As a Black historian, there’s one story that tells you everything you need to know about racism in Britain

Our new book, Black History for Every Day of the Year – written and illustrated by myself and my siblings Kemi and Yinka – brings together 366 stories from across time and around the world. For me, the story of the bus boycott in Bristol, my adopted hometown, was always one I wanted to include – it’s a great example of the many entries in the book which acknowledge how Black people have challenged racism and brought about change. Despite labour shortages, the government-owned Bristol Omnibus Company operated a colour bar; Black and Asian applicants were refused bus driver and conductor roles, and given less well-paid support roles instead. The bus company blamed Transport and General Workers’ Union members who had voted for the colour bar, despite the fact that those same members had also passed resolutions opposing apartheid in South Africa. On 17 September, Raghbir Singh became Bristol’s first bus conductor of colour, joined two days later by Jamaican-born Norman Samuels and Norris Edwards, and Pakistani-born Mohammed Raschid and Abbas Ali.