31 Facts About Rudy Narayan

Rahasya Rudra Narayan, commonly known as Rudy Narayan, was a barrister and civil rights activist in Britain.

Rudy Narayan migrated to Britain in the 1950s from Guyana.

Rudy Narayan's trials included the Black Star Club, the Bristol Twelve, the murder of Donat Gomez, the Cricklewood Twelve, the Leeds Bonfire Eight, the Metro Four, the Newham Seven, the Scarman Inquiry and the Thornton Heath Sixteen.

Rudy Narayan defended some of the Black Panthers and defendants accused in the riots of Handsworth, Brixton, and Bristol in the 1980s.

Rudy Narayan became aware that clients who asked for him were being told by their solicitors that he was not available.

Rudy Narayan protested and made public complaints against the racism that he saw in the legal establishment.

Rudy Narayan was born in Essequibo County, Guyana, to Sase Narayan and his wife, Taijbertie.

Rudy Narayan was the ninth of his parents' ten children.

Rudy Narayan emigrated to Britain in 1953 and worked as a street cleaner, in a Brillo Soap Factory and in a Lyons Tea House, before joining the Royal Army Ordnance Corps.

Rudy Narayan studied at Lincoln's Inn, where he was a founder and first president of the Bar Students' Union.

Rudy Narayan was called to the Bar in 1967 or later.

Rudy Narayan was a founder of the Afro-Asian and Caribbean Lawyers Association with Sibghat Kadri in 1969, and thereafter Ash Karim one of the trail blazers of the legal arena together they later renamed the Society of Black Lawyers.

Rudy Narayan set up the first voluntary legal advice centre in Brixton that led to the founding of the Lambeth Law Centre, was a part of the West Indian Standing Conference, and formed the South London West Indian Association.

Rudy Narayan was involved in establishing legal advice centres in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, London, and Manchester.

Rudy Narayan was reprimanded in 1980 for being discourteous to a judge, and then acquitted of professional misconduct in 1982, after claiming in a press statement that the Attorney General and the Director of Public Prosecutions were in "collusion with the National Front and fanning the flames of racial hatred".

Rudy Narayan was elected as a Labour Party councillor to Lambeth London Borough Council in 1974, on which he served one term.

Rudy Narayan was selected as the Labour candidate for Birmingham Handsworth, but his selection was overturned when it was alleged that he made antisemitic remarks in one of his books.

Rudy Narayan was expelled from his chambers in 1984 after assaulting Sibghat Kadri, by then his head of chambers, at a conference.

Rudy Narayan tried to requalify as a solicitor but failed the Law Society exams.

Rudy Narayan returned to the Bar, but was disciplined for overbooking himself by accepting briefs for trials that were to run simultaneously, and was suspended for two years.

Rudy Narayan stood as a parliamentary candidate at the 1989 Vauxhall by-election, protesting that a white Labour Party candidate was standing in a largely black constituency, but he attracted only 177 votes and Labour's Kate Hoey was elected.

Rudy Narayan was accused of inciting violence after speaking outside Brixton police station in 1995, following the death of Wayne Douglas, a 25-year-old black man, in police custody.

Rudy Narayan was a guest speaker at the 50th-anniversary celebrations of the NAACP's Legal Defence Fund in the US The former US Attorney General Eric Holder paid tribute to Rudy Narayan at a conference organised by the Society of Black Lawyers in 1999 in London.

The BBC programme Black Britain aired after his death in 1998 noted that Rudy Narayan was known for his internationalism and distinctive oratorical style.

Rudy Narayan published several works on legal themes: Black Community on Trial, Black England, Barrister for the Defence, and When Judges Conspire.

Rudy Narayan was the first chairman of Lambeth Law Centre.

Rudy Narayan co-wrote an eight-part drama series, Black Silk, that was loosely based on his life in which he was played by Rudolph Walker.

Rudy Narayan died aged 60 of liver cirrhosis at King's College Hospital in Lambeth, London, following a lengthy battle with alcoholism.

Rudy Narayan was named a Windrush Champion by the Windrush Foundation in 2018.

Rudy Narayan married Naseem Akbar, a doctor, on 5 September 1969.

Rudy Narayan married Saeeda Begum Shah on 26 March 1988, but they subsequently divorced.