Coming of Age : 1976 and the Road to Anti-Racism
Coming of Age : 1976 and the Road to Anti-Racism by Jagdish Patel and Suresh Grover
Coming of Age : 1976 and the Road to Anti-Racism
by Jagdish Patel and Suresh Grover
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<strong>Coming</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Age</strong><br />
<strong>1976</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> road <strong>to</strong> anti-racism<br />
<strong>Coming</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Age</strong> Final version 16.10.indd 1 17/10/2017 12:06
This publication has been published by<br />
The Moni<strong>to</strong>ring Group 2 Langley Lane, London SW8 1GB<br />
Tel 020 7582 7438<br />
Email <strong>of</strong>fice@tmg-uk.org<br />
Website : www.tmg-uk.org<br />
Chairty No 1062008<br />
© The Moni<strong>to</strong>ring Group 2017 All rights reserved.<br />
No part <strong>of</strong> this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by<br />
any means, including pho<strong>to</strong>copying, recording, or o<strong>the</strong>r electronic or mechanical methods,<br />
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embodied in critical reviews <strong>and</strong> certain o<strong>the</strong>r noncommercial uses permitted by copyright<br />
law. For permission requests, write <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions<br />
Coordina<strong>to</strong>r,” at <strong>the</strong> address above.<br />
Cover design <strong>and</strong> formatting Jagdish Patel www.jagdishpatel.com<br />
Published by The Moni<strong>to</strong>ring Group<br />
All enquiries <strong>to</strong> <strong>of</strong>fice@tmg-uk.org<br />
First published 2017<br />
ISBN: 978-0-9576974-4-7<br />
British Library catalogue in data Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data Patel, Jagdish<br />
<strong>and</strong> Grover, Suresh. A title <strong>of</strong> a book : <strong>Coming</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Age</strong> :The birth <strong>of</strong> anti racism ISBN<br />
978-0-9576974-4-7<br />
The main category <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> book —His<strong>to</strong>ry —O<strong>the</strong>r category, <strong>Anti</strong> <strong>Racism</strong> O<strong>the</strong>r category 3.<br />
Sociology<br />
Printed by Russell Press, Nottingham<br />
Cover Image<br />
Suresh Grover, <strong>and</strong> his friend Denis Almeida, creating a make shift rememberance for Gurdip<br />
Singh Chagger, June <strong>1976</strong><br />
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<strong>Coming</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Age</strong> : <strong>1976</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> road <strong>to</strong> anti-racism<br />
Edited by Suresh Grover <strong>and</strong> Jagdish Patel<br />
Contributions by Harsha Ahyave, Gautam Appa, Jenny Bourne, Avtar Brah,<br />
Gurinder Chadha, Karamjit Chaggar, Cecil Gutzmore, Jacqueline Jenkinson, Gus John,<br />
Balraj Purewal, Harsh Punja, Stafford Scott, <strong>and</strong> Ambalavaner Sivan<strong>and</strong>an<br />
Acknowledgements<br />
Many have contributed <strong>to</strong> our discussions on this project, <strong>and</strong> we wish <strong>to</strong> acknowledge<br />
<strong>the</strong> contributions <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> following: <strong>the</strong> two volunteers on <strong>the</strong> project, Rohan Patel <strong>and</strong><br />
Robbie Titmarsh, <strong>the</strong> TMG staff team, Abrar Javid, Doro<strong>the</strong>a Jones, Samantha Joseph,<br />
Mehar Brar, Amidou Njie, Sham Qayyum, Dr Ping Hua, Jawed Siddiqi <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs<br />
including, Imram Khan, Shobhini Ehzuvan, Balvinder Gill, Roger Tanner,<br />
Panya Banjoko, Puska Lail, Anne Rossiter, Avtar Jouhl, Asoke Dutta,<br />
<strong>the</strong> family <strong>of</strong> Vishnu Sharma,Dr Arvind Sik<strong>and</strong>, Laxmiben Patel, <strong>the</strong> family <strong>of</strong> Karamjit<br />
Chaggar, Nick Stevenson, Liz Fekete, Harmit Athwal, Bos<strong>to</strong>n Din, Sajid Mohammed,<br />
Sujata Aurora, Rachel Cull, Savitaben Jairambhai Patel, Dan Jones, Tulsi Patel,<br />
Gaye Flounders, Merce San<strong>to</strong>s, Cindy Sissokho, Carolina Ri<strong>to</strong>,<br />
Alba Colomo <strong>and</strong> Satnam Virdee for <strong>the</strong>ir support on <strong>the</strong> project.<br />
We also wish <strong>to</strong> thank <strong>the</strong> Heritage Lottery Fund for funding <strong>the</strong> project <strong>and</strong><br />
Nottingham Contemporary for <strong>the</strong>ir assistance with this publication<br />
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Table <strong>of</strong> contents<br />
Introduction<br />
South Shields before 1919 : Portraits from South Shields<br />
6<br />
8<br />
Part 1 - 1919-<strong>1976</strong><br />
Portraits from South Shields<br />
Introduction <strong>to</strong> part 1<br />
Jacqueline Jenkinson : Black Britain 1919<br />
A Sivan<strong>and</strong>an : From Rebellion <strong>to</strong> Riots<br />
Claudia Jones : A people’s art is <strong>the</strong> genesis <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir freedom<br />
Gus John : Changing Britannia through <strong>the</strong> Arts <strong>and</strong> Activism<br />
12<br />
15<br />
19<br />
37<br />
65<br />
73<br />
Part 2 - <strong>1976</strong><br />
Introduction <strong>to</strong> Part 2<br />
Timeline <strong>of</strong> events during <strong>1976</strong><br />
Harsh Punja : The need for unity: An interview<br />
with Vishnu Sharma<br />
Karamjit Chaggar<br />
Suresh Grover<br />
Avtar Brah<br />
Balraj Purewal<br />
Harsha Ahyave : intervew with Laxmiben Patel<br />
Gautam Appa : My Political Journey <strong>to</strong> Grunwick <strong>and</strong> Beyond<br />
Stafford Scott<br />
Cecil Gutzmore : The Notting Hill Carnival<br />
Gurinder Chadha<br />
85<br />
89<br />
103<br />
117<br />
121<br />
127<br />
133<br />
143<br />
147<br />
161<br />
167<br />
173<br />
Endnotes<br />
Jenny Bourne : When Black was a political colour:<br />
a guide <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> literature<br />
Timeline <strong>of</strong> anti racism 1900-<strong>1976</strong><br />
Known racist murders durng <strong>the</strong> 1970’s<br />
Industrial disputes involving black <strong>and</strong> asian workers 1965-1975<br />
References<br />
179<br />
188<br />
202<br />
203<br />
210<br />
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Introduction<br />
This project,‘<strong>Coming</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Age</strong>’, has tried <strong>to</strong> harness <strong>the</strong> power <strong>of</strong> narratives <strong>of</strong><br />
anti-racist resistance. It is about <strong>the</strong> s<strong>to</strong>ries people tell about <strong>the</strong>ir lives, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
cultural <strong>and</strong> political frameworks which form <strong>the</strong> context <strong>of</strong> those lives. The preservation<br />
<strong>of</strong> our past, <strong>and</strong> presenting <strong>the</strong> s<strong>to</strong>ries <strong>of</strong> extraordinary men <strong>and</strong> women is important<br />
for three reasons. Firstly, it allows us <strong>to</strong> learn how o<strong>the</strong>rs in <strong>the</strong> past challenged racism,<br />
secondly we can learn from <strong>the</strong> issues <strong>the</strong>y confronted, both outside <strong>the</strong>ir communities, but also<br />
within <strong>the</strong>ir own communities, <strong>and</strong> thirdly it enables us <strong>to</strong> imagine a different future by<br />
starting a new kind <strong>of</strong> his<strong>to</strong>rically grounded conversations about both racism, <strong>and</strong> anti-racism.<br />
When we relate s<strong>to</strong>ries <strong>of</strong> our lives, we implicitly say something <strong>to</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs <strong>of</strong> our political<br />
worldview. Our parents underst<strong>to</strong>d <strong>the</strong> importance <strong>of</strong> this, <strong>and</strong> made us<br />
listen <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> s<strong>to</strong>ries adults <strong>to</strong>ld each o<strong>the</strong>r, probably <strong>the</strong>y had learnt in <strong>the</strong> same way,<br />
so now if we don’t tell <strong>the</strong>se s<strong>to</strong>ries <strong>to</strong> our children, we can’t <strong>the</strong>n complain that <strong>the</strong>y<br />
don’t underst<strong>and</strong> our past, nor should we be surprised if <strong>the</strong>y in turn relate <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
present only through media or academic texts. Although many do not see <strong>the</strong><br />
relevance <strong>of</strong> his<strong>to</strong>ry, <strong>the</strong>y would be surprised how much <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir own sense <strong>of</strong> self, <strong>of</strong><br />
identity, has been constructed through his<strong>to</strong>rical narrative. We are not taught this<br />
his<strong>to</strong>ry at schools, <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong>ten <strong>the</strong> his<strong>to</strong>ry we are presented equates his<strong>to</strong>rical narrative with<br />
being ‘British’ with an acceptance <strong>of</strong> British his<strong>to</strong>ry where <strong>the</strong> narratives <strong>of</strong> Black <strong>and</strong> Asian<br />
people, <strong>and</strong> specifically <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> resistance is absent. Yet, many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ideas <strong>of</strong> anti-racism<br />
have been assimilated in<strong>to</strong> national policy, art <strong>and</strong> culture, without any recognition <strong>of</strong> where<br />
<strong>the</strong>se ideas were derived, <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> resistance which forced <strong>the</strong> country <strong>to</strong> change. Just think<br />
about asian <strong>and</strong> black art, food, music, race equality laws, <strong>and</strong> human rights laws. How<br />
many people really know how <strong>the</strong>se changes occurred in Britain. If <strong>the</strong>y did perhaps <strong>the</strong>y<br />
would learn that that <strong>the</strong> very notion <strong>of</strong> ‘British democratic values’, are not British at all.<br />
We only have <strong>to</strong> look at <strong>the</strong> national curriculum <strong>to</strong> see <strong>the</strong> absence <strong>of</strong> black <strong>and</strong> asian<br />
his<strong>to</strong>ry. In fact we teach <strong>the</strong> s<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> American civil rights movements, but nothing<br />
about our own civil rights movement. This is not good for Britain. It means we are raising<br />
generations <strong>of</strong> children who do not fully underst<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> modern world. There are few l<strong>and</strong>marks<br />
celebrating <strong>the</strong> his<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>of</strong> black <strong>and</strong> asian anti-racism, <strong>and</strong> this is something we need <strong>to</strong> address.<br />
We started this project with <strong>the</strong> assistance <strong>of</strong> a small grant from <strong>the</strong> Heritage Fund<br />
<strong>to</strong> share <strong>the</strong> his<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>of</strong> Southall, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Southall Youth Movement. It is from this past<br />
that both Southall Moni<strong>to</strong>ring Group, now <strong>the</strong> Moni<strong>to</strong>ring Group, <strong>and</strong> Southall Black<br />
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Sisters began. These two organisations have been challenging both racism from white<br />
communities, but also issues around sexism, patriarchy <strong>and</strong> religious fundamentalism<br />
within our own communities. As we shall see, progressive political <strong>and</strong> cultural change<br />
necessitates that <strong>the</strong>se issues are tackled in t<strong>and</strong>em with <strong>the</strong> struggle against racism.<br />
We found it difficult <strong>to</strong> talk about <strong>the</strong> events <strong>of</strong> <strong>1976</strong>, without examining <strong>and</strong> charting <strong>the</strong><br />
journey before this year. Afterall, each generation continues <strong>the</strong> s<strong>to</strong>ry from where <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
elders left, <strong>and</strong> in part 1 <strong>of</strong> this book we have tried <strong>to</strong> chart <strong>the</strong> s<strong>to</strong>ry from <strong>the</strong> racism in<br />
1919 through <strong>to</strong> <strong>1976</strong>. Throughout <strong>the</strong> period from 1919 <strong>to</strong> <strong>1976</strong> black <strong>and</strong> asian communities<br />
<strong>of</strong>ten faced a onslaught on violent racism, enduring attacks upon ei<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong>ir person<br />
or <strong>the</strong>ir property, <strong>and</strong> yet we now teach that ‘British values’ equates with <strong>to</strong>lerance <strong>and</strong><br />
harmony. Jacqueline Jenkinson, in <strong>the</strong> opening chapter, examines <strong>the</strong> circumstances which<br />
led <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> 1919 race riots <strong>and</strong> she begins <strong>to</strong> unpick how ‘British values’ play out when <strong>the</strong>re<br />
is a deep crisis in <strong>the</strong> country. In <strong>1976</strong> <strong>the</strong> journalist Paul Foot argued that “race hate <strong>and</strong><br />
race violence does not rise <strong>and</strong> fall according <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> numbers <strong>of</strong> immigrants coming in<strong>to</strong><br />
Britain. It rises <strong>and</strong> falls <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> extent <strong>to</strong> which people’s prejudices are inflamed <strong>and</strong> made<br />
respectable by politicians <strong>and</strong> newspapers.’ (’What <strong>the</strong> Papers Say’, Granada TV 4 June <strong>1976</strong>).<br />
In post Brexit Britain, do we think that our politicians <strong>and</strong> press have learnt from <strong>the</strong> past?<br />
In ‘Racialised Outsiders’, Satnam Virdee argued that after <strong>the</strong> defeat <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> radical Chartist<br />
movement in <strong>the</strong> mid-nineteenth century, racializing nationalism began <strong>to</strong> permeate <strong>the</strong><br />
working class imagination. This was carefully constructed through Britain’s policy in art <strong>and</strong><br />
culture, as much as politics <strong>and</strong> economics. We only have <strong>to</strong> walk around our own <strong>to</strong>wns <strong>and</strong><br />
look at <strong>the</strong> statues, look in <strong>the</strong> museums <strong>and</strong> galleries <strong>to</strong> see evidence <strong>of</strong> this even <strong>to</strong>day.<br />
It was Martin Lu<strong>the</strong>r King who reminded us form a prison cell in a Birmingham jail<br />
that, “In a real sense all life is inter-related. All men are caught in an inescapable<br />
network <strong>of</strong> mutuality, tied in a single garment <strong>of</strong> destiny. Whatever affects one<br />
directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought <strong>to</strong> be until you are what you<br />
ought <strong>to</strong> be, <strong>and</strong> you can never be what you ought <strong>to</strong> be until I am what I ought <strong>to</strong> be...<br />
This is <strong>the</strong> inter-related structure <strong>of</strong> reality.” Yet, our structures <strong>of</strong><br />
reality is dis<strong>to</strong>rted, since we have been woven out <strong>of</strong> British his<strong>to</strong>rical narrative.<br />
As we write, <strong>the</strong>re are protests taking place near <strong>the</strong> statue <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Confederate General<br />
Robert E Lee in Emancipation Park, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA. The protests started<br />
after <strong>the</strong> local city council voted <strong>to</strong> remove <strong>the</strong> statue <strong>and</strong> change <strong>the</strong> name <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> space<br />
from Lee Park <strong>to</strong> Emancipation Park, sparking protests from white nationalists, neo-Nazis,<br />
<strong>the</strong> Ku Klux Klan <strong>and</strong> members <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ‘alt-right’. During <strong>the</strong> protests Thirty-four<br />
people were injured in clashes <strong>and</strong> one person, Hea<strong>the</strong>r Heyer, was killed, when a Nazi sympathizer<br />
plowed his car in<strong>to</strong> a crowd <strong>of</strong> counter-protesters. Our cities <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong>wn are also lit-<br />
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tered with his<strong>to</strong>rical statues, art works, <strong>and</strong> street names recounting events around Britain’s<br />
Empire. We don’t propose destroying <strong>the</strong>se items, but we do think that over <strong>the</strong> coming years<br />
we need <strong>to</strong> begin <strong>to</strong> address <strong>the</strong> legacies <strong>of</strong> this dis<strong>to</strong>rted his<strong>to</strong>rical narrative. If nothing else,<br />
<strong>the</strong> debate around ‘British’ identity in a post Brexit country will force us <strong>to</strong> address this, as<br />
we sometimes appear <strong>to</strong> be spiralling in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> same racist environment which existed before.<br />
Everyone who grew up in <strong>the</strong> 1970’s will remember <strong>the</strong> long hot summer <strong>of</strong> <strong>1976</strong>.<br />
However for many young people <strong>the</strong> summer was a ‘coming <strong>of</strong> age’, a moment when<br />
British youth, both black <strong>and</strong> white, challenged <strong>the</strong> engrained racism <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 1970’s <strong>and</strong><br />
began <strong>to</strong> forge a new vision for Britain. This book tells <strong>the</strong> s<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> young people<br />
from London, who in <strong>1976</strong> <strong>to</strong>ok direct action <strong>to</strong> tackle racism, altered <strong>the</strong> debate on<br />
racism, <strong>and</strong> in time developed <strong>the</strong> multicultural Britain we all know <strong>to</strong>day. The s<strong>to</strong>ries<br />
focus on <strong>the</strong> series <strong>of</strong> events which occurred during <strong>1976</strong>, including Malawi refugee crisis in<br />
January, <strong>the</strong> birth <strong>of</strong> Southall Youth Movement in June, <strong>the</strong> Notting Hill riots in August, <strong>the</strong><br />
start <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Grunwick Strike in August, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> birth <strong>of</strong> Rock against <strong>Racism</strong> in November.<br />
There have been various projects which have <strong>to</strong>ld aspects <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> different events, but no<br />
project has linked <strong>the</strong> series <strong>of</strong> events in<strong>to</strong> a cohesive narrative. This is not surprising. Marable<br />
Manning (2011) reminds us that our political culture was hammered <strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>r over <strong>the</strong> years<br />
with <strong>the</strong> imperfect <strong>to</strong>ols <strong>of</strong> survival, <strong>and</strong> capacity building from below, “evolving <strong>and</strong> oscillating<br />
constantly <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong>ten unpredictably between outright accommodation <strong>and</strong> overt resistance’.<br />
As Jenny Bourne reminds us in her review <strong>of</strong> Black his<strong>to</strong>rical literature, every piece <strong>of</strong><br />
his<strong>to</strong>rical narrative is a contested space, <strong>and</strong> we have tried <strong>to</strong> consider <strong>the</strong>se issues in our narrative.<br />
The book allowed us <strong>to</strong> document <strong>the</strong> s<strong>to</strong>ries <strong>of</strong> activists, <strong>and</strong> think about how <strong>the</strong>y<br />
can be placed in<strong>to</strong> this broader narrative. This book is <strong>the</strong>refore an attempt <strong>to</strong> present<br />
our his<strong>to</strong>ry. We have done this through oral his<strong>to</strong>ry, pho<strong>to</strong>graphy, academic<br />
writing, <strong>and</strong> activist personal memoirs, an approach called ‘living his<strong>to</strong>ry’ by Marable<br />
Manning (Manning (2011) Living Black His<strong>to</strong>ry : How Reimaging African-American Past Can<br />
Remake America’s Racial Future), <strong>and</strong> hopefully we have given <strong>the</strong> past ano<strong>the</strong>r lease <strong>of</strong> life.<br />
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February 1919<br />
60,000 people marched for work through Glasgow city centre. Although <strong>the</strong> march was peaceful,<br />
police charged in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> crowd with ba<strong>to</strong>ns resulting in running battles across <strong>the</strong> city. The following<br />
day, 1000 troops were moved from Edinburgh <strong>and</strong> Aberdeen in<strong>to</strong> Glasgow city centre. The fear <strong>of</strong><br />
a Bolshevik revolution led <strong>the</strong> authorities <strong>to</strong> place machine gun nests on <strong>the</strong> ro<strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> North British<br />
Hotel (now <strong>the</strong> Millennium Hotel) <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> old central Post Office. There was a Howitzer outside <strong>the</strong><br />
City Chambers <strong>and</strong> six tanks in <strong>the</strong> cattlemarket in <strong>the</strong> Gallowgate. The pho<strong>to</strong>graph above shows<br />
armed English soldiers on sentry duty at Glasgow’s Princes Docks in <strong>the</strong> days following <strong>the</strong> Battle <strong>of</strong><br />
George Square. The English troops deployed in Glasgow were mainly young conscripts aged<br />
between 17 <strong>and</strong> 19, as can be clearly seen from <strong>the</strong> pho<strong>to</strong>graph<br />
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Part 1<br />
1919-<strong>1976</strong><br />
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Portraits from South Shields<br />
Globalisation is not a modern phenomenon, <strong>the</strong> British Empire was global,<br />
not just in in trade, but people also travelled across <strong>the</strong> Empire. Men came from<br />
across <strong>the</strong> Caribbean, India, Somalia, Yemen <strong>and</strong> many o<strong>the</strong>r countries. The first<br />
Yemenis came <strong>to</strong> Britain in <strong>the</strong> 1850s. The country’s first community was in Hull, but in time<br />
smaller pockets developed up <strong>the</strong> North East coastline, <strong>and</strong> inl<strong>and</strong> across South Yorkshire,<br />
in Sheffield <strong>and</strong> Ro<strong>the</strong>rham. They came from <strong>the</strong> port city <strong>of</strong> Aden in Yemen, which was under<br />
British control, working on <strong>the</strong> ships that fuelled <strong>the</strong> economy <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> British Empire. The community<br />
in South Shields started around <strong>the</strong> 1850s, <strong>and</strong> more formal records show that several<br />
hundred were living here in <strong>the</strong> 1890s. The community was settled, The men married,<br />
<strong>of</strong>ten local women, had families, opened shops, boarding houses, mosques <strong>and</strong><br />
by <strong>the</strong> 1900s <strong>the</strong>y were a fully integrated part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> local community. We see similar<br />
patterns <strong>of</strong> migration in London, Liverpool, Glasgow, Cardiff <strong>and</strong> Bris<strong>to</strong>l.<br />
This changed in 1919, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> aftermath <strong>of</strong> World War 1 a combination <strong>of</strong> fac<strong>to</strong>rs<br />
gave rise <strong>to</strong> a consciousness <strong>of</strong> white nationalism, <strong>and</strong> rampant racism<br />
ravaged <strong>the</strong> community for <strong>the</strong> first time in 70 years. It resulted in racist murders,<br />
deportations <strong>of</strong> black men, <strong>and</strong> many families <strong>and</strong> communities were <strong>to</strong>rn apart.<br />
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Above : Left: Amin Hamid, pictured here as a young man. He was born in 1919, <strong>the</strong> son <strong>of</strong> a Yemeni seaman <strong>and</strong><br />
his English wife. Like many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> sons born in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Arab community, he followed his fa<strong>the</strong>r in<strong>to</strong> seafaring.<br />
(Courtesy <strong>of</strong> Mr Norman Hassan)<br />
Left : Norman Hassan, with Amin Kaid <strong>and</strong> firend Nasser, South Shields (Courtesy <strong>of</strong> Norman Hassan)<br />
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Introduction <strong>to</strong> Part 1<br />
Since Britain’s Empire was global, we should not be surprised <strong>to</strong> learn that some <strong>of</strong> Britain’s<br />
cities also had communities from across <strong>the</strong> globe. In some cities, including <strong>the</strong><br />
ports <strong>of</strong> South Shields, Cardiff, Liverpool <strong>and</strong> London, <strong>the</strong>re had been large asian <strong>and</strong><br />
black communities since <strong>the</strong> 1850’s, <strong>and</strong> we start this publication with some portraits <strong>of</strong><br />
South Shields Arabic community. These portraits were commissioned by <strong>the</strong> individuals<br />
<strong>the</strong>mselves, <strong>and</strong> show <strong>the</strong>ir wish <strong>to</strong> be represented in a formal studio setting. There are<br />
many examples <strong>of</strong> formal studio portraits <strong>of</strong> Britain’s black <strong>and</strong> asian across <strong>the</strong> country.<br />
These images challenged <strong>the</strong>, <strong>of</strong>ten racist, representation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir communities in daily<br />
life. The American writer, W.E.B Du Bois, challenged <strong>the</strong> American representation <strong>of</strong> its<br />
black community in scientific typologies, criminal mugshots, racist caricatures <strong>and</strong> lynching<br />
pho<strong>to</strong>graphs by commissioning 363 formal black <strong>and</strong> white pho<strong>to</strong>graphs, mostly <strong>of</strong> middle<br />
class African Americans from Atlanta <strong>and</strong> parts <strong>of</strong> Georgia. He <strong>to</strong>ok <strong>the</strong>se <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Paris Exhibition<br />
in November 1900 <strong>to</strong> show <strong>the</strong> world a different visual representation <strong>of</strong> black Americans.<br />
On <strong>the</strong> way, he s<strong>to</strong>pped <strong>of</strong>f in Britain <strong>to</strong> attend <strong>the</strong> first Pan African conference in London. By<br />
1900 Britain had established organizations <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> first Pan African conference <strong>to</strong>ok place between<br />
Monday 23rd <strong>and</strong> Wednesday 25th July 1900. It was organised by Bishop Alex<strong>and</strong>er<br />
Walters <strong>and</strong> Henry Sylvester Williams. It was well attended. Notable people present included<br />
W.E.B. Du Bois, John Archer, John Alcindor, Anna J Cooper <strong>and</strong> Henry Francis Downing,<br />
Dr. M<strong>and</strong>elle Creigh<strong>to</strong>n. It was a important l<strong>and</strong>mark in black self organisation in this country.<br />
However, things would change in <strong>the</strong> aftermath <strong>of</strong> World War 1. In 1919, <strong>the</strong> Allied Vic<strong>to</strong>rs met<br />
at <strong>the</strong> Paris Peace conference, <strong>and</strong> began <strong>to</strong> redraw <strong>the</strong> map <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> world, <strong>and</strong> establish <strong>the</strong><br />
League <strong>of</strong> Nations. During <strong>the</strong>se negotiations, <strong>the</strong>y were momentarily forced <strong>to</strong> address <strong>the</strong> issue<br />
<strong>of</strong> race equality <strong>and</strong> minority rights when Japan proposed <strong>the</strong> inclusion <strong>of</strong> a “racial equality<br />
clause” in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Covenant <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> League <strong>of</strong> Nations. Although many o<strong>the</strong>rs raised <strong>the</strong> issue<br />
before, here in <strong>the</strong> aftermath <strong>of</strong> war, <strong>the</strong> Western colonial powers were being confronted with<br />
<strong>the</strong> question <strong>of</strong> equality, since clearly <strong>the</strong>re would be no League <strong>of</strong> Nations if people across <strong>the</strong><br />
globe were not equal. The proposed clause read, “The equality <strong>of</strong> nations being a basic principle<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> League <strong>of</strong> Nations, <strong>the</strong> High Contracting Parties agree <strong>to</strong> accord as soon as possible<br />
<strong>to</strong> all alien nationals <strong>of</strong> states, members <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> League, equal <strong>and</strong> just treatment in every<br />
respect making no distinction, ei<strong>the</strong>r in law or in fact, on account <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir race or nationality.”<br />
This was <strong>to</strong>o radical for <strong>the</strong> European powers, <strong>and</strong> even though <strong>the</strong> debate on<br />
<strong>the</strong> clause was won by a majority vote, <strong>the</strong> vote was overturned. These discussions<br />
would have had wide ranging implications across a number <strong>of</strong> issues, such as<br />
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minority rights in Pol<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Baltic states, <strong>the</strong> issue <strong>of</strong> Irish self-determination, Zionism<br />
<strong>and</strong> Palestine, <strong>the</strong> independence <strong>of</strong> colonial states, <strong>and</strong> segregation <strong>and</strong> racial<br />
equality in <strong>the</strong> USA. It is shocking how many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se issues still plague us in <strong>the</strong> present day.<br />
Our next chapter comes from Dr.Jaqueline Jenkinson’s study <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 1919 Race Riots. As we learn,<br />
in this year Britain increasingly feared a Russian inspired Bolshevik revolution, <strong>and</strong> bought out<br />
troops <strong>to</strong> quell worker’s ga<strong>the</strong>rings. The main victims <strong>of</strong> this global <strong>and</strong> internal instability were<br />
Britain’s black <strong>and</strong> asian communities. Many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> former black soldiers who had fought for Britain<br />
during World War 1 now faced hostility both from <strong>the</strong> white working class <strong>and</strong> an indifferent state.<br />
Many were deported, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> linking <strong>of</strong> Black immigration as a problem with <strong>the</strong> idea that British<br />
nationality was something for whites only lasted for many years, perhaps even in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> present.<br />
The period between 1919 <strong>and</strong> 1945 is an important period in <strong>the</strong> his<strong>to</strong>ry for Black <strong>and</strong> Asian people<br />
in this country, yet <strong>the</strong>re is surprisingly little written about this period in Black British his<strong>to</strong>ry.<br />
It is during this period that we see people from across <strong>the</strong> colonies discussing political ideas, developing<br />
organisations <strong>and</strong> coalitions, <strong>the</strong> British state moving away from that <strong>of</strong> Imperial ruler,<br />
increased use <strong>of</strong> state surveillance <strong>and</strong> legislation against dissenters, debates around human rights<br />
<strong>and</strong> citizenship, all set against <strong>the</strong> background <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> two world wars <strong>and</strong> communism in <strong>the</strong> East.<br />
In Britain, <strong>the</strong> black <strong>and</strong> asian population, consisting <strong>of</strong> former soldiers, students, artists,<br />
activists, <strong>and</strong> migrants from all parts <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> colonies, lived in <strong>the</strong> same vicinity, <strong>the</strong>y were<br />
brought in<strong>to</strong> contact with one ano<strong>the</strong>r, African, Asian, Chinese, Caribbean’s, Americans,<br />
o<strong>the</strong>rs from throughout <strong>the</strong> empire, <strong>and</strong> Bri<strong>to</strong>ns from across <strong>the</strong> socio-economic spectrum<br />
were able <strong>to</strong> talk <strong>and</strong> discuss about ideas in a way that hadn’t really occurred before. “Only<br />
in Engl<strong>and</strong>,” C. L. R. James recalled, “did I learn <strong>to</strong> break through <strong>the</strong> inherited constraints<br />
<strong>of</strong> my environment….” (CLR James, Beyond a Boundary (Duke University Press 1993) p80.<br />
As a result, it was during this time that Black <strong>and</strong> Asian associations grew <strong>and</strong> became homes<br />
away from home. Centres <strong>of</strong> cultural <strong>and</strong> intellectual exchange sprung up in London, Manchester,<br />
Cardiff, Birmingham, Liverpool, Edinburgh <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r places, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>se gave rise <strong>to</strong> new means<br />
<strong>of</strong> voicing social commentary <strong>and</strong> political dissent. Through <strong>the</strong>m, black <strong>and</strong> asian intellectuals<br />
influenced <strong>the</strong> political imagination <strong>of</strong> British colonial <strong>of</strong>ficials, politicians, <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs interested<br />
in <strong>the</strong> colonies, contributing <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> debates during <strong>the</strong> final decades <strong>of</strong> imperial rule. We can<br />
see this through <strong>the</strong> lives many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> individuals who returned <strong>to</strong> Africa, Asia <strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Caribbean in <strong>the</strong> years after World War II <strong>to</strong> become leaders <strong>of</strong> anti-colonial movements <strong>and</strong><br />
prominent postcolonial politicians, such as Krishna Menon, Jomo Kenyatta, <strong>and</strong> Kwame Nkrumah.<br />
Some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se organisations during this time included <strong>the</strong> African Progress<br />
Union led by Dr John Alcindor in <strong>the</strong> 20s, Union for Students <strong>of</strong> African Descent,<br />
Gold Coast Students Association, West African Students Union (WASU),<br />
founded by Ladipo Solanke in 1925, <strong>the</strong> International African Service Bureau (IASB),<br />
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founded by George Padmore in 1937 <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Pan-African Federation (PAF), founded in 1944.<br />
There were also many important buildings such as <strong>the</strong> West Indian Students Union, <strong>and</strong><br />
India House, in Highgate. India House was opened in 1905 by Henry Hyndman <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
MP Dadabhai Naoroji, <strong>the</strong> Irish Suffragist, Charlotte Despard <strong>and</strong> Bhikaji Cama. This<br />
building became an important meeting place for people from Asian, <strong>the</strong> feminist’s movements<br />
as well as Irish nationalist. Some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> prominent Indian revolutionaries <strong>and</strong><br />
nationalists were associated with India House, including Shyamji Krishna Verma, Vinayak<br />
Damodar Savarkar, Bhikaji Cama, V.N. Chatterjee, Lala Har Dayal, <strong>and</strong> here <strong>the</strong> ideas around<br />
universal suffrage, self determination <strong>and</strong> equality in Britain were discussed <strong>and</strong> debated.<br />
Our third article charts this journey. From Rebellion <strong>to</strong> Riots was written by Sivan<strong>and</strong>an is an<br />
important article <strong>and</strong> we are pleased <strong>to</strong> be able <strong>to</strong> reproduce it for this publication. As we<br />
will see <strong>the</strong> issues around Internationalism, Pan-Africanism, anti-colonialism <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> importance<br />
<strong>of</strong> solidarity with <strong>the</strong> white working class, were all <strong>the</strong>mes which would characterise <strong>the</strong><br />
British Black Power movement, <strong>and</strong> later <strong>the</strong> Asian Youth Movements, yet <strong>the</strong>y were issues<br />
that were being discussed by black <strong>and</strong> asian organisations in Britain as far back as <strong>the</strong> 1920’s.<br />
The role <strong>of</strong> women within <strong>the</strong> anti-racist movement is deeply under<br />
researched, <strong>and</strong> rarely written about. We have tried <strong>to</strong> identify individuals<br />
who were active in <strong>the</strong> anti racist movement in our timelines, though we<br />
acknowledge that <strong>the</strong>re are many more women present than we have mentioned.<br />
