The Racial Adjustment Action Society (or Raas, which in Jamaican connotes buttocks or arse) [1] [2] was a Black Power movement formed in 1965, [3] following visits of Malcolm X in 1964 and 1965. [4] [5] Its founders were Michael de Freitas (Abdul Malik) who had emigrated to London in 1957 from Trinidad and had re-named himself Michael X, and Roy Sawh. [6] [7] [8] It has been described as the forerunning Black Power organization in Britain of the time. [9] RAAS was considered to be 'stridently militant', and in 1967 Michael X was jailed for incitement to racial hatred. [10] Roy Sawh was also jailed for incitement to racial hatred. [3]
Early in 1969 RAAS bought premises at 95–101 Holloway Road for use as a cultural centre, shopping complex, hostel and headquarters, to be called "The Black House". [10] On 15 January 1970 it was damaged by a fire. [11] The police suspected that the fire had been the result of arson (which Michael X asserted was untrue [11] ), and in April 1970, Michael X and seven other RAAS members were arrested after allegations by businessman Mervin Brown that he had been robbed and assaulted. [10] In autumn 1970 the Black House was closed down following a police raid, and RAAS fragmented. [12] [13] [14]
Other related groups included the Co-ordinating Committee Against Racial Discrimination (CCARD) in Birmingham, the Indian Workers Association, the Movement for Colonial Freedom and the Indian Youth League, [13] the Conference of Afro-Asian-Caribbean Organisations (CAACO) in London (the latter founded by Claudia Jones in 1962) and the Universal Coloured People's Association, formed by Obi Egbuna in 1967. [3]