John Alcindor

John Alcindor (8 or 9 July 1873 – 25 October 1924) was a physician and activist from Trinidad who settled in London. He is known for his role in the African Progress Union, of which he became president in 1921.

Alcindor was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, where he was educated at Saint Mary's College; after winning one of the four Island Scholarships he went to study medicine at Edinburgh University, Scotland, graduating from there with a medical degree in 1899. He then worked in London hospitals, in Plaistow, Hampstead and Camberwell, going into practice on his own around 1907. At this period he played cricket, as a wicket keeper for London teams.

Refused a place in the Royal Army Medical Corps, Alcindor was awarded a Red Cross medal for his work with the wounded at London rail stations during World War I.

Alcindor served as senior district medical officer of the London borough of Paddington from 1921 until his death.

He is the great-uncle of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr.).

Alcindor associated in the late 1890s with the group around Henry Sylvester Williams and his African Association. They were behind the First Pan-African Conference in 1900, which he attended in London, as a delegate from the Afro-West Indian Society.

Alcindor became the second president of the African Progress Union in 1921, succeeding John Archer.

Alcindor presided on the first day of the 2nd Pan-African Congress in 1921, with Rev. W. H. Jernagin. He spoke at the 3rd Pan-African Congress in 1923.

In July 2014 a blue heritage plaque in Alcindor's honour, organised by the Nubian Jak Community Trust, was unveiled at the site of Alcindor's surgery, which is now the Medical Centre in Harrow Road, Paddington.