title: Black British people

text: In 1786, Olaudah Equiano became the first black person to be employed by the British government, when he was made Commissary of Provisions and Stores for the 350 black people suffering from poverty who had decided to accept the government's offer of an assisted passage to Sierra Leone. The following year, in 1787, encouraged by the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor, about 400 black Londoners were aided in emigrating to Sierra Leone in West Africa, founding the first British colony on the continent. They asked that their status as British subjects be recognized, along with requests that they be given military protection by the Royal Navy. However, even though the committee signed up about 700 members of the Black Poor, only 441 boarded the three ships that set sail from London to Portsmouth. Many black Londoners were no longer interested in the scheme, and the coercion employed by the committee and the government to recruit them only reinforced their opposition. Equiano, who was originally involved in the scheme, became one of its most vocal critics. Another prominent black Londoner, Ottobah Cugoano, also criticised the scheme.


title: Black British people

text: In 2007, scientists found the rare paternal haplogroup A1 in a few living British men with Yorkshire surnames. This clade is today almost exclusively found among males in West Africa, where it is also rare. The haplogroup is thought to have been brought to Britain either through enlisted soldiers during Roman Britain, or much later via the modern slave trade. Turi King, a co-author on the study, noted the most probable "guess" was the West African slave trade. Some of the known individuals who arrived through the slave route, such as Ignatius Sancho and Olaudah Equiano, attained a very high social rank. Some married into the general population.


title: Black British people

text: In the late 18th century, the British slave trade declined in response to changing popular opinion. Both Great Britain and the United States abolished the Atlantic slave trade in 1808, and cooperated in liberating slaves from illegal trading ships off the coast of West Africa. Many of these freed slaves were taken to Sierra Leone for settlement. Slavery was abolished completely in the British Empire by 1834, although it had been profitable on Caribbean plantations. Fewer blacks were brought into London from the West Indies and West Africa. The resident British black population, primarily male, was no longer growing from the trickle of slaves and servants from the West Indies and America. Abolition meant a virtual halt to the arrival of black people to Britain, just as immigration from Europe was increasing. The black population of Victorian Britain was so small that those living outside of larger trading ports were isolated from the black population.<ref name="Black Victorians/Black Victoriana"></ref> The mentioning of black people and descendants in parish registers declined markedly in the early 19th century. It is possible that researchers simply did not collect the data or that the mostly black male population of the late 18th century had married white women. Evidence of such marriages may still be found today with descendants of black servants such as Francis Barber, a Jamaican-born servant who lived in Britain during the 18th century. His descendants still live in England today and are white. Abolition of slavery in 1833, effectively ended the period of small-scale black immigration to London and Britain. Though, there were some exceptions, black and Chinese seamen began putting down the roots of small communities in British ports, not least because they were abandoned there by their employers.


title: Black British people

text: By the late 19th century, race discrimination was furthered by theories of scientific racism, which held that whites were the superior race and that blacks were less intelligent than whites. Attempts to support these theories cited 'scientific evidence', such as brain size. James Hunt, President of the London Anthropological Society, in 1863 in his paper "On the Negro's place in nature" wrote,"the Negro is inferior intellectually to the European...[and] can only be humanised and civilised by Europeans." In the 1880s, there was a build-up of small groups of black dockside communities in towns such as Canning Town, Liverpool and Cardiff.


title: Black British people

text: "In the great brotherhood of the equestrian world there is no colour line [bar], for, although Pablo Fanque was of African extraction, he speedily made his way to the top of his profession. The camaraderie of the ring has but one test – ability."Another great circus performer was equestrian Joseph Hillier, who took over and ran Andrew Ducrow's circus company after Ducrow died.


title: Black British people

text: From the early part of the century, students of African descent were admitted to British Universities. One such student, for example, was the African American James McCune Smith who travelled from New York City to Glasgow University to study medicine. In 1837 he was awarded a medical doctorate and published two scientific articles in the "London Medical Gazette". These articles are the first known to be published by an African American medical doctor in a scientific journal.


title: Black British people

text: An Indian Briton, Dadabhai Naoroji, stood for election to parliament for the Liberal Party in 1886. He was defeated, leading the leader of the Conservative Party, Lord Salisbury to remark that "however great the progress of mankind has been, and however far we have advanced in overcoming prejudices, I doubt if we have yet got to the point of view where a British constituency would elect a Blackman". Naoroji was elected to parliament in 1892, becoming the second Member of Parliament (MP) of Indian descent after David Ochterlony Dyce Sombre.


title: Black British people

text: According to the Sierra Leonean barrister and writer, Augustus Merriman-Labor, in his 1909 book "Britons Through Negro Spectacles", London's Black population at the time did "not much exceed one hundred" people and "To every one [Black person in London], there are over sixty thousand whites".


title: Black British people

text: World War I saw a small growth in the size of London's Black communities with the arrival of merchant seamen and soldiers. At that time, there were also small groups of students from Africa and the Caribbean migrating into London. These communities are now among the oldest black communities of London. The largest Black communities were to be found in the United Kingdom's great port cities: London's East End, Liverpool, Bristol and Cardiff's Tiger Bay, with other communities in South Shields in Tyne & Wear and Glasgow. In 1914, the black population was estimated at 10,000 and centred largely in London. By 1918 there may have been as many as 20,000 or 30,000 black people living in Britain. However, the black population was much smaller relative to the total British population of 45 million and official documents were not adapted to record ethnicity. Black residents had for the most part emigrated from parts of the British Empire. The number of black soldiers serving in the British army, (rather than colonial regiments,) prior to World War I is unknown but was likely to have been negligibly low. One of the Black British soldiers during World War I was Walter Tull, an English professional footballer, born to a Barbadian carpenter Daniel Tull and Kent-born Alice Elizabeth Palmer. His grandfather was a slave in Barbados. Tull became the first British-born mixed-heritage infantry officer in a regular British Army regiment, despite the 1914 Manual of Military Law specifically excluding soldiers that were not "of pure European descent" from becoming commissioned officers.


title: Black British people

text: Colonial soldiers and sailors of Afro-Caribbean descent served in the United Kingdom during the First World War and some settled in British cities. The South Shields community—which also included other "coloured" seamen known as lascars, who were from South Asia and the Arab world—were victims of the UK's first race riot in 1919. Soon eight other cities with significant non-white communities were also hit by race riots. Due to these disturbances, many of the residents from the Arab world as well as some other immigrants were evacuated to their homelands. In that first postwar summer, other racial riots of whites against "coloured" peoples also took place in numerous United States cities, towns in the Caribbean, and South Africa. They were part of the social dislocation after the war as societies struggled to integrate veterans into the work forces again, and groups competed for jobs and housing. At Australian insistence, the British refused to accept the Racial Equality Proposal put forward by the Japanese at the Paris Peace Conference, 1919.


title: Black British people

text: World War II marked another period of growth for the Black communities in London, Liverpool and elsewhere in Britain. Many Blacks from the Caribbean and West Africa arrived in small groups as wartime workers, merchant seamen, and servicemen from the army, navy, and air forces. For example, in February 1941, 345 West Indians came to work in factories in and around Liverpool, making munitions. By the end of 1943, there were 3,312 African-American GIs based at Maghull and Huyton, near Liverpool. The Black population in the summer of 1944 was estimated at 150,000, mostly Black GIs from the United States. However, by 1948 the Black population was estimated to have been less than 20,000 and did not reach the previous peak of 1944 until 1958.


title: Black British people

text: Learie Constantine, a West Indian cricketer, was a welfare officer with the Ministry of Labour when he was refused service at a London hotel. He sued for breach of contract and was awarded damages. This particular example is used by some to illustrate the slow change from racism towards acceptance and equality of all citizens in London.


title: Black British people

text: In 1950, there were probably fewer than 20,000 non-White residents in Britain, almost all born overseas. After World War II, the largest influx of Black people occurred, mostly from the British West Indies. Over a quarter of a million West Indians, the overwhelming majority of them from Jamaica, settled in Britain in less than a decade. In 1951, the population of Caribbean and African-born people in Britain was estimated at 20,900. In the mid-1960s, Britain had become the centre of the largest overseas population of West Indians. This migration event is often labelled "Windrush", a reference to the , the ship that carried the first major group of Caribbean migrants to the United Kingdom in 1948.


title: Black British people

text: "Caribbean" is itself not one ethnic or political identity; for example, some of this wave of immigrants were Indo-Caribbean. The most widely used term used at that time was "West Indian" (or sometimes "coloured"). "Black British" did not come into widespread use until the second generation were born to these post-war migrants to the UK. Although British by nationality, due to friction between them and the White majority they were often born into communities that were relatively closed, creating the roots of what would become a distinct Black British identity. By the 1950s, there was a consciousness of Black people as a separate group that had not been there between 1932-38. The increasing consciousness of Black British peoples was deeply informed by the influx of Black American culture imported by Black servicemen during and after World War II, music being a central example of what Jacqueline Nassy-Brown calls "diasporic resources". These close interactions between Americans and Black British were not only material but also inspired the expatriation of some Black British women to America after marrying servicemen (some of whom later repatriated to the UK).


title: Black British people

text: In 1961, the population of people born in Africa or the Caribbean was estimated at 191,600, just under 0.4% of the total UK population. The 1962 Commonwealth Immigrants Act was passed in Britain along with a succession of other laws in 1968, 1971 and 1981, which severely restricted the entry of Black immigrants into Britain. During this period it is widely argued that emergent blacks and Asians struggled in Britain against racism and prejudice. During the 1970s—and partly in response to both the rise in racial intolerance and the rise of the Black Power movement abroad—"black" became detached from its negative connotations, and was reclaimed as a marker of pride: black is beautiful. In 1975, David Pitt was appointed to the House of Lords. He spoke against racism and for equality in regards to all residents of Britain. In the years that followed, several Black members were elected into the British Parliament. By 1981, the black population in the United Kingdom was estimated at 1.2% of all countries of birth, being 0.8% Black-Caribbean, 0.3% Black-Other, and 0.1% Black-African residents.


