(Jamaica Gleaner) Jamaica-born British doctor and civil rights pioneer Dr Harold Moody is being revered by Google Doodle today.
On September 1, 1904, the then 23-year-old arrived in the United Kingdom to pursue medical studies at King’s College in London.
His life in London was marred by racism, which led him to form the UK’s first civil rights movement.
Though he was a fully qualified doctor, having achieved the highest honours throughout his training and further education, he was unable to work due to the colour bar system that denied people opportunities based upon their race.
Moody was undeterred and so he opened a private medical practice in Peckham, South East London.
The two children depicted in the doodle, which is illustrated by Dublin artist Charlot Kristensen, are a reference to Moody’s treatment of disadvantaged children.
The mission of the League of Coloured Peoples, formed in 1931, was to tackle racial injustice and inequality throughout Britain and the world.
At the government level, the league helped to bring about legislative changes that have assisted in the push for an equal future.
In 1943, he was appointed to a government advisory committee on the welfare of non-Europeans, and in the same year, he also took the chair of the London Missionary Society.
Reacting to the news, president of the Universal Negro Improvement Association in Jamaica (UNIA) Steven Golding told The Gleaner that it is phenomenal that Google would highlight such a personality who was undeniably Jamaican.
He said Moody’s social and political agitations on behalf of “coloured people” helped put Jamaica in the light that it has been cast for so many years, as “a people who stand up against injustice, who are known to make our voices heard and known to be amongst the cadre of leadership when it comes to organising in defence of human rights, civil rights and against discrimination”.
Golding added that many Jamaicans may not know of Moody, who he described as a contemporary of Marcus Garvey and an example of Jamaica’s contribution to the UK.
“Even the issue of Black History curriculum in the UK, we had to fight hard to retain Mary Seacole, but people like Harold Moody are people who for a long time have been missing from the pages of Black History both in the UK and in Jamaica,” Golding said.
Quick facts about Dr Harold Moody:
– He was born on October 8, 1882, in Kingston, Jamaica.
– He served as president of the League of Coloured Peoples until his death in 1947.
– He was exposed to medicine and the medical industry at a tender age.
– During secondary school, he worked for his father’s pharmaceutical business.
– He worked tirelessly to help those from impoverished backgrounds by providing free health services.
– Judana Murphy
