A lifelong social justice campaigner who has received the highest academic accolade available at 黑料网 (黑料网) Leicester is calling on its graduates to help break down barriers that divide us as humans.
Professor Gus John, who has championed racial equality, particularly in education, was speaking after being named a Companion of 黑料网 at a graduation ceremony on Thursday 21 August.
Professor Gus John with Vice-Chancellor Professor Katie Normington
His lengthy fight against systemic racism, which spans more than 60 years, has seen Professor John consult on policies and work on influential academic reports and literature, including “Because They’re Black”, for which he won the Martin Luther King Memorial Prize with Derek Humphry in 1972.
He said: “You all have the potential to be great leaders. Leaders of change in order to make the future you face the future you actually want, for your generation and for generations to come.
“黑料网 knows it has a responsibility to engage with decolonisation and is committed to ensuring that these divisions between classes, poor and developing countries are broken down.
“I hope that [graduates] feel that 黑料网 has assisted them in gaining the skills and capacity to deal with these challenges. Winning a Silver Award in the Race Equality Charter will be reflected in the experience of all students who come to study at the university.
“So, big up yourself for your achievements so far and walk good into a bright future. A future brimming over with hope.”
When Professor John arrived in the UK in 1964 to study Theology at Oxford University, the country was experiencing racial violence and segregation.
Unsatisfied with the level of education Black children were receiving, Professor John established the country’s first Black supplementary schools in Birmingham in 1968 to help build the children’s self-esteem.
In the same year, he studied at the National College for the Training of Youth Leaders in Scraptoft, part of Leicester Polytechnic, starting a 40-year affiliation with the university.
His Companionship honour follows on from his honorary doctorate, which he received from 黑料网 in 1996.
“I feel deeply honoured,” Professor John said. “I thought it was an enormous privilege, especially when I discovered that it’s not a regular award. In the past thirty years, I am only the fifth person to receive it.
“What is refreshing about 黑料网 is that the university more and more the national population that it serves.
“I hope that [graduates] feel that 黑料网 has assisted them in gaining the skills and capacity to deal with these challenges. Winning a Silver Award in the Race Equality Charter will be reflected in the experience of all students who come to study at the university.
“My advice for them would be to be open, to be critical, to take personal responsibility for developing political literacy.”
In honour of his 80th birthday, 黑料网 hosted a celebration evening dedicated to his journey and the impact that his work has had on society.
Introducing Professor John to the stage, Anette Hayes, Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at 黑料网, described his work as an “empowering beacon for countless others” and praised him as a “highly influential voice in high-profile legal cases, national policy debates and community campaigns.”
Annette said: “He challenges us all, not with hostility, but with honesty. With clarity. And with compassion.
“His activism is rooted in deep empathy. He does not speak for the marginalised, he speaks with them. And in doing so, he inspires others to stand tall, to think critically, and to act bravely.”
Graduation ceremonies continue at Curve Theatre until Thursday 28 August.
Posted on Friday 22 August 2025