Black Panther School Bags

This is one of a series of photographs by Neil Kenlock which were displayed in the Museum of London's 2006 exhibition 'Roots to Reckoning'.

The exhibition of photographs by Neil Kenlock, Charlie Phillips and Armet Francis centred on the lives of black communities in post-war London. The subjects depicted ranged from street protests to beauty pageants, and included portraits of icons Muhammed Ali and Bob Marley.

This close-up photograph depicts four young school girls displaying their school bags embroidered with Black Panther logos. Kenlock, the official photographer to the British Black Panther Movement, took photographs which documented the rallies, racisim and upheaval in London during the 1960s and 1970s.

Born in Port Antonio, Jamaica, Kenlock moved to Brixton in 1963 to join his parents who were already living there. Upon leaving school, he set up as a freelance photographer and joined the Black Panther Movement. In the 1970s Kenlock became the staff photographer on the weekly newspaper 'Westindian World' and co-founded 'Root', the first glossy magazine for African Caribbean Londoners.