Ralph Adolphus Straker OBE
Birth date
c.1936
Death date
2013
Biography
Ralph Straker moved to London from Barbados in 1956 aged 20. Like many of the Windrush Generation, he had been recruited to work for London Transport, where he served as a bus conductor for eight years. Only a few months after arriving, Ralph was one of the many Caribbean staff that joined a weeks-long strike by the Transport and General Workers Union, despite facing the hardships of being in a foreign country with no bank account and little to no savings to support them. He later attributed this demonstration of solidarity as helping relations between Caribbean and native-British workers.
Ralph was an influential figure campaigning for racial equality. Within three years of moving to London he started to give voluntary assistance to Barbadians living in Haringey, Islington and Hackney. He supported Caribbeans who were in difficulties with the SUS laws through the North London West Indian Association. He also helped reverse the educationally “sub-normal” classification of many Caribbean children at the time.
Soon he felt the need was so great that it was necessary to dedicate himself to working towards racial equality full time. In 1973 he became an officer for the Hackney Council for Racial Equality, where he worked until 1987. During this time he was responsible for twinning the borough with Bridgetown, Barbados in 1982. After Hackney he continued his work in race relations at Alexandra Palace and Southwark, ultimately giving a total 26 years of his life before retiring.
In 2002 he was appointed an OBE for his works in community relations, an honour he said reflected “on the contribution to London society by many Barbadians and others." He is one of the few people to be honoured by both Britain and Barbados, having also received the Barbados Service Medal c.2000.
In 1962 he became London's only ‘black’ toastmaster and MC, and was chosen as Toastmaster when HM the Queen was visiting Barbados in 1981. He served as a Magistrate and was a member of Holloway Prison’s Board of Visitors. In 2011, he received the St Mellitus Medal in recognition of their substantial contribution to the Christian life of London.
He was a founding member and Secretary of the Sam Uriah Morris Society (est. c.1980), an exhibition centre on Lower Clapton Road aiming to demonstrate the thriving variety of arts of Afro-Caribbean peoples through performances, exhibitions, lectures and meetings. In particular, during his retirement he was proud of his continued association with the Black History Museum on site, that educated visitors on the contributions African and Caribbean people made to the culture of the world.
Ralph was an influential figure campaigning for racial equality. Within three years of moving to London he started to give voluntary assistance to Barbadians living in Haringey, Islington and Hackney. He supported Caribbeans who were in difficulties with the SUS laws through the North London West Indian Association. He also helped reverse the educationally “sub-normal” classification of many Caribbean children at the time.
Soon he felt the need was so great that it was necessary to dedicate himself to working towards racial equality full time. In 1973 he became an officer for the Hackney Council for Racial Equality, where he worked until 1987. During this time he was responsible for twinning the borough with Bridgetown, Barbados in 1982. After Hackney he continued his work in race relations at Alexandra Palace and Southwark, ultimately giving a total 26 years of his life before retiring.
In 2002 he was appointed an OBE for his works in community relations, an honour he said reflected “on the contribution to London society by many Barbadians and others." He is one of the few people to be honoured by both Britain and Barbados, having also received the Barbados Service Medal c.2000.
In 1962 he became London's only ‘black’ toastmaster and MC, and was chosen as Toastmaster when HM the Queen was visiting Barbados in 1981. He served as a Magistrate and was a member of Holloway Prison’s Board of Visitors. In 2011, he received the St Mellitus Medal in recognition of their substantial contribution to the Christian life of London.
He was a founding member and Secretary of the Sam Uriah Morris Society (est. c.1980), an exhibition centre on Lower Clapton Road aiming to demonstrate the thriving variety of arts of Afro-Caribbean peoples through performances, exhibitions, lectures and meetings. In particular, during his retirement he was proud of his continued association with the Black History Museum on site, that educated visitors on the contributions African and Caribbean people made to the culture of the world.
