British Guiana (February 23, 1927 -October 13, 2013) 86 yrs

Jessica Elleisse Huntley was a pioneering Black political and social activist. She was also a radical book publisher. She arrived in England in the 1950’s. She became active in political and social issues relating to the British African-Caribbean communities in and around London. Huntley was a leading member of the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) in the vanguard struggle for National Independence. In May 1953, Jessica Huntley co-founded the Women’s Progressive Organization in then British Guiana. The organization focused on women’s rights. It was part of the PPP’s struggle for independence. In 1969, she and her husband, Eric founded a groundbreaking publishing house, L’Ouverture Limited. They achieved this with the help of donations from friends. They later opened a bookshop under the same name. Their first publication was ‘The grounding of My Brothers’, a book of essays by activist, academic and friend Walter Rodney. The bookshop was not just a place where books were sold. It became a meeting hub for like-minded people where Ms. Huntley listened to, advised, and supported those who visited.