John Alcindor

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John Alcindor
Born8 or 9 July 1873
Port of Spain, Trinidad
Died25 October 1924(1924-10-25) (aged 51)
Paddington, London, England
Alma materSaint Mary's College; Edinburgh University
Known forPresident of the African Progress Union

John Alcindor (8 or 9 July 1873 – 25 October 1924)[1] was a physician and activist from Trinidad who settled in London. He is known for his role in the African Progress Union, of which he became president in 1921.

Life and career[edit]

Alcindor was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, where he was educated at Saint Mary's College; after winning one of the four Island Scholarships he went to study medicine at Edinburgh University, Scotland,[2][3] graduating from there with a medical degree in 1899.[4] He then worked in London hospitals, in Plaistow, Hampstead and Camberwell, going into practice on his own around 1907.[1] At this period he played cricket, as a wicket keeper for London teams.[5] In 1911 he married Minnie Martin, a white British woman.[6]

Refused a place in the Royal Army Medical Corps, Alcindor was awarded a Red Cross medal for his work with the wounded at London rail stations during World War I.[7]

Alcindor served as senior district medical officer of the London borough of Paddington from 1921 until his death.[8][9] As a medical officer he worked under the Poor Law which meant that he could offer free treatment for poor people in their homes.[9] Alcindor was also the secretary of the Poor Law Medical Officers Association.[1]

He is the great-uncle of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr.).[10]

Research[edit]

Alcindor published articles on his research on influenza and tuberculosis. He also wrote about the correlation between cancer and poverty, examining the effects of unhealthy surroundings and poor diet.[9]

Activism[edit]

Alcindor associated in the late 1890s with the group around Henry Sylvester Williams and his African Association. They were behind the First Pan-African Conference in 1900, which he attended in London, as a delegate from the Afro-West Indian Society.[4][11][12] At the conference he met composer Samuel Coleridge‐Taylor and W. E. B. Du Bois with whom he later developed friendships.[13]

Alcindor became the second president of the African Progress Union in 1921, succeeding John Archer.[1]

Alcindor presided on the first day of the 2nd Pan-African Congress in 1921, with Rev. W. H. Jernagin.[14] He spoke at the 3rd Pan-African Congress in 1923.[15][16]

Legacy[edit]

Blue plaque of John Alcindor

In July 2014 a blue heritage plaque in Alcindor's honour, organised by the Nubian Jak Community Trust, was unveiled at the site of Alcindor's surgery,[17][18] which is now the Medical Centre in Harrow Road, Paddington.[19][20][21]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Jeffrey Green. "Alcindor, John (1873–1924)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/57173. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ Robert A. Hill; Marcus Garvey (1995). The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers: Africa for the Africans 1921–1922. University of California Press. p. 168, note 2. ISBN 978-0-520-20211-5.
  3. ^ "John Alcindor-Physician (1873-1924)", The Black Presence in Britain.
  4. ^ a b Peter Fryer (1984). Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain. University of Alberta. p. 299. ISBN 978-0-86104-749-9.
  5. ^ Jeffrey P. Green (1998). Black Edwardians: Black People in Britain, 1901–1914. Psychology Press. pp. 181–. ISBN 978-0-7146-4871-2.
  6. ^ Jeffrey Green (2007). "Alcindor, Minnie Martin". In David Dabydeen; John Gilmore; Cecily Jones (eds.). The Oxford Companion to Black British History. Oxford University Press. pp. 22–3. ISBN 978-0-19-923894-1.
  7. ^ Carole Elizabeth Boyce Davies, ed. (2008). Encyclopedia of the African Diaspora: Origins, Experiences, and Culture: Origins, Experiences, and Culture. ABC-CLIO. p. 928. ISBN 978-1-85109-705-0.
  8. ^ Judith Ann-Marie Byfield; LaRay Denzer; Anthea Morrison (2010). Gendering the African Diaspora: Women, Culture, and Historical Change in the Caribbean and Nigerian Hinterland. Indiana University Press. p. 277, note 24. ISBN 978-0-253-35416-7.
  9. ^ a b c Green, Jeffrey (1 July 1987). "John Alcindor (1873–1924): A migrant's biography". Immigrants & Minorities. 6 (2): 174–189. doi:10.1080/02619288.1987.9974656. ISSN 0261-9288.
  10. ^ Jamie Greene (27 December 2017), "The Great Big Beautiful Podcast, Episode 162: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar", Geek Dad.
  11. ^ Jonathan Derrick (2008). Africa's "Agitators": Militant Anti-colonialism in Africa and the West, 1918–1939. Columbia University Press. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-231-70056-6.
  12. ^ Felix Driver; David Gilbert (2003). Imperial Cities: Landscape, Display and Identity. Manchester University Press. p. 266, note 36. ISBN 978-0-7190-6497-5.
  13. ^ Green, Jeffrey (2007). "Alcindor, John". The Oxford Companion to Black British History. David Dabydeen, John Gilmore, Cecily Jones. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-280439-6. OCLC 76936652.
  14. ^ Venetria K. Patton; Maureen Honey (2001). Double-Take: A Revisionist Harlem Renaissance Anthology. Rutgers University Press. p. 76. ISBN 978-0-8135-2930-1.
  15. ^ Peter Fryer (1984). Staying Power. University of Alberta. p. 323. ISBN 9780861047499.
  16. ^ The Crisis Publishing Company, Inc. (January 1924). The Third Pan-African Congress. p. 120. ISSN 0011-1422. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  17. ^ Elizabeth Pears, "Recognition at last for the ‘black doctor of Paddington’", British Red Cross, 16 July 2014.
  18. ^ "Patience Pays Off For ‘The Black Doctor Of Paddington’", The Voice, 28 July 2014.
  19. ^ Goolistan Cooper, "Plaque honours Black Doctor of Paddington", GoWestLondon, 24 July 2014.
  20. ^ "World War One ‘Black Doctor’ hailed as World War One hero with new heritage blue plaque", BEN TV, 10 July 2014.
  21. ^ "John Alcindor: the famous black doctor of Paddington and WWI local hero", British Red Cross.

Further reading[edit]

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