100 Great Black Britons

In 2002, the BBC launched a campaign and television series called 100 Great Britons with the definition of a great Briton as, "anyone who was born in the British Isles, including Ireland, or who has lived in the British Isles, including Ireland, and has played a significant part in the life of the British Isles".[2] The series was the idea of Jane Root, then Controller of BBC Two, and in the final results of the BBC poll, Winston Churchill was voted 'the greatest Briton ever'.[3] At the time, the 100 Great Britons poll was criticised as only thirteen women were nominated and because the list did not include a single Black person in the top 100.[2][1]

In response to the absence of any Black people in the 100 Greatest Britons poll, Every Generation and Patrick Vernon launched a website and the alternative campaign, '100 Great Black Britons', in October 2003 during Black History Month to 'raise the profile of the Black contribution to Britain and to challenge the notion of Britishness'.[4][1] As Vernon said at the time, 'Black history hasn't been recognised. We didn't come here at Windrush in [1948] - we've been here for a thousand years. We've influenced and shaped Britain.' believing that people were not aware of the long history of Black people in the UK.[1][5] Vernon later added that the poll was part of a campaign to provide role models of Black Britons of all ages.[6] The website which hosted the survey www.100greatestblackbritons.com received over a million hits during the online campaign and over 100,000 people voted in the poll over three months, choosing from a selection of present day and historic Black figures.[6][7]

Mary Seacole topped the subsequent list of 100 Greatest Black Britons, a nurse who helped soldiers during the Crimean War and who is often overshadowed by the work of her contemporary, Florence Nightingale and whose contribution was often ignored by the history books.[7][6] Other figures in the first poll of 100 Greatest Black Britons of all time included musicians, politicians, media figures, religious leaders and even royalty.[7][1]