Cleston Taylor was a communist and Black civil rights activist, political prisoner, and trade unionist, who was most notable for his activities in Jamaica and the United Kingdom.
16 Facts About Cleston Taylor
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2.
Cleston Taylor held close personal connections with many leading Black British and Caribbean civil rights leaders such as Billy Strachan, Trevor Carter, Richard Hart, and Claudia Jones.
3.
Cleston Taylor was born in the year 1926 in the Jamaican parish of Saint Catherine.
4.
Cleston Taylor's mother was a house wife and his father was a peasant farmer.
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Cleston Taylor attended school until sixth form and travelled to the United States to find work.
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Cleston Taylor became attracted to communist political theory in 1945 following contact with African Americans in Toledo, Ohio, who taught him about anti-colonial struggles in Africa and how they believed that capitalism gave rise to anti-black racism.
7.
Cleston Taylor organised a strike of sugar workers against the British Empire's occupation of Jamaica.
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Cleston Taylor was imprisoned for thirty days and then placed on trial by the British colonial occupation.
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Cleston Taylor was tried on a series of charges that carried a thirty-year sentence.
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Cleston Taylor arrived in Britain for the first time in March 1952, and joined the Communist Party of Great Britain less than a week after his arrival.
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Cleston Taylor quickly came into contact with Billy Strachan, a fellow Jamaican communist and one of the pioneers of Black civil rights in Britain.
12.
Cleston Taylor became a member of the CPGB's West Indian Committee, alongside famous black civil rights figures, among them Claudia Jones and her cousin Trevor Carter.
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Some historians have credited Cleston Taylor with bringing American perspectives of African-American activists on race to the attention of CPGB members.
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Cleston Taylor was elected to become a shop steward during his first job, helping to build a police station in south London.
15.
In 1974, Cleston Taylor became a founding member of an anti-imperialist organisation called Caribbean Labour Solidarity.
16.
Cleston Taylor's obituary written by David Horsley was published in the Morning Star on 8 April 2010, and his funeral was attended by Richard Hart.