Ira Aldridge was one of the most successful actors of his lifetime, both in the UK and internationally. A master of Shakespearean drama, he produced what were then considered to be the definitive portrayals of both Othello and Shylock, and won inordinate praise for his King Lear, amongst many other roles. A black, immigrant actor, he used his unprecedented position of fame and influence to campaign for racial equality and the abolition of slavery.

Born in America, Aldridge came to England in 1824 at the age of 17, and had his first major successes in London at what is now the Old Vic theatre. He built a hugely prominent stage career in the UK, becoming a naturalised British citizen, marrying a white English woman, and raising a family (two of his daughters went on to have successful careers in their own right as opera singers). The first Black British actor to achieve this level of success, and the first to master professional Shakespeare, he used his platform to fight for civil rights and the emancipation of slaves.

Currently, the only public memorial to Aldridge in London is a blue plaque at his family home in Upper Norwood, erected in 2007. This petition considers that to be insufficient, and proposes the erection of a statue in the traditional style, of Aldridge in his definitive portrayal of Othello designed to be recognisable as a companion piece to the London statues of Laurence Olivier as Hamlet, of William Shakespeare, and of Henry Irving; possible locations for the statue include the Emma Cons Garden, or the Waterloo Millenium Green Park, both of which are prominently placed in the vicinity of the Old Vic Theatre, where Aldridge had his first major successes.

The overdue erection of this statue would help to illustrate the role that black and immigrant actors have played in shaping Shakespearean performance culture and the British theatre industry, and help to ensure that London's monuments more accurately reflect the diversity of the city's (and the country's) social and artistic heritage.