Patrick Vernon OBE. - Credit: Archant A former Hackney councillor’s book, which celebrates the lives, stories and contributions of Black British people, has topped the bestseller lists. Patrick Vernon co-authored 100 Great Black Britons with historian Angelina Osborne, and it was published in September to coincide with Black History Month, resurrecting a campaign they began 17 years ago. The project was conceived in 2003 following a BBC search for “100 Greatest Britons” which featured no Black Britons whatsoever. Angelina and Patrick, of Lower Clapton, decided to launch a poll to “raise the profile of the Black contribution to Britain” and asked people to vote for and “celebrate the greatest Black Britons of all time”.