title: Black British people

text: Since the 1980s, the majority of black immigrants into the country have come directly from Africa, in particular, Nigeria and Ghana in West Africa, Uganda and Kenya in East Africa, Zimbabwe, and South Africa in Southern Africa. Nigerians and Ghanaians have been especially quick to accustom themselves to British life, with young Nigerians and Ghanaians achieving some of the best results at GCSE and A-Level, often on a par or above the performance of white pupils. The rate of inter-racial marriage between British citizens born in Africa and native Britons is still fairly low, compared to those from the Caribbean.


title: Black British people

text: By the end of the 20th century the number of black Londoners numbered half a million, according to the 1991 census. The 1991 census was the first to include a question on ethnicity, and the black population of Great Britain (i.e. the United Kingdom excluding Northern Ireland, where the question was not asked) was recorded as 890,727, or 1.6% of the total population. This figure included 499,964 people in the Black-Caribbean category (0.9%), 212,362 in the Black-African category (0.4%) and 178,401 in the Black-Other category (0.3%). An increasing number of black Londoners were London- or British-born. Even with this growing population and the first blacks elected to Parliament, many argue that there was still discrimination and a socio-economic imbalance in London among the blacks. In 1992, the number of blacks in Parliament increased to six, and in 1997, they increased their numbers to nine. There are still many problems that black Londoners face; the new global and high-tech information revolution is changing the urban economy and some argue that it is driving up unemployment rates among blacks relative to non-blacks, something, it is argued, that threatens to erode the progress made thus far. By 2001, the Black British population was recorded at 1,148,738 (2.0%) in the 2001 census.


title: Black British people

text: The late 1950s through to the late 1980s saw a number of mass street conflicts involving young Afro-Caribbean men and British police officers in English cities, mostly as a result of tensions between members of local black communities and whites.


title: Black British people

text: The first major incident occurred in 1958 in Notting Hill, when roaming gangs of between 300 and 400 white youths attacked Afro-Caribbeans and their houses across the neighbourhood, leading to a number of Afro-Caribbean men being left unconscious in the streets. The following year, Antigua-born Kelso Cochrane died after being set upon and stabbed by a gang of white youths while walking home to Notting Hill.


title: Black British people

text: During the 1970s, police forces across England increasingly began to use the Sus law, provoking a sense that young black men were being discriminated against by the police The next newsworthy outbreak of street fighting occurred in 1976 at the Notting Hill Carnival when several hundred police officers and youths became involved in televised fights and scuffles, with stones thrown at police, baton charges and a number of minor injuries and arrests.


title: Black British people

text: The 1980 St. Pauls riot in Bristol saw fighting between local youths and police officers, resulting in numerous minor injuries, damage to property and arrests. In London, 1981 brought further conflict, with a perceived racist police force after the death of 13 black youngsters who were attending a birthday party that ended in the devastating New Cross Fire. The fire was viewed by many as a racist massacre and a major political demonstration, known as the Black People's Day of Action was held to protest against the attacks themselves, a perceived rise in racism, and perceived hostility and indifference from the police, politicians and media. Tensions were further inflamed when, in nearby Brixton, police launched operation Swamp 81, a series of mass stop-and-searches of young black men. Anger erupted when up to 500 people were involved in street fighting between the Metropolitan Police and local Afro-Caribbean community, leading to a number of cars and shops being set on fire, stones thrown at police and hundreds of arrests and minor injuries. A similar pattern occurred further north in England that year, in Toxteth, Liverpool, and Chapeltown, Leeds.


title: Black British people

text: Despite the recommendations of the Scarman Report (published in November 1981), relations between black youths and police did not significantly improve and a further wave of nationwide conflicts occurred in Handsworth, Birmingham, in 1985, when the local South Asian community also became involved. Following the police shooting of a black grandmother Cherry Groce in Brixton, and the death of Cynthia Jarrett during a raid on her home in Tottenham, in north London, protests held at the local police stations did not end peacefully and further street battles with the police erupted, the disturbances later spreading to Manchester's Moss Side. The street battles themselves (involving more stone-throwing, the discharge of one firearm, and several fires) led to two fatalities (in the Broadwater Farm riot) and Brixton.


title: Black British people

text: In 1999, following the Macpherson Inquiry into the 1993 killing of Stephen Lawrence, Sir Paul Condon, commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, accepted that his organisation was institutionally racist. Some members of the Black British community were involved in the 2001 Harehills race riot and 2005 Birmingham race riots.


title: Black British people

text: In 2011, following the shooting of a mixed-race man, Mark Duggan, by police in Tottenham, a protest was held at the local police station. The protest ended with an outbreak of fighting between local youths and police officers leading to widespread disturbances across English cities.


title: Black British people

text: Some analysts claimed that black people were disproportionally represented in the 2011 England riots. Research suggests that race relations in Britain deteriorated in the period following the riots and that prejudice towards ethnic minorities increased. Groups such as the EDL and the BNP were said to be exploiting the situation. Racial tensions between blacks and Asians in Birmingham increased after the deaths of three Asian men at the hands of a black youth.


title: Black British people

text: In a "Newsnight" discussion on 12 August 2011, historian David Starkey blamed black gangster and rap culture, saying that it had influenced youths of all races. Figures showed that 46 per cent of people brought before a courtroom for arrests related to the 2011 riots were black.


title: Black British people

text: During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom the first ten healthcare workers to die from the virus came from Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, prompting the head of the British Medical Association to call on the government to begin investigating if and why minorities are being disproportionally affected. Early statistics found that black and Asian people were being affected worse than white people, with figures showing 35% of COVID-19 patients were non-white, and similar studies in the US had shown a clear racial disparity. The government announced that they will be launching an official inquiry into the disproportionate impact of coronavirus on Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities with Communities Minister Robert Jenrick acknowledging that ""There does appear to be a disproportionate impact of the virus on BAME communities in the UK."" A social media campaign in response to the Clap for our Carers campaign, highlighted the role Black & minority health and key workers and asking the public to continue their support after the pandemic gained over 12 million views online. 72 per cent of NHS Staff that died from Covid-19 were reported as being from Black & Minority Ethnic groups, far higher than the number of staff from BAME backgrounds working in the NHS which stood at 44%. Statistics did show that black people were significantly over-represented, but that as the pandemic progressed the disparity in these figures was reducing. Reports discussed a number of complex contributing factors including health and income inequality, social and environmental factors were exacerbating and contributing to the spread of the disease unequally. In April 2020 after his sister's partner died from the virus, Patrick Vernon set up a fundraising initiative called "The Majonzi Fund" which will provide families with access to small financial grants that can be used to access bereavement counselling and organise memorial events and tributes after the social lockdown has been lifted.


title: Black British people

text: According to the 2021 United Kingdom census, those identifying as Black British in England & Wales enumerated 2,409,278, or 4.0% of the population


title: Black British people

text: The 2011 UK Census recorded 1,904,684 residents who identified as "Black/African/Caribbean/Black British", accounting for 3 per cent of the total UK population. This was the first UK census where the number of self-reported Black African residents exceeded that of Black Caribbeans.


title: Black British people

text: Within England and Wales, 989,628 individuals specified their ethnicity as "Black African", 594,825 as "Black Caribbean", and 280,437 as "Other Black". In Northern Ireland, 2,345 individuals self-reported as "Black African", 372 as "Black Caribbean", and 899 as "Other Black", totaling 3,616 "Black" residents. In Scotland, 29,638 persons identified themselves as "African", choosing either the "African, African Scottish or African British" tick box or the "Other African" tick box and write-in area. 6,540 individuals also self-reported as "Caribbean or Black", selecting either the "Caribbean, Caribbean Scottish or Caribbean British" tick box, the "Black, Black Scottish or Black British" tick box, or the "Other Caribbean or Black" tick box and write-in area. In order to compare UK-wide results, the Office for National Statistics combined the "African" and "Caribbean or Black" entries at the top-level, and reported a total of 36,178 "Black" residents in Scotland. According to the ONS, individuals in Scotland with "Other African", "White" and "Asian" ethnicities as well as "Black" identities could thus all potentially be captured within this combined output. The General Register Office for Scotland, which devised the categories and administers the Scotland census, does not combine the "African" and "Caribbean or Black" entries, maintaining them as separate for individuals who do not self-identify as "Black" (see census classification).


title: Black British people

text: In the 2001 Census, 575,876 people in the United Kingdom had reported their ethnicity as "Black Caribbean", 485,277 as "Black African", and 97,585 as "Black Other", making a total of 1,148,738 "Black or Black British" residents. This was equivalent to 2 per cent of the UK population at the time.


title: Black British people

text: Most Black Britons can be found in the large cities and metropolitan areas of the country. The 2011 census found that 1.85 million of a total Black population of 1.9 million lived in England, with 1.09 million of those in London, where they made up 13.3 per cent of the population, compared to 3.5 per cent of England's population and 3 per cent of the UK's population. The ten local authorities with the highest proportion of their populations describing themselves as Black in the census were all in London: Lewisham (27.2 per cent), Southwark (26.9 per cent), Lambeth (25.9 per cent), Hackney (23.1 per cent), Croydon (20.2 per cent), Barking and Dagenham (20.0 per cent), Newham (19.6 per cent), Greenwich (19.1 per cent), Haringey (18.8 per cent) and Brent (18.8 per cent). More specifically, for Black Africans the highest local authority was Southwark (16.4 per cent) followed by Barking and Dagenham (15.4 per cent) and Greenwich (13.8 per cent), whereas for Black Caribbeans the highest was Lewisham (11.2 per cent) followed by Lambeth (9.5 per cent) and Croydon (8.6%).


