ÒAnything that I have and anything that I am, I owe unconditionally to the booth. The booth with its work, its careful living and, above all, its frame of mindÉ I am here to meet all comers and all comers I must meet.Ó
Len Johnson
ÒLen was a fighter for social justice, and for all peoples through his commitment to the Communist Party.Ó
Mike Luft
This book tells the story of Leonard Benker Johnson (1902 to 1974) born in Manchester, whose mother was Manchester Irish and whose father was West African. He was one of the most successful middleweight boxers of the 1920s, but was barred by the British Boxing Board of Control from a chance at a British title because he was not white.
After retiring from the ring in 1933 Len toured the country with his boxing booth until 1939. During the Second World War he worked in Civil Defence.
In 1945 he joined the Communist Party and was an active member, speaking at public meetings and standing for the Council in Moss Side. He attended the Pan African Congress in Manchester in 1945 and was a co-founder of the New International Society in Moss Side which campaigned against the Òcolour barÓ and racial discrimination at home and abroad in the late 1940s., Boxing, History, Social History, Communism, Sports, Politics, Michael Herbert| 9781291944822 | 243PAGES