year. https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1989599934558480/?type=3