title: Black British people

text: Outside of London, the next largest populations are in Birmingham (96,360, 9%) / Wolverhampton (17,309, 6.9%), Manchester (43,484, 8.6%), Leeds (25,893, 3.5%), Bristol (25,734, 6%), Reading, Berkshire (22,921, 6.7%), Nottingham (22,185, 7.3%), Leicester (20,585, 6.2%), Sheffield (20,082, 3.6%) and Luton (19,909, 9.8%).


title: Black British people

text: An academic journal article published in 2005, citing sources from 1997 and 2001, estimated that nearly half of British-born African-Caribbean men, a third of British-born African-Caribbean women, and a fifth of African men, have white partners. In 2014, "The Economist" reported that, according to the Labour Force Survey, 48 per cent of black Caribbean men and 34 per cent of black Caribbean women in couples have partners from a different ethnic group. Moreover, mixed-race children under the age of ten with black Caribbean and white parents outnumber black Caribbean children by two-to-one.


title: Black British people

text: Multicultural London English is a variety of the English language spoken by a large number of the Black British population of Afro-Caribbean ancestry. British Black dialect has been influenced by Jamaican Patois owing to the large number of immigrants from Jamaica, but it is also spoken or imitated by those of different ancestry.


title: Black British people

text: British Black speech is also heavily influenced by social class and regional dialect (Cockney, Mancunian, Brummie, Scouse, etc.).


title: Black British people

text: Black British music is a long-established and influential part of British music. Its presence in the United Kingdom stretches back to the 18th century, encompassing concert performers such as George Bridgetower and street musicians the likes of Billy Waters. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875–1912) achieved great success as a composer at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Jazz Age also had taken an effect on the generation.


title: Black British people

text: In the late 1970s and 1980s, 2 Tone became popular with the British youth; especially in the West Midlands. A blend of punk, ska and pop made it a favourite among both white and black audiences. Famous bands in the genre include the Selecter, the Specials, the Beat and the Bodysnatchers.


title: Black British people

text: Jungle, dubstep, drum and bass, UK garage and grime music originated in London and involve a number of artists from primarily Caribbean communities but recently Black Africans also, most notably of Ghanaian and Nigerian origin. Famous grime artists include Dizzee Rascal, Tinchy Stryder, Tinie Tempah, Chipmunk, Kano, Wiley and Lethal Bizzle. It is now common to hear British MCs rapping in a strong London accent. Niche, with its origin in Sheffield and Leeds, has a much faster bassline and is often sung in a Northern accent. Famous niche artists include producer T2.


title: Black British people

text: The MOBO Awards – recognizing performers of "Music of Black Origin" – are seen as a UK equivalent to the BET Awards and Soul Train Awards for being the main award show in Britain to focus on urban music.


title: Black British people

text: Among Black British artists to have gained significant popularity in the U.S. are Sade ("Paradise"), Seal ("Kiss from a Rose"), Soul II Soul ("Back to Life"), Des'ree ("You Gotta Be") and Loose Ends ("Hangin' on a String").


title: Black British people

text: The black community in Britain has a number of significant publications. The leading key publication is "The Voice" newspaper, founded by Val McCalla in 1982, and Britain's only national Black weekly newspaper. "The Voice" primarily targets the Caribbean diaspora and has been printed for more than 35 years. Secondly, the "Black History Month" magazine is a central point of focus which leads the nationwide celebration of Black History, Arts and Culture throughout the UK. "Pride Magazine", published since 1991, is the largest monthly magazine that targets black British, mixed-race, African and African-Caribbean women in the United Kingdom. In 2007, "The Guardian" reported that the magazine had dominated the black women's magazine market for over 15 years. "Keep The Faith" magazine is a multi-award winning Black and minority ethnic community magazine produced quarterly since 2005. "Keep The Faith"s editorial contributors are some of the most powerful and influential movers and shakers, and successful entrepreneurs within BME communities.


title: Black British people

text: Many major Black British publications are handled through Diverse Media Group, which specialises in helping organisations reach Britain's Black and minority ethnic community through the main media they consume. The senior leadership team is a composite of many CEO and owners from the publications listed above.


title: Black British people

text: The wave of black immigrants who arrived in Britain from the Caribbean in the 1950s faced significant amounts of racism. For many Caribbean immigrants, their first experience of discrimination came when trying to find private accommodation. They were generally ineligible for council housing because only people who had been resident in the UK for a minimum of five years qualified for it. At the time, there was no anti-discrimination legislation to prevent landlords from refusing to accept black tenants. A survey undertaken in Birmingham in 1956 found that only 15 of a total of 1,000 white people surveyed would let a room to a black tenant. As a result, many black immigrants were forced to live in slum areas of cities, where the housing was of poor quality and there were problems of crime, violence and prostitution. One of the most notorious slum landlords was Peter Rachman, who owned around 100 properties in the Notting Hill area of London. Black tenants typically paid twice the rent of white tenants, and lived in conditions of extreme overcrowding.


title: Black British people

text: Historian Winston James argues that the experience of racism in Britain was a major factor in the development of a shared Caribbean identity amongst black immigrants from a range of different island and class backgrounds.


title: Black British people

text: In the 1970s and 1980s, black people in Britain were the victims of racist violence perpetrated by far-right groups such as the National Front. During this period, it was also common for Black footballers to be subjected to racist chanting from crowd members.


title: Black British people

text: Racism in Britain in general, including against black people, is considered to have declined over time. Academic Robert Ford demonstrates that social distance, measured using questions from the British Social Attitudes survey about whether people would mind having an ethnic minority boss or have a close relative marry an ethnic minority spouse, declined over the period 1983–1996. These declines were observed for attitudes towards Black and Asian ethnic minorities. Much of this change in attitudes happened in the 1990s. In the 1980s, opposition to interracial marriage were significant. Nonetheless, Ford argues that "Racism and racial discrimination remain a part of everyday life for Britain's ethnic minorities. Black and Asian Britons...are less likely to be employed and are more likely to work in worse jobs, live in worse houses and suffer worse health than White Britons". The University of Maryland's Minorities at Risk (MAR) project noted in 2006 that while African-Caribbeans in the United Kingdom no longer face formal discrimination, they continue to be under-represented in politics, and to face discriminatory barriers in access to housing and in employment practices. The project also notes that the British school system "has been indicted on numerous occasions for racism, and for undermining the self-confidence of black children and maligning the culture of their parents". The MAR profile on African-Caribbeans in the United Kingdom notes "growing 'black on black' violence between people from the Caribbean and immigrants from Africa".


title: Black British people

text: There is concern that murders using knives are given insufficient attention because most victims are black. Martin Hewitt of the Metropolitan Police said, "I do fear sometimes that because the majority of those that are injured or killed are coming from certain communities and very often the black communities in London, it doesn’t get the sense of collective outrage that it ought to do and really get everyone to a place where we are all doing everything we can to prevent this from happening. It’s an enormous effort on our part. We are putting enormous resources in to try and stem the flow of the violence and having some success at doing that. But collectively we all ought to be looking at this and seeing how we can prevent it."


title: Black British people

text: According to the 2005 TUC report "Black workers, jobs and poverty", Black and minority ethnic people (BMEs) were more likely to be unemployed than the White population. The rate of unemployment among the White population was 5%, but among ethnic minority groups it was Bangladeshi 17%, Pakistani 15%, Mixed 15%, Black Britons 13%, Other ethnic 12% and Indian 7%. Of the different ethnic groups studied, Asians had the highest poverty rate of 45% (after housing costs), Black Britons 38% and Chinese/other 32% (compared to a poverty rate of 20% for the White population). However, the report did concede that things were slowly improving.


title: Black British people

text: A 2014 study by the Black Training and Enterprise Group (BTEG), funded by Trust for London, explored the views of young Black males in London on why their demographic have a higher unemployment rate than any other group of young people, finding that many young Black men in London believe that racism and negative stereotyping are the main reasons for their high unemployment rate.


title: Black British people

text: In 2019, 69% of Black 16 to 64 year olds were employed, compared to 65% of Asians and 77% of White British. The number of Black Britons employed was therefore higher than the 66% average for all non-white ethnic minorities.


title: Black British people

text: Both racist crime and gang-related crime continues to affect black communities, so much so that the Metropolitan Police launched Operation Trident to tackle black-on-black crimes. Numerous deaths in police custody of black men has generated a general distrust of police among urban blacks in the UK. According to the Metropolitan Police Authority in 2002–03 of the 17 deaths in police custody, 10 were black or Asian – black convicts have a disproportionately higher rate of incarceration than other ethnicities. The government reports The overall number of racist incidents recorded by the police rose by 7 per cent from 49,078 in 2002/03 to 52,694 in 2003/04.


title: Black British people

text: Media representation of young black British people has focused particularly on "gangs" with black members and violent crimes involving black victims and perpetrators. According to a Home Office report, 10 per cent of all murder victims between 2000 and 2004 were black. Of these, 56 per cent were murdered by other black people (with 44 per cent of black people murdered by whites and Asians – making black people disproportionately higher victims of killing by people from other ethnicities). In addition, a Freedom of Information request made by "The Daily Telegraph" shows internal police data that provides a breakdown of the ethnicity of the 18,091 men and boys who police took action against for a range of offences in London in October 2009. Among those proceeded against for street crimes, 54 per cent were black; for robbery, 59 per cent; and for gun crimes, 67 per cent. According to the Office for National Statistics, 18.4% of homicide suspects in England and Wales over March 2019 - March 2021 were Black.


