TRIBUTES

Lord Herman Ouseley

Lord Herman Ouseley’s connection to The Association of Jamaicans UK (Trust) began in the early 1970’s

The Association of Jamaicans was the earliest of many groups which voiced concerns about the treatment of Black people in the UK and worked assiduously for improvement in establishing good Race Relation and Equality of opportunity for everyone.

The Council for Community Relations (CRC) that was established in each Borough Council was made up of representation from each group of which Jamaicans were the most vociferous and the most impactful in their presence and determination.

In Lambeth CRC, Brother Herman as he was affectionately known, was the Admin Officer who sometimes attended such group meetings and collected information and listed the concerns of each group. He was the conduit through which information and ideas flowed to the CRC, Lambeth’s Chief Executive, the Home Office and the Government of the day.

Lord Herman Ouseley was the Architect of most polices which influenced the changes to The Race Relation’s Act that followed. His contributions as Chairman of the CRE was boundless and unwavering. He was a visionary and stood by his conviction. We are fortunate to be the beneficiaries of the legacies he has left behind.

To those of us who knew him then/well he is still ‘Brother Herman”, the one who never tire to lend a listening ear to the complaints of a group leader.

He was highly regarded as a man of unquestionable rectitude and unvarnished virtues which will always have a prevailing influence on others.

“If a man’s virtues do not go and flow forth ahead of him, then it is as though he never lived.”

The members of The Association of Jamaican’s (UK) Trust and others remain in no doubt that Lord Heman Ouseley lived.

The Words of Louis Sadler – Vice Chair on behalf of The Association of Jamaican’s UK (Trust) 2024 ©