One person who we cannot ignore is Claudia Jones. Claudia Jones was a Trinidadian communist<br />
who came <strong>to</strong> London, via Harlem, courtesy <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> red-baiting sena<strong>to</strong>r Joseph McCarthy. Jones<br />
moved <strong>to</strong> New York with her parents when she was seven. It was <strong>the</strong>re, during <strong>the</strong> campaign <strong>to</strong><br />
defend <strong>the</strong> Scottsboro boys, a group <strong>of</strong> young African-Americans framed for rape in <strong>the</strong> south,<br />
that she joined <strong>the</strong> American Communist party in which she was later <strong>to</strong> play a leading role.<br />
Twice interned for her political beliefs on Ellis Isl<strong>and</strong> - ironically, <strong>the</strong> spiritual home for immigrants<br />
fleeing poverty <strong>and</strong> persecution - she was eventually ordered <strong>to</strong> leave in 1955 <strong>and</strong> sent <strong>to</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong>,<br />
<strong>and</strong> it was here that she established one <strong>the</strong> first Black newspapers, ‘The West Indian Gazette’.<br />
The events <strong>of</strong> 1958, in Notting Hill <strong>and</strong> Nottingham, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> murder Kelso Cochrane in 1959, had<br />
a pr<strong>of</strong>ound impact on black <strong>and</strong> asian communities across Britain, <strong>and</strong> Claudia was determined<br />
<strong>to</strong> do something. “We need something <strong>to</strong> get <strong>the</strong> taste <strong>of</strong> Notting Hill out <strong>of</strong> our mouths,” she<br />
said. “Someone suggested we should hold a carnival,” says Donald Hinds, who was in <strong>the</strong> room<br />
at <strong>the</strong> time. “We all started laughing because it was so cold <strong>and</strong> carnival is this out-on-<strong>the</strong>-street<br />
thing. It seemed like a ridiculous suggestion.” But Jones had o<strong>the</strong>r ideas <strong>and</strong> set about making<br />
arrangements. A few months later, on January 30, 1959, London’s first Caribbean carnival was<br />
held in St Pancras <strong>to</strong>wn hall. Televised by <strong>the</strong> BBC for Six-Five Special - a forerunner <strong>to</strong> Top Of<br />
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The Pops - it was timed <strong>to</strong> coincide with <strong>the</strong> Caribbean’s largest <strong>and</strong> most famous carnival in Trinidad.<br />
The brief introduc<strong>to</strong>ry statement <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> souvenir brochure came with <strong>the</strong> title “A Peoples’<br />
Art is <strong>the</strong> Genesis <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir Freedom”. Here we reproduce Claudia’s words from <strong>the</strong> brochure.<br />
This relationship between art, culture <strong>and</strong> politics has always been an integral part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> anti<br />
racist struggle. One person who unders<strong>to</strong>od this was ano<strong>the</strong>r Trinidadian, John la Rose. After<br />
he passed <strong>the</strong> Guardian wrote, “John La Rose was <strong>the</strong> elder statesman <strong>of</strong> Britain’s black<br />
communities. Like Marcus Garvey, CLR James, George Padmore, Fidel Castro <strong>and</strong> Frantz<br />
Fanon, John belongs <strong>to</strong> a Caribbean tradition <strong>of</strong> radical <strong>and</strong> revolutionary activism whose<br />
input has reverberated across continents. The depth <strong>and</strong> breadth <strong>of</strong> his contribution <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
struggle for cultural <strong>and</strong> social change, for racial equality <strong>and</strong> social justice, for <strong>the</strong> humanisation<br />
<strong>of</strong> society, is unparalleled in <strong>the</strong> his<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> black experience in Britain.” One <strong>of</strong><br />
John’s favourite sayings was “We didn’t come alive in Britain,” an allusion <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> struggles<br />
that had been waged by Caribbean peoples in <strong>the</strong> Caribbean against colonialism <strong>and</strong> for<br />
workers’ <strong>and</strong> people’s power, something which had began with <strong>the</strong> first Carribean labour<br />
movements in 1919. In <strong>the</strong> 1940s in Trinidad, he helped <strong>to</strong> found <strong>the</strong> Workers Freedom Movement<br />
<strong>and</strong> edited its journal, Freedom. John’s influence on British anti-racism from <strong>the</strong> 1960’s<br />
through <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> 1990’s has not been given <strong>the</strong> acknowledgement it deserves <strong>and</strong> we are<br />
grateful <strong>to</strong> Dr Gus John for his article charting John’s journey through art, culture <strong>and</strong> politics.<br />
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Black 1919 : Riots, <strong>Racism</strong><br />
<strong>and</strong> Resistance in Imperial<br />
Britain<br />
Jacqueline Jenkinson<br />
This extract comes from “Black 1919: Riots, <strong>Racism</strong> <strong>and</strong> Resistance in<br />
Imperial Britain’ by Jacqueline Jenkinson, 2009, <strong>and</strong> reproduced with<br />
permission from <strong>the</strong> author <strong>and</strong> publisher, Liverpool University Press.<br />
Pho<strong>to</strong>graph showing tanks<br />
stationed in <strong>the</strong> ‘Cattle<br />
Market’, Glasgow at <strong>the</strong> time<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> strike in 1919<br />
The seaport riots <strong>of</strong> 1919 were part <strong>of</strong> a wave <strong>of</strong> global unrest that affected Britain,<br />
parts <strong>of</strong> its empire, continental Europe <strong>and</strong> North America during <strong>and</strong> in <strong>the</strong> wake<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> First World War. The trigger for <strong>the</strong> violence in many <strong>of</strong> Britain’s seaports was<br />
dissatisfaction among sections <strong>of</strong> Britain’s working class at a range <strong>of</strong> unsatisfac<strong>to</strong>ry<br />
peacetime circumstances, <strong>the</strong> chief <strong>of</strong> which were severe post war competition for jobs,<br />
especially in <strong>the</strong> merchant navy, <strong>and</strong> local housing shortages. In <strong>the</strong> course <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> seaport<br />
riots crowds <strong>of</strong> white working class people thous<strong>and</strong>s strong targeted minority ethnic groups<br />
including African, African Caribbean, Arab, South Asian <strong>and</strong> Chinese workers, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
businesses <strong>and</strong> property. 1 The riots <strong>to</strong>ok place in Glasgow, South Shields, Salford, Hull,<br />
London, Liverpool, Newport, Cardiff <strong>and</strong> Barry between January <strong>and</strong> August <strong>of</strong> 1919.<br />
Fur<strong>the</strong>r sporadic rioting <strong>to</strong>ok place in 1920 <strong>and</strong> 1921. Five people were killed, dozens were<br />
injured <strong>and</strong> at least 250 arrested in this major episode <strong>of</strong> twentieth century British rioting.<br />
This introduc<strong>to</strong>ry chapter examines various <strong>the</strong>mes that lay behind <strong>the</strong> events <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> port riots.<br />
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Economic <strong>and</strong> social context <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> riots<br />
The onset <strong>of</strong> high unemployment in <strong>the</strong> merchant navy as <strong>the</strong> industry contracted <strong>to</strong> suit<br />
peacetime conditions posed problems for Britain’s large trading seaports during <strong>and</strong> after 1919.<br />
Falling strategic dem<strong>and</strong> when combined with four years <strong>of</strong> disruption <strong>of</strong> traditional markets<br />
<strong>and</strong> routes meant that many British ships were being laid up just as thous<strong>and</strong>s <strong>of</strong> merchant<br />
sailors who had joined <strong>the</strong> armed forces were returning <strong>to</strong> home ports in search <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir former<br />
employment. In <strong>the</strong> meantime, many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> thous<strong>and</strong>s <strong>of</strong> job vacancies created when British merchant<br />
sailors left for war service <strong>and</strong> seamen from enemy <strong>and</strong> non-allied nations were barred from<br />
British vessels had been filled by black, Arab, Chinese <strong>and</strong> South Asian colonial British workers.<br />
The post-war decline in <strong>the</strong> merchant shipping industry affected British sailors, <strong>of</strong> varied<br />
ethnicity; those recently demobilized <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> currently employed. All feared for <strong>the</strong>ir future<br />
<strong>and</strong> came <strong>to</strong> believe that British workers were being squeezed out <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> shipping industry as<br />
employers increasingly turned <strong>to</strong> cheaper overseas workers <strong>to</strong> reduce <strong>the</strong>ir wage bill <strong>and</strong> preserve<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>its. This fear <strong>of</strong> fair foreign competition was a long st<strong>and</strong>ing one in <strong>the</strong> merchant navy.<br />
In fact, <strong>the</strong> leading seamen’s unions had conducted a campaign <strong>to</strong> keep black, “Arab <strong>and</strong> Asian<br />
sailors <strong>of</strong>f British ships since <strong>the</strong> Edwardian period. The move was designed <strong>to</strong> preserve white<br />
British workers jobs <strong>and</strong> did not distinguish between British <strong>and</strong> foreign black, Chinese, <strong>and</strong><br />
“Arab sailors. Re-invigorated in 1919 after a period <strong>of</strong> enforced quiescence during <strong>the</strong> war, <strong>the</strong><br />
attempt <strong>to</strong> enforce a union ‘colour’ bar was one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> chief sources <strong>of</strong> contention in <strong>the</strong> ports.<br />
Although <strong>the</strong> riots were triggered by <strong>the</strong> specific economic circumstances <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> large<br />
seaports, it is important <strong>to</strong> place <strong>the</strong>se riots within <strong>the</strong> wider wave <strong>of</strong> rioting <strong>and</strong> social protest<br />
across Britain during <strong>and</strong> in <strong>the</strong> months immediately after <strong>the</strong> First World War. Widespread<br />
anti-German riots occurred around Britain throughout <strong>the</strong> war. These peaked in <strong>the</strong> ‘Lusitania’<br />
riots <strong>of</strong> May 1915 following <strong>the</strong> German submarine sinking <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Cunard cruise liner RMS<br />
Lusitania for <strong>the</strong> loss <strong>of</strong> hundreds <strong>of</strong> civilian lives. Some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> wartime anti-German protests<br />
became more broadly anti-alien in <strong>the</strong>ir focus. In addition, <strong>the</strong>re were anti-Jewish riots in<br />
Leeds <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> east end <strong>of</strong> London during 1917 as sections <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> local white British populations<br />
<strong>to</strong>ok <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> streets in <strong>the</strong> belief that Jewish families in <strong>the</strong>se areas, including eastern<br />
European immigrant settlers, were reluctant <strong>to</strong> “do <strong>the</strong>ir bit by sending <strong>the</strong>ir sons <strong>to</strong> war. 2<br />
Rioting <strong>and</strong> street protest continued beyond <strong>the</strong> Armistice. Months <strong>of</strong> violent mass protest<br />
across Britain led Jerry White <strong>to</strong> label 1919 ‘ a troubled year.’ 3 Mass violence was <strong>of</strong>ten triggered<br />
by <strong>the</strong> difficult transition from war <strong>to</strong> peacetime conditions. For example, in January 1919 soldiers<br />
awaiting demobilisation went on strike all over Britain, dem<strong>and</strong>ing speedier release from <strong>the</strong><br />
armed forces. There were also at least three riots involving many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> thous<strong>and</strong>s <strong>of</strong> Canadian<br />
service personnel who were stationed at army camps around Britain in 1919 awaiting repatriation.<br />
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‘Britishers<br />
first’ was <strong>the</strong><br />
overriding<br />
sentiment<br />
during<br />
disorder in <strong>the</strong><br />
ports<br />
Post-war mass protest <strong>and</strong> riot <strong>of</strong>ten involved organized ex-service<br />
groups out <strong>to</strong> draw attention <strong>to</strong> perceived injustice in <strong>the</strong><br />
treatment <strong>of</strong> returning troops <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir dependents. Many former<br />
soldiers <strong>and</strong> sailors were left disillusioned by <strong>the</strong>ir lot on demobilisation.<br />
The National Federation <strong>of</strong> Discharged <strong>and</strong> Demobilised<br />
Sailors <strong>and</strong> Soldiers staged a range <strong>of</strong> co-ordinated campaigns<br />
<strong>and</strong> demonstrations throughout <strong>the</strong> country in 1919 <strong>and</strong> 1920. Their<br />
‘monster’ demonstration outside parliament in May 1919 descended<br />
in<strong>to</strong> violence <strong>and</strong> was broken up by a police ba<strong>to</strong>n charge. 4 In<br />
Lu<strong>to</strong>n in July 1919, rioters, including many ex-combatants, burned<br />
down <strong>the</strong> <strong>to</strong>wn hall. 5 There were also riots involving recently demobilised<br />
troops in London in March <strong>and</strong> in Edinburgh in July 1919. 6<br />
The prominence <strong>of</strong> service <strong>and</strong> ex-service personnel in social unrest,<br />
mass protest <strong>and</strong> rioting across Britain in <strong>the</strong> twelve months after<br />
<strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> First World War was a sign <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> times. It is hardly<br />
surprising that individuals in uniform or sporting service ribbons would<br />
be visible in ga<strong>the</strong>rings <strong>of</strong> people in <strong>the</strong> weeks <strong>and</strong> months after <strong>the</strong><br />
Armistice given that Britain’s combined armed forces <strong>to</strong>talled 6.6<br />
million at war’s end. The violent participation <strong>of</strong> troops <strong>and</strong> former<br />
service personnel in <strong>the</strong> seaport riots was frequently highlighted in<br />
contemporary press reports.7 However, recent combatants were not<br />
<strong>the</strong> prime movers in <strong>the</strong> port rioting. The riots in Britain’s seaports<br />
mainly involved white local civilians, some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m merchant sailors.<br />
The myth that military service had brutalized those who served<br />
in <strong>the</strong> First World War leading <strong>to</strong> post war rioting <strong>and</strong> mass protest<br />
was used by contemporaries <strong>and</strong> later writers <strong>to</strong> account for<br />
<strong>the</strong> violence <strong>of</strong> this period. There was a widespread belief that <strong>the</strong><br />
trauma <strong>of</strong> war led <strong>to</strong> uncontrolled aggressive tendencies. It was a<br />
truism that innocence had been irretrievably lost through wartime experience.<br />
This assumption follows <strong>the</strong> so-called ‘brutalization’ <strong>the</strong>ory<br />
in which battle-hardened, war- weary men <strong>and</strong> women brought<br />
a tendency <strong>to</strong> violence in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> domestic sphere. The work <strong>of</strong> Joanna<br />
Bourke has convincingly refuted this <strong>the</strong>ory by examining <strong>the</strong><br />
impact <strong>of</strong> war on <strong>the</strong> psyche <strong>of</strong> ex-combatants. Bourke suggested<br />
that contrary <strong>to</strong> promoting violent tendencies in a domestic setting,<br />
<strong>the</strong> leading desire among ex-combatants was for a return<br />
<strong>to</strong> domesticity <strong>and</strong> an urge <strong>to</strong> forget <strong>the</strong>ir recent experiences. 8<br />
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Bourke cited detailed studies <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> psychological impact <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Vietnam War on veterans<br />
which found no relationship (or even a negative relationship) between violent crime rates <strong>and</strong> military<br />
participation. Bourke’s study <strong>of</strong> twentieth-century ex-combatant letters <strong>and</strong> diaries found<br />
that veterans were not ‘numbed’ by killing, even when distanced from <strong>the</strong> enemy by technological<br />
development; on <strong>the</strong> contrary, … combatants <strong>the</strong>mselves consistently raised issues <strong>of</strong> personal<br />
responsibility. 9 While this point is well made, it is important <strong>to</strong> remember that while ex-service<br />
personnel may not have been brutalized by war, <strong>the</strong>ir experiences <strong>and</strong> years <strong>of</strong> service left many<br />
disillusioned <strong>and</strong> prepared <strong>to</strong> organise <strong>and</strong> protest in large numbers against <strong>the</strong>ir peacetime lot.<br />
General demonstrations <strong>of</strong> post-war resentment across many sections <strong>of</strong> British society<br />
were in <strong>the</strong> large seaports specifically focused on <strong>the</strong> twin issues <strong>of</strong> job <strong>and</strong> housing shortages.<br />
National Identity, <strong>the</strong> Imperial <strong>Age</strong>nda <strong>and</strong> a ‘black Atlantic’ perspective<br />
The seaport riots <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir aftermath posed a challenge <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> nature <strong>of</strong> Britain’s imperial rule<br />
<strong>and</strong> raised questions about <strong>the</strong> identity <strong>and</strong> status <strong>of</strong> colonial peoples both within <strong>the</strong> metropole<br />
<strong>and</strong> in <strong>the</strong> colonies. Divergent interpretations <strong>of</strong> national identity emerged from metropolitan<br />
<strong>and</strong> colonial opinion during <strong>the</strong> 1919 riots. ‘Britishers first’ was <strong>the</strong> overriding sentiment during<br />
disorder in <strong>the</strong> ports, particularly when rioting broke out when sailors confronted each o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
directly in <strong>the</strong> hiring yards <strong>of</strong> merchant marine shipping <strong>of</strong>fices. However, those on opposing<br />
sides during <strong>the</strong> riots held different opinions <strong>of</strong> what was meant by being British. An article in <strong>the</strong><br />
Times written at <strong>the</strong> height <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> rioting poked fun at <strong>the</strong> allegiance black Bri<strong>to</strong>n felt <strong>to</strong>wards<br />
<strong>the</strong> Empire. “The negro [sic] is almost pa<strong>the</strong>tically loyal <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> British Empire <strong>and</strong> he is always<br />
proud <strong>to</strong> proclaim himself a Bri<strong>to</strong>n. 10 The seaport riots highlighted contested meanings <strong>of</strong><br />
national identity: black British sailors protested about <strong>the</strong> employment <strong>of</strong> foreign white sailors;<br />
white sailors (including foreign-born) campaigned <strong>and</strong> rioted against <strong>the</strong> employment <strong>of</strong> black<br />
African, African-Caribbean, Arab, Chinese, <strong>and</strong> South Asian sailors, many <strong>of</strong> whom were British.<br />
The broad concept <strong>of</strong> British identity can be summed up in <strong>the</strong> phrase “civis Britannicus<br />
sum. This notion was derived from <strong>the</strong> Latin phrase “civis Romanus sum. Not everyone<br />
in <strong>the</strong> Roman Empire held citizenship: it was a privilege enjoyed only by a few (<strong>and</strong> could<br />
be inherited, merited, or won after long service). Many Roman citizens lived hundreds<br />
<strong>of</strong> miles from <strong>the</strong> city but still claimed <strong>the</strong> privileges <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir status. In <strong>the</strong> British Empire,<br />
<strong>the</strong> phrase came <strong>to</strong> denote <strong>the</strong> rights <strong>and</strong> residence privileges <strong>of</strong> all British subjects under<br />
<strong>the</strong> British crown no matter where <strong>the</strong>y lived. The rights given <strong>to</strong> British subjects were<br />
built on <strong>the</strong> confidence <strong>and</strong> feeling that subject status was an honour bes<strong>to</strong>wed by British<br />
rule, it allowed any British subject right <strong>of</strong> entry in<strong>to</strong> Britain. This status was reinforced<br />
in law in 1914 in <strong>the</strong> British Nationality <strong>and</strong> Status <strong>of</strong> Aliens Act which stated: “Any person<br />
born within His Majesty’s Dominions <strong>and</strong> allegiance [is] …a natural born British subject. 11<br />
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Anxieties<br />
concerning<br />
class, public<br />
health, moral<br />
codes <strong>and</strong><br />
above all,<br />
national<br />
identity were<br />
projected on<strong>to</strong><br />
immigrants <strong>and</strong><br />
minorities<br />
Despite <strong>the</strong> existence <strong>of</strong> such legislation, <strong>the</strong> possession<br />
<strong>of</strong> an empire led not <strong>to</strong> an inclusive, but <strong>to</strong> an exclusive notion <strong>of</strong><br />
British national identity. According <strong>to</strong> Colley, <strong>the</strong> feeling <strong>of</strong> dominance<br />
over subject peoples permeated throughout metropolitan<br />
British society.12 In her influential essay on “Britishness <strong>and</strong><br />
O<strong>the</strong>rness Colley described this feeling succinctly “… we usually<br />
decide who we are by reference <strong>to</strong> who <strong>and</strong> what we are not.13<br />
At times, Britishness was equated with possessing a white skin.<br />
During <strong>the</strong> seaport riots distinctions were frequently drawn between<br />
<strong>the</strong> rights <strong>of</strong> “British” on <strong>the</strong> one h<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> black or more <strong>of</strong>ten “coloured”,<br />
sailors on <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r. These distinctions were made by individuals<br />
across <strong>the</strong> social spectrum including white rioters, members <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
police forces in <strong>the</strong> riot ports, trades unionists, magistrates <strong>and</strong> lawyers<br />
during riot trials <strong>and</strong> also in <strong>the</strong> press. Britishness was “colour” coded,<br />
<strong>and</strong> only grudgingly <strong>and</strong> infrequently were <strong>the</strong> rights <strong>of</strong> black British<br />
subjects recognised <strong>and</strong> considered, usually in <strong>the</strong> lip service paid <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
notion <strong>of</strong> “white Britishers first, next, black Britishers, last <strong>of</strong> all aliens.”<br />
A study conducted in 1918 revealed strong “race” prejudice<br />
within British society. This prejudice was not based on hostility as<br />
a result <strong>of</strong> personal contact with black British colonial subjects but<br />
from <strong>the</strong> broad process <strong>of</strong> imperialism which brought <strong>the</strong> prejudices<br />
<strong>of</strong> colonial administra<strong>to</strong>rs <strong>and</strong> travellers back <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> metropole.14<br />
Hence, British feelings <strong>of</strong> superiority over subject peoples were already<br />
well established by <strong>the</strong> time <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 1919 seaport riots. However,<br />
<strong>the</strong> recent experience <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> First World War brought many<br />
native white people in<strong>to</strong> first or extended contact with black colonial<br />
British subjects who came <strong>to</strong> Britain in <strong>the</strong>ir many thous<strong>and</strong>s as<br />
workers, soldiers <strong>and</strong> sailors. The presence <strong>of</strong> black British troops<br />
<strong>and</strong> workers failed <strong>to</strong> alter popular one-dimensional perceptions <strong>of</strong><br />
Britishness. Rose has made <strong>the</strong> point that “British identity” became<br />
more sharply defined in times <strong>of</strong> war. “War exaggerates <strong>the</strong> significance<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> nation as a source <strong>and</strong> object <strong>of</strong> identity.”15 Kushner <strong>and</strong><br />
Ceserani have also noted that anti-alien sentiment was exacerbated<br />
by participation in war. “Anxieties concerning class, public health,<br />
moral codes <strong>and</strong> above all, national identity were projected on<strong>to</strong> immigrants<br />
<strong>and</strong> minorities.”16 In<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> mid-twentieth century similar<br />
arguments about Britishness <strong>and</strong> national identity were rehearsed<br />
during <strong>the</strong> August 1947 riots in which British Jewish populations were<br />
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attacked.17 Kathleen Paul has also written about constructions <strong>of</strong> national identity in relation<br />
<strong>to</strong> post-Second World War immigration <strong>to</strong> Britain. According <strong>to</strong> Paul a hierarchy <strong>of</strong> Britishness<br />
was created in which white Bri<strong>to</strong>ns enjoyed a unique status; with black <strong>and</strong> South Asian Bri<strong>to</strong>ns<br />
from <strong>the</strong> empire/Commonwealth regarded as possessing a different (lesser) British identity.18<br />
Research in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> issue <strong>of</strong> British national identity is linked <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> broader study <strong>of</strong> imperial<br />
inter-connectedness, with <strong>the</strong> relationship between colony <strong>and</strong> metropole subject <strong>to</strong> much<br />
scrutiny. The notion <strong>of</strong> such inter-connectedness was developed by French West Indian writer<br />
Franz Fanon who stated that empire building affected not only <strong>the</strong> colonised but also <strong>the</strong> colonisers.19<br />
Issues <strong>of</strong> citizenship, national identity <strong>and</strong> equality were subsumed in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> wider<br />
dicho<strong>to</strong>my between colonisers <strong>and</strong> colonised. For Ca<strong>the</strong>rine Hall this relationship was a power<br />
struggle: “The relations between colony <strong>and</strong> metropole were relations <strong>of</strong> power.”20 Given<br />
<strong>the</strong> ethnic make up <strong>of</strong> Britain’s empire (in 1919 an estimated 100 million <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> empires <strong>to</strong>tal<br />
population <strong>of</strong> 550 million were white),21 such a notion became “colour” coded: in war <strong>and</strong> in<br />
peace, imperial subjects with dark skin pigmentation were less well regarded than were white<br />
colonials. According <strong>to</strong> Hall: “Metropolis <strong>and</strong> colonies, nation <strong>and</strong> empire, were demarcated by<br />
racially defined difference: some races, it was thought, were more advanced than o<strong>the</strong>rs.” 22<br />
The transfer <strong>of</strong> imperial power relations in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> British merchant shipping industry led ship<br />
owners <strong>to</strong>: “… extend colonial levels <strong>of</strong> control <strong>and</strong> exploitation <strong>to</strong> workers in <strong>the</strong> metropole.”<br />
23 Black colonial workers serving in <strong>the</strong> merchant navy during <strong>and</strong> after <strong>the</strong> war were almost<br />
inevitably placed in a subordinate position. According <strong>to</strong> Tabili’s study <strong>of</strong> “workers <strong>and</strong> racial<br />
difference” : “… <strong>the</strong> few thous<strong>and</strong> Black seamen living in Britain were only <strong>the</strong> most visible <strong>of</strong> a<br />
global <strong>and</strong> multiracial colonized population whose labor sustained Britain’s imperial power.” 24<br />
Colonial connections <strong>and</strong> power relationships were highlighted <strong>to</strong>o, in <strong>the</strong> names <strong>of</strong> some<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> black people involved in <strong>the</strong> seaport riots. In Glasgow, two West Africans charged with<br />
rioting shared <strong>the</strong> common name <strong>of</strong> “Tom Friday”, meanwhile “Sunny John” was found not<br />
guilty <strong>of</strong> assault <strong>and</strong> riot charges in Liverpool. In Newport, five bro<strong>the</strong>rs from Sierra Leone, all <strong>of</strong><br />
whom were ship’s firemen were each called “Tom Savage”. The identical names, <strong>and</strong> indeed,<br />
<strong>the</strong> surname “Savage”, evoke <strong>the</strong> slave trading <strong>and</strong> paternalistic missionary past <strong>of</strong> coastal West<br />
Africa.An exp<strong>and</strong>ing empire <strong>and</strong> healthy global trading links brought black sailors in increased<br />
numbers in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> metropole in <strong>the</strong> decades up <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> First World War. Yet by 1919 <strong>the</strong> position<br />
was altered. Britain’s empire was shaken by <strong>the</strong> war <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> conflict brought incipient<br />
decline <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> merchant shipping industry. Toge<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong>se events combined <strong>to</strong> make <strong>the</strong><br />
outbreak <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> seaport riots a cause <strong>of</strong> grave concern in both colonial <strong>and</strong> metropolitan Britain.<br />
In 1919 <strong>the</strong> British Empire was simultaneously exp<strong>and</strong>ing with <strong>the</strong> annexation <strong>of</strong> former German<br />
colonies in Africa <strong>and</strong> at <strong>the</strong> same time fragile; as <strong>the</strong> declaration <strong>of</strong> martial law in Egypt <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> deaths <strong>of</strong> close <strong>to</strong> 400 political protesters at <strong>the</strong> h<strong>and</strong>s <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> British army under General<br />
Dyer at <strong>the</strong> Amritsar temple in India demonstrated. According <strong>to</strong> May <strong>and</strong> Cohen “… at home<br />
many observers pointed out that racial disturbances in Engl<strong>and</strong> [sic] would have serious re-<br />
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“I am seriously<br />
concerned at<br />
<strong>the</strong> continued<br />
disturbances<br />
due <strong>to</strong> racial ill<br />
feeling against<br />
coloured men<br />
in our large<br />
sea ports.<br />
These riots are<br />
serious enough<br />
from <strong>the</strong> point<br />
<strong>of</strong> view <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
maintenance<br />
<strong>of</strong> order in this<br />
country, but<br />
<strong>the</strong>y are even<br />
more serious<br />
in regard <strong>to</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong>ir possible<br />
effect in <strong>the</strong><br />
colonies…‟<br />
Colonial<br />
Secretary Lord<br />
Milner<br />
percussions for <strong>the</strong> European presence in <strong>the</strong> colonized world” 25<br />
In <strong>the</strong> Caribbean, British governors were acutely aware <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
potential challenge <strong>to</strong> colonial rule posed by increasing black political<br />
awareness, especially when it was combined with <strong>the</strong> return <strong>of</strong><br />
disaffected repatriated black Bri<strong>to</strong>ns <strong>and</strong> ex- service personnel following<br />
<strong>the</strong> seaport riots. In <strong>the</strong> metropole, Colonial Secretary Lord<br />
Milner expressed similar anxiety: “I am seriously concerned at <strong>the</strong><br />
continued disturbances due <strong>to</strong> racial ill feeling against coloured men<br />
in our large sea ports. These riots are serious enough from <strong>the</strong> point<br />
<strong>of</strong> view <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> maintenance <strong>of</strong> order in this country, but <strong>the</strong>y are even<br />
more serious in regard <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir possible effect in <strong>the</strong> colonies...” 26<br />
British newspaper edi<strong>to</strong>rials also expressed a fear that <strong>the</strong> seaport<br />
riots could provoke disorder among <strong>the</strong> overwhelming black majority<br />
in <strong>the</strong> colonies. The South Wales Daily News noted that since Britain’s<br />
post-war obligations “<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> dark races” were in <strong>the</strong> process <strong>of</strong> extension<br />
via m<strong>and</strong>ate under <strong>the</strong> Treaty <strong>of</strong> Versailles: “it is all <strong>the</strong> more<br />
necessary <strong>to</strong> insist upon fair play <strong>and</strong> equal treatment <strong>to</strong> everyman,<br />
whatever his colour…”. 27 This viewpoint was persuasively stated in an<br />
edi<strong>to</strong>rial in <strong>the</strong> Liverpool Daily Post <strong>and</strong> Mercury on 11 June 1919: Careful<br />
<strong>and</strong> commonsense h<strong>and</strong>ling <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> “colour” disturbances is necessary<br />
if what at present is little more than a local disorder is not <strong>to</strong> develop<br />
in<strong>to</strong> a serious Imperial problem. There would be infinite possibilities <strong>of</strong><br />
mischief if any idea gained ground in India <strong>and</strong> Africa that <strong>the</strong> isolated<br />
conduct <strong>of</strong> rio<strong>to</strong>us mobs represented <strong>the</strong> prevailing British attitude<br />
<strong>to</strong>wards <strong>the</strong> black members <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Empire who are in our midst. 28<br />
Some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> more sympa<strong>the</strong>tic white public reactions <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> plight<br />
<strong>of</strong> black people attacked during <strong>the</strong> riots also revealed a deeper concern<br />
for <strong>the</strong> future <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> imperial/colonial relationship. Perhaps predictably,<br />
white-dominated Christian <strong>and</strong> humanitarian groups were prominent<br />
in expressing <strong>the</strong>se sentiments. Local Anglican clerics raised <strong>the</strong><br />
possible imperial repercussions <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> rioting in a letter <strong>to</strong> Liverpool<br />
corporation (council) in July 1919: “<strong>the</strong> racial riots, [are] … a blot upon<br />
<strong>the</strong> fair name <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> city, <strong>and</strong> a danger <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> commonwealth at large…<br />
calculated <strong>to</strong> hinder <strong>the</strong> progress <strong>of</strong> Christ’s kingdom at home <strong>and</strong><br />
abroad.” 29 John H. Harris, organising secretary <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Anti</strong>-Slavery<br />
<strong>and</strong> Aborigines” Protection Society, demonstrated Britain’s imperial inter-connectedness<br />
in an interview conducted at <strong>the</strong> height <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> port<br />
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ioting: You cannot prevent <strong>the</strong> black man from coming here, because this is <strong>the</strong> centre <strong>of</strong> his<br />
empire. You could no more tell him that he must not come <strong>to</strong> London, Liverpool or Cardiff than<br />
he has <strong>the</strong> right <strong>to</strong> tell you that you must not go <strong>to</strong> Lagos or Durban or Johannesburg. 30 Neil<br />
Evans has perceptively described this as <strong>the</strong> “we are here because you are <strong>the</strong>re viewpoint. 31<br />
The rioting around Britain’s major sea ports led <strong>to</strong> feelings <strong>of</strong> metropolitan betrayal <strong>and</strong> unrewarded<br />
wartime “blood sacrifice” among Britain’s black colonial population. London-based<br />
black political organisation, <strong>the</strong> Society <strong>of</strong> Peoples African Origin (SPAO) <strong>and</strong> its newspaper,<br />
<strong>the</strong> African Telegraph, edited by Felix E.M. Hercules strongly voiced such sentiments. On 14<br />
June 1919, <strong>the</strong> SPAO staged a meeting in London’s Hyde Park in protest against <strong>the</strong> riots. A<br />