title: Black British people

text: Black people, who according to government statistics make up 2 per cent of the population, are the principal suspects in 11.7 per cent of murders, i.e. in 252 out of 2163 murders committed 2001/2, 2002/3, and 2003/4. Judging on the basis of prison population, a substantial minority (about 35%) of black criminals in the United Kingdom are not British citizens but foreign nationals. In November 2009, the Home Office published a study that showed that, once other variables had been accounted for, ethnicity was not a significant predictor of offending, anti-social behaviour or drug abuse among young people.


title: Black British people

text: After several high-profile investigations such as that of the murder of Stephen Lawrence, the police have been accused of racism, from both within and outside the service. Cressida Dick, head of the Metropolitan Police's anti-racism unit in 2003, remarked that it was "difficult to imagine a situation where we will say we are no longer institutionally racist". Black people were seven times more likely to be stopped and searched by police compared to white people, according to the Home Office, A separate study said blacks were more than nine times more likely to be searched.


title: Black British people

text: Even though blacks are only 2 to 3% of the general UK population, black prisoners make up 15% of the British prison population, which experts say is "a result of decades of racial prejudice in the criminal justice system and an overly punitive approach to penal affairs." About 51% of boys in young offender institutions identified as being from a BME background.


title: Black British people

text: Well-known black Britons living before the 20th century include the Chartist William Cuffay; William Davidson, who was executed as a Cato Street conspirator; Olaudah Equiano (also called Gustavus Vassa), a former slave who bought his freedom, moved to England, and settled in Soham, Cambridgeshire, where he married and wrote an autobiography, dying in 1797; Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, pioneer of the slave narrative; and Ignatius Sancho, a grocer who also acquired a reputation as a man of letters.


title: Black British people

text: In 2004, a poll found that people considered the Crimean War heroine Mary Seacole to be the greatest Black Briton. Seacole was born in Jamaica in 1805 to a white father and black mother. A statue of her, designed by Martin Jennings, was unveiled in the grounds of St. Thomas' Hospital opposite the Houses of Parliament in London in June 2016, following a 12-year campaign that raised £500,000 to honour her.


title: Black British people

text: A number of awards and honours exist to recognise talent and influence of the Black British community. The MOBO Awards, was the first awards ceremony that celebrates the achievements in music of black origin in 2006. Founder Kanya King has subsequently been awarded both a MBE and a CBE for her services to the music industry, and the awards have taken place annually since its inauguration.


title: Black British people

text: The "Powerlist" is an annual list of the 100 most influential people of African or African Caribbean heritage in the UK. The list was first created in 2007 by Michael Eboda, then editor of the "New Nation", a weekly newspaper published in the UK for the Black British community, as a way to profile and celebrate influential Black Britons, and inspire and influence the next generation. The list is updated annually and has been published in book format by Powerful Media since 2007. The "Powerlist" is not limited to British born citizens and it includes individuals born overseas who have emigrated to the UK. The 50 highest rated nominees, along with updates on the previous year's Powerlistees from rank 2–100, are then ranked by an independent panel in the summer, with the list being produced each autumn. Each year's highest ranking individual is added to the Powerlist Hall of Fame.


title: Black British people

text: In 2014, Melanie Eusebe and Sophie Chandauka co-founded the "Black British Business Awards", to celebrate the contributions of inspiring professionals across all UK Industries.


title: Black British people

text: The British Ethnic Diversity Sports Awards (BEDSA) were launched in 2016, celebrating the contribution of and achievements of ethnic minority sportspeople and have included awards presented to cricketer Jofra Archer and athlete Christine Ohuruogu.


title: Black British people

text: The inaugural Black British Theatre Awards, co-founded by activist Solange Urdang and theatre director and choreographer Omar F. Okai, took place in October 2019 at Old Finsbury Town Hall hosted by Ore Oduba, with winners including Lynette Linton for best Director, Beverley Knight MBE for supporting actress and "Hamilton" as best musical production.


title: Black British people

text: Some British aristocrats descend from the Afro-Russian courtier General Abram Petrovich Gannibal, including Natalia Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster and her sister Alexandra Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn – the daughters of Georgina, Lady Kennard – and their descendants (such as Natalia's son Hugh Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster). George Mountbatten, 4th Marquess of Milford Haven, is also a direct descendant as the grandson of Nadejda Mountbatten, Marchioness of Milford Haven.


title: Black British people

text: In addition to this, both the mixed-race royal Archie Mountbatten-Windsor and the mixed-race aristocrat John Thynn, Viscount Weymouth are each currently the heir apparent to the dukedom of Sussex and the marquessate of Bath respectively. Other mixed-race descendants of British nobles include the philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah (who is the great-grandson of Charles Cripps, 1st Baron Parmoor), the actor Adetomiwa Edun (who is the aforementioned Lord Parmoor's great-great-grandson), the writer James Forman Jr. (who is the great-grandson of David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale), and the models Adwoa and Kesewa Aboah (who are the great-granddaughters of Anthony Lowther, Viscount Lowther).


title: Black British people

text: Jamaican-born Barbara Blake-Hannah was the first black person to be an on-camera reporter and interviewer on British television in 1968. Television reporter and newsreader Sir Trevor McDonald, born in Trinidad, was knighted in 1999. Also notable is Moira Stuart, OBE, the first female newsreader of African-Caribbean heritage on British television. Clive Myrie, of Jamaican heritage, is another notable newsreader and reporter. He is also the host of the long-running BBC quiz shows "Mastermind" and "Celebrity Mastermind". Other high-profile television personalities and entertainers include comedian Sir Lenny Henry, Rudolph Walker, Joseph Marcell, Nabil Elouahabi and chef Ainsley Harriott.


title: Black British people

text: Marsha Ambrosius, Joan Armatrading, Pato Banton, Dame Shirley Bassey, Mel B, Alexandra Burke, Celeste, Diane Charlemagne, Taio Cruz, Craig David, Des'ree, Fleur East, Estelle, Gabrielle, Roland Gift, Jaki Graham, David Grant, Eddy Grant, Pauline Henry, Dev Hynes, Jamelia, KSI, Leona Lewis, Shaznay Lewis, Mahalia, Ella Mai, MNEK, Maxine Nightingale, Billy Ocean, Mica Paris, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Maxi Priest, Corinne Bailey Rae, Andrew Roachford, Sade, Emeli Sande, Seal, Skepta, Heather Small, Jorja Smith, 21 Savage, Benji Webbe, Simon Webbe, Caron Wheeler, and Young MC are among the popular singers not mentioned in the music section above.


title: Black British people

text: Sir Horace Ové was the first Black British filmmaker to direct a feature-length film, "Pressure," in 1976. Considered a pioneer in Black British filmmaking, Ové was awarded a knighthood for his services to media. Inspired by Ové, Menelik Shabazz became the second Black filmmaker to direct a feature film in the UK, "Burning an Illusion," in 1981. The film received critical acclaim and is considered an important landmark in UK cinema. "Burning an Illusion" won the Grand Prix at the Amiens International Film Festival in France.


title: Black British people

text: The most prominent Black British filmmaker is Sir Steve McQueen, who after initially receiving acclaim as a visual artist and winning the Turner Prize in 1999, went on to direct his first feature "Hunger" (2008), which earned him the Caméra d'Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. His third feature film, "12 Years a Slave" (2013), won several major international awards, and McQueen became the first black filmmaker to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. Other notable Black British filmmakers include Richard Ayoade, Amma Asante, debbie tucker green, Ngozi Onwurah, and Destiny Ekaragha.


title: Black British people

text: Numerous black British actors have experienced success in US television, such as Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Idris Elba, Alfred Enoch, Damson Idris, Lennie James, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Regé-Jean Page, and Marsha Thomason. Black British actors are also increasingly found starring in major Hollywood films, notable examples include Kingsley Ben-Adir, John Boyega, Lois Chimimba, Franz Drameh, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Cynthia Erivo, David Harewood, Naomie Harris, Daniel Kaluuya, Adrian Lester, Delroy Lindo, Lashana Lynch, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Thandiwe Newton, Sophie Okonedo, Eunice Olumide, David Oyelowo, Aaron Pierre, Hugh Quarshie, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Colin Salmon, Antonia Thomas, Eamonn Walker, Ashley Walters, and Letitia Wright. Looking to join the listed above are young stars such as Ricardo P. Lloyd who spoke about the challenges many black British actors face in the UK industry compared to the US in an article by "The Independent".


title: Black British people

text: Among notable Black British visual artists are painters such as Chris Ofili, Frank Bowling, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Keith Piper, Sonia Boyce, Paul Dash, Kimathi Donkor, Claudette Johnson, Winston Branch, and sculptors including Sokari Douglas Camp, Ronald Moody, Fowokan, Yinka Shonibare and Zak Ové.


title: Black British people

text: Naomi Campbell was the first black model to appear on the front cover of "Time", French "Vogue", and the September issue of American "Vogue". Other notable models include Leomie Anderson, Jourdan Dunn, Paloma Elsesser and Munroe Bergdorf.


