Dame Jocelyn Barrow

This original ballpoint pen portrait, drawn on antique texts (1934), is part of my ‘Pioneers’ series commissioned by Facebook for reproduction in their new London headquarters. 
 
Throughout British history, the contributions and sacrifices made by pioneering minority Britons have been largely relegated to obscurity. I look to pay homage to such figures that rose above adversity and created significant change still emanating within modern British society. This series includes Dame Jocelyn Barrow, Fou Ts’ong, Dadabhai Naoroji and Leonora Carrington.
 
Dame Jocelyn Barrow (1929-2020) was instrumental in forming the 1965 Race Relations Act, making racialdiscrimination illegal in Britain for the first time. Barrow was a founding member, general secretary and later vice-chair of Campaign Against Racial Discrimination - the organisation that between 1964 and 1967 lobbied for race relations legislation and was responsible for the Race Relations Act of 1968.
 
30X42cm