John Alcindor

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.

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

Life and career

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

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

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
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
  1. 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. 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. 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
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