leaflet was circulated entitled “Has <strong>the</strong> African any Friends?” Addressing <strong>the</strong> crowd, Hercules,<br />
also <strong>the</strong> society’s general secretary, emphasised <strong>the</strong> common British identity <strong>of</strong> black<br />
<strong>and</strong> white workers. 32 Hercules was not averse <strong>to</strong> dabbling in <strong>the</strong> populist xenophobic views<br />
<strong>to</strong>wards aliens demonstrated so forcibly in <strong>the</strong> anti-alien rioting <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> war years. He blamed<br />
unidentified white foreigners for dividing white <strong>and</strong> black workers. The British workingman is<br />
being used as a <strong>to</strong>ol by alien agita<strong>to</strong>rs. There are in this country dangerous foreigners well<br />
supplied with money <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>y are plotting <strong>the</strong> downfall <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> British Empire. To do that<br />
<strong>the</strong>y are trying <strong>to</strong> sew dissension between <strong>the</strong> British workingman <strong>and</strong> Black Britishers. 33<br />
Similar xenophobic views were also held by individual black British residents. An unnamed<br />
African Caribbean resident in Glasgow questioned: “why [should] aliens who had<br />
done nothing for <strong>the</strong> country remain here <strong>and</strong> peaceable British subjects be forced <strong>to</strong><br />
go? 34 SPAO protest against <strong>the</strong> treatment <strong>of</strong> black people in <strong>the</strong> heart <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> metropole<br />
reached a peak in July 1919 when <strong>the</strong> government decided not <strong>to</strong> allow black troops<br />
<strong>to</strong> take part in London’s vic<strong>to</strong>ry celebrations: <strong>the</strong> “Peace March” <strong>of</strong> 19 July 1919. Hercules<br />
drew parallels between this decision <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> government’s attitude during <strong>the</strong> riots: In<br />
<strong>the</strong> face <strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong>ficial silence on <strong>the</strong> absence <strong>of</strong> black troops, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> suppiness <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Imperial<br />
Government during <strong>the</strong> recent race riots, we can only conclude that it is <strong>the</strong> policy<br />
<strong>of</strong> His Majesty’s Ministers <strong>to</strong> ignore <strong>the</strong> services <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> black subjects <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Empire. 35<br />
The resentment <strong>of</strong> black colonial subjects against <strong>the</strong>ir post-war treatment in Britain<br />
<strong>and</strong> growing displeasure about <strong>the</strong> uneven imperial relationship was expressed in<br />
a letter by a long-time black resident <strong>of</strong> Glasgow <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> press at <strong>the</strong> height <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> summer<br />
1919 riots. The letter was published in several local newspapers. It provides fur<strong>the</strong>r<br />
insight in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> reactions <strong>of</strong> middle class black colonials living in Britain <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> rioting.<br />
“We, <strong>the</strong> members <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> African Races Association <strong>of</strong> Glasgow, view with regret <strong>the</strong> recent<br />
racial riots in different parts <strong>of</strong> Britain, <strong>and</strong> resent <strong>the</strong> unwarrantable attacks that have been<br />
made upon men <strong>of</strong> colour, without exception as one common herd <strong>of</strong> inferior beings… Did not<br />
some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se men fight on <strong>the</strong> same battlefields with white men <strong>to</strong> defeat <strong>the</strong> enemy <strong>and</strong> make<br />
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secure <strong>the</strong> British Empire? Why can’t <strong>the</strong>y work now in <strong>the</strong> same fac<strong>to</strong>ries with white men? Did<br />
<strong>the</strong>y not run <strong>the</strong> risks <strong>of</strong> losing <strong>the</strong>ir lives by <strong>the</strong> submarine warfare in bringing food for white<br />
women <strong>and</strong> children in common with white men? Is <strong>the</strong> treatment meted out <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong>m now compatible<br />
with <strong>the</strong> British teaching <strong>of</strong> justice <strong>and</strong> equity, or is it an exhibition <strong>of</strong> British gratitude? ” 36<br />
The letter was signed by Leo W. Daniels, secretary <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> African Races Association <strong>of</strong><br />
Glasgow (ARAG). Daniels, an African Canadian who had lived in Glasgow since 1886, was<br />
joined on <strong>the</strong> ARAG committee by representatives from British colonies in West Africa <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Caribbean. The Association membership consisted mainly <strong>of</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>essionals <strong>and</strong> students. 37<br />
The ARAG, like <strong>the</strong> SPAO represented a black intellectual response <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> rioting. Evans<br />
has noted that working class black <strong>and</strong> “Arab” Bri<strong>to</strong>ns also attempted <strong>to</strong> use <strong>the</strong>ir British<br />
identity as a means <strong>of</strong> defence during <strong>the</strong> riots. In south Wales colonial service personnel<br />
wore <strong>the</strong>ir military uniforms in an attempt <strong>to</strong> deter potential white attacks. At <strong>the</strong> funeral <strong>of</strong><br />
Mohamed Abdullah, a victim <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Cardiff riots, a Union flag was draped over <strong>the</strong> c<strong>of</strong>fin. 38<br />
The feeling <strong>of</strong> British national identity under threat was made clear by a group <strong>of</strong> 44 Jamaican<br />
sailors repatriated in <strong>the</strong> wake <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> port rioting. In August 1919, <strong>the</strong>y petitioned Acting<br />
Governor, Colonel Bryan, <strong>to</strong> express anger at <strong>the</strong>ir ill-treatment while in Britain <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> request<br />
financial redress for losses <strong>the</strong>y had suffered. “.. We feel aggrieved at our ill-treatment by <strong>the</strong><br />
white people <strong>of</strong> Great Britain, <strong>the</strong>y like ourselves being British <strong>and</strong> we forming an integral part<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> British empire… this being so our constitutional rights <strong>and</strong> privileges were attacked…” 39<br />
In June 1919, various black <strong>and</strong> “Arab” residents <strong>of</strong> Cardiff formed a common bond. In<br />
<strong>the</strong> midst <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> rioting, <strong>the</strong>y held a joint meeting <strong>to</strong> discuss <strong>the</strong> attacks upon <strong>the</strong>m: “A<br />
meeting was held at Cardiff docks yesterday <strong>of</strong> Arabs, Somalis, Egyptians, West Indians<br />
<strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r coloured races, <strong>to</strong> protest against <strong>the</strong> treatment <strong>to</strong> which <strong>the</strong>y are being<br />
subjected. It was pointed out that <strong>the</strong>y had done nothing <strong>to</strong> originate <strong>the</strong> disturbances....<br />
They claim that as British subjects, <strong>the</strong>y are entitled <strong>to</strong> protection, <strong>and</strong> a resolution<br />
was passed calling upon <strong>the</strong> Government <strong>to</strong> take measures with this end. 40 A few days<br />
later, at <strong>the</strong> funeral <strong>of</strong> Mohammed Abdullah, thirteen “Arabs” attended at <strong>the</strong> graveside,<br />
while several hundred “Negroes <strong>of</strong> all types participated in <strong>the</strong> general service.” 41<br />
The notion <strong>of</strong> a common identity was not necessarily shared among all British colonial subjects.<br />
There were instances when colonial Bri<strong>to</strong>ns fought each o<strong>the</strong>r in Britain’s seaports for privileged<br />
access <strong>to</strong> employment opportunities. On several occasions in <strong>the</strong> early twentieth century<br />
groups <strong>of</strong> black sailors brawled among <strong>the</strong>mselves for berths on merchant ships <strong>and</strong> black<br />
British sailors also turned on Chinese sailors who <strong>the</strong>y believed threatened <strong>the</strong>ir livelihood.42<br />
During <strong>the</strong> 1919 riots a letter from a “Barbados Negro” published in <strong>the</strong> Newport local press<br />
sought <strong>to</strong> differentiate between African Caribbeans <strong>and</strong> West Africans in terms <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> violence in<br />
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<strong>the</strong> ports. The author br<strong>and</strong>ed “ignorant” West Africans as <strong>the</strong> trouble makers. “There is as much<br />
difference between West Indians <strong>and</strong> West Africans as chalk <strong>and</strong> cheese... We are accus<strong>to</strong>med<br />
<strong>to</strong> living in houses in <strong>the</strong> West [sic] not grass huts; nei<strong>the</strong>r did we come <strong>to</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> learn <strong>the</strong> use<br />
<strong>of</strong> a knife <strong>and</strong> fork” 43 The debate regarding cultural differences between African Caribbeans<br />
<strong>and</strong> West Africans was also raised in Glasgow by an African Caribbean caller <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>of</strong>fice <strong>of</strong> local<br />
newspaper <strong>the</strong> Evening Times during <strong>the</strong> summer seaport riots.44 Similar rivalry between <strong>the</strong><br />
African <strong>and</strong> African Caribbean intelligentsia was displayed in <strong>the</strong> inter-war years, when it was<br />
a contentious <strong>to</strong>pic among West African <strong>and</strong> African Caribbean student groups in Britain.45<br />
In both metropole <strong>and</strong> colony in 1919 black workers challenged prevailing notions <strong>of</strong> British<br />
identity <strong>and</strong> undermined <strong>the</strong> view <strong>of</strong> black people as powerless in <strong>the</strong> imperial relationship.<br />
This was most forcibly demonstrated in <strong>the</strong> resort <strong>to</strong> riot <strong>of</strong> repatriated black sailors in <strong>the</strong><br />
West Indies which had a discernible impact on imperial government policy on wages in <strong>the</strong><br />
Caribbean. In metropolitan Britain, black colonial subjects contested <strong>the</strong> existing balance <strong>of</strong><br />
power in <strong>the</strong> relationship between coloniser <strong>and</strong> colonised by <strong>the</strong>ir actions in travelling <strong>to</strong><br />
Britain for work; in <strong>the</strong>ir membership <strong>of</strong> sailors unions (<strong>and</strong>, indeed, <strong>the</strong> formation <strong>of</strong> specific<br />
unions for black sailors); in <strong>the</strong>ir dem<strong>and</strong>s for true recognition <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir wartime efforts;<br />
<strong>and</strong> even in battles between colonial racialised minority ethnic groups for jobs. Yet, despite<br />
fierce resistance from black rioters <strong>to</strong> police intervention evident in rioting in Liverpool <strong>and</strong><br />
Salford <strong>and</strong> also <strong>the</strong> outbreak <strong>of</strong> post-war riots in <strong>the</strong> Caribbean, <strong>the</strong> relationship between<br />
coloniser <strong>and</strong> colonised, as that <strong>of</strong> employer <strong>and</strong> employee, remained a largely unequal one.<br />
Urban riots similar in several respects <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> British seaport riots <strong>to</strong>ok place elsewhere<br />
around what has come <strong>to</strong> be termed <strong>the</strong> “black Atlantic” as both France <strong>and</strong> North America<br />
experienced waves <strong>of</strong> violence during <strong>and</strong> immediately following <strong>the</strong> First World War.<br />
For Gilroy, <strong>the</strong> “black Atlantic” is an all-encompassing phrase which describes <strong>the</strong> area <strong>of</strong><br />
enforced settlement <strong>of</strong> Africans through slavery; <strong>the</strong> colonial process <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> reflective cultures<br />
<strong>and</strong> consciousness <strong>of</strong> European settlers <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Africans <strong>the</strong>y enslaved <strong>and</strong> re-settled;<br />
<strong>and</strong> also <strong>the</strong> inter-actions between subsequent groups <strong>of</strong> colonisers <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> colonised.46<br />
The black sailors embroiled in <strong>the</strong> riots in some respects exemplify Gilroy’s notion <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> “black<br />
Atlantic” as <strong>the</strong>y criss-crossed <strong>the</strong> ocean experiencing <strong>the</strong> competing <strong>and</strong> complementary cultures<br />
<strong>and</strong> pressures <strong>of</strong> life in colonial <strong>and</strong> metropolitan Britain. Participation in <strong>the</strong> First World War<br />
re-enforced <strong>the</strong> notion <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> “black Atlantic” as troops from British <strong>and</strong> French colonial Africa<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Caribbean enlisted <strong>to</strong> defend <strong>the</strong>ir empires alongside African Americans <strong>and</strong> black British<br />
volunteers. The war also brought British imperial subjects, French colonial citizens <strong>and</strong> African<br />
Americans <strong>to</strong> metropolitan Europe, in large numbers at <strong>the</strong> same time for common purposes.<br />
There was awareness among <strong>the</strong> black intelligentsia <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se overlapping identities.<br />
For example, in African Caribbean Claude McKay’s 1929 novel Banjo: a s<strong>to</strong>-<br />
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y without a plot, a Nigerian character named Taloufa was caught up in <strong>the</strong> Cardiff<br />
seaport riot. McKay portrayed Taloufa as an archetypal black colonial subject.<br />
Educated at a British mission school in Nigeria, he was taken <strong>to</strong> Britain as a servant “boy”<br />
by a British civil servant when aged thirteen. He <strong>the</strong>n worked for three years in <strong>the</strong> Midl<strong>and</strong>s as<br />
a servant before tiring <strong>of</strong> his existence <strong>and</strong> running away <strong>to</strong> Cardiff. Taloufa worked out <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
port as a ship’s boy: “he was <strong>the</strong>re during <strong>the</strong> riots <strong>of</strong> 1919 between colored <strong>and</strong> whites, <strong>and</strong> he<br />
got a brick wound in <strong>the</strong> head. He went <strong>to</strong> America after <strong>the</strong> riots <strong>and</strong> jumped his ship <strong>the</strong>re.”<br />
47 Taloufa”s life <strong>and</strong> experience in Africa, Britain <strong>and</strong> America was <strong>the</strong> fictional embodiment<br />
<strong>of</strong> a “black Atlantic” experience, with a hint <strong>of</strong> a twentieth century triangular slave trade thrown<br />
in. McKay may well have based his fictional account <strong>of</strong> Taloufa’s life <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> experience <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Cardiff rioting on incidents that he had heard while working in Britain as a journalist in 1919.<br />
In almost every urban metropolitan setting where riots broke out during <strong>and</strong> after <strong>the</strong><br />
First World War, black people had arrived in increased numbers <strong>and</strong>, <strong>of</strong> necessity, competed<br />
with working class white people for jobs <strong>and</strong> housing. In <strong>the</strong>se international riot episodes,<br />
black troops, civilians <strong>and</strong> wartime workers became <strong>the</strong> focus for wartime <strong>and</strong> post war dissatisfaction<br />
among sections <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> urban white working class. Evans, in his article on <strong>the</strong><br />
“Red Summers <strong>of</strong> 1917-1919” has described <strong>the</strong> 1919 rioting in Britain <strong>and</strong> elsewhere<br />
in <strong>the</strong> Atlantic basin as <strong>the</strong> “… pinnacle <strong>of</strong> a period <strong>of</strong> intensified racial conflicts<br />
across <strong>the</strong> north Atlantic world which was rooted in <strong>the</strong> established patterns<br />
<strong>of</strong> migration but which was brought <strong>to</strong> a head by <strong>the</strong> First World War.” 48<br />
The summer 1917 riots in France were a product <strong>of</strong> “war weariness” among white subjects<br />
who accused colonial workers <strong>and</strong> troops <strong>of</strong> enjoying life in metropolitan France while<br />
white French soldiers were sent <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> front. 49 A similar viewpoint was expressed by<br />
white British crowds <strong>and</strong> in <strong>the</strong> press during <strong>the</strong> seaport riots. The comparison between <strong>the</strong><br />
French <strong>and</strong> British rioting can be taken fur<strong>the</strong>r with respect <strong>to</strong> “<strong>of</strong>ficial” responses <strong>to</strong>wards<br />
colonial workers in <strong>the</strong> metropole. Horne’s study <strong>of</strong> immigrant workers in France during <strong>the</strong><br />
First World War revealed that tensions between governors <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> governed in <strong>the</strong> colonies<br />
were replicated in mainl<strong>and</strong> France. “The internal frontiers <strong>of</strong> colonialism… between white<br />
<strong>and</strong> native… were for <strong>the</strong> first time transported from <strong>the</strong> colonies <strong>to</strong> metropolitan France.”<br />
Assumptions <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> childlike <strong>and</strong> dependent status <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> colonials characterized <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
distinctive treatment by <strong>of</strong>ficials, as did <strong>the</strong> need <strong>to</strong> maintain certain barriers. 50 A similar<br />
pattern can be detected in <strong>the</strong> relationships between British black colonials <strong>and</strong> government<br />
departmental representatives before, during <strong>and</strong> after <strong>the</strong> seaport riots. Wartime population<br />
shifts lay behind <strong>the</strong> American rioting <strong>of</strong> 1919. According <strong>to</strong> Segal’s 1960s work on racist<br />
violence: “white labour in <strong>the</strong> North, reacting strongly <strong>to</strong> Negro encroachments on <strong>the</strong><br />
city slums <strong>and</strong> industrial plants, barred Negro workers from <strong>the</strong> unions <strong>and</strong> agitated for <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
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dismissal from <strong>the</strong> more desirable jobs that <strong>the</strong> labour shortage <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> war years had allowed<br />
<strong>the</strong>m.” 51 In Chicago, which witnessed <strong>the</strong> most serious American riot <strong>of</strong> that year,<br />
an increased black population caused pressure on segregated leisure facilities. A black<br />
person swimming in a beach resort area designated for white ba<strong>the</strong>rs was killed by a rock<br />
thrown by a white. The precipitating cause <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Chicago riot was <strong>the</strong> racist police response<br />
<strong>to</strong> this event. A white police <strong>of</strong>ficer refused <strong>to</strong> arrest <strong>the</strong> person alleged <strong>to</strong> have<br />
thrown <strong>the</strong> rock, while he later arrested a black person at <strong>the</strong> behest <strong>of</strong> a white local. 52<br />
The emphasis on <strong>the</strong> cultural dimension <strong>of</strong> shared identities <strong>and</strong> common experiences<br />
among black people in <strong>the</strong> “black Atlantic” world provides a valuable addition <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> debate<br />
on identity <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> inter-connectedness <strong>of</strong> colonial <strong>and</strong> metropolitan experience. The<br />
international framework <strong>of</strong> shared experience <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> outbreak <strong>of</strong> collective protest occasioned<br />
by world war forms a wider perspective in which <strong>to</strong> place <strong>the</strong> outbreak <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> seaport<br />
riots in Britain. This methodological approach is most useful in discussions on repatriation<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> international consequences <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> port riots in chapter six. However, this <strong>the</strong>ory<br />
does not overturn <strong>the</strong> argument that <strong>the</strong> 1919 seaport riots were underpinned by economic<br />
<strong>and</strong> social pressures. As S<strong>to</strong>vall has noted, some his<strong>to</strong>rians have contested this cultural approach<br />
<strong>to</strong> “race” rioting: “<strong>the</strong> stress on <strong>the</strong> subjective, culturally driven character <strong>of</strong> racial<br />
violence has not remained unchallenged, however, as some scholars have re-emphasized<br />
<strong>the</strong> important, if not exclusive, role <strong>of</strong> material conditions in generating racial conflict.” 53<br />
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From resistance <strong>to</strong> rebellion : a<br />
journey through pho<strong>to</strong>graphs<br />
The West African Students Union developed out <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> activities <strong>of</strong> earlier student organizations such as <strong>the</strong><br />
Union <strong>of</strong> Students <strong>of</strong> African Descent <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Nigeria Progress Union, established by Ladipo Solanke <strong>and</strong> Amy<br />
Ashwood Garvey in London in July 1924. It was in London August 1925 by Ladipo Solanke <strong>and</strong> Herbert Bankole-Bright,<br />
a member <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> National Congress <strong>of</strong> British West Africa, <strong>the</strong> West African Students’ Union (WASU)<br />
became <strong>the</strong> key political, social <strong>and</strong> cultural organisation for West Africans in Britain <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> main African organisation<br />
in <strong>the</strong> country for over thirty years)<br />
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Right : An appeal for funding support from <strong>the</strong> International African<br />
Friends <strong>of</strong> Ethiopia, 1935 (Courtesy <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Modern Records Centre,<br />
University <strong>of</strong> Warwick)<br />
Middle left : Middle Right :<br />
Bot<strong>to</strong>m spread : Meeting <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> International African Friends <strong>of</strong> Ethiopia,<br />
London, 1935, A pho<strong>to</strong>graph <strong>of</strong> people on <strong>the</strong> platform at a meeting <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> International African Friends <strong>of</strong> Ethiopia in Trafalgar Square, taken<br />
by Tomlin<br />
(Courtesy <strong>of</strong> Daily Herald Archive)<br />
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PHOTOs :<br />
Top left Sir Oswald Mosley<br />
being saluted by his followers,<br />
London, Oc<strong>to</strong>ber 1936.<br />
Pho<strong>to</strong>graph: Bettmann<br />
Top right : Dr Harold Moody’s<br />
League <strong>of</strong> Coloured Peoples<br />
(LCP) was founded in 1931 <strong>to</strong><br />
focus on <strong>the</strong> needs <strong>of</strong> African,<br />
Caribbean <strong>and</strong> Asian people<br />
here in Britain. The LCP executive<br />
had amongst its most<br />
active <strong>and</strong> prominent members,<br />
<strong>the</strong> West Indian activist<br />
<strong>and</strong> poet, Una Marson, W.<br />
Arthur Lewis, cricketer, Learie<br />
Constantine, Indian solici<strong>to</strong>r,<br />
R.S. Nehra, Robin Rutman,<br />
from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka)<br />
Middle left : Madan Lal Dhingra<br />
shot Sir Curzon-Wyllie on 1st<br />
July 1909. at India House,<br />
London.<br />
Right: Amy Ashwood Garvey<br />
moved <strong>to</strong> London <strong>and</strong><br />
established <strong>the</strong> Florence<br />
Mills Nightclub, a popular<br />
meeting place for <strong>the</strong> city’s<br />
black intellectuals. Ten years<br />
later in 1945, Ashwood helped<br />
organize <strong>the</strong> 5th Pan-African<br />
Congress which met in<br />
Manchester, Engl<strong>and</strong>.<br />
Bot<strong>to</strong>m : 5th Pan African<br />
conference chaired by<br />
Ashwood Garvey, was held in<br />
Manchester in 1945<br />
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PHOTOS<br />
Above : Daily Mail reports on<br />
<strong>the</strong> arrival <strong>of</strong> people from <strong>the</strong><br />
Carribean, April 29th, 1954<br />
Above right : Nottingham 1955<br />
: Following <strong>the</strong> ongoing dispute<br />
<strong>to</strong> s<strong>to</strong>p <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> colour bar <strong>to</strong><br />
prevent black workers from<br />
dirving bus in <strong>the</strong> city, <strong>the</strong> City<br />
Council Transport commitee<br />
came <strong>to</strong> a agreement <strong>to</strong> partially<br />
lift <strong>the</strong> colour bar.<br />
Middle left : newspaper<br />
clipping from Nottng Hill 1958<br />
right : In 1958 Colin Jordan<br />
established <strong>the</strong> White Defence<br />
League (WDL). in <strong>the</strong> Notting<br />
Hill area <strong>of</strong> London in 1956.<br />
The WDL flooded London<br />
with anti-immigration leaflets<br />
<strong>and</strong> posters, introducing <strong>the</strong><br />
slogan, ‘Keep Britain White!’ <strong>to</strong><br />
British street politics - abbreviated<br />
<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> initials ‘KBW’, <strong>the</strong><br />
slogan appeared across London<br />
painted on walls, bridges<br />
<strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r structures.<br />
Right : Bos<strong>to</strong>n Din (from<br />
Pakistan) was 26, living in St<br />
Annes, Nottingham in 1958,<br />
<strong>and</strong> was labelled by <strong>the</strong> press<br />
as ‘<strong>the</strong> man alleged <strong>to</strong> have<br />
sparked <strong>the</strong> first<br />
Notitngham race riots’.’<br />
Bot<strong>to</strong>m Right : Guardian<br />
report about Nottingham riots,<br />
25 August 1958<br />
Bot<strong>to</strong>m right : Nottingham Evening<br />
news reports on <strong>the</strong> visit<br />
<strong>of</strong> Norman Manley <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> city<br />
<strong>of</strong> Notitngham after riots.<br />
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PHOTOs :<br />
Top left Demonstration<br />
against <strong>the</strong> 1962 Immigration<br />
Bill, with Vishnu Sharma (fifth<br />
from left)<br />
right : Bris<strong>to</strong>l Bus boycott April<br />
1963<br />
Middle left :Coordina<strong>to</strong>n Committee<br />
Against Racial Discrimnation<br />
(CCARD) was a federation<br />
<strong>of</strong> immigrant organisaiotns<br />
in Birmingham. Established by<br />
Jagmohan Joshi in 1961 it was<br />
sponsored by IWA, Pakistani<br />
Workers Assoicai<strong>to</strong>ns, Birmingham<br />
University Socialists<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> West Indian Workers<br />
Association. This image from a<br />
demonstration in Birmingham<br />
in Sep 1961.<br />
Middle right : Pho<strong>to</strong>graph <strong>of</strong><br />
a demonstration against <strong>the</strong><br />
Colour Bar Immigration Bill in<br />
Trafalgar Square. The demonstration<br />
was organised by <strong>the</strong><br />
Movement for Colonial Freedom,<br />
<strong>and</strong> was attended by Dr.<br />
Orbach, John S<strong>to</strong>nehouse MP,<br />
Laurence Parvitt MP, Mr. Pitt,<br />
Mr. Qureshi secretary <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Pakistani Welfare Association,<br />
Ratta Singh president <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Indian Workers Association<br />
<strong>and</strong> Claudia Jones edi<strong>to</strong>r <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> West Indian Gazette.<br />
Left : In April 1968, on <strong>the</strong> very<br />
same day that <strong>the</strong><br />
dockers <strong>and</strong> porters marched<br />
in support <strong>of</strong> Powell,<br />
representatives from more<br />
than fifty organisations came<br />
<strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>r <strong>to</strong> form <strong>the</strong> Black<br />
People’s Alliance (BPA), a<br />
‘militant front for black<br />
consciousness <strong>and</strong> against<br />
racialism’.<br />
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Above left: The Imperial Typewriters<br />
strike on <strong>the</strong> summer<br />
<strong>of</strong> 1974, South Asian workers<br />
went on an un<strong>of</strong>ficial strike<br />
<strong>and</strong> had little support from<br />
<strong>the</strong> TGWU. The strike lasted<br />
from May <strong>to</strong> August 1974 <strong>and</strong><br />
can be seen as a low point in<br />
<strong>the</strong> relations between black<br />
<strong>and</strong> white workers Above<br />
right : ritain’s first Black Power<br />
organisation <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> precursor<br />
<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Black Unity <strong>and</strong><br />
Freedom Party,<br />
Middle left : The Brix<strong>to</strong>n Black<br />
Women’s Group was started<br />
by Olive Morris <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
women who had been active in<br />
<strong>the</strong> Black Pan<strong>the</strong>r Movement.<br />
The Group was formed <strong>to</strong> address<br />
<strong>the</strong> specific issues faced<br />
by Black women, <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>of</strong>fer<br />
advice <strong>and</strong> support,<br />
Right : BPFM newspaper from<br />
1972 supporting Pakistani<br />
workers in Crepe Sizes ltd,<br />
Nottingham<br />
Right : From <strong>the</strong> trial <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Mangrove Nine. In <strong>the</strong> tenth<br />
week flyers were created <strong>to</strong><br />
build awareness around <strong>the</strong><br />
case.<br />
Bot<strong>to</strong>m Right : Grassroots<br />
covering <strong>the</strong> Spaghetti House<br />
seige, 1975. Laer, <strong>the</strong> police<br />
raided <strong>the</strong> printers <strong>of</strong><br />
Grassroots <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> houses <strong>of</strong><br />
BLF members, including those<br />
in which <strong>the</strong>y had housed<br />
homeless youths, where two <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> accused had stayed.<br />
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From Resistance<br />
<strong>to</strong> Rebellion<br />
Reproduced courtesy <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Institute <strong>of</strong> Race Relations, publisher <strong>of</strong> Race & Class,<br />
Vol XXIII, nos 2/3 1981<br />
On 25 June 1940 Udham Singh was hanged. At a meeting <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Royal Asiatic Society <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> East India<br />
Association at Cax<strong>to</strong>n Hall, London, he had shot dead Sir Michael O’Dwyer, who (as <strong>the</strong> Lieutenant<br />
Governor <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Punjab) had presided over <strong>the</strong> massacre <strong>of</strong> unarmed peasants <strong>and</strong> workers at<br />
Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, in 1919. Udham was a skilled electrician, an active trade unionist <strong>and</strong> a delegate <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
local trades council, <strong>and</strong>, in 1938, had initiated <strong>the</strong> setting up <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> first Indian Workers’ Association, in Coventry.<br />
In Oc<strong>to</strong>ber 1945 at Chorl<strong>to</strong>n Town Hall in Manchester <strong>the</strong> fifth Pan-African Congress, breaking with its earlier<br />
reformism, pledged itself <strong>to</strong> fight for <strong>the</strong> ‘absolute <strong>and</strong> complete independence’ <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> colonies <strong>and</strong> an end <strong>to</strong><br />
imperialism, if need be through G<strong>and</strong>hian methods <strong>of</strong> passive resistance. Among <strong>the</strong> delegates <strong>the</strong>n resident<br />
in Britain were Kwame Nkrumah, Jomo Kenyatta, George Padmore, Wallace-Johnson, C.L.R. James <strong>and</strong> Ras<br />
Makonnen. W.E.B. DuBois, who had founded <strong>the</strong> Pan-African Congress in America in 1917, presided. In September<br />
1975 three young West Indians held up a Knightsbridge restaurant for <strong>the</strong> money that would help set up<br />
proper schools for <strong>the</strong> black community, finance black political groups <strong>and</strong> assist <strong>the</strong> liberation struggles in Africa.<br />
Of such str<strong>and</strong>s have black struggles in Britain been woven. But <strong>the</strong>ir pattern was set on <strong>the</strong> loom <strong>of</strong> British racism.<br />
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In <strong>the</strong> early period <strong>of</strong> post-war reconstruction, when Britain, like all European powers, was desperate for labour,<br />
racialism operated on a free market basis — adjusting itself <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> ordinary laws <strong>of</strong> supply <strong>and</strong> dem<strong>and</strong>. So that<br />
in <strong>the</strong> sphere <strong>of</strong> employment, where <strong>to</strong>o many jobs were seeking <strong>to</strong>o few workers as <strong>the</strong> state itself had acknowledged<br />
in <strong>the</strong> Nationality Act <strong>of</strong> 1948 — racialism did not debar black people from work per se. It operated<br />
instead <strong>to</strong> deskill <strong>the</strong>m, <strong>to</strong> keep <strong>the</strong>ir wages down <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> segregate <strong>the</strong>m in <strong>the</strong> dirty, ill-paid jobs that white<br />
workers did not want — not on <strong>the</strong> basis <strong>of</strong> an avowed racialism but in <strong>the</strong> habit <strong>of</strong> an acceptable exploitation.<br />
In <strong>the</strong> sphere <strong>of</strong> housing, where <strong>to</strong>o many people were seeking <strong>to</strong>o few houses, racialism operated more directly<br />
<strong>to</strong> keep blacks out <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> housing market <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> herd <strong>the</strong>m in<strong>to</strong> decaying inner city areas. And here <strong>the</strong><br />
racialism was more overt <strong>and</strong> sanctioned by society. ‘For <strong>the</strong> selection <strong>of</strong> tenants’, wrote Ruth Glass scathingly,<br />
‘is regarded as being subject solely <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> personal discretion <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> l<strong>and</strong>lord. It is unders<strong>to</strong>od that it is his privilege<br />
<strong>to</strong> bar Negroes, Sikhs, Jews, foreigners in general, cockneys, socialists, dogs or any o<strong>the</strong>r species which he wants <strong>to</strong><br />
keep away. The recruitment <strong>of</strong> workers, however, in both state <strong>and</strong> private enterprises is a question <strong>of</strong> public policy<br />
— determined explicitly or implicitly by agreements between trade unions, employers’ associations <strong>and</strong> government.<br />
As a l<strong>and</strong>lord, Mr. Smith can practice discrimination openly; as an employer, he must at least disguise it. In <strong>the</strong> sphere <strong>of</strong><br />
housing, <strong>to</strong>lerance is a matter <strong>of</strong> private initiative; in <strong>the</strong> sphere <strong>of</strong> employment, it is in some respects ‘nationalised.’ (1)<br />
That same racialism operated under <strong>the</strong> twee name <strong>of</strong> colour bar in <strong>the</strong> pubs <strong>and</strong> clubs <strong>and</strong> bars <strong>and</strong><br />
dance-halls <strong>to</strong> keep black people out. In schooling, <strong>the</strong>re were <strong>to</strong>o few black children <strong>to</strong> cause a problem:<br />
<strong>the</strong> immigrants, predominantly male <strong>and</strong> single, had not come <strong>to</strong> settle. The message that was generally<br />
percolating through <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> children <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> mo<strong>the</strong>r country was that it was <strong>the</strong>ir labour that was<br />