title: Black British people

text: Britain's first major black newspaper, the "West Indian Gazette" (WIG), was founded by communist activist Claudia Jones in 1958. Notable Black British writers include Andrea Levy, whose best selling book, "Small Island" (2004)"," won the Whitbread Book of the Year, the Orange Prize for Fiction and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize. Levy became the first Black writer whose pen would join the Royal Society of Literature's historic collection, which includes pens belonging to Charles Dickens, George Eliot, T. S. Eliot and Lord Byron. Bernardine Evaristo's novel "Girl, Woman, Other" won the Man Booker Prize in 2019, making Evaristo the first Black British writer to win the Man Booker. In 2020, Evaristo was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for her services to literature. Zadie Smith won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the (Eurasia Section) and the Orange Prize for "On Beauty". Smith's acclaimed first novel, "White Teeth" (2000) was an international best seller and won multiple accolades, including the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction, the Whitbread Book Award in category best first novel, the Guardian First Book Award and the Betty Trask Award. "Time" magazine included the novel in its list of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005. Dreda Say Mitchell became the first Black British writer to be awarded the Crime Writers Association’s John Creasey Dagger for her debut book "Running Hot," in 2005. Mitchell's 2019 psychological thriller, "Spare Room," became a critically acclaimed international best seller and she was honoured with an MBE for services to literature. At the 2020 British Book Awards, Candice Carty-Williams became the first Black woman to win the "Book of the Year" accolade, for her novel "Queenie." "Queenie" entered the "Sunday Times" Bestseller hardback chart at number two and has gone on to win numerous accolades. Other notable novelists include Caryl Phillips, Victor Headley, Alex Wheatle, Ferdinand Dennis (winner of the Martin Luther King Memorial Prize for his 1988 travelogue "Behind the Frontlines: Journey into Afro-Britain"), George Lamming, Samuel Selvon (who wrote the groundbreaking novel "The Lonely Londoners)," Andrew Salkey, Sir Wilson Harris (who was knighted and received a Lifetime Achievement Prize from the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards), Mike Phillips, Booker Prize nominee Nadifa Mohamed and Diran Adebayo (first winner in 1995 of the Saga Prize, which was set up by Marsha Hunt to encourage Black British writing and ran for four years).


title: Black British people

text: Jackie Kay was Scots Makar, the national poet laureate of Scotland, between 2016 and 2021. Other notable poets include Roger Robinson (won the prestigious T. S. Eliot Prize 2019), Benjamin Zephaniah, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Lemn Sissay, Salena Godden, Warsan Shire, Patience Agbabi, Kamau Brathwaite (won the 2006 International Griffin Poetry Prize, for his volume of poetry "Born to Slow Horses)" and James Berry, who was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to poetry. Notable playwrights include Mustapha Matura, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Roy Williams, Winsome Pinnock, Patricia Cumper and Bola Agbaje. Other contributors include journalists such as Reni Eddo-Lodge, Gary Younge, Afua Hirsch, Ekow Eshun, and Children's Laureate Malorie Blackman. Onyeka Nubia is the author of fictional trilogy "Waiting to Explode", "The Black Prince", and "The Phoenix", for which he won the 2009 African Achievers award for Communication and Media. "" is his latest book, published by Narrative Eye in 2013, in which he proves that Black people in Tudor England had free status and were not slaves. "Blackamoores" was runner-up in the 2013/14 People's Book Prize.


title: Black British people

text: Norwell Roberts was one of the first black police officers to join the Metropolitan Police in 1967, eventually rising to the rank of Detective Sergeant. Roberts was awarded the Queen's Police Medal for distinguished service in 1996 and retired from duty in 1997. Michael Fuller, after a career in the Metropolitan Police, served as the Chief Constable of Kent from 2004 to 2010. He is the son of Jamaican immigrants who came to the United Kingdom in the 1950s. Fuller was brought up in Sussex, where his interest in the police force was encouraged by an officer attached to his school. He is a graduate in social psychology. Leroy Logan served as a Metropolitan Police superintendent and was a founding member and chairman of the National Black Police Association. Logan was awarded an MBE for his fight against racism within the police force. Janet Hills was the first woman to chair the National Black Police Association and was awarded an MBE for her services to policing and to community relations.


title: Black British people

text: British communist activist Charlie Hutchison, born in Witney and raised in an orphanage, was the only black British volunteer to join the British Battalion of the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War. He spent almost 10 years uninteruptedly fighting fascists, taking part in the Battle of Cable Street, and fighting in numerous battles including the Dunkirk evacuation, and the liberation of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.


title: Black British people

text: In 2005, soldier Johnson Beharry, born in Grenada, became the first man to win the Victoria Cross, the United Kingdom's foremost military award for bravery, since the Falklands War of 1982. He was awarded the medal for service in Iraq in 2004. Air Commodore David Case is the highest ranking black officer in the forces. He joined the RAF as a 19-year-old cadet to read aeronautical engineering at the Queen's University Belfast. He received his commission in 1975 and was awarded the distinguished Sword of Honour, which is bestowed upon the top cadet officer of the year.


title: Black British people

text: In the sport of boxing, there have been multiple Black British world champions, including Lennox Lewis (three-time heavyweight world champion, two-time lineal champion, the most recent heavyweight to hold the undisputed championship, and widely viewed as one of the greatest boxers of all-time), Frank Bruno, Chris Eubank Sr., Nigel Benn, David Haye, Kell Brook, James DeGale, Anthony Joshua and Lawrence Okolie.


title: Black British people

text: There are many notable black British footballers, some of whom have played for England, including Marcus Rashford, Paul Ince, Sol Campbell, John Barnes, Dion Dublin, Rio Ferdinand, Viv Anderson, Des Walker, Ashley Cole, Ian Wright, Daniel Sturridge, Daniel Welbeck, Joe Gomez, Micah Richards, Bukayo Saka, Raheem Sterling, Jesse Lingard, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Danny Rose, Ryan Bertrand, Kyle Walker, Dele Alli and David James. Andrew Watson who is widely considered to be the world's first association footballer of black heritage, Chris Iwelumo and Ikechi Anya among others have all played for Scotland. Eddie Parris, Danny Gabbidon, Nathan Blake and Ashley Williams have played for Wales.


title: Black British people

text: Black British people have performed well in track and field. Daley Thompson was the gold medallist for the Great Britain team in the decathlon in the 1980 and 1984 Olympics. The most decorated British athlete is Jamaica-born Linford Christie, who moved to the United Kingdom at age seven. He was winner of the gold medal in the 100 meters at the 1992 Olympics, the World Championships, the European Championships and the Commonwealth Games. Sprinter Dwain Chambers grew up in London. His early achievements winning a world junior record for the 100 meters in 1997, as the youngest medal winner in the 1999 world championships, and fourth place at the 2000 Olympics were marred by a later scandal over the use of performance-enhancing drugs, like Christie before him. Kelly Holmes won Olympic gold in both the 800m and 1500m, and set many British records.


title: Black British people

text: In cricket, many have represented England: Mark Alleyne, Jofra Archer, Mark Butcher, Michael Carberry, Norman Cowans, Phillip DeFreitas, Dean Headley, Chris Jordan, David Lawrence, Chris Lewis, Devon Malcolm, Gladstone Small, and Alex Tudor to name a few.


title: Black British people

text: In Formula 1, the highest rank of motorsport sanctioned by the FIA, Sir Lewis Hamilton from Stevenage is a seven-time champion, having won the championship in , , , , , and . With seven titles, over 100 wins and pole positions, he is the most successful driver in British history.


title: Black British people

text: Dyke, Dryden and Wade created Britain's first black multi-million-pound business and laid the foundations for future UK black enterprise.


title: Black British people

text: Sir Damon Buffini heads Permira, one of the world's largest private equity firms. He topped the 2007 "Powerlist" as the most powerful Black male in the United Kingdom by "New Nation" magazine and was appointed to then Prime Minister Gordon Brown's business advisory panel.


title: Black British people

text: Ismail Ahmed, is the founder and chairman of WorldRemit, a money transfer company, and Director of the Sahan Foundation International. In October 2019, Ahmed was named first in the Powerlist 2020, an annual list of the 100 most powerful people of African heritage in the UK.


title: Black British people

text: René Carayol is a broadcaster, broadsheet columnist, business and leadership speaker and author, best known for presenting the BBC series "Did They Pay Off Their Mortgage in Two Years?" He has also served as an executive main board director for blue-chip companies as well as the public sector.


title: Black British people

text: Wol Kolade is council member and Chairman of the BVCA (British Venture Capital Association) and a Governor and council member of the London School of Economics and Political Science, chairing its Audit Committee.


title: Black British people

text: Adam Afriyie is a politician, and Conservative Member of Parliament for Windsor. He is also the founding director of Connect Support Services, an IT services company pioneering fixed-price support. He was also Chairman of DeHavilland Information Services plc, a news and information services company, and was a regional finalist in the 2003 Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards.


title: Black British people

text: Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones is a businessman, farmer and founder of the popular Black Farmer range of food products, which has annual revenues of over £7m.


title: Black British people

text: Following its success in 2007 on TV show "Dragons' Den," the Levi Roots brand has grown into a multi-million pound enterprise.


title: Black British people

text: Dame Pat McGrath, who has been described as the most influential make-up artist in the world by "Vogue" magazine, owns a business with an estimated value of $1 billion.


title: Black British people

text: Mo Ibrahim is a telecommunications billionaire businessman and was listed by "TIME" magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.


title: Black British people

text: Strive Masiyiwa is a billionaire businessman and founder and executive chairman of the international technology group Econet Global. He became the first black billionaire to enter the "Sunday Times Rich List in 2021."


title: Black British people

text: Jacky Wright is chief digital officer and a corporate vice president at Microsoft US. She has been named the most influential Black person in the UK, ranking at the top of the annual Powerlist in 2022.


title: Black British people

text: Dame Sharon White, the first ever female chair of John Lewis Partnership, she topped the 2023 Powerlist.


title: Black British people

text: In 2004, Greater London Authority Economics produced a report to examine the economic contribution black businesses made to London’s economy. The report found that black businesses made up 4% of all London's businesses, provided over 70,000 jobs and had a total turnover of almost £4.5 billion.


title: Black British people

text: Businesses owned by Black Britons generate more than £10bn for the UK each year, according to the Centre for Research in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship (CREME).


title: Black British people

text: People of black African and Caribbean ancestry such as Bernie Grant, Valerie, Baroness Amos, David Lammy, Dawn Butler, Sir Mark Hendrick and Diane Abbott, as well as Oona, Baroness King and Paul, Lord Boateng who are of mixed race, have made significant contributions to British politics and trade unionism. Boateng became the United Kingdom's first biracial cabinet minister in 2002 when he was appointed as Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Abbott became the first black female Member of Parliament when she was elected to the House of Commons in the 1987 general election.


