Before social media, much less a #BLM hashtag, journalists of colour were putting hot metal to paper to declare that Black lives matter. Central to these newspapers were driven, often heroic, individuals passionate about the need to address global racial injustice and whose publications acted as a catalyst, raising the consciousness of Black and minority ethnic communities in the UK.

INK! shines a light on the pioneers that strove to give their communities a voice. The work of Samuel Jules Celestine Edwards, Dusé Mohammed Ali, Claude McKay, George Padmore, Una Marson, Claudia Jones and Darcus Howe had a formidable role to play in the birthing pains of multicultural Britain. When overt colour bars were operating in much of the western world and the injustices of Empire loomed large, it was the newspapers of these journalists that highlighted these atrocities to a wider audience, fomenting the movement for change.

Their combined story arc covers a transformative period – from when Britain’s Empire spanned nearly a quarter of the globe, to the heady start of the 1980s when the Black British and Asian communities were asserting their voices. INK! reveals a fascinating history, a story of how the sacrifices and struggles of the past have shaped Britain’s present and ultimately laid the blueprint for a progressive future.