wanted, not <strong>the</strong>ir presence. Racialism it would appear, could reconcile that contradiction on its own — without<br />
state interference, laissez-faire, drawing on <strong>the</strong> traditions <strong>of</strong> Britain’s slave <strong>and</strong> colonial centuries.<br />
The black response was halting at first. Both Afro-Caribbean’s <strong>and</strong> Asians, each in <strong>the</strong>ir own way, found it difficult<br />
<strong>to</strong> come <strong>to</strong> terms with such primitive prejudice <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> deal with such fine hypocrisy. The West Indians, who, by <strong>and</strong><br />
large, came from a working-class background -- <strong>the</strong>y were mostly skilled craftsmen at this time — found it particularly<br />
difficult <strong>to</strong> accept <strong>the</strong>ir debarment from pubs <strong>and</strong> clubs <strong>and</strong> dance-halls (or <strong>to</strong> put up with <strong>the</strong> plangent racialism <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> churches <strong>and</strong>/or <strong>the</strong>ir congregations). Fights broke out — <strong>and</strong> inevitably <strong>the</strong> police <strong>to</strong>ok <strong>the</strong> side <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> whites.<br />
Gradually <strong>the</strong> West Indians began <strong>to</strong> set up <strong>the</strong>ir own clubs <strong>and</strong> churches <strong>and</strong> welfare associations or met in barbers’<br />
shops <strong>and</strong> cafes <strong>and</strong> on street comers, as <strong>the</strong>y were would do back home. The Indians <strong>and</strong> Pakistanis, on <strong>the</strong><br />
o<strong>the</strong>r h<strong>and</strong>, were mostly rural folk <strong>and</strong> found <strong>the</strong>ir social life more readily in <strong>the</strong>ir temples <strong>and</strong> mosques <strong>and</strong> cultural<br />
associations. Besides, it was through <strong>the</strong>se <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> help <strong>of</strong> elders that <strong>the</strong> non-English speaking Asian workers could<br />
find jobs <strong>and</strong> accommodation, get <strong>the</strong>ir <strong>of</strong>ficial forms filled in, locate <strong>the</strong>ir kinsmen or find <strong>the</strong>ir way around <strong>to</strong>wn.<br />
In <strong>the</strong> area <strong>of</strong> work, <strong>to</strong>o, resistance <strong>to</strong> racialism <strong>to</strong>ok <strong>the</strong> form <strong>of</strong> ad hoc responses <strong>to</strong> specific situations<br />
grounded in tradition. Often those responses were individualistic <strong>and</strong> uncoordinated, especially as between<br />
<strong>the</strong> communities —- since Asians were generally employed in fac<strong>to</strong>ries, foundries <strong>and</strong> textile mills, while recruitment<br />
<strong>of</strong> Afro-Caribbean’s was concentrated in <strong>the</strong> service industries (transport, health <strong>and</strong> hotels). And<br />
even among <strong>the</strong>se, <strong>the</strong>re were ‘ethnic jobs’, like in <strong>the</strong> Bradford textile industry, <strong>and</strong>, <strong>of</strong>ten, ‘ethnic shifts.<br />
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A racial division <strong>of</strong> labour (continued more from Britain’s colonial past than inaugurated in post-war Britain) kept <strong>the</strong><br />
Asian <strong>and</strong> Afro-Caribbean workers apart <strong>and</strong> provided little ground for common struggle. Besides, <strong>the</strong> black workforce<br />
at this time, though concentrated in certain labour processes <strong>and</strong> areas <strong>of</strong> work, was not in absolute terms<br />
a large one — with West Indians outnumbering Indians <strong>and</strong> Pakistanis. Hence, <strong>the</strong> resistance <strong>to</strong> racial abuse <strong>and</strong><br />
discrimination on <strong>the</strong> shop floor was more spontaneous than organised — but both individual <strong>and</strong> collective. Some<br />
workers left <strong>the</strong>ir jobs <strong>and</strong> went <strong>and</strong> found o<strong>the</strong>r work. O<strong>the</strong>rs just downed <strong>to</strong>ols <strong>and</strong> walked away. On one occasion<br />
a Jamaican driver, incensed by <strong>the</strong> racialism around him, just left his bus in <strong>the</strong> High Street <strong>and</strong> walked <strong>of</strong>f. (It was a<br />
tradition that reached back <strong>to</strong> his slave ancestry <strong>and</strong> would reach forward <strong>to</strong> his children.) But <strong>the</strong>re were also efforts<br />
at collective action on <strong>the</strong> fac<strong>to</strong>ry floor. Often <strong>the</strong>se <strong>to</strong>ok <strong>the</strong> form <strong>of</strong> petitions <strong>and</strong> appeals regarding working<br />
conditions, facilities, even wages but unsupported by <strong>the</strong>ir white fellows, <strong>the</strong>y had little effect. On occasions, <strong>the</strong>re<br />
were attempts <strong>to</strong> form associations, if not unions, on <strong>the</strong> shop floor. In 1951, for instance, skilled West Indians in an<br />
ordnance fac<strong>to</strong>ry in Merseyside (Liverpool) met secretly in <strong>the</strong> lava<strong>to</strong>ries <strong>and</strong> wash rooms <strong>to</strong> form a West Indian<br />
Association which would take up cases <strong>of</strong> discrimination. But <strong>the</strong> employers soon found out <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>y were driven <strong>to</strong><br />
hold <strong>the</strong>ir meetings in a neighbouring barber’s shop — from which point <strong>the</strong> association became more community<br />
oriented. Similarly, in 1953 Indian workers in Coventry formed an association <strong>and</strong> named it (in <strong>the</strong> memory <strong>of</strong> Udham<br />
Singh) <strong>the</strong> Indian Workers’ Association. But <strong>the</strong>se early organisations generally ended up as social <strong>and</strong> welfare associations.<br />
The Merseyside West Indian Association, for instance. went through a period <strong>of</strong> vigorous political activity —<br />
taking up cases <strong>of</strong> discrimination <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> cause <strong>of</strong> colonial freedom — but even as it grew in numbers <strong>and</strong> out <strong>of</strong> its<br />
barber’s shop premises <strong>and</strong> in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> white run Stanley House, it faded in<strong>to</strong> inter-racial social activity <strong>and</strong> oblivion. (2)<br />
Discrimination in housing met with a community response from <strong>the</strong> outset: it was not, after all, a problem that<br />
was susceptible <strong>to</strong> individual solutions. Denied decent housing (or sometimes any housing at all), both Asians<br />
<strong>and</strong> Afro-Caribbean’s’ <strong>to</strong>ok <strong>to</strong> pooling <strong>the</strong>ir savings till <strong>the</strong>y were sizeable enough <strong>to</strong> purchase property. The<br />
Asians operated through an extended family system or ‘mortgage clubs’ <strong>and</strong> bought short lease properties which<br />
<strong>the</strong>y would rent <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir kinsfolk <strong>and</strong> countrymen. Similarly, <strong>the</strong> West Indians operated a ‘pardner’ (Jamaican) or<br />
‘sou-sou’ (Trinidadian) system, whereby a group <strong>of</strong> people would pool <strong>the</strong>ir savings <strong>and</strong> lend out a lump sum <strong>to</strong><br />
each individual in turn. Thus, <strong>the</strong>ir savings circulated among <strong>the</strong>ir communities <strong>and</strong> did not go in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> banks or<br />
building societies <strong>to</strong> be lent out <strong>to</strong> white folk. It was a sort <strong>of</strong> primitive banking system engendered by tradition<br />
<strong>and</strong> enforced by racial discrimination. Of course, <strong>the</strong> prices <strong>the</strong> immigrants had <strong>to</strong> pay for <strong>the</strong> house <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> interest<br />
rates charged by <strong>the</strong> sources that were prepared <strong>to</strong> lend <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong>m forced <strong>the</strong>m in<strong>to</strong> overcrowding <strong>and</strong> multi<br />
occupation, invoking not only fur<strong>the</strong>r racial stereotyping but, in later years, <strong>the</strong> rigours <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Public Health Act.<br />
Thus, it was around housing principally, but through traditional cultural <strong>and</strong> welfare associations<br />
<strong>and</strong> groups, that black self organisation <strong>and</strong> self reliance grew, unifying <strong>the</strong> perspective<br />
communities. It was strength that was <strong>to</strong> st<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>m in good stead in <strong>the</strong> struggles <strong>to</strong> come.<br />
There was ano<strong>the</strong>r area. <strong>to</strong>o, where such organisation was significant — <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong>fered up a different unity: <strong>the</strong> area<br />
<strong>of</strong> anti-colonial struggle. There had always been overseas students’ association — African, Asian, Caribbean — but<br />
in <strong>the</strong> period before <strong>the</strong> First World War <strong>the</strong>se were mostly in <strong>the</strong> nature <strong>of</strong> friendship councils, social clubs or debating<br />
unions. But after that war <strong>and</strong> with <strong>the</strong> ‘race riots’ <strong>of</strong> 1919 (in Liverpool. London, Cardiff, Hull <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r port<br />
areas where West African <strong>and</strong> lascar seamen had earlier settled) still fresh in <strong>the</strong>ir mind, West African students<br />
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formed <strong>the</strong> West African Students’ Union in 1925, with <strong>the</strong> explicit aim <strong>of</strong> opposing race prejudice <strong>and</strong> colonialism.<br />
It was followed in 1931 by <strong>the</strong> predominantly West Indian, League <strong>of</strong> Coloured Peoples. This was headed by<br />
an ardent Christian, Dr Harold Moody, <strong>and</strong> devoted <strong>to</strong> ‘<strong>the</strong> welfare <strong>of</strong> coloured peoples in all parts <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> world’<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> ‘<strong>the</strong> improvement <strong>of</strong> relations between <strong>the</strong> races’. But its journal. Keys, investigated <strong>and</strong> exposed cases<br />
<strong>of</strong> racial discrimination <strong>and</strong> in 1935, when ‘colonial seamen <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir families’, especially in Cardiff, were being<br />
subjected <strong>to</strong> great economic hardship because <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir colour, indicted ‘<strong>the</strong> Trade Union, <strong>the</strong> Police <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Shipowners’ <strong>of</strong> ‘cooperating smoothly in barring coloured Colonial Seamen from signing on ships in Cardiff’. (3)<br />
The connections — between colonialism <strong>and</strong> racialism, between black students <strong>and</strong> black workers —<br />
were becoming clearer, <strong>the</strong> campaigns more coordinated. And <strong>to</strong> this was added militancy when in<br />
1937 a group <strong>of</strong> black writers <strong>and</strong> activists — including C.L.R. James. Wallace-Johnson, George Padmore,<br />
Jomo Kenyatta <strong>and</strong> Ras Makonnen — got <strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>r <strong>to</strong> form <strong>the</strong> International African Service Bureau.<br />
In 1944, <strong>the</strong> Bureau merged in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Pan-African Federation <strong>to</strong> become <strong>the</strong> British section <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Pan-African Congress Movement. From <strong>the</strong> outset, <strong>the</strong> Bureau (<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> Federation) was uncompromising<br />
in its dem<strong>and</strong> for ‘democratic rights, civil liberties <strong>and</strong> self-determination’ for all subject peoples.<br />
As <strong>the</strong> Second World War drew <strong>to</strong> a close <strong>and</strong> India’s fight for Swaraj stepped up, <strong>the</strong> movement for colonial<br />
freedom ga<strong>the</strong>red momentum. Early in 1945 Asian, Africans <strong>and</strong> West Indians living in Britain came <strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>r in a<br />
Subject Peoples’ Conference. Already in February that year, <strong>the</strong> Pan African Federation, taking advantage <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
presence <strong>of</strong> colonial delegates at <strong>the</strong> World Trade Union Conference, had invited <strong>the</strong>m <strong>to</strong> a meeting at which <strong>the</strong><br />
idea <strong>of</strong> ano<strong>the</strong>r Pan-African Congress was mooted. Accordingly, in Oc<strong>to</strong>ber 1945 <strong>the</strong> Fifth Pan-African Congress<br />
met in Manchester <strong>and</strong>, inspired by <strong>the</strong> Indian struggle for independence, forswore all “gradualist aspirations’<br />
<strong>and</strong> pledged itself <strong>to</strong> ‘<strong>the</strong> liquidation <strong>of</strong> colonialism <strong>and</strong> imperialism’. Nkrumah, Kenyatta, Padmore, James —<br />
<strong>the</strong>y were names that were <strong>to</strong> crop up again (<strong>and</strong> again) in <strong>the</strong> his<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>of</strong> anti-racist <strong>and</strong> anti-imperialist struggle.<br />
Three years later India was free <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> colonies <strong>of</strong> Africa <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Caribbean in ferment. By now, <strong>the</strong>re was<br />
hardly an Afro-Caribbean association in Britain which did not espouse <strong>the</strong> cause <strong>of</strong> colonial independence<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> black struggle generally. Asian immigrants, however, were past independence (so <strong>to</strong> speak) <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
various Indian Leagues <strong>and</strong> Workers Associations which had earlier taken up <strong>the</strong> cause <strong>of</strong> swaraj had wound<br />
down. In <strong>the</strong>ir place rose Indian Workers’ Associations (<strong>the</strong> name was a commemoration <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> past) concerned<br />
with immigrant issues <strong>and</strong> problems in Britain, though still identifying with political parties back home,<br />
<strong>the</strong> Communist Party <strong>and</strong> Congress in particular. So that two broad str<strong>and</strong>s begin <strong>to</strong> emerge in IWA politics: one<br />
stressing social <strong>and</strong> welfare work <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r trade union <strong>and</strong> political activity -- though not exclusively so.<br />
In sum, <strong>the</strong> anti-racialist <strong>and</strong> anti-colonial struggle <strong>of</strong> this period was beginning <strong>to</strong> break down isl<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />
ethnic affiliations <strong>and</strong> associations <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> re-form <strong>the</strong>m in terms <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> immediate realities <strong>of</strong> social <strong>and</strong> racial<br />
relations, engendering in <strong>the</strong> process strong community bases for <strong>the</strong> shop floor battles <strong>to</strong> come. But<br />
different interests predicated different unities <strong>and</strong> a different racialism engendered different though similar<br />
organisational impulses. There was no one unity — or two or three — but a mosaic <strong>of</strong> unities. However,<br />
as <strong>the</strong> colonies began <strong>to</strong> be free <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> immigrants <strong>to</strong> become settled <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> state <strong>to</strong> sanction <strong>and</strong> insti-<br />
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tute racial discrimination, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>reby provide <strong>the</strong> breeding ground for fascism, <strong>the</strong> mosaic <strong>of</strong> unities <strong>and</strong> organisations<br />
would resolve itself in<strong>to</strong> a more holistic, albeit shifting, pattern <strong>of</strong> black unity <strong>and</strong> black struggle.<br />
By 1955 <strong>the</strong> first wave <strong>of</strong> immigration had begun <strong>to</strong> taper <strong>of</strong>f: a mild recession had set in <strong>and</strong> (he dem<strong>and</strong> for<br />
labour had begun <strong>to</strong> drop (though London Transport was still recruiting skilled labour from Barbados in 1956).<br />
Left <strong>to</strong> itself, immigration from <strong>the</strong> West Indies was merely following <strong>the</strong> dem<strong>and</strong> for labour; immigration from<br />
<strong>the</strong> Indian subcontinent, especially after <strong>the</strong> restrictions placed on it by <strong>the</strong> Indian <strong>and</strong> Pakistani governments<br />
in 1955 was now more sluggish. But racialism was hotting up <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>re were calls for immigration control, not<br />
least in <strong>the</strong> House <strong>of</strong> Commons. There had always been <strong>the</strong> occasional call more for political reasons than economic;<br />
now <strong>the</strong> economy provided <strong>the</strong> excuse for politics. Pressure was also building up on <strong>the</strong> right. The loss<br />
<strong>of</strong> India <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> impending loss <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Caribbean <strong>and</strong> Africa had spelt <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> empire <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> decline <strong>of</strong><br />
Britain as a great power. All that was left <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> colonial enterprise was <strong>the</strong> ideology <strong>of</strong> racial superiority; it was<br />
something <strong>to</strong> fall back on. Mosley’s pre-war British Union <strong>of</strong> Fascists was now revived as <strong>the</strong> Union Movement<br />
<strong>and</strong> was matched for race hatred by a rash <strong>of</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r organisations: A.K. Chester<strong>to</strong>n’s League <strong>of</strong> Empire Loyalists,<br />
Colin Jordan’s White Defence League, John Bean’s National Labour Party, Andrew Fountaine’s British National<br />
Party. And in <strong>the</strong> twilight area, between <strong>the</strong>se <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> right wing <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Tory Party, various societies for<br />
‘racial preservation’ were beginning <strong>to</strong> sprout. Racial attacks became a regular part <strong>of</strong> immigrant life in Britain.<br />
More serious clashes occurred intermittently in London <strong>and</strong> several provincial cities. And in 1954, in a small street<br />
<strong>of</strong> terraced houses in Camden Town [London], racial warfare was waged for two days, culminating in a petrol<br />
bomb attack on <strong>the</strong> house <strong>of</strong> a West Indian. (4) Finally, in August 1958 large-scale riots broke out in Nottingham<br />
<strong>and</strong> were soon followed in Netting Hill (London), where teddyboys, directed by <strong>the</strong> Mosleyites <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> White<br />
Defence League, had for weeks gone on a jamboree <strong>of</strong> “nigger-hunting’ under <strong>the</strong> watchful eye <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> police.<br />
The blacks struck back, <strong>and</strong> even moderate organisations like <strong>the</strong> Committee <strong>of</strong> African Organisations, having<br />
failed <strong>to</strong> obtain ‘adequate unbiased police protection’, pledged <strong>to</strong> organise <strong>the</strong>ir own defence. The courts, in<br />
<strong>the</strong> person <strong>of</strong> a Jewish judge, Lord Justice Salmon, made amends by sending down nine teddyboys <strong>and</strong> establishing<br />
<strong>the</strong> right <strong>of</strong> ‘everyone. irrespective <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> colour <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir skin... <strong>to</strong> walk through our streets with<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir heads erect <strong>and</strong> free from fear’. He also noted that <strong>the</strong> teddy-boys’ actions had ‘filled <strong>the</strong> whole nation<br />
with horror, indignation <strong>and</strong> disgust’. It was <strong>to</strong> prove <strong>the</strong> last time when such a claim could be made on behalf<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> nation. Less than a year later a West Indian carpenter, Kelso Cochrane, was stabbed <strong>to</strong> death on<br />
<strong>the</strong> streets <strong>of</strong> Notting Hill. The police failed <strong>to</strong> find <strong>the</strong> killer. It was <strong>to</strong> prove <strong>the</strong> first <strong>of</strong> many such failures.<br />
The stage was set for immigration control. But <strong>the</strong> economy was beginning <strong>to</strong> recover <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Treasury was known<br />
<strong>to</strong> be anxious about <strong>the</strong> prospect <strong>of</strong> losing a beneficial supply <strong>of</strong> extra labour for an economy in a state <strong>of</strong> expansion —<br />
though <strong>the</strong> ongoing negotiations for entry in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> EEC promised ano<strong>the</strong>r supply. Besides, <strong>the</strong> West Indian colonies<br />
were about <strong>to</strong> gain independence <strong>and</strong> moves <strong>to</strong>wards immigration control, it was felt, should be postponed till after <strong>the</strong><br />
British plan for a West Indian Federation had been safely established. Attempts <strong>to</strong> interest West Indian governments in<br />
a bilateral agreement <strong>to</strong> control immigration failed. In 1960 India withdrew its restrictions on emigration. In 1961 Jamaica<br />
withdrew its consent <strong>to</strong> a Federation. In early 1962, <strong>the</strong> Commonwealth Immigrants Bill was presented <strong>to</strong> parliament.<br />
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If <strong>the</strong> racial violence <strong>of</strong> Nottingham <strong>and</strong> Notting Hill had impressed on <strong>the</strong> West Indian community <strong>the</strong> need for<br />
greater organisation <strong>and</strong> militancy, <strong>the</strong> moves <strong>to</strong> impose ‘coloured’ immigration control streng<strong>the</strong>ned <strong>the</strong> liaison<br />
between Asian <strong>and</strong> West Indian organisations. Already, in 1957, Claudia Jones, a Trinidadian <strong>and</strong> a communist,<br />
who had been imprisoned for her political activities in <strong>the</strong> US <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n deported, had canvassed <strong>the</strong> idea <strong>of</strong> a<br />
campaigning paper. In March 1958 she, <strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>r with o<strong>the</strong>r West Indian progressives — Amy Garvey (<strong>the</strong> widow<br />
<strong>of</strong> Marcus Garvey) among <strong>the</strong>m — brought out <strong>the</strong> first issue <strong>of</strong> what was <strong>to</strong> prove <strong>the</strong> parent Afro-Caribbean<br />
journal in Britain, <strong>the</strong> West Indian Gazette. (5) In 1959, after <strong>the</strong> Kelso Cochrane killing, Claudia Jones <strong>and</strong> Frances<br />
Ezzrecco (who had founded, in <strong>the</strong> teeth <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> riots, <strong>the</strong> Coloured Peoples Progressive Association) led a deputation<br />
<strong>of</strong> West Indian organisations <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Home Secretary. And in <strong>the</strong> same year, <strong>to</strong> get <strong>the</strong> taste <strong>of</strong> Notting<br />
Hill out <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir throats’, <strong>the</strong> West Indian Gazette launched <strong>the</strong> first Caribbean carnival in St Pancras Town Hall.<br />
At about <strong>the</strong> same time, at <strong>the</strong> instance <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> High Commission <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> embryonic West Indian Federation<br />
(Norman Manley, Chief Minister <strong>of</strong> Jamaica, had flown <strong>to</strong> London after <strong>the</strong> troubles), <strong>the</strong> more<br />
moderate St<strong>and</strong>ing Conference <strong>of</strong> West Indian Organisations in UK was set up. Although its stress<br />
was on integration <strong>and</strong> multi-racialism, it helped <strong>to</strong> cohere <strong>the</strong> isl<strong>and</strong> groups in<strong>to</strong> a West Indian entity.<br />
Nor had <strong>the</strong> Asian community been unmoved by <strong>the</strong> 1958 riots, for soon afterwards an Indian<br />
Association was formed in Nottingham <strong>and</strong>, more significantly, all <strong>the</strong> local IWAs got <strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>r<br />
<strong>to</strong> establish a central IWA-GB. (Nehru had advised it on his visit <strong>to</strong> London a year earlier.)<br />
Now, with immigration control in <strong>the</strong> <strong>of</strong>fing, o<strong>the</strong>r organisations began <strong>to</strong> develop — among <strong>the</strong>m <strong>the</strong> Pakistani<br />
Workers’ Association (1961) <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> West Indian Workers’ Association (1961). And <strong>the</strong>se, along with several<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r Asian <strong>and</strong> Afro-Caribbean organisations, combined with sympa<strong>the</strong>tic white groups <strong>to</strong> campaign<br />
against discrimina<strong>to</strong>ry legislation. The two most important umbrella organisations were <strong>the</strong> Coordinating Committee<br />
Against Racial Discrimination (CCARD) in Birmingham <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Conference <strong>of</strong> Afro-Asian-Caribbean<br />
Organisations (CAACO) in London. The former was set up in February 1962 by Jagmohan Joshi, <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> IWA<br />
Birmingham, <strong>and</strong> Maurice Ludmer, an anti-fascist crusader from way back <strong>and</strong> later <strong>the</strong> Founder-edi<strong>to</strong>r <strong>of</strong><br />
Searchlight. CCARD itself had been inspired by a meeting at Digbeth called by <strong>the</strong> West Indian Workers Association<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Indian Youth League <strong>to</strong> protect Patrice Lumumba’s murder. That meeting had led <strong>to</strong> a march<br />
through Birmingham <strong>and</strong> through <strong>the</strong> streets <strong>of</strong> Birmingham in a demonstration against <strong>the</strong> Immigration Bill.<br />
CAACO, initiated by <strong>the</strong> West Indian Gazette <strong>and</strong> working closely with <strong>the</strong> IWA <strong>and</strong> Fenner Brockway’s Movement<br />
for Colonial Freedom, had its meetings <strong>and</strong> marches <strong>to</strong>o, but it concentrated more on lobbying <strong>the</strong> High Commissions<br />
<strong>and</strong> parliament, particularly <strong>the</strong> Labour Party which had pledged <strong>to</strong> repeal <strong>the</strong> Act (if returned <strong>to</strong> power). But<br />
in August 1963, after <strong>the</strong> Bill had become Act <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Labour Party, with an eye <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> elections, had begun <strong>to</strong> slide<br />
out <strong>of</strong> its commitment CAACO (with Claudia Jones at its head) organised a solidarity march from Notting Hill <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
US embassy in support <strong>of</strong> ‘negro rights’ in <strong>the</strong> US <strong>and</strong> ‘against racial discrimination in Britain’— three days after Martin<br />
Lu<strong>the</strong>r King’s People’s March on Washing<strong>to</strong>n. But international events also had adverse effects on black domestic<br />
politics. The Indo-China war in 1962 had split <strong>the</strong> communist parties in India. It now engendered schisms in <strong>the</strong> IWA-GB.<br />
In April 1962, <strong>the</strong> Bill was passed <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> battle lost. Racialism was no longer a matter <strong>of</strong> free enterprise; it<br />
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was nationalised. If labour from <strong>the</strong> coloured’ Commonwealth <strong>and</strong> colonies was still needed, its intake <strong>and</strong> deployment<br />
was going <strong>to</strong> be regulated not by <strong>the</strong> market forces <strong>of</strong> discrimination but by <strong>the</strong> regula<strong>to</strong>ry instruments<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> state itself. The state was going <strong>to</strong> say at <strong>the</strong> very port <strong>of</strong> entry (or non-entry) which blacks could<br />
come <strong>and</strong> which blacks couldn’t -- <strong>and</strong> where <strong>the</strong>y could go <strong>and</strong> where <strong>the</strong>y could live — <strong>and</strong> how <strong>the</strong>y should<br />
behave <strong>and</strong> deport <strong>the</strong>mselves. Or else... There was <strong>the</strong> immigration <strong>of</strong>ficer at <strong>the</strong> gate <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> fascist within:<br />
racism was respectable, sanctioned, but with reason, <strong>of</strong> course; it was not <strong>the</strong> colour, it was <strong>the</strong> numbers<br />
— <strong>and</strong> for <strong>the</strong> immigrants’ sakes — for fewer blacks would make for better race relations — <strong>and</strong> that, surely,<br />
must improve <strong>the</strong> immigrants’ lot. It was a <strong>the</strong>me that was shortly <strong>to</strong> be honed <strong>to</strong> a fine respectability by<br />
Hattersley (6) <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Labour government. Evidently, hypocrisy <strong>to</strong>o had <strong>to</strong> be nationalised. And in pursuit <strong>of</strong><br />
that earnest, <strong>the</strong> Labour government <strong>of</strong> 1964 would make gestures <strong>to</strong>wards anti-discrimina<strong>to</strong>ry legislation. (7)<br />
Meanwhile, <strong>the</strong> genteel English ‘let it all hang out’. In April 1963, <strong>the</strong> Bris<strong>to</strong>l Omnibus Company discovered that it did not<br />
‘employ a mixed labour force as bus crews’ — <strong>and</strong> freed from shame by <strong>the</strong> new absolution, it announced fearlessly<br />
‘a company may gain say fifteen coloured people <strong>and</strong> lose, through prejudice, thirty white people who decide <strong>the</strong>y<br />
would sooner not work with <strong>the</strong>m’. But if Bris<strong>to</strong>l — with three generations <strong>of</strong> black settlers <strong>and</strong> built on slavery — was<br />
only weighing up <strong>the</strong> statistics <strong>of</strong> prejudice, Walsall (with its more recent experience <strong>of</strong> blacks) made <strong>the</strong> more scientific<br />
pronouncement that ‘coloured can’t react fast in traffic’. Bol<strong>to</strong>n simply refused <strong>to</strong> engage ‘riff-raff any longer. (9)<br />
The police felt liberated <strong>to</strong>o. They had in <strong>the</strong> past appeared <strong>to</strong> derive only a vicarious pleasure from attacks on<br />
blacks; <strong>the</strong>y had <strong>to</strong> be seen <strong>to</strong> be neutral. Now <strong>the</strong>y <strong>the</strong>mselves could go ‘nigger-hunting’ — <strong>the</strong> phrase was <strong>the</strong>irs —<br />
while <strong>of</strong>ficially polishing up on <strong>the</strong>ir neutrality. In December 1963, <strong>the</strong> British West Indian Association complained <strong>of</strong><br />
increasing ‘police brutality’ stemming from <strong>the</strong> passing <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Commonwealth Immigrants Act. In 1964 <strong>the</strong> Pakistani<br />
community alleged that <strong>the</strong> wrists <strong>of</strong> Pakistani immigrants were being stamped with indelible ink at a police station<br />
in <strong>the</strong> course <strong>of</strong> a murder investigation: it was irrelevant that <strong>the</strong>y had names <strong>and</strong>, besides, <strong>the</strong>y all looked alike. (10)<br />
In 1965, WISC (<strong>the</strong> West Indian St<strong>and</strong>ing Conference, which replaced <strong>the</strong> more moderate St<strong>and</strong>ing Conference <strong>of</strong><br />
West Indian Organisations in UK after <strong>the</strong> fall <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> West Indian Federation in 1962) documented police excesses<br />
in Brix<strong>to</strong>n <strong>and</strong> surrounding areas in a report on Nigger-hunting in Engl<strong>and</strong>. (11) And at <strong>the</strong> ports <strong>of</strong> entry immigration<br />
<strong>of</strong>ficers, given carteblanche in <strong>the</strong> ‘instructions’ h<strong>and</strong>ed down by <strong>the</strong> government, were having a field day.<br />
At <strong>the</strong> local level, tenants’ <strong>and</strong> residents’ associations were organising <strong>to</strong> keep blacks out <strong>of</strong> housing. The number<br />
<strong>of</strong> immigrants had increased considerably in <strong>the</strong> two years preceding <strong>the</strong> ban: <strong>the</strong>y were anxious <strong>to</strong> bring<br />
in <strong>the</strong>ir families <strong>and</strong> dependants before <strong>the</strong> doors finally closed. Housing, which had always been a problem<br />
since <strong>the</strong> war, became a more fiercely contested terrain. The immigrants had, <strong>of</strong> course, been consigned <strong>to</strong><br />
slum houses <strong>and</strong> forced in<strong>to</strong> multi-occupation. Now <strong>the</strong>re were fears that <strong>the</strong>y would move fur<strong>the</strong>r afield in<strong>to</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> white residential areas. At <strong>the</strong> same time, public health laws were invoked <strong>to</strong> dispel multi-occupation.<br />
Schooling, <strong>to</strong>o, presented a problem. as more <strong>and</strong> more ‘coloured’ children began <strong>to</strong> enter <strong>the</strong> country <strong>and</strong> sought<br />
places in <strong>the</strong>ir local schools. In Oc<strong>to</strong>ber 1963, white parents in Southall, which had a high proportion <strong>of</strong> Indians, dem<strong>and</strong>ed<br />
separate classes for <strong>the</strong>ir children because coloured children were holding back <strong>the</strong>ir progress. In December<br />
<strong>the</strong> Commonwealth Immigrants’ Advisory Council (CIAC), which had been set up <strong>to</strong> advise <strong>the</strong> Home Secretary<br />
on matters relating <strong>to</strong> ‘<strong>the</strong> welfare <strong>and</strong> integration <strong>of</strong> immigrants’, reported that ‘<strong>the</strong> presence <strong>of</strong> a high proportion<br />
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<strong>of</strong> immigrant children in one class slows down <strong>the</strong> general routine <strong>of</strong> working <strong>and</strong> hampers <strong>the</strong> progress <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> whole<br />
class, especially where <strong>the</strong> immigrants do not speak or write English fluently’. This, it said, was bad for immigrant<br />
children <strong>to</strong>o for ‘<strong>the</strong>y would not get as good an introduction <strong>to</strong> British life as <strong>the</strong>y would get in a normal school’.<br />
Besides, <strong>the</strong>re was <strong>the</strong> danger <strong>of</strong> white parents removing <strong>the</strong>ir children <strong>and</strong> making some schools ‘predominantly<br />
immigrant schools’. (12) In November Sir Edward Boyle, <strong>the</strong> avowedly liberal Minister <strong>of</strong> Education, <strong>to</strong>ld <strong>the</strong> House<br />
<strong>of</strong> Commons that it was ‘desirable on education grounds that no one school should have more than about 30 per<br />
cent <strong>of</strong> immigrants’. Accordingly, in June 1965 Boyle’s law enacted that <strong>the</strong>re should be no more than a third <strong>of</strong> immigrant<br />
children in any school; <strong>the</strong> surplus should be bussed out’ (13) — but white children would not be bussed in.<br />
As for West Indian children, whose difficulties were ostensibly ‘Creolese English, low educability<br />
<strong>and</strong> behaviour problem’, <strong>the</strong> solution would be found in remedial classes <strong>and</strong> even ‘special’ schools.<br />
None <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se measures, or <strong>the</strong> various instances discrimination - went without protest, however.<br />
The Bris<strong>to</strong>l Bus Company, for instance, was subjected <strong>to</strong> demonstrations for weeks until<br />
it finally capitulated. Police harassment, as already mentioned, was documented <strong>and</strong> published<br />