title: Black British people

text: Bill, Lord Morris was elected general secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union in 1992 and became the first black leader of a major British trade union. He was knighted in 2003, and in 2006 he took a seat in the House of Lords as a working life peer, Baron Morris of Handsworth.


title: Black British people

text: The Trinidadian cricketer Learie, Lord Constantine was ennobled in 1969 and took the title Baron Constantine of Maraval in Trinidad and Nelson in the County Palatine of Lancaster.


title: Black British people

text: David, Lord Pitt became a member of the House of Lords when he became a Life Peer for the Labour Party in 1975. He was also President of the British Medical Association. The first black Conservative Peer was John, Lord Taylor. Valerie Amos became the first black woman cabinet minister and the first black woman to become leader of the House of Lords. Patricia, Baroness Scotland became a Labour life peer in 1997 and became the first female secretary-general of the Commonwealth of Nations.


title: Sarah Alexander

text: Sarah Alexander ("née" Smith; 3 January 1971) is an English actress. She has appeared in British series including "Armstrong and Miller", "Smack the Pony", "Coupling", "The Worst Week of My Life", "Green Wing", "Marley's Ghosts" and "Jonathan Creek".


title: Sarah Alexander

text: Alexander was born on 3rd January 1971 in Hammersmith, London. Her father, Frank Smith, was a television producer and director on factual shows such as "Panorama"; he died when she was still at school. She attended Godolphin and Latymer School in Hammersmith. At the age of 19, she left home after her A-levels and travelled to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to get a start in acting. Her parents wanted her to continue to university, but she turned down a place at the University of Manchester to take her first professional acting job.


title: Sarah Alexander

text: In 1992, Alexander appeared in "The Bill", as a witness to an attempted robbery. The following year she played Muriel in an episode of the BBC comedy-drama "Lovejoy". In 1994, she played Nicky, Damien's risk-addicted weather reporter girlfriend in "Drop the Dead Donkey". In 1996, she played Beatrice in the British première of Octavio Paz's only play, "Rappaccini's Daughter", at the Gate Theatre Studio. She has appeared in other theatre productions, including "The Vagina Monologues", "Hand in Hand", "The Secretary Bird", "Northanger Abbey", and as Lady Macbeth in "Macbeth". In the mid-1990s, she met Ben Miller when they filmed an advertisement for disposable cameras together, and through him she met Alexander Armstrong. Miller and Armstrong became friends and collaborators, and Alexander went on to appear on their Channel 4 sketch show "Armstrong and Miller" (1997–2001), usually in the regular "Nude Practice" segment.


title: Sarah Alexander

text: Alexander moved into comedy acting, in which she has since specialised. Her other sketch show work included "Smith and Jones" (1997–1998) and "Smack the Pony" (1999–2003), also writing for the latter. In the science-fiction comedy series "Red Dwarf", she played the Queen of Camelot in "Stoke Me a Clipper". She also appeared in the "Midsomer Murders" episode "The Garden of Death", as Fliss Inkpen-Thomas. In 2000, she appeared in the comedy "The Strangerers", as well as becoming co-host of the final series of the current-affairs satire "The 11 O'Clock Show", alongside Jon Holmes. She made her debut as Susan Walker in the BBC sitcom "Coupling", which ran for four series from 2000 to 2004. Other British TV roles included Mel in "The Worst Week of My Life" and Angela Hunter in the hospital comedy "Green Wing".


title: Sarah Alexander

text: Alexander appeared as Alice Fletcher in NBC's short-lived remake of the British comedy series "Teachers", before roles in the films "I Could Never Be Your Woman" and "Stardust" (both released in 2007). Her previous film credits include "Seaview Knights" (1994) and "Going Off Big Time" (2000). She also starred in the 2008 BBC dramedy "Mutual Friends", and played Layla Barton in the BBC drama "All The Small Things", which debuted in 2009.


title: Sarah Alexander

text: Since 2011, she has played Mimi in the BBC Radio 4 comedy series "The Gobetweenies". The first series was broadcast in 2011 and two more followed in 2012 and 2013. She starred in the 2012 BBC series "Me and Mrs Jones". Since 2013, she has starred in the BBC One series "Jonathan Creek" as Polly Creek, wife of main character Jonathan, making her first appearance in the episode titled "The Clue of the Savant's Thumb" in 2013. She starred in the Dave comedy "Undercover" as DS Zoe Keller. From 2015 she has starred in the comedy series "Marley's Ghosts" on Gold. In 2019, Alexander appeared as Undine Thwaite in the Epix series "Pennyworth".


title: Sarah Alexander

text: Alexander has contributed to the BBC charity telethon "Comic Relief", appearing in 2001 as a judge based on Nicki Chapman in a parody of "Popstars", in 2003 as Liza Goddard in a spoof of "Blankety Blank", and in 2005 in a celebrity version of "University Challenge".


title: Sarah Alexander

text: In 2001, Alexander was in a relationship with actor Gerald Harper. In 2002 she began a new relationship with writer and actor Peter Serafinowicz. Alexander later married Serafinowicz, and the couple have a son and daughter together. She appeared in both series of "Look Around You", which Serafinowicz co-created and starred in, as well as "O!News", his internet spoof of "E! News".


title: Ocean's (film series)

text: Ocean's is a series of heist films. Beginning with the 1960 Rat Pack film "Ocean's 11", the series has seen mixed to favorable critical reception and substantial commercial success. After the 1960 film, a trilogy was released from 2001 to 2007, often cited as defining its genre and leading to a proliferation and commercialization of heist films throughout the world. The most commercially successful was the first film, "Ocean's Eleven" (2001). It established the ensemble cast of George Clooney as Danny Ocean, Matt Damon as Linus Caldwell, and Brad Pitt as Rusty Ryan. A long list of supporting cast members maintain the trilogy. The first sequel, "Ocean's Twelve", was released in 2004, with the final film, "Ocean's Thirteen", following in 2007. An all-female spin-off titled "Ocean's 8" was released in 2018.


title: Ocean's (film series)

text: The "Ocean's" film series was inspired by the 1960 heist film "Ocean's 11" directed by Lewis Milestone and starring five of the Rat Pack: Peter Lawford, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and Joey Bishop.


title: Ocean's (film series)

text: Master thief Danny Ocean (George Clooney), just out of prison, plans an elaborate Las Vegas three-casino-heist to win back his ex-wife, Tess (Julia Roberts). To that end, he recruits ten other thieves and con men to pull off the complex job, eventually stealing US$160 million.


title: Ocean's (film series)

text: Ocean's crew is blackmailed by the casino owner they stole from—Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia)—into paying him just over $198 million (their loot plus interest). The team is given two weeks to come up with the money so they travel to Europe to execute three heists.


title: Ocean's (film series)

text: Ocean and his crew plan to rig a new casino's opening night to inflict ruinous losses after its ruthless owner Willy Bank (Al Pacino) double-crosses one of the gang, with plans to ruin his life.


title: Ocean's (film series)

text: Soderbergh and George Clooney initially downplayed the possibility of an "Ocean's Fourteen" or subsequent sequels after Bernie Mac's death in 2008. Several years later, a new "Ocean's Eleven" spin-off with an all-female cast led by Sandra Bullock as the sister of George Clooney's Danny Ocean was put in development, conceived by producer Jerry Weintraub, Soderbergh and Clooney. Olivia Milch wrote the screenplay, and Gary Ross directed the film. Helena Bonham Carter, Cate Blanchett, Mindy Kaling, Anne Hathaway, Rihanna, Nora "Awkwafina" Lum and Sarah Paulson star in the film. The film was released in the United States on June 8, 2018.


title: Ocean's (film series)

text: In May 2022, a prequel film set in '60s-era Europe was revealed to be in development. The story may reportedly connect to and incorporate elements from the original film. The project will not be a reboot, but will be set within the established "Ocean's" franchise. Margot Robbie will star in and produce the project, while Jay Roach will serve as director with a script written by Carrie Solomon. Tom Ackerley and Roach will additionally serve as producers. The project will be a joint-venture production between Warner Bros. Pictures, LuckyChap Entertainment, and Village Roadshow. Principal photography is tentatively scheduled for spring 2023. In August of 2022, Ryan Gosling entered early negotiations to co-star in the film, alongside Robbie.


title: Ocean's (film series)

text: A sequel to "Ocean's Thirteen" had been discussed as a possibility, up until the death of Bernie Mac. However, in June 2021, Don Cheadle revealed that Steven Soderbergh had been working on the concept of a sequel film. In July 2021, Matt Damon also expressed interest in returning to the franchise, while stating that the project is up to Soderbergh.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD or TaIHiGe; , ), formerly known as the Millennium Dam and sometimes referred to as Hidase Dam (, ), is a gravity dam on the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia under construction since 2011.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: The primary purpose of the dam is electricity production to relieve Ethiopia's acute energy shortage and for electricity export to neighbouring countries. With a planned installed capacity of 5.15 gigawatts, the dam will be the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa when completed, as well as among the 20 largest in the world.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: First phase of filling the reservoir began in July 2020 and in August 2020 water level increased to 540 meters (40 meters higher than the bottom of the river which is at 500 meters above sea level).


