Cultural activist and agent
Pearl Connor-Mogotsi was an artist, theatrical agent and passionate campaigner for justice. She fought to establish the place of black and Asian artists in post-war Britain. The stars of the modern day – on both the screen and the stage – are a testimony to her success.
Pearl moved to the UK from Trinidad in 1948. In the same year, she married Edric Connor, a Trinidadian singer and actor. At the time of their meeting, Connor-Mogotsi was studying law. She deferred her studies, however, to support her partner’s artistic pursuits, and this led to the founding of the Edric Connor Agency (later, the Afro-Asian Caribbean Agency) in 1956. The agency championed a great array of talent, including the actor George William Harris. The agency produced many films and distributed some of the seminal films of Black Britain, including Horace Ove’s Pressure.
Connor-Mogotsi became the foremost agent for actors and writers from migrant communities. She went on to make her presence felt on the radio, acting in radio plays such as My People and Your People, while an integral part of the BBC’s Caribbean service.
Her agency contributed to the development of the Notting Hill Carnival. Claudia Jones and Rhaunne Laslett (both of whom are credited with creating the event) enlisted Connor-Mogotsi to bill their line-ups. She also supported several people involved in the promotion and governance of the Carnival with a sober, reflective and strategic voice.
The stage was close to Connor-Mogotsi’s heart, as a thespian, promoter and agent. Among her many accomplishments were the founding of the Negro Theatre Workshop and the West Indian Theatre Trust. The first production of the Negro Theatre Workshop, A Wreath for Udomo, was an adaption of Peter Abraham’s novel of the same title. It depicted the anti-colonial struggle for liberation in the fictitious country of Panafrica.
Her cultural activism never stopped. As a member of the Committee Against Racial Discrimination, she lobbied for race relations legislation. Three years after Edric Connor died in 1968 from a stroke, she married Joe Mogotsi, who was the lead singer of the South African group the Manhattan Brothers. As activism against apartheid globalised, Connor-Mogotsi fought to get the group heard.
Pearl Connor-Mogotsi died at the age of 81 in South Africa. Remembered for what she did for the arts, there is still so much more to the life of this amazing heroine.
Pearl moved to the UK from Trinidad in 1948. In the same year, she married Edric Connor, a Trinidadian singer and actor. At the time of their meeting, Connor-Mogotsi was studying law. She deferred her studies, however, to support her partner’s artistic pursuits, and this led to the founding of the Edric Connor Agency (later, the Afro-Asian Caribbean Agency) in 1956. The agency championed a great array of talent, including the actor George William Harris. The agency produced many films and distributed some of the seminal films of Black Britain, including Horace Ove’s Pressure.
Connor-Mogotsi became the foremost agent for actors and writers from migrant communities. She went on to make her presence felt on the radio, acting in radio plays such as My People and Your People, while an integral part of the BBC’s Caribbean service.
Her agency contributed to the development of the Notting Hill Carnival. Claudia Jones and Rhaunne Laslett (both of whom are credited with creating the event) enlisted Connor-Mogotsi to bill their line-ups. She also supported several people involved in the promotion and governance of the Carnival with a sober, reflective and strategic voice.
The stage was close to Connor-Mogotsi’s heart, as a thespian, promoter and agent. Among her many accomplishments were the founding of the Negro Theatre Workshop and the West Indian Theatre Trust. The first production of the Negro Theatre Workshop, A Wreath for Udomo, was an adaption of Peter Abraham’s novel of the same title. It depicted the anti-colonial struggle for liberation in the fictitious country of Panafrica.
Her cultural activism never stopped. As a member of the Committee Against Racial Discrimination, she lobbied for race relations legislation. Three years after Edric Connor died in 1968 from a stroke, she married Joe Mogotsi, who was the lead singer of the South African group the Manhattan Brothers. As activism against apartheid globalised, Connor-Mogotsi fought to get the group heard.
Pearl Connor-Mogotsi died at the age of 81 in South Africa. Remembered for what she did for the arts, there is still so much more to the life of this amazing heroine.