by West Indian Associations. The relegation <strong>of</strong> children in<strong>to</strong> special classes continued <strong>to</strong> be fought<br />
- first by <strong>the</strong> North London West Indian Association <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n by o<strong>the</strong>r local <strong>and</strong> nationwide organisations.<br />
But, by <strong>and</strong> large, <strong>the</strong> unity - between West Indians, Asians, militants <strong>and</strong> moderates — that had spring<br />
up between <strong>the</strong> riots <strong>of</strong> 1958 <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Immigration Act <strong>of</strong> 1962 had been dissipated by more immediate concerns.<br />
Now <strong>the</strong>re were families <strong>to</strong> house, children <strong>to</strong> school <strong>and</strong> dependants <strong>to</strong> look after: <strong>the</strong> immigrations<br />
were becoming settlers. And since it was Asian immigrants who, more than <strong>the</strong> West Indian, had come<br />
on a temporary basis — <strong>to</strong> make enough money <strong>to</strong> send <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir impoverished homes — before <strong>the</strong> Immigration<br />
Act foreclosed on <strong>the</strong>m, it was <strong>the</strong>ir families <strong>and</strong> relatives who swelled <strong>the</strong> numbers now. And <strong>the</strong>ir politics<br />
tended <strong>to</strong> become settler politics — petitioning, lobbying, influencing political parties, weighing-in on<br />
(if not yet entering) local government elections — <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir struggles working-class struggles on <strong>the</strong> fac<strong>to</strong>ry<br />
floor — <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>y, by virtue <strong>of</strong> being fought in <strong>the</strong> teeth <strong>of</strong> trade union racism, were <strong>to</strong> prove political <strong>to</strong>o.<br />
In May 1965 <strong>the</strong> first important ‘immigrant’ strike <strong>to</strong>ok place — at Courtauld’s Red Scar Mill in Pres<strong>to</strong>n — over <strong>the</strong><br />
management’s decision <strong>to</strong> force Asian workers (who were concentrated, with a few West Indians, in one area <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> labour process) <strong>to</strong> work more machines for (proportionately) less pay. (14) The strike failed, but not before it<br />
had exposed <strong>the</strong> active collaboration <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> white workers <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> union with management. A few months earlier,<br />
a smaller strike <strong>of</strong> Asian workers at Rockware Glass in Southall (London) had exposed a similar complicity.<br />
And <strong>the</strong> Woolf Rubber Company strike later in <strong>the</strong> same year, though fought valiantly by <strong>the</strong> workers, supported<br />
by <strong>the</strong> Asian community <strong>and</strong> by <strong>the</strong> IWA, lost out <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> employers through lack <strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong>ficial union backing. (15)<br />
The Afro-Caribbean struggles <strong>of</strong> this period (post 1962) also reflected a similar community base,<br />
though different in origins. Ghana had become free in 1957, Ug<strong>and</strong>a in 1962 <strong>and</strong> Jamaica <strong>and</strong> Trinidad<br />
<strong>and</strong> Tobago in <strong>the</strong> same year, but <strong>the</strong>re were o<strong>the</strong>r black colonies in Africa <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Caribbean<br />
still <strong>to</strong> be liberated. And <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong>re was <strong>the</strong> black colony in North America, which, beginning with Mar-<br />
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tin Lu<strong>the</strong>r King’s civil rights movement, was revving up in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Black Power struggles <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> mid-1960s.<br />
King visited London on <strong>the</strong> way <strong>to</strong> receiving his Nobel prize in Oslo in December 1964. And at his instigation,<br />
a British civil rights organisation, <strong>the</strong> Campaign Against Racial Discrimination (CARD) was formed in February<br />
1965 — federating various Asian <strong>and</strong> Afro-Caribbean organisations <strong>and</strong> sporting Labour Party (radicals).<br />
More significantly, however, was <strong>the</strong> visit <strong>of</strong> Malcolm X. Malcolm blitzed London in February 1965 <strong>and</strong> in his wake was<br />
formed a much more militant organisation, <strong>the</strong> Racial Action Adjustment Society (RAAS) (16) with Michael de Freitas,<br />
later Abdul Maiik <strong>and</strong> later still Michael X, at its head. ‘Black men, unite’, it called, ‘we have nothing <strong>to</strong> lose but our fears.’<br />
It is <strong>the</strong> fashion <strong>to</strong>day, even among blacks, <strong>to</strong> see Michael X only as a criminal who deserved <strong>to</strong> be hanged for murder<br />
by <strong>the</strong> Trinidadian government (1975). (The line between politics <strong>and</strong> crime, after all is a thin one — in a capitalist<br />
society.) But it was Michael <strong>and</strong> Roy Sawh (a Guyanese ‘Indian’) <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir colleagues in RAAS who, as we shall see,<br />
more than anybody else in this period freed ordinary black people from fear <strong>and</strong> taught <strong>the</strong>m <strong>to</strong> st<strong>and</strong> up for <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
rights <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir dignity. (17) It was out <strong>of</strong> RAAS, <strong>to</strong>o, that a number <strong>of</strong> our present-day militants have emerged.<br />
It is also alleged, in hindsight <strong>and</strong> contempt, that RAAS had no politics but <strong>the</strong> politics <strong>of</strong> thuggery. But it was RAAS who<br />
descended on Red Scar Mills in Pres<strong>to</strong>n <strong>to</strong> help <strong>the</strong> Asian strikers (at <strong>the</strong>ir invitation). And <strong>the</strong> point is telling — if only because<br />
it marked a progression in <strong>the</strong> organic unity <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> (Afro-) Asian, (coolie\ <strong>and</strong> (Afro-) Caribbean, slave, struggles<br />
in <strong>the</strong> diaspora, begun in Britain by Claudia Jones’ West Indian Gazette <strong>and</strong> Afro-Asia Caribbean News on which Abimanyu<br />
Manch<strong>and</strong>a, an Indian political activist <strong>and</strong> a key figure in <strong>the</strong> British anti-Vietnam war movement, was <strong>to</strong> work.<br />
But RAAS, or black militancy generally, would /not have had <strong>the</strong> backing it did but for <strong>the</strong> growing disillusion with<br />
<strong>the</strong> Labour Party’s policies on immigration control <strong>and</strong>, <strong>the</strong>refore, racism. The ‘coloured immigrants’ still had hopes<br />
in <strong>the</strong> party <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> working class <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> colonial independence <strong>and</strong> sought <strong>to</strong> influence its policies. But after <strong>the</strong><br />
1964 general election, Labour’s position became clearer. Peter Griffiths, <strong>the</strong> Tory c<strong>and</strong>idate for Smethwick (an ‘immigrant<br />
area’ in Birmingham), had campaigned on <strong>the</strong> basis <strong>of</strong> ending immigration <strong>and</strong> ‘repatriating <strong>the</strong> coloureds’.<br />
If you want a nigger neighbour<br />
Vote Labour<br />
he had sloganised - <strong>and</strong> won. But Labour won <strong>the</strong> election <strong>and</strong> Harold Wilson, <strong>the</strong> incoming Prime Minister, denounced<br />
Griffiths as ‘a parliamentary leper’. However, Wilson’s policies were soon <strong>to</strong> become leprous <strong>to</strong>o: <strong>the</strong> Immigration Act<br />
was not only renewed in <strong>the</strong> White Paper <strong>of</strong> August 1965 but went on <strong>to</strong> restrict ‘coloured immigration’ fur<strong>the</strong>r on <strong>the</strong><br />
basis that fewer numbers made for better race relations. In pursuit <strong>of</strong> that philosophy, Labour <strong>the</strong>n proceeded <strong>to</strong> pass a<br />
Race Relations Act (September 1965), which threatened racial discrimination in ‘places <strong>of</strong> public resort’ with conciliation.<br />
It was prepared, however, <strong>to</strong> penalise ‘incitement <strong>to</strong> racial hatred’ —- <strong>and</strong> promptly proceeded <strong>to</strong> prosecute Michael X.<br />
Equally <strong>of</strong>f-target <strong>and</strong> ineffectual were <strong>the</strong> two statu<strong>to</strong>ry bodies that Labour set up, <strong>the</strong> National Committee for<br />
Commonwealth Immigrants (NCCI) <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Race Relations Board (RRB) — <strong>the</strong> one chiefly <strong>to</strong> liaise with immigrants<br />
<strong>and</strong> ease <strong>the</strong>m out <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> difficulties (linguistic, educational, cultural <strong>and</strong> so on) which prevented integration, <strong>and</strong><br />
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<strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r, as mentioned above, <strong>to</strong> conciliate discrimination in hotels <strong>and</strong> places through conciliation committees.<br />
To ordinary blacks <strong>the</strong>se structures were irrelevant: liaison <strong>and</strong> conciliation seemed <strong>to</strong> define <strong>the</strong>m as a people<br />
apart who somehow needed <strong>to</strong> be fitted in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> mainstream <strong>of</strong> British society — when all <strong>the</strong>y were seeking were<br />
<strong>the</strong> same rights as o<strong>the</strong>r citizens. They (liaison <strong>and</strong> conciliation) were <strong>the</strong>mes that were <strong>to</strong> rise again in <strong>the</strong> area <strong>of</strong><br />
police- black relations — this time as substitutes for police accountability — <strong>and</strong> not without <strong>the</strong> same significance.<br />
But if NCCI failed <strong>to</strong> integrate <strong>the</strong> ‘immigrants’, it succeeded in disintegrating ‘immigrant’ organisations — <strong>the</strong><br />
moderate ones anyway <strong>and</strong> local ones mostly — by entering <strong>the</strong>ir areas <strong>of</strong> work, enticing local leaders <strong>to</strong> cooperate<br />
with <strong>the</strong>m (<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>refore government) <strong>and</strong> pre-empting <strong>the</strong>ir constituencies. Its greatest achievement<br />
was <strong>to</strong> lure <strong>the</strong> leading lights <strong>of</strong> CARD in<strong>to</strong> working with it, <strong>the</strong>reby deepening <strong>the</strong> contradictions in CARD (as<br />
between <strong>the</strong> militants <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> moderates). WISC <strong>and</strong> NFPA (18) disaffiliated from CARD <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> more militant<br />
blacks followed suit, leaving CARD <strong>to</strong> its more liberal designs. The government had effectively shut out one<br />
area <strong>of</strong> representative black opinion. But an obstacle in <strong>the</strong> way <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> next Immigration Act had been cleared.<br />
When CARD finally broke up in 1967 <strong>the</strong> press <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> media generally welcomed its debacle. They saw its sometimes<br />
uncompromising st<strong>and</strong> against racial discrimination as a threat <strong>to</strong> ‘integration’ (if not <strong>to</strong> white society), resented its<br />
outspoken <strong>and</strong> articulate black spokes-men <strong>and</strong> women, denouncing <strong>the</strong>m as communists <strong>and</strong> maoists, <strong>and</strong> feared<br />
that it would emerge from a civil rights organisation in<strong>to</strong> a Black Power movement. The ‘paper <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>to</strong>p people’,<br />
having warned <strong>the</strong> nation <strong>of</strong> ‘The Dark Million’ in a series <strong>of</strong> articles in <strong>the</strong> months preceding <strong>the</strong> August 1965 White<br />
Paper, now wrote, ‘<strong>the</strong>re are always heavy dangers in riding tigers — <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>se dangers are not reduced when<br />
<strong>the</strong> animal changes <strong>to</strong> a black pan<strong>the</strong>r’ (The Times, 9 November 1967). And a Times news team was later <strong>to</strong> write<br />
that ‘<strong>the</strong> ominous lesson <strong>of</strong> CARD... is that <strong>the</strong> mixture <strong>of</strong> pro Chinese communism <strong>and</strong> American-style Black Power<br />
on <strong>the</strong> immigrant scene can be devastating’. (19) (International events were beginning <strong>to</strong> cast <strong>the</strong>ir shadows.)<br />
The race relations pundits added <strong>the</strong>ir bit. The Institute <strong>of</strong> Race Relations (some <strong>of</strong> whose Council members<br />
<strong>and</strong> staff were implicated in CARD politics) commissioned a book giving <strong>the</strong> liberal version. Although an independent<br />
research organisation, replete with academics, <strong>the</strong> IRR had already been moving closer <strong>to</strong> government<br />
policies on immigration <strong>and</strong> integration — backing <strong>the</strong>m with objective’ findings <strong>and</strong> research. (20)<br />
The race scene was changing — radically. The Immigration Acts, whatever <strong>the</strong>ir racialist promptings, had<br />
stemmed from an economic rationale, fashioned in <strong>the</strong> matrix <strong>of</strong> colonial capitalist practices <strong>and</strong> beliefs.<br />
They served, as we have seen, <strong>to</strong> take racial discrimination out <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> market-place <strong>and</strong> institutionalise<br />
it — inhere it in <strong>the</strong> structures <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> state, nationally. So that at both local <strong>and</strong> national level ‘race’ became<br />
an area <strong>of</strong> contestation for power. It was <strong>the</strong> basis which local issues <strong>of</strong> schooling <strong>and</strong> housing <strong>and</strong> jobs<br />
were being, if not fought, side-tracked. It was an issue on which elections were won <strong>and</strong> lost. It was an issue<br />
which betrayed” unions’ claims <strong>to</strong> represent <strong>the</strong> whole <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> working class so betrayed <strong>the</strong> class. It had entered<br />
<strong>the</strong> arena politics (not that, subliminally, it was not always <strong>the</strong>re) <strong>and</strong> swelled in<strong>to</strong> an ideology <strong>of</strong> racism<br />
<strong>to</strong> be borrowed by <strong>the</strong> courts in <strong>the</strong>ir decision-making <strong>and</strong> by <strong>the</strong> fascists for <strong>the</strong>ir regeneration. (21)<br />
Racial attacks had already begun <strong>to</strong> mount. In 1965, in <strong>the</strong> months preceding <strong>the</strong> White Paper but after Griffiths<br />
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vic<strong>to</strong>ry. (a Jamaican was shot <strong>and</strong> killed... in Isling<strong>to</strong>n, a West Indian schoolboy in Notting Hill was nearly killed by<br />
white teenagers armed with iron bars, axes <strong>and</strong> bottles... a group <strong>of</strong> black men outside a cafe in Notting Hill received<br />
blasts from a shot-gun fired from a moving car, hate leaflets appeared in Newcastle upon-Tyne, crosses<br />
were burnt outside ‘coloured citizens’ homes’ in Leaming<strong>to</strong>n Spa, Rugby, Coventry. Ilford, Plais<strong>to</strong>w <strong>and</strong> Cricklewood<br />
<strong>and</strong> a written warning (allegedly) from <strong>the</strong> Deputy Wizard <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Ku Klux Klan was sent <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Indian secretary <strong>of</strong><br />
CARD: “You will be burnt alive if you do not leave Engl<strong>and</strong> by August 31st”(22) The British fascists, however, denied<br />
any connection with <strong>the</strong> Klan — not, it would appear, on a basis <strong>of</strong> fact, but in <strong>the</strong> conviction that <strong>the</strong>re was<br />
now a sufficient ground-swell <strong>of</strong> grassroots racism <strong>to</strong> float an elec<strong>to</strong>ral party. Elec<strong>to</strong>ral politics, <strong>of</strong> course, were<br />
not going <strong>to</strong> bring <strong>the</strong>m parliamentary power, but <strong>the</strong>y would provide a vehicle for propag<strong>and</strong>a <strong>and</strong> a venue for<br />
recruitment — <strong>and</strong> all within <strong>the</strong> law. They could push <strong>the</strong>ir vile cause <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> limits <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> law, within <strong>the</strong> framework<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> law, forcing <strong>the</strong> law itself <strong>to</strong> become more repressive <strong>of</strong> democratic freedoms. By invoking <strong>the</strong>ir democratic<br />
right <strong>to</strong> freedom <strong>of</strong> speech, <strong>of</strong> association, etc. —by claiming equal TV time as <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r elec<strong>to</strong>ral parties <strong>and</strong><br />
by gaining legitimate access <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> press <strong>and</strong> radio — <strong>the</strong>y would propagate <strong>the</strong> cause <strong>of</strong> denying o<strong>the</strong>rs those<br />
freedom legitimacies, <strong>the</strong> blacks in <strong>the</strong> first place. They would move whole debate on race <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> right <strong>and</strong> force<br />
incoming governments <strong>to</strong> fur<strong>the</strong>r racist legislation - on pain <strong>of</strong> elec<strong>to</strong>ral defeat. And so, in February 1967, <strong>the</strong><br />
League <strong>of</strong> Empire Loyalists, <strong>the</strong> British National Party <strong>and</strong> local groups <strong>of</strong> Racial Preservation Societies merged<br />
<strong>to</strong> form <strong>the</strong> National Front (NF) – <strong>and</strong> in April that year put up c<strong>and</strong>idates for <strong>the</strong> Greater London Elections.<br />
But <strong>the</strong>y – <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> government – reckoned without <strong>the</strong> blacks. The time was long gone, when black people, with an<br />
eye <strong>to</strong> returning home, would put up with repression: settlers now. And state racism had pushed <strong>the</strong>m in<strong>to</strong> higher<br />
<strong>and</strong> more militant forms <strong>of</strong> resistance - incorporating <strong>the</strong> resistances previous period <strong>and</strong> embracing both shop<br />
floor <strong>and</strong> community, Asians <strong>and</strong> Afro-Caribbeans, sometimes in different areas <strong>of</strong> struggle, sometimes <strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>r.<br />
RAAS, as we have seen, was formed in 1965. It was wholly an indigenous movement arising out <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> opposition<br />
<strong>to</strong> native British racism but catalysed by Malcolm X <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Black Muslims. And so it <strong>to</strong>ok in, on both counts, <strong>the</strong><br />
African, Asian, Afro-Caribbean <strong>and</strong> Afro-American dimensions <strong>of</strong> struggle <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> struggles in <strong>the</strong> workplace <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> community. It had, almost as its first act, descended on <strong>the</strong> Red Scar Mills in Pres<strong>to</strong>n <strong>to</strong> help <strong>the</strong> Asian strikers.<br />
It <strong>the</strong>n set up <strong>of</strong>fice in a barber’s shop in Reading <strong>and</strong> worked <strong>and</strong> recruited in <strong>the</strong> North <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Midl<strong>and</strong>s with<br />
Abdulla Patel (one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> strikers from Red Scar Mills) <strong>and</strong> Roy Sawh as its organisers <strong>the</strong>re. In London, <strong>to</strong>o, RAAS<br />
ga<strong>the</strong>red a sizeable following through its work with London busmen <strong>and</strong> its legal service (Defence) for black people<br />
in trouble with <strong>the</strong> police. It was written up in <strong>the</strong> press, <strong>of</strong>ten as a novel <strong>and</strong> passing phenomenon, <strong>and</strong> appeared<br />
(in a bad light) on BBCs Panorama programme. The disillusion with CARD swelled RAAS’s numbers. And <strong>the</strong> indictment<br />
<strong>of</strong> Michael X in 1967 for ‘an inflamma<strong>to</strong>ry speech against white people’ – when white people indulged in racist<br />
abuse - served <strong>to</strong> validate RAAS’s rhe<strong>to</strong>ric. At Speakers Corner Roy Sawh <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r black speakers would inveigh<br />
against against <strong>the</strong> ‘<strong>the</strong> white devil’ <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Anglo-Saxon swine’, <strong>and</strong> find a ready <strong>and</strong> appreciative audience.<br />
In June 1967 <strong>the</strong> Universal Coloured People’s Association (UCPA) was formed, headed a Nigerian Playwright<br />
Obi Egbuna. It <strong>to</strong>o arose from British conditions, but, continuing in <strong>the</strong> tradition <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> struggle against<br />
British colonialism, stressed <strong>the</strong> need <strong>to</strong> fight both imperialism <strong>and</strong> racism. The anti-white struggle was also<br />
anti-capitalist <strong>and</strong> anti-imperialist – universal <strong>to</strong> all coloured peoples. And so its concerns extended from rac-<br />
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ism in Britain <strong>and</strong> elsewhere <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> war in Vietnam, <strong>the</strong> independence <strong>of</strong> Zimbalbwe, <strong>the</strong> liberation <strong>of</strong> ‘Portuguese<br />
Africa’, <strong>the</strong> cultural revolution in China. It was, <strong>of</strong> course, inspired <strong>and</strong> influenced by <strong>the</strong> Black Power<br />
struggle in America <strong>and</strong>, more immediately, by S<strong>to</strong>kele Carmicheal’s visit <strong>to</strong> London in July that year.<br />
‘Black Power’, Egbuna declared at a Vietnam protest rally in Trafalgar Square in Oc<strong>to</strong>ber 1967, ‘means simply that<br />
<strong>the</strong> blacks <strong>of</strong> this world are out <strong>to</strong> liquidate capitalist oppression <strong>of</strong> black people wherever it exists by any means necessary.’<br />
Black people in Britain, <strong>the</strong> UCPA pointed out, though numerically small, were so concentrated in vital areas<br />
<strong>of</strong> industry, hospital services (a majority <strong>of</strong> doc<strong>to</strong>rs <strong>and</strong> nurses in <strong>the</strong> conurbations were black) <strong>and</strong> transport that a<br />
black strike could paralyse <strong>the</strong> economy. Some UCPA speakers at meetings in Hyde Park urged more direct action.<br />
Roy Sawh (<strong>the</strong> members <strong>of</strong> one organisation were <strong>of</strong>ten members <strong>of</strong> ano<strong>the</strong>r) ‘urged coloured nurses <strong>to</strong> give wrong<br />
injections <strong>to</strong> patients, coloured bus crews not <strong>to</strong> take <strong>the</strong> fares <strong>of</strong> black people... [<strong>and</strong>] Indian restaurant owners <strong>to</strong><br />
“put something in <strong>the</strong> curry” (23) Alex Watson, a Jamaican machine opera<strong>to</strong>r, was reported <strong>to</strong> have exhorted coloured<br />
people <strong>to</strong> destroy <strong>the</strong> whites. (24) Ajoy Ghose, an unemployed Indian, pointed out that <strong>to</strong> kill whites was not<br />
murder <strong>and</strong> Uyornumu Ezekiel, Nigerian electrician, having derided <strong>the</strong> prime minister as a ‘political prostitute’, said<br />
that Engl<strong>and</strong> was ‘going down <strong>the</strong> <strong>to</strong>ilet (25) They were all prosecuted, Ezekiel was discharged, <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs fined.<br />
But UCPA rhe<strong>to</strong>ric was helping <strong>to</strong> stiffen black backs, its meetings <strong>and</strong> study groups <strong>to</strong> raise black consciousness,<br />
its ideology <strong>to</strong> politicise black people. The prosecution <strong>of</strong> its members showed up <strong>the</strong> complicity<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> courts — ‘protection rackets for <strong>the</strong> police’, <strong>the</strong> secretary <strong>of</strong> WISC was <strong>to</strong> call <strong>the</strong>m.<br />
And its example, like that <strong>of</strong> RAAS, encouraged o<strong>the</strong>r black organisations <strong>to</strong> greater militancy.<br />
RAAS. it would appear, stressed black nationalism, while <strong>the</strong> UCPA emphasised <strong>the</strong> struggles <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> international<br />
working class. But <strong>the</strong>y were in fact different approaches <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> same goals. RAAS’s ‘nationalism’,<br />
stemming as it did from <strong>the</strong> West Indian experience, combined an underst<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>of</strong> how colonialism<br />
had divided <strong>the</strong> Asian <strong>and</strong> African <strong>and</strong> Caribbean peoples (coolie, savage <strong>and</strong> slave) with an awareness<br />
<strong>of</strong> how that same colonialism made <strong>the</strong>m one people now: <strong>the</strong>y were all blacks. Hence <strong>the</strong> BIack House<br />
(<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> cultural groups) that RAAS was briefly <strong>to</strong> set up on 1970 did not, like Leroi Jones/Amiri Baraka’s<br />
Spirit House which was its inspiration, exclude o<strong>the</strong>r ‘coloureds’; <strong>the</strong> his<strong>to</strong>rical experience was different.<br />
Meanwhile, <strong>the</strong> number <strong>of</strong> black strikes — mainly Asian, because it was <strong>the</strong>y who were employed in <strong>the</strong> menial jobs<br />
in <strong>the</strong> foundries, <strong>the</strong> textile <strong>and</strong> paper mills, <strong>the</strong> rubber <strong>and</strong> plastic works — began <strong>to</strong> mount, <strong>and</strong> nearly all <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m<br />
showed up trade union racism. Working conditions in <strong>the</strong> foundries were particularly unendurable. The job itself<br />
involved working with molten metal at 1400 degrees centigrade. Bums <strong>and</strong> injuries were frequent. The wage was<br />
rarely more than £14 a week <strong>and</strong> promotion <strong>to</strong> skilled white-only jobs was unthinkable. Every action on <strong>the</strong> part <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> Asian workers was ei<strong>the</strong>r unsupported or opposed by <strong>the</strong> trade union <strong>to</strong> which <strong>the</strong>y belonged, for example<br />
in <strong>the</strong> strike at Coneygre Foundry (Tip<strong>to</strong>n) in April 1967 <strong>and</strong> again in Oc<strong>to</strong>ber 1968, at <strong>the</strong> Midl<strong>and</strong> Mo<strong>to</strong>r Cylinder<br />
Co in <strong>the</strong> same year <strong>and</strong> at Newby Foundry (West Bromwich) a year later. But <strong>the</strong> support from <strong>the</strong>ir communities<br />
<strong>and</strong> community organisations was unwavering. The temples gave free food <strong>to</strong> strikers, <strong>the</strong> grocers limitless<br />
credit, <strong>the</strong> l<strong>and</strong>lords waived <strong>the</strong> rent. And joining in <strong>the</strong> strike action were local organisations <strong>and</strong> associations<br />
— IWAs <strong>and</strong> Pakistani Welfare Associations <strong>and</strong>/or o<strong>the</strong>r black organisations or individuals connected with <strong>the</strong>m.<br />
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Some issues, however, embraced <strong>the</strong> whole community more directly. For, apart from <strong>the</strong> general question<br />
<strong>of</strong> wages, conditions <strong>of</strong> work, etc., quite a few <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se strikes also involved ‘cultural* questions, such as <strong>the</strong><br />
right <strong>to</strong> take time <strong>of</strong>f for religious festivals, <strong>the</strong> right <strong>to</strong> break <strong>of</strong>f for daily prayer (among Moslems), <strong>the</strong> right<br />
<strong>of</strong> Sikh busmen <strong>to</strong> wear turbans instead <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>of</strong>ficial head-gear. And because <strong>of</strong> trade union opposition <strong>to</strong><br />
such practices’, <strong>the</strong> struggles <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> class <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> struggles <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> community, <strong>of</strong> race, became indistinguishable.<br />
These in turn were linked <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> struggles back ‘home’ in <strong>the</strong> sub-continent – if only through family obligations arising<br />
from economic need. Predicated by under-development caused by imperialism. The connections were immediate,<br />
palpable, personal. in was not a thing apart, a <strong>the</strong>oretical concept; it was a lived experience – only one removed<br />
from <strong>the</strong> experience <strong>of</strong> racism itself. And for that reason, <strong>to</strong>o, <strong>the</strong> politics <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> political organisations <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ‘home’<br />
counties had a bearing on <strong>the</strong> life <strong>and</strong> Indian <strong>and</strong> Pakistani settlers in Britain now – not just in terms <strong>of</strong> elec<strong>to</strong>ral political<br />
parties so much as in terms <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> resistance movements <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> authoritarian state (26) — which, in turn. had<br />
resonances for <strong>the</strong>m in Britain. Asian-language newspapers kept <strong>the</strong>m in constant <strong>to</strong>uch with events in <strong>the</strong> subcontinent,<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> political refugees whom <strong>the</strong>y housed <strong>and</strong> looked after not only involved <strong>the</strong>m in <strong>the</strong>ir movements,<br />
but fired <strong>the</strong>ir own resistances. Reciprocally. <strong>the</strong>ir people back ‘home’ were keened <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> mounting racism in Britain.<br />
On all <strong>the</strong>se fronts, <strong>the</strong>n, blacks by 1968 were beginning <strong>to</strong> fight as a class <strong>and</strong> as a people. Whatever <strong>the</strong> specifics<br />
<strong>of</strong> resistance in <strong>the</strong> respective communities <strong>and</strong> however different <strong>the</strong> strategies <strong>and</strong> lines <strong>of</strong> struggle, <strong>the</strong><br />
experience <strong>of</strong> a common racism <strong>and</strong> a common fight against <strong>the</strong> state united <strong>the</strong>m at <strong>the</strong> barricades. The mosaic<br />
<strong>of</strong> unities observed earlier resolved itself, before <strong>the</strong> onslaught <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> state, in<strong>to</strong> a black unity <strong>and</strong> a black struggle.<br />
It would recede again when <strong>the</strong> state strategically retreated in<strong>to</strong> urban aid programmes <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> creation<br />
<strong>of</strong> a class <strong>of</strong> black collabora<strong>to</strong>rs — only <strong>to</strong> be forged anew by ano<strong>the</strong>r generation, British-born but not British.<br />
In March 1968 <strong>the</strong> Labour government passed <strong>the</strong> Kenyan Asian Act this time barring free entry <strong>to</strong> Britain <strong>of</strong> its citizens<br />
in Kenya — because <strong>the</strong>y were Asians. O.K. so <strong>the</strong>y held British passports issued by or on behalf <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> British<br />
government, but that did not make <strong>the</strong>m British, did it? Now, if <strong>the</strong>y had a parent or gr<strong>and</strong>parent born, naturalised,<br />
or adopted in <strong>the</strong> UK — like those chaps in Australia, New Zeal<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> places — it would be a different matter. But<br />
<strong>of</strong> course <strong>the</strong> government would set aside a quota <strong>of</strong> entry vouchers especially for <strong>the</strong>m - for <strong>the</strong> Asians, that is. The<br />
reasons were not racial as Prime Minister Wilson pointed out <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Archbishop <strong>of</strong> Canterbury, ‘geographical’. (27)<br />
Between conception <strong>and</strong> passage <strong>the</strong> Act had taken but a week. The orchestration <strong>of</strong> public opinion that preceded<br />
it had gone on for a year, but it had risen <strong>to</strong> a crescendo in <strong>the</strong> last six months. Enoch Powell, man <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> people, had<br />
warned <strong>the</strong> nation that <strong>the</strong>re were ‘hundreds <strong>of</strong> thous<strong>and</strong>s <strong>of</strong> people in Kenya’ (28) who thought <strong>the</strong>y belonged <strong>to</strong><br />
Britain ‘just like you <strong>and</strong> me’. In January <strong>the</strong> press came out with scare s<strong>to</strong>ries, as it had done before <strong>the</strong> Immigration<br />
Act <strong>of</strong> 1962, except this time it was not smallpox but <strong>the</strong> cl<strong>and</strong>estine arrival <strong>of</strong> hordes <strong>of</strong> Pakistanis. In February<br />
Powell returned <strong>to</strong> his <strong>the</strong>me — <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r politicians joined in. Later in <strong>the</strong> month <strong>the</strong> Daily Mirror, <strong>the</strong> avowedly<br />
pro-Labour paper. warned <strong>of</strong> an ‘uncontrolled flood <strong>of</strong> Asian immigrants from Kenya’. On 1 March <strong>the</strong> bill was passed.<br />
Blacks were enraged. They had lobbied, petitioned, reasoned, demonstrated — even campaigned alongside<br />
whites in NCCI’s Equal Rights set-up — <strong>and</strong> had made no impact. But <strong>the</strong> momentum was not <strong>to</strong> be lost. Within<br />
weeks <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Act Jagmohan Joshi, Secretary <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> IWA Birmingham, was urging black organisations <strong>to</strong> form<br />
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a broad, united front. On 4 April Martin Lu<strong>the</strong>r king was murdered... ‘I have a dream.’ They slew <strong>the</strong> dreamer.<br />
Some two weeks later Enoch Powell spoke <strong>of</strong> his <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> nation’s nightmare: <strong>the</strong> blacks were swarming<br />
all over him, no. all over <strong>the</strong> country, ‘whole areas <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong>wns <strong>and</strong> parts <strong>of</strong> <strong>to</strong>wns across Engl<strong>and</strong>’<br />
were covered with <strong>the</strong>m, <strong>the</strong>y pushed excreta through old ladies’ letter boxes; we must take ‘action<br />
now’, s<strong>to</strong>p <strong>the</strong> inflow, promote <strong>the</strong> outnow, s<strong>to</strong>p <strong>the</strong> fiancés. s<strong>to</strong>p <strong>the</strong> dependants, <strong>the</strong> material <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> future<br />
growth <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> immigrant descended population’, <strong>the</strong> breeding ground. Numbers are <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> essence.’<br />
What Powell says <strong>to</strong>day, <strong>the</strong> Tories say <strong>to</strong>morrow <strong>and</strong> Labour legislates <strong>the</strong> day after. Immediately, it was public<br />
opinion that was aroused. The press picked up Powell’s <strong>the</strong>mes <strong>and</strong> Powell. The unspeakable had been spoken,<br />
free speech set free, <strong>the</strong> white liberated: Asians <strong>and</strong> West Indians were abused <strong>and</strong> attacked, <strong>the</strong>ir property<br />
damaged, <strong>the</strong>ir women <strong>and</strong> children terrorised. Police harassment increased, <strong>the</strong> fascists went on a rampage <strong>and</strong><br />
Paki bashing emerged at <strong>the</strong> national sport. A few trade unionists made gestures <strong>of</strong> protest <strong>and</strong> earned <strong>the</strong> opprobrium<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> rank <strong>and</strong> file. White workers all over <strong>the</strong> country downed <strong>to</strong>ols <strong>and</strong> staged demonstrations on<br />