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: The second phase of filling was completed on 19 July 2021, water level increased to around 575 meters. The third filling was completed on 12 August 2022 to a level of , higher than the prior year completed second fill. Actual water level (November 2022) is at around 605 meters and was measuerd at Sentinel images. It will take between 4 and 7 years to fill with water, depending on hydrologic conditions during the filling period.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: On 20 February 2022, the dam produced electricity for the first time, delivering it to the grid at a rate of 375 MW. A second 375 MW turbine was commissioned in August 2022.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: The name that the Blue Nile river takes in Ethiopia ("Abay") is derived from the Ge'ez word for 'great' to imply its being 'the river of rivers'. The word Abay still exists in Ethiopian major languages to refer to anything or anyone considered to be superior.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: The eventual site for the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam was identified by the United States Bureau of Reclamation in the course of the Blue Nile survey, which was conducted between 1956 and 1964 during the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie. Due to the coup d'état of 1974 and following 17-year-long Ethiopian Civil War, however, the project failed to progress. The Ethiopian Government surveyed the site in October 2009 and August 2010. In November 2010, a design for the dam was submitted by James Kelston.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: On 31 March 2011, a day after the project was made public, a US$4.8 billion contract was awarded without competitive bidding to Italian company Salini Impregilo, and the dam's foundation stone was laid on 2 April 2011 by the Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. A rock-crushing plant was constructed, along with a small air strip for fast transportation. The expectation was for the first two power-generation turbines to become operational after 44 months of construction, or early 2015.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: Egypt, located over downstream of the site, opposes the dam, which it believes will reduce the amount of water available from the Nile. Zenawi argued, based on an unnamed study, that the dam would not reduce water availability downstream and would also regulate water for irrigation. In May 2011, it was announced that Ethiopia would share blueprints for the dam with Egypt so that the downstream impact could be examined.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: The dam was originally called "Project X", and after its contract was announced it was called the Millennium Dam. On 15 April 2011, the Council of Ministers renamed it Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Ethiopia has a potential for about 45 GW of hydropower. The dam is being funded by government bonds and private donations. It was slated for completion in July 2017.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: The potential impacts of the dam have been the source of severe regional controversy. The Government of Egypt, a country which depends on the Nile for about 97% of its irrigation and drinking water, has demanded that Ethiopia cease construction on the dam as a precondition to negotiations, has sought regional support for its position, and some political leaders have discussed methods to sabotage it. Egypt has planned a diplomatic initiative to undermine support for the dam in the region as well as in other countries supporting the project such as China and Italy. However, other nations in the Nile Basin Initiative have expressed support for the dam, including Sudan, the only other nation downstream of the Blue Nile, although Sudan's position towards the dam has varied over time. In 2014, Sudan accused Egypt of inflaming the situation.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: Ethiopia denies that the dam will have a negative impact on downstream water flows and contends that the dam will, in fact, increase water flows to Egypt by reducing evaporation on Lake Nasser. Ethiopia has accused Egypt of being unreasonable; In October 2019, Egypt stated that talks with Sudan and Ethiopia over the operation of a $4 billion hydropower dam that Ethiopia is building on the Nile have reached a deadlock. Beginning in November 2019, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steven T. Mnuchin began facilitating negotiations between the three countries.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is estimated to cost close to 5 billion US dollars, about 7% of the 2016 Ethiopian gross national product. The lack of international financing for projects on the Blue Nile River has persistently been attributed to Egypt's campaign to keep control on the Nile water share. Ethiopia has been forced to finance the GERD with crowd funding through internal fund raising in the form of selling bonds and persuading employees to contribute a portion of their incomes. Contributions are made in the newly official website confirmed by the verified account of the Office of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: Of the total cost, 1 billion US dollars for turbines and electrical equipment were funded by the Exim Bank of China.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: The design changed several times between 2011 and 2019. This affected both the electrical parameters and the storage parameters.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: Originally, in 2011, the hydropower plant was to receive 15 generating units with 350 MW nameplate capacity each, resulting in a total installed capacity of 5,250 MW with an expected power generation of 15,128 GWh per year.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: Its planned generation capacity was later increased to 6,000 MW, through 16 generating units with 375 MW nominal capacity each. The expected power generation was estimated at 15,692 GWh per year. In 2017, the design was again changed to add another 450 MW for a total of 6,450 MW, with a planned power generation of 16,153 GWh per year.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: That was achieved by upgrading 14 of the 16 generating units from 375 MW to 400 MW without changing the nominal capacity. According to a senior Ethiopian official, on 17 October 2019, the power generation capacity of the GERD is now 5,150 MW, with 13 turbines (2x 375 MW and 11x 400 MW) down from 16 turbines.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: Not only the electrical power parameters changed over time, but also the storage parameters. Originally, in 2011, the dam was planned to be tall with a volume of 10.1 million m³. The reservoir was planned to have a volume of and a surface area of at full supply level. The rock-filled saddle dam beside the main dam was planned to have a height of meters, a length of and a volume of 15 million m³.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: In 2013, an Independent Panel of Experts (IPoE) assessed the dam and its technological parameters. At that time, the reservoir sizes were changed already. The size of the reservoir at full supply level went up to , an increase of . The storage volume at full supply level had increased to , an increase of . These numbers did not change after 2013. The storage volume of is representing nearly entire annual flow of Nile.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: After the IPoE made its recommendations, in 2013, the dam parameters were changed to account for higher flow volumes in case of extreme floods: a main dam height of , an increase of , with a length of (no change) and a dam volume of , an increase of . The outlet parameters did not change, only the crest of the main dam was raised. The rock saddle dam went up to a height of , an increase of , with a length of , an increase of . The volume of the rock saddle dam increased to , an increase of .


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: The zero level of the main dam, the ground level, will be at a height of about above sea level, corresponding roughly to the level of the river bed of the Blue Nile. Counting from the ground level, the main gravity dam will be tall, long and composed of roller-compacted concrete. The crest of the dam will be at a height of above sea level. The outlets of the two powerhouses are below the ground level, the total height of the dam will, therefore, be slightly higher than that of the given height of the dam. In some publications, the main contractor constructing the dam puts forward a number of for the dam height, which might account for the additional depth of the dam below ground level, which would mean of excavations from the basement before filling the reservoir. The structural volume of the dam will be . The main dam will be from the border with Sudan.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: Supporting the main dam and reservoir will be a curved and long and high rock-fill saddle dam. The ground level of the saddle dam is at an elevation of about above sea level. The surface of the saddle dam has a bituminous finish, to keep the interior of the dam dry. The saddle dam will be just away from the border with Sudan, it is much closer to the border than the main dam.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: The reservoir behind both dams will have a storage capacity of and a surface area of when at full supply level of above sea level . The full supply level is therefore above the ground level of the main dam. Hydropower generation can happen between reservoir levels of , the so-called "minimum operating level", and , the "full supply level". The "live storage volume", usable for power generation between both levels is then . The first of the height of the dam will be a dead height for the reservoir, leading to a "dead storage volume" of the reservoir of .


