Sam King MBE, the man who founded the Notting Hill Carnival and was Southwark’s first black mayor, sadly died this weekend aged 90.
He led a remarkable life — a Jamaican immigrant, he arrived in Britain on the Empire Windrush in 1948, after volunteering for the Royal Air Force. He became an active campaigner in his local community in Southwark, and was elected mayor of the London Borough in 1983. In the 1960s, he organised the first Caribbean-style carnival in the capital, which would become the Carnival we know and love today in 1964.
His daughter Dione McDonald confirmed that he has passed away while surrounded by his family, after being unwell for several months.
Tributes for King soon flooded in. Labour MP Dianne Abbot told BBC Radio London that he was a pioneer for black people in British politics, and added:
Someone like myself who was fortunate to become an MP stands on the shoulders of people like Sam King.
Jeremy Corbyn:
Southwark Councilor Jonathan Situ:
Harriet Harman, MP for Camberwell and Peckham:
Helen Hayes, MP for Dulwich and West Norwood:
King had remained active in his final years.
We'll leave it with a comment from the man himself. In an interview last year, he was asked about what it was like arriving in Britain. He said:
I left Portland, Jamaica, in temperatures of 75F (23C). I landed at Greenock, which was 39F (-4C). I thought I was going to die.
R.I.P.
[via BBC]