behalf <strong>of</strong> Powell. And on <strong>the</strong> day that even h<strong>and</strong>ed Labour, having passed a genuinely racist Immigration Act, was<br />
debating a phoney anti-racist Race Relations Bill, London dockers struck work <strong>and</strong> marched on parliament <strong>to</strong> dem<strong>and</strong><br />
an end <strong>to</strong> immigration. Three day’s later <strong>the</strong>y marched again. (this time with <strong>the</strong> Smithfield meat-porters.)<br />
But <strong>the</strong> blacks were on <strong>the</strong> march <strong>to</strong>o. On <strong>the</strong> same day as <strong>the</strong> dockers <strong>and</strong> porters marched, representatives<br />
from over fifty organisations (including <strong>the</strong> IWAs. WISC, NFPA, UCPA, RAAS, etc.) came <strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>r at Leaming<strong>to</strong>n<br />
Spa <strong>to</strong> form a national body, <strong>the</strong> Black People’s Alliance (BPA), a militant front for Black Consciousness <strong>and</strong><br />
against racialism. And in that, <strong>the</strong> BPA was uncompromising from <strong>the</strong> outset. It excluded from membership immigrant<br />
organisations that had compromised with government policy or fallen prey <strong>to</strong> government h<strong>and</strong>-outs (Labour’s<br />
Urban Aid programme was beginning <strong>to</strong> percolate through <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> blacks) or looked <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Labour Party<br />
for redress. For, in respect <strong>of</strong> ‘whipping up racial antagonisms <strong>and</strong> hatred <strong>to</strong> make political gains’, <strong>the</strong>re was<br />
no difference between <strong>the</strong> parties or between <strong>the</strong>m <strong>and</strong> Enoch Powell. He was ‘just one step in a continuous<br />
campaign which had served <strong>to</strong> give <strong>the</strong> green light <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> overtly fascist organisations... now very active in organising<br />
among <strong>the</strong> working class’.(29) Member organisations would continue <strong>to</strong> maintain <strong>the</strong>ir independent existence<br />
<strong>and</strong> function at <strong>the</strong> local level, in terms <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> particular communities <strong>and</strong> problems; <strong>the</strong> BPA would operate<br />
on <strong>the</strong> national level, coordinating <strong>the</strong> various fights against state racism. And, where necessary, it would<br />
take <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> streets en masse — as it did in January 1969 (during <strong>the</strong> Commonwealth Prime Ministers Conference),<br />
when it led a march <strong>of</strong> over 7,000 people <strong>to</strong> Downing Street <strong>to</strong> dem<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> repeal <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Immigration Acts.<br />
From Powell’s speech <strong>and</strong> BPA, but nurtured in <strong>the</strong> Black Power movement, sprang a host <strong>of</strong> militant black organisations<br />
all over <strong>the</strong> country, with <strong>the</strong>ir own newspapers <strong>and</strong> journals, taking up local, national <strong>and</strong> international<br />
issues. Some Jamaican organisations marched on <strong>the</strong>ir High Commission in London, protesting <strong>the</strong> banning <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
works <strong>of</strong> S<strong>to</strong>kely <strong>and</strong> Malcolm X in Jamaica, while o<strong>the</strong>rs, like WISC, RAAS <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Caribbean Artist’s Movement,<br />
sent petitions. On <strong>the</strong> banning <strong>of</strong> Walter Rodney from returning <strong>to</strong> his post at <strong>the</strong> university, Jamaicans staged a<br />
sit-in at <strong>the</strong> High Commission. A ‘Third World Benefit’ for three imprisoned playwrights, Wole Soyinka in Nigeria,<br />
LeRoi Jones in America <strong>and</strong> Obi Egbuna in Britain - was held at <strong>the</strong> Round House with Sammy Davis, Black Eagles<br />
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<strong>and</strong> Michael X. But Egbuna’s imprisonment (with two o<strong>the</strong>r UPCA members), for uttering <strong>and</strong> writing threats <strong>to</strong><br />
kill police, also stirred up black anger. ‘Unless something is done <strong>to</strong> ensure <strong>the</strong> protection <strong>of</strong> our people/ wrote<br />
<strong>the</strong> Black Pan<strong>the</strong>r Movement in its circular <strong>of</strong> 3 Oc<strong>to</strong>ber 1968. (we will have no alternative but <strong>to</strong> rise <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
defence. And once we are driven <strong>to</strong> that position, redress will be <strong>to</strong>o late, Detroit <strong>and</strong> Newark will inevitably<br />
become part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> British scene <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Thames foam with blood sooner than Enoch Powell envisaged (30)<br />
Less than six months after Powell’s speech. Heath, <strong>the</strong> Tory leader, having sacked Powell from <strong>the</strong> Shadow Cabinet,<br />
himself picked up Powell’s <strong>the</strong>mes. Immigration, he said, whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>of</strong> voucher-holders or dependants, should<br />
be ‘severely curtailed’ — <strong>and</strong> those who wished <strong>to</strong> return <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir country <strong>of</strong> origin should ‘ receive assisted passage<br />
from public funds’. But Powell outbid him in a call for a ‘Ministry <strong>of</strong> Repatriation’ <strong>and</strong> ‘a programme <strong>of</strong> largescale<br />
voluntary but organised, financed <strong>and</strong> subsidised repatriation <strong>and</strong> re-emigration’. Two months later Heath<br />
upped <strong>the</strong> ante: <strong>the</strong> government should s<strong>to</strong>p all immigration. Powell, who was on <strong>the</strong> same platform, applauded<br />
him. Callaghan, <strong>the</strong> Home Secretary, however, derided Heath’s speech as ‘slick <strong>and</strong> shifty’. Three days later Callaghan<br />
debarred Commonwealth debarred Commonwealth citizens from entering Britain <strong>to</strong> marry fiancées <strong>and</strong><br />
settle here, ‘unless <strong>the</strong>re are compassionate circumstances’. And in May 1969, in a even more blatant piece <strong>of</strong><br />
‘even-h<strong>and</strong>iness’, Callaghan sneaked in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> ‘liberal’ Immigration Appeals Bill (31) a clause which stipulated that<br />
dependants should henceforth have entry certificates before coming <strong>to</strong> Britain. And with that he set <strong>the</strong> seal on<br />
<strong>the</strong> prevarications, delays <strong>and</strong> humbug that British <strong>of</strong>ficials in <strong>the</strong> country <strong>of</strong> emigration, mainly India <strong>and</strong> Pakistan<br />
now, subjected dependants <strong>to</strong> – till <strong>the</strong> young grew old in <strong>the</strong> waiting <strong>and</strong> old folk just gave up or died. It<br />
was a move in Powell’s direction, but he meanwhile had moved on <strong>to</strong> higher things, like calculating <strong>the</strong> cost <strong>of</strong><br />
repatriations. Before Callaghan could move <strong>to</strong>wards him again, Labour lost <strong>the</strong> election (1970). It was now left <strong>to</strong><br />
a Tory government under Heath <strong>to</strong> effect Powellite policies (on behalf <strong>of</strong> Labour) in <strong>the</strong> Immigration Act <strong>of</strong> 1971.<br />
The new Act <strong>to</strong>pped all primary (black) immigration dead. Only ‘patrials’ (CaIIaghan’s euphemism for while Commonwealth<br />
citizens) had right <strong>of</strong> abode now Non-patrials could only come in on a permit <strong>to</strong> do a specific job in a specific<br />
place for a specific period. Their residence, deportation, repatriation <strong>and</strong> acquisition <strong>of</strong> citizenship were subject <strong>to</strong><br />
Home Office discretion. But constables <strong>and</strong> immigration <strong>of</strong>ficers were empowered <strong>to</strong> arrest without warrant anyone<br />
who had entered or was suspected (‘with reasonable cause’) <strong>to</strong> have entered <strong>the</strong> country illegally or overstayed his<br />
or her time or failed <strong>to</strong> observe <strong>the</strong> rules <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Act in any o<strong>the</strong>r particular. Since all blacks were. on <strong>the</strong> face <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m,<br />
non-patrials, this meant that all blacks were illegal immigrants unless proved o<strong>the</strong>rwise. And since, in this respect,<br />
<strong>the</strong> Act (when it came in<strong>to</strong> force in January 1973) would be retrospective, illegal immigrants went back a long way.<br />
Entry <strong>of</strong> dependants <strong>of</strong> those already settled in Britain would continue <strong>to</strong> be made on <strong>the</strong> basis <strong>of</strong> entry certificates<br />
issued by <strong>the</strong> British authorities, at <strong>the</strong>ir discretion, in <strong>the</strong> country <strong>of</strong> emigration. Eligibility — as <strong>to</strong> age,<br />
dependency, relationship <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> relative in <strong>the</strong> UK, etc. — would have <strong>to</strong> be proved by <strong>the</strong> dependant. Children<br />
would have <strong>to</strong> be under 18 <strong>to</strong> be eligible at all <strong>and</strong> parents over 65. But ‘entry clearances’ did not guarantee entry<br />
in<strong>to</strong> Britain. It could still be refused at <strong>the</strong> port <strong>of</strong> entry by <strong>the</strong> immigration <strong>of</strong>ficer on <strong>the</strong> ground that (false representations<br />
were employed or material facts were concealed, whe<strong>the</strong>r or not <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> holder’s knowledge, for <strong>the</strong><br />
purpose <strong>of</strong> obtaining clearance. (When, in 1980, Filipino domestic workers who had entered legally were <strong>to</strong> ask <strong>to</strong><br />
bring in <strong>the</strong>ir children, <strong>the</strong>y would be deported — on <strong>the</strong> basis <strong>of</strong> this clause -- for having withheld information (re<br />
children) which <strong>the</strong>y were not asked for in <strong>the</strong> first place.) And as for those who wanted <strong>to</strong> be repatriated, every<br />
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assistance would be afforded. On <strong>the</strong> face <strong>of</strong> it, <strong>the</strong> Act appeared no more racist than its predecessors. Bans<br />
<strong>and</strong> entry certificates, s<strong>to</strong>p <strong>and</strong> search arrests <strong>and</strong> (Sus* (under section 4’<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 1824 Vagrancy Act anyone could<br />
be arrested ‘on suspicion’ <strong>of</strong> loitering with intent <strong>to</strong> commit an arrestable <strong>of</strong>fence), detention <strong>and</strong> deportations<br />
were already everyday aspects <strong>of</strong> black life. Even <strong>the</strong> distinction made between <strong>the</strong> old settlers <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> new migrants<br />
<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong>m all migrants again did not seem <strong>to</strong> matter much: never been anything but ‘coloured immigrants’.<br />
But <strong>the</strong>re something else in <strong>the</strong> air. The ‘philosophy’ had begun <strong>to</strong> change, <strong>the</strong> raison d’etre <strong>of</strong> racism. It<br />
was not that racism did not make for cheap labour any more. but that <strong>the</strong>re was no need for capital <strong>to</strong> import<br />
it. Instead, thanks <strong>to</strong> advances in technology <strong>and</strong> changes in its own nature, capital could now move <strong>to</strong><br />
labour <strong>and</strong> did — <strong>the</strong> transnational corporations saw <strong>to</strong> that. (32) The problem was <strong>to</strong> get rid <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> labour,<br />
<strong>the</strong> black labour that was already here. And racism could help <strong>the</strong>re — with laws <strong>and</strong> regulations that kept<br />
families apart, sanctioned police harassment, invited fascist violence <strong>and</strong> generally made life untenable for<br />
<strong>the</strong> black citizens <strong>of</strong> Britain. And if <strong>the</strong>y wanted <strong>to</strong> return home, assisted passages would speed <strong>the</strong>ir way.<br />
To get <strong>the</strong> full flavour <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Immigration Act <strong>of</strong> 1971. however, it must be seen in conjunction with <strong>the</strong> Industrial Relations<br />
Act <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> same year. For if <strong>the</strong> Immigration Act affected <strong>the</strong> black peoples (in varying ways), <strong>the</strong> Industrial Relations<br />
Act, which put structures on trade unions <strong>and</strong> subjected industrial disputes <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> jurisdiction <strong>of</strong> a court, <strong>the</strong> National<br />
Industrial Relations Court (NIRC), affected <strong>the</strong> black working class specifically. As workers, <strong>the</strong>y were subject <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Industrial Relations Act’s overall attack on <strong>the</strong> class (<strong>and</strong> later <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> government’s three-day week). As blacks, <strong>the</strong>y<br />
were subject <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Immigration Act’s threat <strong>of</strong> deportation — as illegal immigrants or for acting in ways not ‘conducive<br />
<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> public good’. As blacks <strong>and</strong> workers, <strong>the</strong>y were subjected <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> increasing racism <strong>of</strong> white workers <strong>and</strong><br />
trade unions under siege — <strong>and</strong> more susceptible <strong>to</strong> being <strong>of</strong>fered up <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> NIRC for <strong>the</strong> adjudication <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir disputes.<br />
Toge<strong>the</strong>r, <strong>the</strong> Acts threatened <strong>to</strong> lock <strong>the</strong> black working class in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> position <strong>of</strong> a permanent under-class. Hence,<br />
it is precisely in <strong>the</strong> area <strong>of</strong> black working class struggles that <strong>the</strong> resistance <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> early 1970s becomes significant.<br />
But <strong>the</strong>se were not struggles apart. They were, because <strong>the</strong>y were black, tied up with o<strong>the</strong>r struggles in <strong>the</strong> community.<br />
in turn was involved in <strong>the</strong> battles on <strong>the</strong> fac<strong>to</strong>ry floor. The community struggles <strong>the</strong>mselves had as we have seen become<br />
increasingly politicised in <strong>the</strong> Black Power movement <strong>and</strong> organised in black political groups. And <strong>the</strong>y after <strong>the</strong><br />
failure <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> white left <strong>to</strong> acknowledge <strong>the</strong> special problems <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> black working class or <strong>the</strong> need for black self-help<br />
<strong>and</strong> organisation, began <strong>to</strong> address <strong>the</strong>mselves <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> problems <strong>of</strong> black workers in <strong>the</strong> fac<strong>to</strong>ries, in <strong>the</strong> schools, in <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
relationship with <strong>the</strong> police Which in turn was <strong>to</strong> lead <strong>to</strong> more intense confrontation with, if not <strong>the</strong> state directly, <strong>the</strong><br />
instruments <strong>of</strong> state oppression. But since <strong>the</strong>se operated differentially in respect <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Asian <strong>and</strong> West Indian communities,<br />
<strong>the</strong> resistance <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong>m was conducted at different levels, in different venues, with (<strong>of</strong>ten) different priorities.<br />
The energies <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Asian community, for instance, were taken up with trying <strong>to</strong> get <strong>the</strong>ir families <strong>and</strong> dependants<br />
in — <strong>and</strong> once in, <strong>to</strong> keep <strong>the</strong>m (<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>mselves) from being picked up as illegal immigrants. Since <strong>the</strong>se required<br />
a knowledge <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> law <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong>ficialdom, it was inevitable that <strong>the</strong>ir struggles in this respect would be channelled<br />
in<strong>to</strong> legal battles — mainly through <strong>the</strong> Joint Council for <strong>the</strong> Welfare <strong>of</strong> Immigrants (JCWI) (33) with its expertise<br />
<strong>and</strong> commitment — <strong>and</strong> in<strong>to</strong> petitioning <strong>and</strong> lobbying. This aspect was fur<strong>the</strong>r reinforced by <strong>the</strong> issue <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
‘shuttlecock Asians’, those British Asians in East Africa who (for one reason or ano<strong>the</strong>r) were b<strong>and</strong>ied about from<br />
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country <strong>to</strong> country before eventually being imprisoned in Britain prior <strong>to</strong> admission. (34) From 1972 Asian leaders<br />
<strong>and</strong> organisation were also preoccupied with <strong>the</strong> resettlement <strong>of</strong> British Asian refugees from Amin’s Ug<strong>and</strong>a.<br />
If <strong>the</strong> struggles <strong>to</strong> gain entry for <strong>the</strong>ir families <strong>and</strong> dependants drained <strong>the</strong> energies <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Asian community<br />
at one level, <strong>the</strong> abuse <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> humiliation that those seeking entry were submitted <strong>to</strong> by immigration <strong>of</strong>ficials<br />
served <strong>to</strong> degrade <strong>and</strong> some demoralise it. The instances are legion <strong>and</strong> have been documented elsewhere<br />
(35). But <strong>the</strong> most despicable <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m all was <strong>the</strong> vaginal examination <strong>of</strong> women for virginity – in itself<br />
appalling violation but, for women from a peasant culture, a violation beyond violence. Fur<strong>the</strong>r debilitating <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> community was <strong>the</strong> police use <strong>of</strong> informers <strong>to</strong> apprehend suspected illegal immigrants individually <strong>and</strong><br />
through ‘fishing raids’, generating <strong>the</strong>reby suspicion <strong>and</strong> distrust among families. In turn. against battle against<br />
channelled <strong>the</strong> community’s energies in<strong>to</strong> getting <strong>the</strong> retrospective aspect <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Immigration Act regarding<br />
illegal immigrants repealed (<strong>and</strong> was finally ‘rewarded’ by <strong>the</strong> dubious amnesty <strong>of</strong> 1974 for all those who<br />
had entered illegally before 1973). But <strong>the</strong> police’s Illegal Immigration Intelligence Unit remained in force. (36)<br />
The Afro-Caribbean community, for its part (excepting <strong>the</strong> workplace, which will be treated separately) was occupied<br />
fighting <strong>the</strong> miseducation <strong>of</strong> its children <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> police. Both problems had existed before, but <strong>the</strong>y ga<strong>the</strong>red<br />
momentum. West Indian children were consistently <strong>and</strong> right through <strong>the</strong> schooling system treated as uneducable<br />
<strong>and</strong> as having unrealistic aspirations’ <strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>r with a low IQ. Consequently, <strong>the</strong>y were ‘b<strong>and</strong>ed’ in<strong>to</strong> classes for<br />
backward children or dumped in ESN (educationally subnormal) schools <strong>and</strong> forgotten. The fight against categorisation<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir children as under-achieving, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>refore fit only <strong>to</strong> be an under-class begun in Haringey<br />
(London) in <strong>the</strong> 1960s by West Indian parents, teachers <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> North London West Indian Association (NLWIA)<br />
under Jeff Crawford, now spread <strong>to</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r areas <strong>and</strong> became incorporated in <strong>the</strong> programmes <strong>of</strong> black political<br />
organisations. An appeal <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Race Relations Board (1970) elicited <strong>the</strong> response that <strong>the</strong> placement <strong>of</strong> West Indian<br />
children in ESN schools was no unlawful act. The Caribbean Education Association <strong>the</strong>n held a conference on<br />
<strong>the</strong> subject <strong>and</strong> in <strong>the</strong> following year, Bernard Coard (now Deputy Prime Minister <strong>of</strong> Grenada) wrote his influential<br />
work, How <strong>the</strong> West Indian child is made educationally subnormal... Black militants <strong>and</strong> organisations, meanwhile,<br />
had begun <strong>to</strong> set up supplementary schools in <strong>the</strong> larger conurbations. In London alone <strong>the</strong>re was <strong>the</strong> Kwame<br />
Nkrumah school (Hackney black teachers), <strong>the</strong> Malcolm X Montessori Programme (Ajoy Ghose), <strong>the</strong> George Padmore<br />
school (John La Rose” <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Black Parents Movement), <strong>the</strong> South-east London Summer School (Black<br />
Unity <strong>and</strong> Freedom Party) Headstart (Black Liberation Front) <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Marcus Garvey school (BLF <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs). (38)<br />
Projects were also set up <strong>to</strong> teach skills <strong>to</strong> youth. The Mkutano Project, for instance, started by <strong>the</strong> BUFP (in<br />
1972) taught typing, pho<strong>to</strong>graphy, Swahili; <strong>the</strong> Melting pot, begun about <strong>the</strong> same time by Ash<strong>to</strong>n Gibson<br />
(once <strong>of</strong> RAAS), had a workshop for making clo<strong>the</strong>s; <strong>and</strong> Keskidee, set up by ex-CARD Oscar Abrams, taught<br />
art <strong>and</strong> sculpture <strong>and</strong> encouraged black poets <strong>and</strong> playwrights. For older students, Roy Sawh ran <strong>the</strong> Free University<br />
for Black Studies. And <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong>re were hostels for unemployed <strong>and</strong> homeless black youth — such as<br />
Bro<strong>the</strong>r Herman’s Harambee <strong>and</strong> Vince Hines’ Dashiki (both <strong>of</strong> whom had been active in RAAS) — <strong>and</strong> clubs<br />
<strong>and</strong> youth centres. Finally, <strong>the</strong>re were <strong>the</strong> bookshop cum advice centres, such as <strong>the</strong> Black Peoples Information<br />
Centre, BLF’s Grassroots S<strong>to</strong>refront <strong>and</strong> BWM’s Unity Bookshop, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> weekly or monthly newspapers:<br />
Black Voice (BUFP), Grassroots (BLF), Freedom News (BP: Black Pan<strong>the</strong>rs), Frontline (BCC: Brix<strong>to</strong>n <strong>and</strong> Croy-<br />
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don Collective), Uhuru (BPFM: Black Peopled Freedom Movement), BPFM Weekly, <strong>the</strong> BWAC Weekly (Black<br />
Workers’ Action Committee) <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> less frequent but more <strong>the</strong>oretical journal Black Libera<strong>to</strong>r — <strong>and</strong> a host<br />
<strong>of</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs that were more ephemeral. Some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se papers <strong>to</strong>ok up <strong>the</strong> question <strong>of</strong> black women, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
BUFP, following on <strong>the</strong> UCPA’s Black Women’s Liberation Movement, had a black women’s action committee.<br />
RAAS’s Black House was going <strong>to</strong> be a huge complex, encompassing several <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se activities. But hardly had<br />
it got <strong>of</strong>f <strong>the</strong> ground in February 1970 than it was raided by <strong>the</strong> police <strong>and</strong> closed down. And RAAS itself began<br />
<strong>to</strong> break up. Members <strong>of</strong> RAAS. however, went on <strong>to</strong> set up various self-help projects — as indicated above.<br />
By 1971 <strong>the</strong> UCPA was also breaking up in<strong>to</strong> its component groups, with <strong>the</strong> hard core <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m going <strong>to</strong> form <strong>the</strong><br />
BUFP. (National bodies were by now not as relevant <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> day-<strong>to</strong>-day struggles as local ones <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> former’s<br />
unifying role equally be fulfilled by ad hoc alliances.) The UCPA, RAAS, Black Pan<strong>the</strong>rs <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r black organisations<br />
had in <strong>the</strong> previous two years began increasingly occupied with <strong>the</strong> problem <strong>of</strong> police brutality <strong>and</strong> facist<br />
violence. The success <strong>of</strong> Black Power had bought down on its head <strong>the</strong> wrath <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> system. Its leaders were persecuted,<br />
its meetings disrupted, its places <strong>of</strong> work destroyed. But it had gone on gaining momentum <strong>and</strong> strength,<br />
it was not a party, but a movement, ga<strong>the</strong>ring <strong>to</strong> its str<strong>and</strong>s all <strong>the</strong> str<strong>and</strong>s <strong>of</strong> capitalist oppression, ga<strong>the</strong>ring <strong>to</strong> its<br />
program all <strong>the</strong> problems <strong>of</strong> oppressed peoples. There was hardly black in <strong>the</strong> country that did not identify with<br />
it <strong>and</strong> through it, all <strong>the</strong> non-whites <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> world in one way or ano<strong>the</strong>r. And as for <strong>the</strong> British-born youth who had<br />
been schooled in white racism, <strong>the</strong> movement was <strong>the</strong> cradle <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir consciousness, Vietnam, Guinea-Bissau,<br />
Zimbabwe. Azania were all <strong>the</strong>ir battle lines, China <strong>and</strong> Cuba <strong>the</strong>ir exemplars. The establishment was scared. The<br />
media voiced its fears. There were rumours that Black Power was about <strong>to</strong> take over Manchester City Council. (40)<br />
In <strong>the</strong> summer <strong>of</strong> 1969 <strong>the</strong> UCPA <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Caribbean Workers’ Movement were documenting<br />
<strong>and</strong> fighting <strong>the</strong> cases <strong>of</strong> people beaten up <strong>and</strong> framed by <strong>the</strong> police — in Manchester <strong>and</strong><br />
London. In August <strong>the</strong> UCPA held a Black Power rally against organised police brutality’ on <strong>the</strong> streets <strong>of</strong> Brix<strong>to</strong>n.<br />
In April 1970 <strong>the</strong> UCPA <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Pakistani Progressive Party staged a protest outside <strong>the</strong> House <strong>of</strong> Commons over<br />
‘Paki-bashing’, in <strong>the</strong> East End <strong>of</strong> London. And <strong>the</strong> Pakistani Workers’ Union called for citizens’ defence patrols:<br />
a number <strong>of</strong> Asians had been murdered in 1969 <strong>and</strong> 1970. A month later over 2,000 Pakistanis, Indians <strong>and</strong> West<br />
Indians marched from Hyde Park <strong>to</strong> Downing Street dem<strong>and</strong>ing police protection from skinhead attacks. In <strong>the</strong><br />
summer <strong>of</strong> 1970 police attacks on blacks — abuse, harassment, assaults, raids, arrests on sus, etc., in London,<br />
Manchester, Bris<strong>to</strong>l, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool. etc. — put whole black communities under siege. In July <strong>and</strong><br />
August <strong>the</strong>re were a series <strong>of</strong> clashes between black youth <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> police in London <strong>and</strong> on one occasion over<br />
a hundred youth surrounded <strong>the</strong> Caledonian <strong>Road</strong> police station dem<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>the</strong> release <strong>of</strong> four black who been<br />
wrongfully arrested. Things finally came <strong>to</strong> a head in Notting Hill on 9th August, when police broke up a demonstration<br />
against <strong>the</strong> proposed closure <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Mangrove restaurant with unprecedented violence. The blacks<br />
fought back, a number <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m were arrested, <strong>and</strong> nine <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ‘ring leaders’ charged with riot, affray <strong>and</strong> assault.<br />
The Mangrove was a meeting place <strong>and</strong> a eating place, a social <strong>and</strong> welfare club, a advice <strong>and</strong> resource<br />
centre, a black house for black people, a resting place in Babylon. And if only for this reason,<br />
<strong>the</strong> police could not leave it alone. They raided it <strong>and</strong> raided it, harassed its cus<strong>to</strong>mers <strong>and</strong> re-<br />
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lentlessly persecuted its owner. Frank Critchlow. They made it <strong>the</strong> test <strong>of</strong> police power; <strong>the</strong> blacks made<br />
it a symbol <strong>of</strong> resistance. The battle <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> blacks <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> police would be fought over <strong>the</strong> Mangrove.<br />
The trial <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Mangrove 9 (Oc<strong>to</strong>ber-December 1971) is <strong>to</strong>o well documented <strong>to</strong> be recounted here, but, briefly,<br />
<strong>the</strong>y won. They did more: <strong>the</strong>y <strong>to</strong>ok on what <strong>the</strong> defence counsel called ‘naked judicial tyranny’ — some by conducting<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir own defence — <strong>and</strong> won. Above all, <strong>the</strong>y unfolded before <strong>the</strong> nation <strong>the</strong> corruption <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> police<br />
force, <strong>the</strong> bias <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> judicial system, <strong>the</strong> racism <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> media — <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> refusal <strong>of</strong> black people <strong>to</strong> submit <strong>the</strong>mselves<br />
<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> tyrannies <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> state. O<strong>the</strong>r trials would follow <strong>and</strong> even more bizarre prosecutions be brought, as<br />
when <strong>the</strong> alleged edi<strong>to</strong>r <strong>of</strong> Grassroots was charged with ‘encouraging <strong>the</strong> murder <strong>of</strong> person’s unknown’ by reprinting<br />
an article from <strong>the</strong> freely available American Black Pan<strong>the</strong>r paper on how <strong>to</strong> make Molo<strong>to</strong>v cocktails. But<br />
<strong>the</strong>y would all be defended — by <strong>the</strong> whole community — <strong>and</strong> become ano<strong>the</strong>r school <strong>of</strong> political education. (41)<br />
If <strong>the</strong> Mangrove marked <strong>the</strong> high water-mark <strong>of</strong> Black Power <strong>and</strong> lowered <strong>the</strong> threshold <strong>of</strong> what black people<br />
would take, it also marked <strong>the</strong> beginnings <strong>of</strong> ano<strong>the</strong>r resistance: <strong>of</strong> black youth condemned by racism <strong>to</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> margins <strong>of</strong> existence <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n put upon by <strong>the</strong> police. Sus had always laid <strong>the</strong>m open <strong>to</strong> police harassment,<br />
but <strong>the</strong> government’s White Paper on Police-Immigrant Relations in 1973, which warned <strong>of</strong> ‘a small minority <strong>of</strong><br />
young coloured people... anxious <strong>to</strong> imitate behaviour amongst <strong>the</strong> black community in <strong>the</strong> United States’, put<br />
<strong>the</strong> government’s imprimatur on police behaviour. The previous year <strong>the</strong> press <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> police had discovered a<br />
frightening new strain <strong>of</strong> crime’ <strong>and</strong> ‘mugging’ was added <strong>to</strong> Sus’ as an <strong>of</strong>fence on which <strong>the</strong> police could go<br />
on <strong>the</strong> <strong>of</strong>fensive against West Indian youth. (42) The courts had already nodded <strong>the</strong>ir approval— by way <strong>of</strong> an<br />
exemplary twenty-year sentence passed on a 16-year-old ‘mugger’. From <strong>the</strong>n on, <strong>the</strong> lives <strong>of</strong> black youths<br />
in <strong>the</strong> cities <strong>of</strong> Britain were subject <strong>to</strong> increased pressure. Their clubs were attacked on one pretext or ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir meeting places raided <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir events - carnivals, bonfires, parties – blanketed by police presence. Black<br />
youths could not walk <strong>the</strong> streets outside <strong>the</strong> ghet<strong>to</strong> or hang around streets within it without courting arrest. And<br />
apart from individual arrests, whole communities were subjected <strong>to</strong> road blocks, s<strong>to</strong>p <strong>and</strong> search <strong>and</strong> mass arrests.<br />
In Brix<strong>to</strong>n in 1975 <strong>the</strong> para-military Special Patrol Group (SPG) cruised <strong>the</strong> streets in force, made arbitrary<br />
arrests <strong>and</strong> generally terrorised <strong>the</strong> community. In Lewisham, <strong>the</strong> same year, <strong>the</strong> SPG s<strong>to</strong>pped 14.000 people on<br />
<strong>the</strong> streets <strong>and</strong> made 400 arrests. The pattern was repeated by similar police units in o<strong>the</strong>r parts <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> country.<br />
The youth struck back <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> community closed behind <strong>the</strong>m at Brockwell Park fair in 1973, for instance, <strong>and</strong> at <strong>the</strong><br />
Carib Club (1974) <strong>and</strong> in Chapel<strong>to</strong>wn, Leeds, on bonfire night (1975), <strong>and</strong> finally exploded in<strong>to</strong> direct confrontation, with<br />
bricks <strong>and</strong> bottles <strong>and</strong> burning <strong>of</strong> police cars., at <strong>the</strong> Notting Hill Carnival <strong>of</strong> <strong>1976</strong> — when 1,600 policemen <strong>to</strong>ok it on<br />
<strong>the</strong>mselves <strong>to</strong> kill joy on <strong>the</strong> streets. Clearly <strong>the</strong> politics <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> stick had not paid <strong>of</strong>f — or perhaps needed <strong>to</strong> be stepped<br />
up <strong>to</strong> be really effective. But by now a Labour government was in power <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> emphasis shifted <strong>to</strong> social control.<br />
Meanwhile, <strong>the</strong> struggles in <strong>the</strong> workplace were throwing up ‘ano<strong>the</strong>r community, a community <strong>of</strong> black class interests<br />
— linking <strong>the</strong> shop-floor battles <strong>of</strong> Pakistanis. Indians <strong>and</strong> West Indians, sometimes directly through roving strike<br />
committees, sometimes through black political organisations, while combating at <strong>the</strong> same time <strong>the</strong> racism <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
trade unions, from within <strong>the</strong>ir ranks. Where <strong>the</strong>y were not unionised, black workers first used <strong>the</strong> unions, who were<br />
rarely loth <strong>to</strong> increase unionisation – <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n <strong>to</strong>ok on <strong>the</strong> racism <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> unions <strong>the</strong>mselves. Unions, after all, were <strong>the</strong><br />