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: The dams will have three spillways. All using approximately 18,000 cubic meters of concrete. These spillways together are designed for a flood of up to , an event not considered to happen at all, as this discharge volume is the so-called 'Probable Maximum Flood'. All waters from the three spillways are designed to discharge into the Blue Nile before the river enters Sudanese territory.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: The main and gated spillway is located to the left of the main dam and will be controlled by six floodgates and have a design discharge of in total. The spillway will be wide at the outflow gates. The base level of the spillway will be at , well below the full supply level.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: An ungated spillway, the auxiliary spillway, sits at the center of the main dam with an open width of about . This spillway has a base-level at , which is exactly the full supply level of the reservoir. The dam crest is higher to the left and to the right of the spillway. This ungated spillway is only expected to be used, if the reservoir is both full and the flow exceeds , a flow value, that is expected to be exceeded once every ten years.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: A third spillway, an emergency spillway, is located to the right of the curved saddle dam, with a base level at . This emergency spillway has an open space of about along its rim. This third spillway will carry water only if the conditions for a flood of more than around are given, corresponding to a flood to occur only once every 10,000 years.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: Flanking either side of the auxiliary ungated spillway at the center of the dam will be two power houses, that will be equipped with 2 x 375 MW Francis turbine-generators and 11 x 400 MW turbines. The total installed capacity with all turbine-generators will be 5,150 MW. The average annual flow of the Blue Nile being available for power generation is expected to be , which gives rise to an annual expectation for power generation of 16,153 GWh, corresponding to a plant load factor (or capacity factor) of 28.6%.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: The Francis turbines inside the power houses are installed in a vertical manner, raising above the ground level. For the foreseen operation between the minimum operating level and the full supply level, the water head available to the turbines will be high. A switching station will be located close to the main dam, where the generated power will be delivered to the national grid. Four 500 kV main power transmission lines were completed in August 2017, all going to Holeta and then with several 400 kV lines to the metropolitan area of Addis Ababa. Two 400 kV lines run from the dam to the Beles Hydroelectric Power Plant. Also planned are 500 kV high-voltage direct current lines.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: Two non-upgraded turbine-generators with 375 MW were first to go into operation with 750 MW delivered to the national power grid, while the first turbine was commissioned in February 2022 and the second one in August 2022. The two units sit within the 10 unit powerhouse to the right side of the dam at the auxiliary spillway. They are fed by two special intakes within the dam structure that are located at a height of above sea level. That power generation started at a water level of , below the minimum operating level of the other 11 turbine-generators. At that level, the reservoir has been filled with roughly of water, which corresponds to roughly 11% of the annual inflow of . During the rainy season, this is expected to happen within days to weeks. The first stage filling of the reservoir for early generation was completed on 20 July 2020.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: Two "bottom" outlets at above sea level or above the local river bed level are available for delivering water to Sudan and Egypt under special circumstances, in particular for irrigation purposes downstream, if the level of the reservoir falls below the minimum operating level of but also during the initial filling process of the reservoir.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: The space below the "bottom" outlets is the primary buffer space for alluvium through siltation and sedimentation. For the Roseires Reservoir just downstream from the GERD site, the average siltation and sedimentation volume (without GERD in place) amounts to around per year. Due to the large size of the GERD reservoir, the siltation and sedimentation volume is expected to be much higher in this case, per annum. The GERD reservoir will foreseeably take away the siltation threat from the Roseires reservoir almost entirely.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: The base of the GERD dam is at around above sea level. Water flowing out of the dam will be released into the Blue Nile again which will flow for only around , before joining the Roseires reservoir, which – if at full supply level – will be at above sea level. There is only a elevation difference between both projects. The two reservoirs and accompanying hydropower projects could – if coordinated properly across the border between Ethiopia and Sudan – become a cascaded system for more efficient hydropower generation and better irrigation (in Sudan in particular). Water from the column of the water storage of the GERD reservoir could be diverted through tunnels to facilitate new irrigation schemes in Sudan close to the border with South Sudan. In Ethiopia itself, no irrigation schemes are planned due to the proximity of the dam to the downstream border with Sudan.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: Evaporation of water from the reservoir is expected to be at 3% of the annual inflow volume of , which corresponds to an average volume lost through evaporation of around annually. This was considered negligible by the IPoE. For comparison, Lake Nasser in Egypt loses between annually through evaporation.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: The main contractor is the Italian company Webuild (formerly Salini Impregilo), which also served as primary contractor for the Gilgel Gibe II, Gilgel Gibe III and Tana Beles dams. Simegnew Bekele was the project manager of GERD from the start of construction in 2011 up to his death on 26 July 2018. In October same year he was replaced by Kifle Horo. The dam is expected to require 10 million cubic meters of concrete. The government has pledged to use only domestically produced concrete. In March 2012, Salini awarded the Italian firm Tratos Cavi SPA a contract to supply low- and high-voltage cable for the dam. Alstom will provide the eight 375 MW Francis turbines for the project's first phase, at a cost of €250 million. As of April 2013, nearly 32 per cent of the project was complete. Site excavation and some concrete placement was underway. One concrete batch plant has been completed with another under construction. Diversion of the Blue Nile was completed on 28 May 2013 and marked by a ceremony the same day.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: In October 2019, the work was approximately 70% complete. , the steelworks reached 35% complete, civil works are 87% complete while electro-mechanical works are 17% complete, to attain in total 71% construction complete according to Belachew Kasa, Project Deputy Director.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: On 21 July 2020, Ethiopian prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, announced that the first phase of filling the reservoir had been completed. The early filling was attributed to heavy rains. In his statement, Abiy stated that "We have successfully completed the first dam filling without bothering and hurting anyone else. Now the dam is overflowing downstream". The target for the first year filling was 4.9 cubic kilometres, while the dam has capacity to hold 74 cubic kilometres when completed.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: The first phase of filling the reservoir began in July 2020, to a maximum depth of utilising a temporary sill. Further construction work is necessary before the reservoir can be filled to a level for electricity generation.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: The second phase of filling of the GERD reservoir was completed on 19 July 2021 with estimates of reaching the level of (a.m.s.l) and retaining no more than at this stage.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: In February 2021, Ethiopian Minister of Water and Irrigation, Seleshi Bekele, mentioned that the engineering work in constructing the dam reached 91%, while the total construction rate was 78.3%. In May 2021, Minister of Water and Irrigation Seleshi Bekele mentioned that 80% of dam construction was complete.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: In 2012, the International Panel of Experts was formed with experts from Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia and other independent entities to discuss mainly engineering and partially impact related questions. This panel concluded at a number of engineering modifications, that were proposed to Ethiopia and the main contractor constructing the dam. One of the two main engineering questions, dealing with the size of flood events and the constructive response against them, was later addressed by the contractor. The emergency spillway located near the rock saddle dam saw an increase of the rim length from 300 m to 1,200 m to account even for the largest possible flood of the river.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: The second main recommendation of the panel however found no immediate resolution. This second recommendation dealt with the structural integrity of the dam in context with the underlying rock basement as to avoid the danger of a sliding dam due to an unstable basement. It was argued by the panel, that the original structural investigations considered only a "generic" rock mass without taking special conditions like faults and sliding planes in the rock basement (gneiss) into account. The panel noted, that there was indeed an exposed sliding plane in the rock basement, this plane potentially allowing a sliding process downstream. The panel didn't argue that a catastrophic dam failure with a release of dozens of cubic kilometres of water would be possible, probable or even likely, but the panel argued, that the given safety factor to avoid such a catastrophic failure might be non-optimal in the case of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. It was later revealed that the underlying basement of the dam was completely different from all expectations and did not fit the geological studies as the needed excavation works exposed the underlying gneiss. The engineering works then had to be adjusted, with digging and excavating deeper than originally planned , which took extra time and capacity and also required more concrete.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: Originally, in 2011, the hydropower plant was to receive 15 generating units with 350 MW nameplate capacity each, resulting in a total installed capacity of 5,250 MW with an expected power generation of 15,128 GWh per annum. The capacity factor of the planned hydropower plant – the expected electricity production divided by the potential production if the power plant was utilised permanently at full capacity – was only 32.9% compared to 45–60% for other, smaller hydropower plants in Ethiopia. Critics concluded that a smaller dam would have been more cost-effective.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: Soon after, in 2012, the hydropower plant was upgraded to receive 16 generating units with 375 MW nameplate capacity each, increasing the total installed capacity to 6,000 MW, with the expected power generation going up only slightly to 15,692 GWh per annum. Consequently, the capacity factor shrank to 29.9%. According to Asfaw Beyene, a professor of mechanical engineering at San Diego State University in California, the dam and its hydropower plant are massively oversized: "GERD’s available power output, based on the average of river flow throughout the year and the dam height, is about 2,000 megawatts, not 6,000. There is little doubt that the system has been designed for a peak flow rate that only happens during the two to three months of the rainy season. Targeting near peak or peak flow rate makes no economic sense."


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: In 2017, the total installed capacity was moved to 6,450 MW, without changing the number and nameplate capacity of the generating units (which then remained at 6,000 MW in total). This was thought to arrive from enhancements made to the generators. The expected power generation per annum went up to 16,153 GWh, the capacity factor shrank again and reached 28.6%. This time nobody publicly voiced concern. Such optimisation of the Francis turbines used at the dam site is indeed possible and is usually done by the provider of the turbines taking into account site-specific conditions.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: Considering the critics voiced about the alleged over-sizing of the possible power output, now of 6,450 MW. Ethiopia is relying heavily on hydropower, but the country is often affected by droughts (see e.g. 2011 East Africa drought). The water reservoirs used for power generation in Ethiopia have a limited size. For example, the Gilgel Gibe I reservoir, that feeds both the Gilgel Gibe I powerplant and the Gilgel Gibe II Power Station, has a capacity of 0.7 km. In times of drought, there is no water left to generate electrical power. This heavily affected Ethiopia in the drought years 2015/16 and it was only the Gilgel Gibe III powerplant, that in 2016 just started to run in trial service on a 14 km well-filled reservoir, that saved the economy of Ethiopia. The GERD reservoir, once it has been filled, has a total water volume of 74 km, 3 times the volume of Ethiopia's largest lake, Lake Tana. Filling it takes 5–15 years and even by using all generating units at maximum capacity will not drain it within a few months. The installed power of 6.450 MW in combination with the size of the reservoir will help to manage the side effects of the next severe drought, when other hydropower plants have to stop their operations.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: In recent years due to the threat of a possible airstrike on the dam, the Ethiopian government has sought and bought several air defence systems some from Russia, including the Pantsir-S1 air defence system, and also Israeli air defences, including the SPYDER-MR medium-range air defence system which was installed in the dam. Egypt has sought to block a sale between Israel and Ethiopia but has failed due to the installations of the air defences on the dam. Israel was seen denying the request of Egypt by not answering their request.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: A major benefit of the dam will be hydropower production. All the energy generated by GERD will be going into the national grid of Ethiopia to fully support the development of the whole country, both in rural and urban areas. The role of GERD will be to act as a stabilising backbone of the Ethiopian national grid. There will be exports, but only if there is a total surplus of energy generated in Ethiopia. This is mainly expected to happen during rainy seasons, when there is plenty of water for hydropower generation.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: The eventual surplus electricity of GERD which does not fit the demand inside Ethiopia, is then to be sold and exported to neighbouring countries including Sudan and possibly Egypt, but also Djibouti. Exporting the electricity from the dam would require the construction of massive transmission lines to major consumption centers such as Sudan's capital Khartoum, located more than 400 km away from the dam. These export sales would come on top of electricity that is expected to be sold from other large hydropower plants. Powerplants that have been readied or are under construction in Ethiopia, such as Gilgel Gibe III or Koysha, whose exports (if given surplus energy) will mainly be going to Kenya through a 500 kV HVDC line.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: The volume of the reservoir will be two to three times that of Lake Tana. Up to 7,000 tonnes of fish are expected to be harvested annually. The reservoir may become a tourist destination.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: The NGO International Rivers has commissioned a local researcher to make a field visit because so little environmental impact information is publicly available.


title: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

text: Public consultation about dams in Ethiopia is affected by the political climate in the country. International Rivers reports that "conversations with civil society groups in Ethiopia indicate that questioning the government's energy sector plans is highly risky, and there are legitimate concerns of government persecution. Because of this political climate, no groups are actively pursuing the issues surrounding hydro-power dams, nor publicly raising concerns about the risks in this situation, extremely limited and inadequate public consultation has been organised" during the implementation of major dams. In June 2011, Ethiopian journalist Reeyot Alemu was imprisoned after she raised questions about the proposed Grand Millennium Dam. Staff of International Rivers have received death threats. Former prime minister Meles Zenawi called opponents of the project "hydropower extremists" and "bordering on the criminal" at a conference of the International Hydropower Association (IHA) in Addis Ababa in April 2011. At the conference, the Ethiopian state power utility was embraced as a "Sustainability Partner" by the IHA.