John Alcindor

John Alcindor (1873—1924) was a physician who was instrumental in the formation of the African Progress Union (APU). He was born in Trinidad and attended St Mary's College, a private school, in Port of Spain. Alcindor won one of the four Island Scholarships to attend medical school at Edinburgh University, Scotland from which he graduated in 1899.

After graduation Alcindor moved to London and worked at hospitals in Plaistow, Hampstead and Camberwell. In July 1900 he attended the Pan-African Conference held at Westminster Town Hall at which there were 37 delegates from Europe, Africa and the United States, including Samuel Coleridge Taylor, John Archer, Dadabhai Naoroji, Sylvester Williams and William Du Bois. Many delegates called for legislation promoting racial equality and Michael Creighton, the Bishop of London, asked the British government to confer the "benefits of self-government" on "other races as soon as possible".

After the conference, the Pan-African Congress wrote to Joseph Chamberlain, the British colonial secretary, suggesting that black people in the British Empire should be granted "true civil and political rights". Chamberlain replied that black people were "totally unfit for representative institutions". Sylvester Williams responded to this by writing to Queen Victoria about the system "whereby black men, women, and children were placed in legalized bondage to white colonists". The letter was passed to Chamberlain who replied that the government would not "overlook the interests and welfare of the native races."

In 1907, Alcindor established his own medical practice in Paddington. He also carried out research and he published articles on cancer, tuberculosis and influenza in the British Medical Journal and the General Practitioner. He pointed out that his research suggested that poverty, low quality food and unbalanced diets played an important role in poor health.

In 1911 Alcindor married Minnie Martin and the couple had three sons John Francis (1912–1993), Cyril Charles (1914–1946) and Roland Patrick Boyce (1917–1991). Minnie was subsequently disowned by her family for marrying a black man.

As a member of the Committee of the National Council for Combating Venereal Disease and honorary member of the Anti-Tuberculosis Society Alcindor worked to prevent syphilis and tuberculosis in Great Britain.

As well as running a medical practice at 37 Westbourne Park Road he worked as Medical Officer of Health for the Paddington Poor Law Guardians.

Alcindor became senior district medical officer of the Metropolitan Borough of Paddington in 1917 and in 1921 chairman of the APU, succeeding John Archer.

He died on 25 October 1924, aged 51, at St Mary's Hospital, London of Interstitial Nephritis and Cardiac failure.

References

• Hill, Robert A., Ball, Tevvy and Blum, Erika (1995). The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-20211-2