organisations <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir class <strong>and</strong>, however vital <strong>the</strong>ir struggles as blacks, <strong>to</strong> remain a people apart, would be <strong>to</strong> set back<br />
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<strong>the</strong> class struggle itself. They had <strong>to</strong> fight simultaneously as a people <strong>and</strong> as a class – as black <strong>and</strong> as workers – not<br />
by subsuming <strong>the</strong> race struggles <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> class struggle but by deepening <strong>and</strong> broadening class struggle through<br />
its black <strong>and</strong> anti-colonial, anti-imperialist dimension. The struggle against racism was a struggle for <strong>the</strong> class.<br />
A series <strong>of</strong> strikes in <strong>the</strong> early 1970s in <strong>the</strong> textile <strong>and</strong> allied industries in <strong>the</strong> East Midl<strong>and</strong>s <strong>and</strong> in various fac<strong>to</strong>ries in<br />
London illustrate <strong>the</strong>se developments. In May 1972 Pakistani workers in Crepe Sizes in Nottingham went on strike over<br />
working conditions, redundancies <strong>and</strong> pay. They composed <strong>the</strong> lowliest two-thirds <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> workforce. were subjected<br />
<strong>to</strong> constant racial abuse by <strong>the</strong> white foreman <strong>and</strong> worked, without adequate safety precautions <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong>ilet <strong>and</strong> canteen<br />
facilities, an eighty four-hour week for £40.08. And yet five <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir number had been made redundant — after<br />
<strong>the</strong> workers had joined <strong>the</strong> Transport <strong>and</strong> General Workers’ Union (TGWU). There was no <strong>of</strong>ficial support from <strong>the</strong><br />
union, however, till a Solidarity Committee composed <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> wives <strong>and</strong> families <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> strikers <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r Asian workers,<br />
community organisations <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Nottingham-based BPFM forced <strong>the</strong> TGWU <strong>to</strong> act. In June <strong>the</strong> management<br />
capitulated, agreeing <strong>to</strong> union recognition <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> re-instatement <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> workers who had been made redundant.<br />
The strike <strong>of</strong> Indian workers at Mansfield Hosiery Mills in Loughborough in Oc<strong>to</strong>ber 1972 was for higher wages <strong>and</strong><br />
against <strong>the</strong> denial <strong>of</strong> promotion <strong>to</strong> jobs reserved for whites. The white workers went along with <strong>the</strong> wages claim<br />
but not promotion. <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> union, <strong>the</strong> National Union <strong>of</strong> Hosiery <strong>and</strong> Knitwear Workers, first prevaricated <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n<br />
decided (after <strong>the</strong> strikers had occupied <strong>the</strong> union <strong>of</strong>fices) <strong>to</strong> make <strong>the</strong> strike <strong>of</strong>ficial, but not <strong>to</strong> call out <strong>the</strong> white<br />
workers. Once again, community associations, Asian workers at ano<strong>the</strong>r company fac<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>and</strong> political organisations<br />
like <strong>the</strong> BPFM <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> BWM provided, in <strong>the</strong> Mansfield Hosiery Strike Committee, <strong>the</strong> basis for struggle.<br />
So that when strikes by Asian workers at <strong>the</strong> Courtauld owned Harwood Cash Lawn Mills in Mansfield <strong>and</strong> E.E.<br />
Jaffe <strong>and</strong> Malmic Lace in Nottingham broke out in <strong>the</strong> middle <strong>of</strong> 1973, <strong>the</strong> Mansfield Hosiery Strike Committee<br />
was at h<strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> give <strong>the</strong>m support. More importantly - from a long-term view - <strong>the</strong> Strike Committee, pursuing<br />
its policy <strong>of</strong> pushing <strong>the</strong> trade union movement <strong>to</strong> fight racism not just in word but in deed, now called<br />
for a Conference <strong>of</strong> Trade Unions against Racialism. Accordingly, in June 1973 350 delegates from all <strong>the</strong> major<br />
unions <strong>and</strong> representatives from black community groups <strong>and</strong> black organisations came <strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>r at a conference<br />
in Digbeth Hall, Birmingham. From this emerged <strong>the</strong> Birmingham Conference Steering Committee,<br />
which in turn led <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> setting up <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> National Committee for Trade Unions against Racialism (NCTUAR).<br />
Meanwhile, in <strong>the</strong> London area in June 1972, West Indian workers at Stanmore Engineering Works struck work dem<strong>and</strong>ing<br />
wage increases recommended by <strong>the</strong>ir union, <strong>the</strong> Amalgamated Union <strong>of</strong> Engineering Workers (AUEW).<br />
They went fur<strong>the</strong>r, <strong>the</strong>y staged a sit-in. But although <strong>the</strong> union was prepared <strong>to</strong> award strike pay, it was not prepared<br />
<strong>to</strong> bring its national weight <strong>to</strong> bear on <strong>the</strong> strike — by, for instance, getting workers <strong>and</strong> unions in <strong>the</strong> mo<strong>to</strong>r industry <strong>to</strong><br />
‘black’ products from Stanmore Engineering. The strikers were eventually removed by a court injunction <strong>and</strong> sacked.<br />
Trade union racism showed up again a year later in <strong>the</strong> strike at St<strong>and</strong>ard Telephone <strong>and</strong> Cables (New Southgate),<br />
a subsidiary <strong>of</strong> ITT, over promotion <strong>of</strong> West Indians <strong>to</strong> ‘white only jobs’. The craft unions, like <strong>the</strong> Metal Mechanics,<br />
remained stubbornly craft/race oriented. The Electrical Trades Union (ETU) opposed <strong>the</strong> strike as detrimental <strong>to</strong> its<br />
(white) members, in<strong>to</strong> whose ranks blacks sought promotion. The local AUEW shop steward, though supporting <strong>the</strong><br />
strikers, could not get <strong>the</strong> support <strong>of</strong> his union on a national basis. The NCTUAR called on <strong>the</strong> trade unions <strong>and</strong> trade<br />
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unionists <strong>to</strong> back <strong>the</strong> workers in <strong>of</strong>ficial strike action against racial discrimination – <strong>and</strong> leafleted <strong>the</strong> Trade Union Congress<br />
Conference at Blackpool. Once again, all <strong>the</strong> black political organisations, <strong>the</strong> London based BUFP, BCC, BWCC<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> BWM, along with <strong>the</strong> BWAC <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> BPFM from <strong>the</strong> East Midl<strong>and</strong>s, came <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> aid <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> strikers. The BWAC sent<br />
a cable <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Non-Aligned Conference in Algiers pointing out <strong>the</strong> international depredations <strong>of</strong> ITT. But all <strong>to</strong> no avail.<br />
In November 1973, in a strike at Perival Gutermann, a yearn fac<strong>to</strong>ry in Southall, over <strong>the</strong> question <strong>of</strong> ages <strong>and</strong> productivity,<br />
Indian <strong>and</strong> Pakistani workers struck work <strong>and</strong> were sacked. The TGWU branch supported <strong>the</strong> strike but gave no<br />
strike pay till February <strong>the</strong> following year. Management tried <strong>to</strong> introduce <strong>the</strong>ir version <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Indo-Pakistan war in<strong>to</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> fac<strong>to</strong>ry, but failed <strong>to</strong> inflame communal passions. The workers once again turned <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> communities for help <strong>and</strong><br />
were assisted by Indian <strong>and</strong> Pakistani workers’ associations, Gurdwaras <strong>and</strong> local shops, who between <strong>the</strong>m collected<br />
money <strong>and</strong> supplied <strong>the</strong> men on strike with free sugar, Hour, oil <strong>and</strong> essential groceries. The TGWU, which, like most<br />
unions, had hi<strong>the</strong>r<strong>to</strong> refused <strong>to</strong> cooperate with <strong>the</strong> government’s restrictive Industrial Relations Act, now referred<br />
<strong>the</strong> case <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> dismissed workers <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> NIRC — which <strong>of</strong> course ruled against <strong>the</strong> men. The strike was defeated.<br />
The apo<strong>the</strong>osis <strong>of</strong> racism, however, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>refore <strong>the</strong> resistance <strong>to</strong> it, was reached in 1974 at <strong>the</strong> strike in Imperial<br />
Typewriters (in Leicester), a subsidiary <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> multinational Lit<strong>to</strong>n Industries. For here <strong>the</strong> white workers,<br />
management <strong>and</strong> unions worked h<strong>and</strong> in glove <strong>and</strong> were backed up by <strong>the</strong> violent presence <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> National<br />
Front at <strong>the</strong> fac<strong>to</strong>ry gates. Over a thous<strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 1,500 workforce were Asians, a large section <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m women,<br />
most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m refugees from Ug<strong>and</strong>a, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> strike itself arose from <strong>the</strong> usual practices <strong>of</strong> racial discrimination<br />
<strong>and</strong> exploitation. The TGWU refused <strong>to</strong> support <strong>the</strong> strikers with <strong>the</strong> hoary excuse that <strong>the</strong>y had not<br />
followed correct negotiating procedures, <strong>and</strong> even prevailed on some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Asian workers <strong>to</strong> remain at work<br />
by insisting that ‘<strong>the</strong> tensions are between those Asians from <strong>the</strong> subcontinent <strong>and</strong> those from Africa’. By now,<br />
<strong>of</strong> course, <strong>the</strong>re was virtually a st<strong>and</strong>ing conference <strong>of</strong> black strike committees in <strong>the</strong> Midl<strong>and</strong>s <strong>and</strong> a network<br />
<strong>of</strong> community associations <strong>and</strong> groups plus several black political organisations, all <strong>of</strong> which came <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> aid<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> strikers. And money came in from. amongst o<strong>the</strong>rs, <strong>the</strong> Southall IWA, Birmingham Sikh temple, a women’s<br />
conference in Edinburgh, <strong>the</strong> Birmingham <strong>Anti</strong>-racist Committee <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> European Workers’ Action Committee.<br />
The strikers won, but <strong>the</strong> firm was closed shortly afterwards by <strong>the</strong> multinational parent company. (45)<br />
By <strong>the</strong> middle <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 1970s, <strong>the</strong> youth had begun <strong>to</strong> emerge in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> vanguard <strong>of</strong> black struggle.<br />
And <strong>the</strong>y brought <strong>to</strong> it not only <strong>the</strong> traditions <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir elders but an experience <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
own, which was implacable <strong>of</strong> racism <strong>and</strong> impervious <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> bl<strong>and</strong>ishments <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> state.<br />
The daily confrontations with <strong>the</strong> police, <strong>the</strong> battles <strong>of</strong> Brockwel Park <strong>and</strong> Chapel<strong>to</strong>wn <strong>and</strong> Notting Hill with <strong>the</strong><br />
judicial set-up had established <strong>the</strong>ir hatred <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> system, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>y were now beginning <strong>to</strong> carve out a politics<br />
from <strong>the</strong> experience <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir own existence. Already by 1973, ‘marginalised’ young West Indians in <strong>the</strong> ghet<strong>to</strong>s<br />
<strong>of</strong> Britain were being attracted <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> popular politics <strong>of</strong> Rastafari. Bred in <strong>the</strong> ‘gullies’ <strong>of</strong> Jamaica, <strong>the</strong> Rastas<br />
were mortally opposed <strong>to</strong> consumer-capitalist society <strong>and</strong> saw in <strong>the</strong>ir own predicament <strong>the</strong> results <strong>of</strong><br />
neo-colonial <strong>and</strong> imperialist intervention. (46) And in <strong>the</strong>ir locks <strong>and</strong> dress <strong>and</strong> music <strong>the</strong>y signified <strong>the</strong>ir deadly<br />
opposition. They were <strong>the</strong> ‘burning spear’ <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> new resistance. The police <strong>to</strong>ok note, <strong>the</strong> state also.<br />
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The Labour government^ White Paper <strong>of</strong> September 1975 <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Race Relations Act that followed it in February<br />
<strong>1976</strong> spelt out between <strong>the</strong>m <strong>the</strong> anxieties <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> state. Having noted that ‘about two out <strong>of</strong> every five<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> coloured people in this country now were born here <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> time is not far <strong>of</strong>f when <strong>the</strong> majority <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
coloured population will be British born, <strong>the</strong> government warned that it was ‘vital <strong>to</strong> our well being as a society<br />
<strong>to</strong> tap <strong>the</strong>se reservoirs <strong>of</strong> resilience, initiative <strong>and</strong> vigour in <strong>the</strong> racial minority groups <strong>and</strong> not <strong>to</strong> allow <strong>the</strong>m<br />
<strong>to</strong> lie unused or <strong>to</strong> be deflected in<strong>to</strong> negative protest on account <strong>of</strong> arbitrary <strong>and</strong> unfair discrimina<strong>to</strong>ry practices’.<br />
Hence <strong>the</strong> government would pass a Race Relations Act which would encompass whole areas <strong>of</strong> discrimination<br />
<strong>and</strong> vest <strong>the</strong> new Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), a merger <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> CRC (47) <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> RRB/with a<br />
few more powers <strong>to</strong> deal with it - <strong>and</strong> develop in <strong>the</strong> process a class collabora<strong>to</strong>rs who would manage racism<br />
<strong>and</strong> its social <strong>and</strong> political fall out. At <strong>the</strong> same time, it would h<strong>and</strong> out massive sums <strong>of</strong> money from its Urban<br />
Aid programme <strong>to</strong> key black self help groups <strong>and</strong> so stamp out <strong>the</strong> breeding grounds <strong>of</strong> resistance. (48)<br />
The strategy worked in <strong>the</strong> short run. But even within a year, it was showing signs <strong>of</strong> failing in <strong>the</strong> long term.<br />
In September 1975 three young West Indian (two <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m youngsters) in <strong>the</strong> hope <strong>of</strong> financing black political<br />
groups that had refused <strong>to</strong> be corrupted by state benefice <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> setting up black schools <strong>and</strong> self-help groups,<br />
held up <strong>the</strong> Spaghetti House, a restaurant in Knightsbridge. At <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> a five-day siege, <strong>the</strong>y were arrested<br />
<strong>and</strong> charged <strong>and</strong> received sentences from seventeen <strong>to</strong> twenty years. For Sir Robert Mark. Metropolitan Police<br />
Commissioner, <strong>the</strong> Spaghetti House case... was <strong>the</strong> most difficult <strong>and</strong> potentially explosive <strong>of</strong> all <strong>the</strong> various<br />
problems’ (49) he had <strong>to</strong> deal with in his career but it was also one in which his strategy <strong>to</strong> by-pass his<br />
political masters <strong>and</strong> go direct <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> media for <strong>the</strong> legitimation <strong>of</strong> police practice had paid <strong>of</strong>f. It was an entente<br />
that, given <strong>the</strong> endemic racism <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> media <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> police, operated naturally vis-a--vis <strong>the</strong> black population,<br />
but would now be extended <strong>to</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r areas <strong>of</strong> society <strong>and</strong> substitute legitimation for accountability. (50)<br />
Among <strong>the</strong> Asians, <strong>to</strong>o, it was <strong>the</strong> youth who were moving in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> forefront <strong>of</strong> struggle. Like <strong>the</strong>ir Afro-Caribbean<br />
peers, <strong>the</strong>y had been bred in a culture <strong>of</strong> racism <strong>and</strong>, like <strong>the</strong>m, were impatient though not dismissive<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> forms <strong>of</strong> struggle that <strong>the</strong>ir elders conducted. The fascist attacks in <strong>the</strong>ir community had gone on<br />
mounting, <strong>the</strong> police afforded no protection against <strong>the</strong>m, condoned <strong>the</strong>m, even, by refusing <strong>to</strong> recognise<br />
<strong>the</strong>m as racially motivated. And <strong>the</strong> police <strong>the</strong>mselves subjected <strong>the</strong> community <strong>to</strong> racial abuse, arbitrary arrest<br />
<strong>and</strong> ‘fishing raids’ for ‘illegal immigrants’. And <strong>the</strong>n, in June <strong>1976</strong>, opposite lWA’s Dominion Cinema, Southall,<br />
a symbol <strong>of</strong> Asian self-reliance <strong>and</strong> security, 18-year-old Gurdip Singh Chaggar was set upon by a gang <strong>of</strong><br />
white youths <strong>and</strong> stabbed <strong>to</strong> death. (The motive, announced Sir Robert Mark, was not necessarily racial.)<br />
A few months earlier, <strong>the</strong> government (Labour) had announced a Green Paper on Nationality (on <strong>the</strong> lines <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> present<br />
Tory Act) which would ‘rationalise’ <strong>the</strong> law which <strong>the</strong>y <strong>the</strong>mselves had fouled up in 1968. (Of course <strong>the</strong>y had, as<br />
was <strong>the</strong>ir wont, balanced it with an anti-discrimina<strong>to</strong>ry Race Relations Bill which was just <strong>the</strong>n, March, going through<br />
parliament.) In April, <strong>the</strong> NF staged a march through <strong>the</strong> black areas <strong>of</strong> Bradford under police protection, but were<br />
beaten back by <strong>the</strong> people <strong>of</strong> Manningham, Asians <strong>and</strong> Afro-Caribbean’s, young <strong>and</strong> old. In May, <strong>the</strong> press started<br />
a concerted campaign against immigration with <strong>the</strong> revelation that a homeless British Asian from Malawi was being<br />
housed in a four-star hotel at a cost £600 per week <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> British tax-payer. Later that month, Enoch announced that<br />
he had secret information from a supposed government report which said that bogus dependants <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir wives<br />
from India making <strong>the</strong>ir way in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> country. The press picked up PoweII, as PoweII had picked up <strong>the</strong> press. And <strong>the</strong><br />
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attacks on <strong>the</strong> ‘Asian invaders’ became more intense through <strong>the</strong> days <strong>of</strong> May. On 4 June Chaggar was killed. (51)<br />
The community was stunned. A meeting was held <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> elders went about it in <strong>the</strong> time-honoured way, passing<br />
resolutions, making statements. The youth <strong>to</strong>ok over — marched <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> police station, dem<strong>and</strong>ing redress, s<strong>to</strong>ning a<br />
police van en route. The police arrested two <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m. They sat down before <strong>the</strong> police station <strong>and</strong> refused <strong>to</strong> move —<br />
until <strong>the</strong>ir fellows were released. They were released. The following day <strong>the</strong> Southall Youth Movement (SYM) was born.<br />
Various Asian youth movements sprang from this initiative — whenever <strong>and</strong> wherever <strong>the</strong>re was need <strong>and</strong> in response<br />
<strong>to</strong> specific circumstances. But since <strong>the</strong>se circumstances were invariably connected with fascist attacks <strong>and</strong><br />
murders <strong>and</strong>/or police inability ei<strong>the</strong>r <strong>to</strong> protect or apprehend (an inability so massive that it had taken a qualitative<br />
leap in<strong>to</strong> connivance) (52) <strong>the</strong> youth movements tended <strong>to</strong> centre largely around <strong>the</strong> defence <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir communities,<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir organisations <strong>to</strong> reflect that purpose. (Their intervention in <strong>the</strong> campaigns against deportation would<br />
come later.) In <strong>the</strong> course <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> next couple <strong>of</strong> years a number <strong>of</strong> youth organisations <strong>and</strong> defence committees<br />
sprang up, in London, Manchester, Leicester, Bradford, several <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m in London alone in Brick Lane after <strong>the</strong> murders<br />
<strong>of</strong> Altab Ali <strong>and</strong> Ishaque Ali, in Hackney after <strong>the</strong> murder <strong>of</strong> Michael Ferreira, in Newham after <strong>the</strong> murder <strong>of</strong><br />
Akhtar Ali Baig. And, like <strong>the</strong> strike committee earlier, <strong>the</strong> youth groups moved around aiding <strong>and</strong> supporting each<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r – joining <strong>and</strong> working with <strong>the</strong> West Indian youth groups in <strong>the</strong> process, sometimes on an organisational basis<br />
(SYM <strong>and</strong> Peoples Unite, Bradford Blacks <strong>and</strong> Bradford Youth Movement), sometimes as individuals, <strong>of</strong>ten coalescing<br />
in<strong>to</strong> political groups (Hackney Black People’s Defence Organisation <strong>and</strong> Bradford United Black Youth League).<br />
At ano<strong>the</strong>r level, political groups were consciously formed by Afro-Caribbean’s, Asian <strong>and</strong> Africans who had been<br />
active in white left movements but had left <strong>the</strong>m white left movements but had left <strong>the</strong>m because <strong>the</strong>y did not speak <strong>to</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> black experience. And <strong>the</strong>y <strong>to</strong>ok on, not only <strong>the</strong> black condition in Britain, but that <strong>of</strong> black peoples everywhere.<br />
They were anti-racist <strong>and</strong> anti-imperlaist ; <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>y were active in <strong>the</strong>ir communities. Their publications showed <strong>the</strong>se<br />
concerns <strong>and</strong> helped fur<strong>the</strong>r <strong>to</strong> politicise black people. Samaj in’a Babylon, in Urdu <strong>and</strong> English, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> group that<br />
produced <strong>the</strong> paper, came out <strong>of</strong> Chaggar’s murder (June <strong>1976</strong>), <strong>the</strong> Notting Hill riots (August <strong>1976</strong>) <strong>and</strong> Sowe<strong>to</strong><br />
(June <strong>1976</strong>). Black Struggle was its <strong>the</strong>oretical but accessible counterpart. Mukti its successor. Black Socialist Alliance<br />
(BSA) would comprehend <strong>the</strong>m all for a while <strong>and</strong> shift <strong>the</strong> emphasis <strong>to</strong> campaigning material. Blacks Against State<br />
Harassment (BASH) would later address / itself specifically <strong>to</strong> state racism. O<strong>the</strong>r papers <strong>and</strong> journals <strong>and</strong> defence<br />
committee sheets <strong>and</strong> newsletters came <strong>and</strong> went, like <strong>the</strong>ir organisations, as <strong>the</strong> struggle rose <strong>and</strong> fell, moved <strong>and</strong><br />
shifted, re-formed — but moving always in one direction: against <strong>the</strong> police, <strong>the</strong> government, racism. And <strong>the</strong> sheep/<br />
goat distinction that <strong>the</strong> state had hoped, by selective openings in higher education, <strong>to</strong> achieve, had broken down: <strong>the</strong><br />
educated gave <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir skills <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> community <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> community grounded <strong>the</strong>m in <strong>the</strong> realities <strong>of</strong> political struggle.<br />
S<strong>to</strong>p at Heathrow a minute, at <strong>the</strong> airport, as you are coming in or, if you are lucky, going out. Look around<br />
you, <strong>and</strong> you will see <strong>the</strong> division <strong>of</strong> labour that characterises <strong>the</strong> workforce <strong>of</strong> Britain. Cleaning <strong>and</strong> sweeping<br />
<strong>the</strong> (women’s) lava<strong>to</strong>ries, <strong>the</strong> halls, <strong>the</strong> stairways are Asian women from nearby Southall. Among<br />
<strong>the</strong> porters, you will find a scattering <strong>of</strong> Asian <strong>and</strong> West Indian men. In <strong>the</strong> catering section, white women<br />
pack <strong>the</strong> food on <strong>the</strong> trays, while Asian women pack <strong>the</strong> same trays with cutlery (for £10 less per week).<br />
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The menials in <strong>the</strong> kitchen are invariably Asian women — plus a few men, perhaps, for <strong>the</strong> heavier work.<br />
And, <strong>of</strong> course, <strong>the</strong>re is no question <strong>of</strong> promotion. Indeed, <strong>the</strong>y are lucky if <strong>the</strong> agency that employs <strong>the</strong>m does not<br />
sack <strong>the</strong>m <strong>and</strong> re-employ <strong>the</strong>m at some o<strong>the</strong>r terminal, at <strong>the</strong> same wage if not a lower one. Their union, <strong>the</strong> TGWU,<br />
has been indifferent <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir dem<strong>and</strong>s <strong>and</strong> in 1975, when 450 Asian workers on <strong>the</strong>ir own initiative, <strong>the</strong> union declared<br />
<strong>the</strong> strike. The women managed, though, <strong>to</strong> elicit a few concessions on <strong>the</strong>ir won – <strong>and</strong> went back <strong>to</strong> work. (53)<br />
The strike at Grunwick Film Processing plant in North London in August <strong>1976</strong> is. <strong>of</strong> course, more celebrated —<br />
not only because <strong>the</strong> Asian workers, most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m women from East Africa, sustained it in wet <strong>and</strong> snow <strong>and</strong><br />
police harassment <strong>of</strong> pickets for over a year, but also because <strong>the</strong> whole force <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> unions <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> government<br />
appeared <strong>to</strong> be ga<strong>the</strong>red at last on behalf <strong>of</strong> black workers. Not only were <strong>the</strong> strikers given strike pay<br />
by <strong>the</strong>ir union, but were also supported by <strong>the</strong> national unions — TGWU, TUC <strong>and</strong> UPW (Union <strong>of</strong> Post Office<br />
Workers) — <strong>and</strong> by local union branches, shop steward’s committees, trade councils, <strong>the</strong> lot. And cabinet ministers<br />
appeared on <strong>the</strong> picket lines. The basic issue for <strong>the</strong> strikers was <strong>the</strong> question <strong>of</strong> racist exploitation with<br />
which union recognition was involved, but, in <strong>the</strong> course <strong>of</strong> accepting union support, <strong>the</strong>y also accepted <strong>the</strong><br />
union line that union recognition by management was really <strong>the</strong> basic issue, losing in <strong>the</strong> process <strong>the</strong> lasting<br />
support <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> black community. Union recognition would not have <strong>of</strong> itself got <strong>the</strong> vast backing <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> unions,<br />
let alone that <strong>of</strong> cabinet ministers — it had never happened before — but <strong>the</strong>re was now a deal between <strong>the</strong><br />
government <strong>and</strong> unions (<strong>the</strong> Social Contract) which in exchange for workers not striking ensured, through <strong>the</strong> Employment<br />
Protection Act, that employers did not prevent unionisation. And that put Grunwick in <strong>the</strong> middle <strong>of</strong> it.<br />
As <strong>the</strong> strike dragged on in<strong>to</strong> a year <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> media <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> management <strong>and</strong> its supporters threatened <strong>to</strong> involve<br />
more fundamental political issues such as <strong>the</strong> closed shop <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> mass picket, <strong>the</strong> unions lost interest <strong>and</strong><br />
left. In November 1977 four strikers, two <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m women, started a hunger strike outside <strong>the</strong> TUC headquarters.<br />
They were immediately suspended by <strong>the</strong>ir union <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir strike pay withdrawn. Len Murray, General Secretary<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> TUC, suggested that <strong>the</strong>y take up <strong>the</strong>ir hunger strike at <strong>the</strong> fac<strong>to</strong>ry gates <strong>and</strong> not outside his <strong>of</strong>fice. (54)<br />
The lessons <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> earlier strikes – that black workers needed <strong>to</strong> rally <strong>the</strong> community behind <strong>the</strong>m <strong>and</strong> from that<br />
base force <strong>the</strong> unions on <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir side – had been temporary unlearnt by workers who had not had <strong>the</strong> benefit <strong>of</strong><br />
that tradition. On <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r h<strong>and</strong>, <strong>the</strong> persistence <strong>of</strong> Asian women in going on <strong>the</strong> picket lines, month after month,<br />
against <strong>the</strong> pressure <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir husb<strong>and</strong>s <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir fa<strong>the</strong>rs, <strong>the</strong> deception <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> union <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> attacks <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> SPG – supported<br />
consistently by women’s groups – had established <strong>the</strong> strength <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> emerging black women’s movement.<br />
In 1977 <strong>the</strong> National Front, encouraged by <strong>the</strong>ir performance (in terms <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> percentage <strong>of</strong><br />
votes cast) in previous local elections, staged several marches through black city areas, with<br />
<strong>the</strong> police ensuring for <strong>the</strong>m <strong>the</strong> freedoms <strong>of</strong> speech <strong>and</strong> assembly They were closely attended<br />
by anti-racist groups — <strong>and</strong> black youth <strong>to</strong>ok <strong>the</strong> opportunity <strong>to</strong> s<strong>to</strong>ne both police <strong>and</strong> fascists alike.<br />
In January 1978 Judge McKinnon ruled that Kingsley Read’s pronouncement on Chaggar’s death — ‘One down, one million<br />
<strong>to</strong> go’ — did not constitute incitement <strong>to</strong> racial hatred. ‘In this Engl<strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> ours,’ <strong>the</strong> Judge observed, ‘we are allowed <strong>to</strong><br />
have our own views still, thank goodness, <strong>and</strong> long may it last.’ Kingsley Read was <strong>the</strong> head <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> fascist National Party.<br />
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In <strong>the</strong> same month, in <strong>the</strong> run-up <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> local elections, itself a run-up <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> general election <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> following<br />
year, Margaret Thatcher assured <strong>the</strong> nation that her party would ‘finally see an end <strong>to</strong> immigration, for this country<br />
might be ra<strong>the</strong>r swamped by people with a different culture’. Since primary immigration had ended with <strong>the</strong><br />
1971 Act, she was clearly referring <strong>to</strong> dependants. Shortly afterwards, <strong>the</strong> House <strong>of</strong> Commons (all-party) Select<br />
Committee on Race Relations <strong>and</strong> Immigration, sounding a similar note, went on <strong>to</strong> recommend ‘new procedures<br />
<strong>to</strong> tighten up identity checks’ <strong>and</strong> ‘<strong>the</strong> consideration <strong>of</strong> a system <strong>of</strong> internal control on immigration’. The<br />
Tones promised <strong>to</strong> go fur<strong>the</strong>r: <strong>the</strong>y would ‘improve’ existing ‘arrangements... <strong>to</strong> help those who are really anxious<br />
<strong>to</strong> leave this country’. The existing arrangements’, such as <strong>the</strong> SPG <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> IIIU, <strong>the</strong> immigration <strong>of</strong>ficials, <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> Home Office, <strong>the</strong> courts <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> media, were obviously not enough; <strong>the</strong> Tories would reverse policies <strong>of</strong> reverse<br />
discrimination’ <strong>and</strong> amend <strong>the</strong> law on incitement <strong>to</strong> racial hatred, requiring it <strong>to</strong> prove ‘an intent <strong>to</strong> <strong>of</strong>fend’.<br />
The media quickly tuned in<strong>to</strong> Thatcher’s warning about swamping’. The Daily Mail, in a series <strong>of</strong> articles on immigration,<br />
with headlines such as ‘<strong>the</strong>y’ve taken over my home <strong>to</strong>wn’, gave real life s<strong>to</strong>ries <strong>of</strong> culture swamping. A BBC<br />
television discussion programme on immigration afforded Enoch Powell enough latitude <strong>to</strong> enlarge on his <strong>the</strong>me <strong>of</strong><br />
‘induced repatriation’. In <strong>the</strong> local elections that followed in May, c<strong>and</strong>idates reiterated <strong>and</strong> justified Tory proposals.<br />
Hardly had <strong>the</strong> orchestration ceased than white fascist maggots began <strong>to</strong> crawl out <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> decaying<br />
capitalist matter. Whole communities were terrorised. Three Asians were murdered in London within<br />
a period <strong>of</strong> three months, a shot-gun attack was mounted on West Indians in Wolverhamp<strong>to</strong>n, places <strong>of</strong><br />
worship were desecrated <strong>and</strong> properties damaged <strong>and</strong> v<strong>and</strong>alised. And Tory-controlled local councils, m<strong>and</strong>ated<br />
by <strong>the</strong>ir vic<strong>to</strong>ry at <strong>the</strong> polls, set out <strong>to</strong> pursue Thatcherite policies in preparation for her vic<strong>to</strong>ry. (55)<br />
