The Frantz Fanon Research Unit aims to create a knowledge base which facilitates the improvement of life chances for all those who suffer from the effects of racial and social disadvantage. Frantz Fanon set as one of his life goals the liberation of being from all the conditions which oppress them, whether psychological, social or circumstantial. He was a professional psychiatrist born in Martinique. His first published book, Black Skin White Masks set the task of unravelling the psychological forces which lead black people in a white dominated world to be alienated from themselves. His aim was to help people free themselves from the inevitable consequences of living a world where they are strangers and need to wear a mask to hide behind. It was not until he came to write the Wretched of the Earth that he examined in great detail the condition of social oppression caused by imperialism. He sought to distil the very essence of colonial domination, its effects on the victims and perpetrators and what was necessary to liberate himself from all the legacies of colonialism. The issues raised both by Frantz Fanons writings and his life are of fundamental importance to all of us today. Fanon dedicated his life to the fight against domination and oppression in all their manifestations. The book The Wretched of the Earth sets out to provide the intellectual and practical tool to achieve his goal of eliminating colonialism in all its aspects. However Frantz Fanon did not only write about overthrowing colonial oppression he practised what he preached and was a revolutionary during his lifetime. He dedicated himself to the fight against French colonialism in Algeria. Fanon was also dedicated to the creation of societies in which human beings were free from the forces of oppression of all kinds. Indeed the issues Fanon set out to tackle are fundamental to the age in which we live, the elimination of the effects of racism and the establishment of the conditions in which human beings can live in maximum liberty. Fanon’s legacy will continue to be of absolute significance until such a time that the ideals for which he lived become a reality. Fanon’s psychiatric practices are still considered innovative and relevant today. They are original both in their approach to integration and to the liberty of those who are the victims of the effect of colonialism and the inevitable racism associated with colonial domination. The manner in which he practiced psychiatry itself was also highly original. Any individual, organisation, institution or indeed nation which sets itself the objective of making a significant contribution to creating a knowledge base which would lead to tackling the effects of racism, racial disadvantage and racial inequality could find no better body of knowledge or role model than that of Frantz Fanon’s. For all the above reasons the Afro-Caribbean Millennium Centre is honoured to name our Research Unit after Frantz Fanon. The research work we produce will make a significant and original contribution to the urgent need to overcome the barriers to racial equality and equality generally.