Memorial Service planned for Bristol civil rights campaigner
Dr Paul Stephenson OBE was a leading figure in the Bristol Bus Boycott
A memorial service will take place in Bristol later for one of the UK's leading civil rights campaigners Dr Paul Stephenson OBE, who was one of the main figures of the Bristol Bus Boycott.
Dr Stephenson died last November aged 87 and is credited with helping inspire the UK's first ever piece of anti-racist legislation, the 1965 Race Relations Act.
A service to celebrate his life and achievements is planned at Bristol Cathedral this afternoon (Friday 31st January).
What did Dr Stephenson do?
In 1963 Dr Stephenson and others including Roy Hacket MBE declared a boycott of Bristol's buses, after the Bristol Omnibus Company refused to hire Guy Bailey purely because of the colour of his skin. At the time discrimination on racial grounds was legal in the UK.
After 60 days of boycotting the buses, which was adopted by others across the city including students from the University of Bristol, the company gave in. By chance the Omnibus Company backed down on the same day Martin Luther King Jr gave his iconic "I have a dream" speech in Washington DC.
A year following this success, Dr Stephenson made headlines again when he began a one man sit-in at Bristol's Bay Horse pub, after a manager refused to serve him. He was eventually arrested and charged for refusing to leave but his case was dismissed in the courts.
Julz Davies is a civil rights campaigner in Bristol today and tells Northsound 1 of the impact these actions had.
He said: "It gained the attention of the incumbent Prime Minister at the time Harold Wilson, who sent Paul a telegram to say, if we're elected we will introduce a Race Relations Act.
"Fast forward a year later, Labour are in government and they introduced the very first piece of anti-racist legislation...
"That's why I think it's really important that we remember Paul Stephenson."
Passed in 1965, the Race Relations Act made it illegal to discriminate against a person because of the colour of their skin in public. It has been backed up by many further acts since, most recently the Equality Act of 2010 which prevents discrimination based on many other things including age, disability, gender reassignment, religion or sex as well as race.
Today's campaigning
In 2025, today's civil rights campaigners argue flaws in the education system mean not enough people know about the heroic actions of people like Dr Paul Stephenson. Instead, children in UK schools are more commonly taught about the civil rights movement in the United States and the actions of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr, among others.
Julz Davies said: "The fight isn't over and I think it's really important to note that.
"Bristol is the seventh worst city (in the UK) for people like me, black people, brown people, and that surely isn't right...
"He (Dr Stephenson) is a real inspiration."