Emboldened by <strong>the</strong>se events, but also wishing <strong>to</strong> show <strong>the</strong> country that <strong>the</strong>y were <strong>the</strong> true party <strong>of</strong> fascism, <strong>the</strong><br />
NF in April <strong>the</strong> following year requested permission from <strong>the</strong> local council <strong>to</strong> hold an election meeting at Southall<br />
Town Hall. Permission had been refused elsewhere <strong>and</strong>, even in Ealing, refused by <strong>the</strong> previous Labour-controlled<br />
council. Now, however, <strong>the</strong> Tory majority, after little prevarication, granted permission. Five thous<strong>and</strong> people demonstrated<br />
before <strong>the</strong> Ealing Town Hall <strong>the</strong> previous day, dem<strong>and</strong>ing that <strong>the</strong> meeting be called <strong>of</strong>f, but <strong>to</strong> no avail.<br />
Instead <strong>the</strong> council Haunted <strong>the</strong> Union Jack. <strong>the</strong> NF’s symbol, from <strong>the</strong> ro<strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>to</strong>wn hall. It was St George’s<br />
day, a day celebrated by <strong>the</strong> NF. The Southall community planned a peaceful protest…’but on <strong>the</strong> day, 2,756 police,<br />
including SPG units, with horses, dogs, vans, riots shields <strong>and</strong> a helicopter, were sent in <strong>to</strong> crush <strong>the</strong> protest’<br />
– <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> whole <strong>to</strong>wn centre declared a ‘sterile’ area. (56) People were penned in, unable <strong>to</strong> get <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>to</strong>wn hall<br />
or back home - <strong>and</strong> began milling around. Police vans were driven at crowds <strong>of</strong> people <strong>and</strong> when <strong>the</strong>y scattered<br />
<strong>and</strong> ran, <strong>of</strong>ficers charged after <strong>the</strong>m, hitting out at r<strong>and</strong>om. Blair Peach, a relentless ant-racist campaigner <strong>and</strong><br />
teacher, was beaten <strong>to</strong> death <strong>and</strong> hundreds <strong>of</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs injured, many seriously. The <strong>of</strong>fices <strong>of</strong> Peoples Unite (an<br />
Afro Caribbean Asian meeting centre) were v<strong>and</strong>alised by police in readiness for <strong>the</strong> Tory council <strong>to</strong> demolish <strong>the</strong>m<br />
– years before <strong>the</strong> scheduled date. Asian newspapers recalled <strong>the</strong> Amritsar massacre <strong>of</strong> that o<strong>the</strong>r April in 1919.<br />
The trials <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Southall 342 were held twenty-five miles away. far from <strong>the</strong> eye <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> community, in Thatcher<br />
country. The magistrates rushed rapidly through <strong>the</strong> cases, convicting with ab<strong>and</strong>on — 80 per cent in<br />
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<strong>the</strong> first weeks <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> trials — before <strong>the</strong> community could alert public opinion <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> conviction rate<br />
was brought down <strong>to</strong> 50 per cent. The SPG <strong>of</strong>ficer who had bludgeoned BIair Peach <strong>to</strong> death remained unidentified<br />
<strong>and</strong> untried. The (Tory) government refused <strong>to</strong> hold an inquiry. The Home Secretary tut-tutted<br />
<strong>the</strong> SPG <strong>and</strong>, despite a massive public outcry against <strong>the</strong> unit (in which even <strong>the</strong> media was caught up), let it<br />
go back <strong>to</strong> its former devices. The Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir David McNee, summed it all up in<br />
an epigram: ‘If you keep <strong>of</strong>f <strong>the</strong> streets in London <strong>and</strong> behave yourselves, you won’t have <strong>the</strong> SPG <strong>to</strong> worry<br />
about.’ But Southall, Southall knew, would not lightly be invaded again, as <strong>the</strong> third <strong>of</strong> July was <strong>to</strong> prove. (57)<br />
The Tory government <strong>of</strong> 1970, with its Immigration Act <strong>and</strong> Industrial Relations Act, its White Paper on Police-Immigrant<br />
Relations <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r bits <strong>and</strong> pieces <strong>of</strong> policy, had begun <strong>the</strong> moves from <strong>the</strong> control <strong>of</strong> blacks at <strong>the</strong> gates<br />
<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir control within. The Labour government had continued in <strong>the</strong> same vein, <strong>and</strong> not always by default: <strong>the</strong>re<br />
was <strong>the</strong> Child Benefit law (58) <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Green Paper on Nationality — <strong>and</strong>, <strong>of</strong> course, <strong>the</strong>re was <strong>the</strong>ir unwavering<br />
support for <strong>the</strong> police <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir practices. The Tory government <strong>of</strong> 1979 now sought <strong>to</strong> perfect <strong>the</strong>se measures,<br />
carry <strong>the</strong>m <strong>to</strong> a logical conclusion, a final solution, within an overall attack on <strong>the</strong> working class <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> welfare<br />
state in <strong>the</strong> framework <strong>of</strong> a law-<strong>and</strong>-order society. In articulating <strong>and</strong> clarifying <strong>the</strong> ideology <strong>of</strong> British racism in <strong>the</strong><br />
run-up <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> elections, Thatcher had established a climate in which <strong>of</strong>ficials in <strong>the</strong> health service, employment,<br />
education, housing, social <strong>and</strong> welfare services would, without benefit <strong>of</strong> edict, insist on passports <strong>and</strong> identity<br />
checks before affording a service <strong>to</strong> black citizens. Her Nationality Bill, by providing for various classes <strong>of</strong> (black)<br />
citizenship, would tend <strong>to</strong> regularise <strong>the</strong>se practices. (59) Britain was effectively moving <strong>to</strong> a pass-law society.<br />
In fighting for educational <strong>and</strong> social <strong>and</strong> welfare services for <strong>the</strong> whole community. Asian <strong>and</strong> Afro-Caribbean women<br />
pinpointed <strong>the</strong> parallel his<strong>to</strong>ries <strong>of</strong> a common racism. In health care, for example, black women fought against <strong>the</strong> neglect<br />
<strong>of</strong> ‘black disease’. Simultaneous campaigns were mounted in Brent against sickle-cell anaemia (affecting West Indians)<br />
<strong>and</strong> Vitamin D deficiencies causing pickets (affecting Asians). And issues such as forcible sterilisation, arising from <strong>the</strong><br />
health services obsession with black fertility, or <strong>the</strong> easy consignment <strong>of</strong> black women <strong>to</strong> mental hospitals, arising from<br />
its stereotyped underst<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>of</strong> ‘black psyches in captivity’, were fought by black women from both communities.<br />
Asian women in AWAZ (Voice) <strong>and</strong> Southall Black Sisters (set up in <strong>the</strong> wake <strong>of</strong> 23 April 1979) continued <strong>to</strong> lead<br />
<strong>the</strong> protest against <strong>the</strong> virginity testing <strong>and</strong> X-raying <strong>of</strong> immigrants. Here <strong>the</strong>y gave <strong>the</strong> lead not only <strong>to</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
women, but <strong>to</strong> long established, male-dominated Asian organisations such as <strong>the</strong> IWA, which eventually joined<br />
<strong>the</strong>m. And when Asian youth groups began <strong>to</strong> campaign in <strong>the</strong> community over specific immigration cases, it<br />
was <strong>the</strong> black women that helped keep <strong>the</strong> names <strong>of</strong> Anwar Ditta <strong>and</strong> Nasira Begum in <strong>the</strong> public consciousness.<br />
Black women have also been active in working-class struggles, as in <strong>the</strong> strike <strong>of</strong> Asian women at Futters (March-<br />
May 1979) <strong>and</strong> at Chix (1979-80), worked in local community self defence groups <strong>and</strong> combined in national black<br />
campaigns such as BSA <strong>and</strong> BASH. And from <strong>the</strong> richness <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir struggles — at <strong>the</strong> fac<strong>to</strong>ry gate, on <strong>the</strong> streets, in<br />
<strong>the</strong> home, at <strong>the</strong> schools, in <strong>the</strong> hospitals, at <strong>the</strong> courts — <strong>and</strong> from <strong>the</strong>ir joint initiative with IWA <strong>and</strong> BASH arose <strong>the</strong><br />
first national black demonstration against state brutality (June 1979), when blacks, with <strong>the</strong> violence <strong>of</strong> virginity tests,<br />
<strong>the</strong> fascists <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> SPG still fresh m <strong>the</strong>ir minds, marched in <strong>the</strong>ir outraged thous<strong>and</strong>s through heart <strong>of</strong> London. (60)<br />
The loom <strong>of</strong> British racism had been perfected, <strong>the</strong> pattern set. The str<strong>and</strong>s <strong>of</strong> resistance were meshed taut<br />
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against <strong>the</strong> frame. The frame had <strong>to</strong> give. Instead, it was screwed still tighter in <strong>the</strong> unexplained death <strong>of</strong> Rasta<br />
‘Car<strong>to</strong>on’ Campbell in Brix<strong>to</strong>n prison (61) (March 1980), <strong>the</strong> murder <strong>of</strong> Akhtar Ali Baig on streets <strong>of</strong> Newham<br />
(July 1980) <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> burning <strong>to</strong> death <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> thirteen young West Indians in a New in New Cross (January 1981).<br />
It was clear <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> black community from <strong>the</strong> evidence <strong>of</strong> a black witness, if not <strong>the</strong> evidence <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir whole his<strong>to</strong>ry<br />
in Britain ‘that <strong>the</strong> fire had been started by <strong>the</strong> fascists. But even before (he investigation was concluded. <strong>the</strong> police,<br />
with <strong>the</strong> aid <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> press, had put it about that it was <strong>the</strong> work <strong>of</strong> a disaffected black party-goer, or a prank that went<br />
wrong or maybe an accident. Finally, <strong>the</strong>y ‘proved’ through forensic expense that <strong>the</strong> fire had been self-innicted one<br />
way or ano<strong>the</strong>r. Just nine months earlier, <strong>the</strong> police had ‘raided’ a black meeting place in St Pauls Bris<strong>to</strong>l, only <strong>to</strong> be<br />
beaten back by <strong>the</strong> youth <strong>and</strong> routed by <strong>the</strong> community. Now <strong>the</strong> community closed ranks again. From all over <strong>the</strong><br />
country <strong>the</strong>y ga<strong>the</strong>red at meetings in New Cross. A day <strong>of</strong> action was planned. The Race Today Collective (62) <strong>to</strong>ok<br />
over its organisation. And on 2 March over 10,000 blacks downed <strong>to</strong>ols <strong>and</strong> marched through <strong>the</strong> heart <strong>of</strong> London, past<br />
<strong>the</strong> halls <strong>of</strong> imperial finance, past <strong>the</strong> portals <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> yellow press, past <strong>the</strong> Courts <strong>of</strong> Justice, past <strong>the</strong> proud shopping<br />
centre <strong>of</strong> consumer society, past Broadcasting House <strong>and</strong> in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> anointed place <strong>of</strong> free speech — Speakers’ Corner.<br />
It had been, for its size <strong>and</strong> length <strong>and</strong> spread <strong>of</strong> time, a peaceful march. There had been a few skirmishes,<br />
a window or two broken <strong>and</strong> a few arrests made. But <strong>the</strong> banner head-lines in <strong>the</strong> peopled press spoke<br />
<strong>of</strong> ‘mob violence’, ‘blacks on <strong>the</strong> rampage’, <strong>the</strong> invasion <strong>of</strong> privacy, <strong>the</strong> damage <strong>to</strong> property. The quality<br />
press mourned <strong>the</strong> breakdown <strong>of</strong> police/black relations, <strong>the</strong> frustration <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> blacks, even at times white insensitivity<br />
<strong>to</strong> Black problems -- <strong>and</strong> went back <strong>to</strong> sleep again. The Home Secretary muttered something<br />
about an inquiry in<strong>to</strong> racial violence. White society ensconced itself in its goodness <strong>and</strong> thanked God for <strong>the</strong><br />
British bobby <strong>and</strong>, heartened, <strong>the</strong> bobbies went back <strong>to</strong> baiting Brix<strong>to</strong>n. <strong>the</strong> fascists <strong>to</strong> baiting Southall.<br />
In April, Brix<strong>to</strong>n exploded in rebellion. in July, Southall — blacks. Afro-Caribbean <strong>and</strong> Asian alike, all distinction between<br />
police <strong>and</strong> fascists had faded – <strong>and</strong> in <strong>the</strong> days following, Liverpool, Manchester, Coventry, Huddersfield, Bradford,<br />
Halifax. Blackburn, Pres<strong>to</strong>n, Birkenhead, Ellesmere Port. Chester. S<strong>to</strong>ke, Shrewsbury, Wolverhamp<strong>to</strong>n, Southamp<strong>to</strong>n,<br />
Newcastle. High Wycombe, Knaresborough, Leeds, Hull, Derby, Sheffield. S<strong>to</strong>ckport, Nottingham, Leicester, Lu<strong>to</strong>n.<br />
Maids<strong>to</strong>ne, AIdershot <strong>and</strong> Portsmouth, black <strong>and</strong> white — rebellion in slum city for <strong>the</strong> deprived, <strong>the</strong> state was <strong>the</strong> police.<br />
Nowhere have <strong>the</strong> youth, black <strong>and</strong> white, identified <strong>the</strong>ir problems with unemployment alone. That has<br />
been left <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> social analysts <strong>of</strong> a past age. The youth know, viscerally. that <strong>the</strong>re will be no work for <strong>the</strong>m,<br />
ever, no call for <strong>the</strong>ir labour: it was not just a matter <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> recession (<strong>the</strong> rich were doing all right), technology<br />
was taking over <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> recession just gave ‘<strong>the</strong>m’ <strong>the</strong> chance <strong>to</strong> get rid <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> workers <strong>and</strong> bring in <strong>the</strong><br />
robots. Society was changing, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>y didn’t need <strong>the</strong> secretary <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> British Association for <strong>the</strong> Advancement<br />
<strong>of</strong> Science <strong>to</strong> tell <strong>the</strong>m that it was ‘a fundamental <strong>and</strong> irreversible change’. But <strong>the</strong>y do not want <strong>to</strong> be<br />
pushed in<strong>to</strong> artificial work schemes or institutionalised leisure or receive h<strong>and</strong>-outs from <strong>the</strong> enemy state.<br />
There is enough <strong>to</strong> go round <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>y want a part <strong>of</strong> it, a say in its giving. Or <strong>the</strong>y will get it by thieving <strong>and</strong><br />
‘loitering’ <strong>and</strong> hustling — those things which pass for normacy in a slum but threaten established society.<br />
They are not <strong>the</strong> unemployed, but <strong>the</strong> never employed. They have not, like <strong>the</strong>ir parents, had jobs <strong>and</strong> lost <strong>the</strong>m --<br />
<strong>and</strong> so become disciplined in<strong>to</strong> a routine <strong>and</strong> a culture that preserves <strong>the</strong> status quo. They have not been organised<br />
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in<strong>to</strong> trade unions <strong>and</strong> had <strong>the</strong>ir politics disciplined by a labour aris<strong>to</strong>cracy. They have not been on <strong>the</strong> marches <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> dis-employed, so valiantly recalled by Labour from <strong>the</strong> hunger marches <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 1930s. Theirs is a different hunger<br />
— a hunger <strong>to</strong> retain <strong>the</strong> freedom, <strong>the</strong> life-style, <strong>the</strong> dignity which <strong>the</strong>y have carved out from <strong>the</strong> s<strong>to</strong>ne <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir lives.<br />
The police are not an intrusion in<strong>to</strong> that society but a threat, a foreign force, an army <strong>of</strong> occupation — <strong>the</strong> thick end<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> authoritarian wedge, <strong>and</strong> in <strong>the</strong>mselves so authoritarian as <strong>to</strong> make no difference between wedge <strong>and</strong> state.<br />
That authoritarianism had been perfected in <strong>the</strong> colonies, in Irel<strong>and</strong>, in <strong>the</strong> fields <strong>of</strong> British racism, <strong>and</strong>,<br />
as it grew, it ways <strong>to</strong> by-pass its political masters <strong>and</strong> become accountable <strong>to</strong> no one but itself -- by obtaining<br />
legitimation for its actions from <strong>the</strong> silent majority through its cultivated liaison with <strong>the</strong> media.<br />
It was once held that <strong>the</strong> British police were governed more by popular morality than by <strong>the</strong> letter <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
law. They have now become <strong>the</strong> arbiters <strong>of</strong> that morality. There is no criticism <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m <strong>the</strong>y would brook, no<br />
area <strong>of</strong> society <strong>the</strong>y do not pronounce on (with <strong>the</strong> shadow <strong>of</strong> force behind <strong>the</strong>m). Look at <strong>the</strong> ferocity with<br />
which <strong>the</strong>y attack <strong>the</strong>ir critics (even <strong>the</strong> parliamentary tribunes <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> people) (63) <strong>the</strong>ir refusal <strong>to</strong> be accountable<br />
<strong>to</strong> elected local police authorities, <strong>the</strong>ir pronouncements on <strong>the</strong> jury system, <strong>the</strong> unemployed, homosexuality,<br />
etc.(64) <strong>the</strong> press campaign mounted by <strong>the</strong>ir PRO, <strong>the</strong> Police Federation, for increased police<br />
powers (in various submissions <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Royal Commission on Criminal Procedure for instance) or <strong>the</strong><br />
bon mots <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir police chiefs <strong>to</strong> underst<strong>and</strong> how <strong>the</strong> police have moved from accountability <strong>to</strong> legitimation.<br />
But <strong>the</strong>n a government which is not accountable <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> people — a government which governs with <strong>the</strong> politics <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> stick <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> policies <strong>of</strong> a thous<strong>and</strong> cuts, which is anti-working class <strong>and</strong> anti-women <strong>and</strong> anti-youth — must<br />
have a police force that is accountable <strong>to</strong> it <strong>and</strong> not <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> people. In turn, <strong>the</strong> government itself needs itself needs<br />
<strong>to</strong> be legitimated by an ideology <strong>of</strong> repression. Ant it is not merely that a free market economy requires a law<br />
<strong>and</strong> order state but that, even in its passing, it leaves only <strong>the</strong> option <strong>of</strong> a mixed economy with a corporate state<br />
maintained by surveillance. They are but two shades <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> same authoritarianism, <strong>the</strong> one more modern than <strong>the</strong><br />
o<strong>the</strong>r, but nei<strong>the</strong>r speaking <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> birth <strong>of</strong> a new society that waits in <strong>the</strong> wings <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> new industrial revolution.<br />
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Claudia Jones<br />
Top left : Claudia Jones leads<br />
civil rights march through<br />
Notting Hill, 1963. Right : March<br />
watched by locals<br />
Left : Malcolm X, with copy<br />
<strong>of</strong> West Indian Gazette, 1965.<br />
Claudia died on 24th<br />
December, 1964. She had<br />
arranged <strong>the</strong> MalcomX visit <strong>to</strong><br />
Britain, including his infamous<br />
trip <strong>to</strong> Smethwick with <strong>the</strong><br />
Indian Workers Association,<br />
but sadly passed before<br />
Malcolm’s arrival <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> UK.<br />
Bot<strong>to</strong>m right :<br />
A. Manch<strong>and</strong>a, edi<strong>to</strong>r <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
West Indian Gazette <strong>and</strong><br />
Afro Asian News at funeral <strong>of</strong><br />
Jones. This pho<strong>to</strong> was on front<br />
page with headline:<br />
DEAR CLAUDIA! WE SHALL<br />
HOLD HIGH YOUR BANNER OF<br />
ANTI-IMPERIALISM<br />
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PHOTOS Top left : Crowds at<br />
<strong>the</strong> funderal <strong>of</strong><br />
Kelso Cochrane, 1959<br />
Right : Kelso Cochrane<br />
Middle left : Amid allegations<br />
<strong>of</strong> a police cover up (nobody<br />
was charged for <strong>the</strong> death <strong>of</strong><br />
Cochrane) protests were held<br />
in Whiitehall<br />
Right : Claudia Jones speaking<br />
at <strong>the</strong> funeral <strong>of</strong> Cochrane<br />
Right: With Manch<strong>and</strong>a at <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>of</strong>fices <strong>of</strong> West Indian<br />
Gazette. Manu <strong>and</strong> Claudia<br />
met after joining <strong>the</strong><br />
Communist Party <strong>of</strong> Great<br />
Britain. Experiencing <strong>the</strong> same<br />
cold-shoulder <strong>the</strong> Communist<br />
Party had shown Claudia, he<br />
joined her <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs <strong>to</strong> form<br />
<strong>the</strong> Committee <strong>of</strong><br />
Afro-Asian-Caribbean<br />
Organisations. Claudia<br />
appointed him managing edi<strong>to</strong>r<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> West Indian<br />
Gazette. In April 1964, with<br />
three members <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> African<br />
National Congress, he went<br />
on a seven-day hunger strike<br />
in <strong>the</strong> courtyard <strong>of</strong> St Martinin-<strong>the</strong>-Fields<br />
in support <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
worldwide campaign for <strong>the</strong><br />
release <strong>of</strong> Nelson M<strong>and</strong>ela,<br />
Walter Sisulu <strong>and</strong><br />
Rusty Bernstein.<br />
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A Peoples’ Art is <strong>the</strong> Genesis<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir Freedom<br />
Claudia Jones<br />
(from Claudia Jones : Beyond containment Ed.Carole Boyce Jones)<br />
Rarely have <strong>the</strong> creative energies <strong>of</strong> a people indigenous <strong>to</strong> ano<strong>the</strong>r homel<strong>and</strong> been so quickly<br />
<strong>and</strong> spontaneously generated <strong>to</strong> such purpose as witness <strong>the</strong> work <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Caribbean Carnival<br />
Committee <strong>of</strong> 1959 set up last November under <strong>the</strong> sponsorship <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> West Indian Gazette.<br />
It is as if <strong>the</strong> vividness <strong>of</strong> our national life was itself <strong>the</strong> spark urging translation <strong>to</strong> new<br />
surroundings, <strong>to</strong> convey <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> transplant our folk origins <strong>to</strong> British soil. There is a comfort<br />
in this effort not only for <strong>the</strong> Carnival Committee <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> West Indian Gazette, for <strong>the</strong><br />
fine artists participating in our Carnival who have lent <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir talents here, but for all West<br />
Indians, who strain <strong>to</strong> feel <strong>and</strong> hear <strong>and</strong> reflect <strong>the</strong>ir idiom even as <strong>the</strong>y strain <strong>to</strong> feel <strong>the</strong><br />
warmth <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir sun-drenched isl<strong>and</strong>s <strong>and</strong> its immemorable beauty <strong>of</strong> l<strong>and</strong>scape <strong>and</strong> terrain.<br />
There is <strong>of</strong> course ano<strong>the</strong>r cause <strong>to</strong> be assessed <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir response <strong>to</strong> those who<br />
have filled St. Pancras Town Hall. That reason is <strong>the</strong> event <strong>of</strong> Notting Hill <strong>and</strong> Nottingham<br />
- an event which was <strong>the</strong> matrix binding West Indians in <strong>the</strong> United<br />
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Above : Pho<strong>to</strong> from <strong>the</strong> first Carnival in Kings Cross<br />
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Kingdom <strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>r as never before, determined that such happenings should not recur.<br />
If <strong>the</strong>n, our Caribbean Carnival has evoked <strong>the</strong> wholehearted response from <strong>the</strong> peoples from<br />
all <strong>the</strong> Isl<strong>and</strong>s <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Caribbean in <strong>the</strong> new West Indies Federation, this is itself testament<br />
<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> role <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> arts in bringing people <strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>r for common aims <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> its rising <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
cultural, spiritual, as well as political <strong>and</strong> economic interests <strong>of</strong> West Indians in <strong>the</strong> UK <strong>and</strong> at home.<br />
A pride in being West Indian is undoubtedly at <strong>the</strong> root <strong>of</strong> this unity; a pride that has its origin<br />
in <strong>the</strong> drama <strong>of</strong> nascent nationhood <strong>and</strong> that pride encompasses not only <strong>the</strong> creativeness,<br />
uniqueness <strong>and</strong> originality <strong>of</strong> West Indian mime song <strong>and</strong> dance - but is <strong>the</strong> genesis <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> nation itself.<br />
It is true <strong>to</strong> say that pride extends not only <strong>to</strong> what <strong>the</strong> West Indians have<br />
proudly established in <strong>the</strong> culture <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Caribbean but <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> treasury or world culture.<br />
In <strong>the</strong> midst <strong>of</strong> our revelry let us remember that it is a world on eve <strong>of</strong> conquest <strong>of</strong> Space - tribute <strong>to</strong><br />
man’s unconquerable quest for adventure, achievement <strong>and</strong> mastery over Nature <strong>and</strong> himself.<br />
Our multi-racial culture should be <strong>the</strong> front, helping <strong>the</strong> universal quest <strong>to</strong> turn <strong>the</strong> instruments<br />
<strong>of</strong> science everywhere for <strong>the</strong> good <strong>of</strong> all mankind, for <strong>the</strong> freedom <strong>of</strong> all <strong>the</strong> world’s peoples,<br />
no matter what <strong>the</strong> pigment <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir skin, for human dignity <strong>and</strong> friendship <strong>of</strong> all people here.<br />
If our Carnival is a triumphal success, it is not only as a result <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> inspired spirit that has permeated its<br />
preliminary activities from its inception, but also <strong>the</strong> moral <strong>and</strong> material support given generously<br />
by our friends <strong>and</strong> neighbours in <strong>the</strong> British Isles representing tangible evidence <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir goodwill.<br />
For me <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> management <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> West Indian Gazette <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> all <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Carnival Committee<br />
I say a deep thank you. It would be unfair for me not <strong>to</strong> tell you that we have still<br />
ano<strong>the</strong>r determination, that is, <strong>to</strong> make <strong>the</strong> WIG Caribbean Carnival an annual event.<br />
In that endeavour, we know we can count not only on - <strong>the</strong> artists, <strong>the</strong> decor, <strong>the</strong><br />
committee heads, our friends <strong>and</strong> neighbours but many who we have not yet reached.<br />
May <strong>the</strong> aim <strong>of</strong> our mutual efforts <strong>to</strong> help build <strong>the</strong> West Indian Gazette <strong>and</strong> above all<br />
in that endeavour help <strong>to</strong> extend <strong>the</strong> already acknowledged cultural influence <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Caribbean throughout <strong>the</strong> Commonwealth. And may that be <strong>the</strong> leaven <strong>to</strong> weld still<br />
more firmly <strong>the</strong> bro<strong>the</strong>rhood <strong>and</strong> unity <strong>of</strong> West Indians <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r peoples <strong>of</strong> colour<br />
as well as <strong>the</strong> friendship for all peoples that will be <strong>the</strong> fruit <strong>of</strong> this cultural exchange.<br />
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John la Rose<br />
Top left :<br />
Samuel Selvon, John LaRose<br />
<strong>and</strong> Andrew Salkey. -<br />
founders <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Caribbean<br />
Artists Movement.<br />
Top right :campaigning against<br />
aparthied<br />
Right: New Cross Massacre<br />
Action Committee demonstra<strong>to</strong>rs<br />
outside County Hall,<br />
London, in 1981. The inquest<br />
in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> deaths <strong>of</strong> thirteen<br />
young people in a New Cross<br />
house fire was due <strong>to</strong> begin.<br />
Picture: PA<br />
Bot<strong>to</strong>m left : John La Rose was<br />
<strong>the</strong> Chairman <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> New Cross<br />
Massacre Action<br />
Committee <strong>and</strong> gave tremendous<br />
support <strong>the</strong> bereaved<br />
families Some 20,000 people<br />
marched through<br />
central London on <strong>the</strong> Black<br />
People’s Day <strong>of</strong> Action in<br />
March 1981 (Pic: John Sturrock)<br />
Bot<strong>to</strong>m right : Poster made <strong>to</strong><br />
advertise <strong>the</strong> event<br />
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Top left :Ben Okri, James<br />
Kelman <strong>and</strong> Kole Omo<strong>to</strong>so at<br />
<strong>the</strong> prose evening, Camden<br />
London, 23 March 1990<br />
Top right :John La Rose 1981<br />
by Toni Gor<strong>to</strong>n<br />
Middle left :<br />
Cover <strong>of</strong> his selected<br />
writings. His work explores<br />
John La Rose explores what<br />
Lin<strong>to</strong>n Kwesi Johnson calls in<br />
his introduction “<strong>the</strong><br />
conjunction <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> personal<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> political”, <strong>to</strong> give an<br />
alternative global his<strong>to</strong>ry<br />
where “<strong>the</strong> writer <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
crowd have emerged <strong>to</strong> play<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir roles on <strong>the</strong> stage <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
world.”<br />
Middle right : John La Rose<br />
with Lin<strong>to</strong>n Kwesi Johnson.<br />
Pic: Guy Farrar<br />
Bot<strong>to</strong>m right : Vic<strong>to</strong>ry<br />
demonstration on <strong>the</strong> way <strong>to</strong><br />
Hornsey Police station after<br />
Cliff McDaniel case 1975 (North<br />
London school boy beaten<br />
outside school by police)<br />
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Above : John La Rose launches <strong>the</strong> latest book by <strong>the</strong> Cuban writer Nicolas Guillen in New Beacon Books in <strong>1976</strong><br />
…..And so<br />
if you see me<br />
looking at your h<strong>and</strong>s<br />
listening when you speak<br />
marching in your ranks<br />
you must know<br />
I do not sleep <strong>to</strong> dream but<br />
dream <strong>to</strong> change <strong>the</strong> world.<br />
Martin Carter - Poems <strong>of</strong> Succession (1977)<br />
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Changing Britannia through<br />
<strong>the</strong> Arts <strong>and</strong> Activism<br />
A Public Lecture at <strong>the</strong> British Library <strong>to</strong> Mark<br />
50 Years <strong>of</strong> New Beacon Books<br />
by Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Gus John.<br />
Friends <strong>and</strong> Comrades!<br />
It is a privilege <strong>and</strong> an honour <strong>to</strong> deliver this lecture <strong>to</strong> mark 50 Years <strong>of</strong> New Beacon Books.<br />
I aim <strong>to</strong> do two things: <strong>to</strong> reflect upon <strong>the</strong> many political <strong>and</strong> cultural institutions <strong>and</strong> movements that inspired<br />
its formation, as well as <strong>the</strong> political <strong>and</strong> cultural movements that it spawned <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> share some thoughts as <strong>to</strong><br />
why New Beacon is arguably even more relevant <strong>and</strong> necessary now as we approach <strong>the</strong> third decade <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
millennium than it has been in <strong>the</strong> last five decades.<br />
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I am presenting <strong>the</strong> lecture with <strong>the</strong> help <strong>of</strong> a number <strong>of</strong> extracts from that wonderful film ‘Dream <strong>to</strong> Change <strong>the</strong><br />
World’, a film which links John La Rose’s early life <strong>and</strong> political activism in Trinidad & Tobago with his political<br />
<strong>and</strong> cultural activism here in <strong>the</strong> UK throughout <strong>the</strong> rest <strong>of</strong> his life. At this point, let me acknowledge my sincere<br />
thanks <strong>to</strong> Horace Ove for that excellent film <strong>and</strong> for allowing us <strong>to</strong> use it in telling <strong>the</strong> s<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>of</strong> 50 Years <strong>of</strong> New<br />
Beacon Books.<br />
A couple weeks ago, at <strong>the</strong> George Padmore Institute, we also celebrated 50 Years <strong>of</strong> CAM, <strong>the</strong> Caribbean<br />
Artists Movement. We are ga<strong>the</strong>red here <strong>to</strong>day in <strong>the</strong> 10th year <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> death <strong>of</strong> John La Rose, <strong>the</strong> inspiration<br />
behind <strong>the</strong> founding <strong>of</strong> both institutions, institutions that constitute his<strong>to</strong>ric political interventions in <strong>the</strong> ongoing<br />
<strong>and</strong> troubled process <strong>of</strong> ‘Changing Britannia’.<br />
So, <strong>to</strong>day is a day for celebration, celebration with pride <strong>and</strong> treasured memory. Celebration <strong>of</strong> 50 Years <strong>of</strong><br />
New Beacon, 50 Years <strong>of</strong> CAM <strong>and</strong> 40 years <strong>of</strong> John La Rose with both New Beacon Books is one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> most<br />
important <strong>and</strong> influential institutions in post-war Britain. For <strong>the</strong> last 50 years it has operated on <strong>the</strong> axis <strong>of</strong> culture<br />
<strong>and</strong> politics, epi<strong>to</strong>mising <strong>the</strong> symbiotic relationship between <strong>the</strong> two; on <strong>the</strong> axis <strong>of</strong> communities’ struggles<br />
for self-determination <strong>and</strong> for fundamental rights <strong>and</strong> entitlements <strong>and</strong> on <strong>the</strong> axis <strong>of</strong> struggles for racial equality<br />
<strong>and</strong> social justice in a nation that has failed <strong>and</strong> stubbornly continues <strong>to</strong> fail <strong>to</strong> acknowledge <strong>the</strong> political <strong>and</strong><br />
policy imperative that <strong>the</strong> legacy <strong>of</strong> empire <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> its colonial past has placed upon it.<br />
New Beacon Books was founded by John La Rose in 1966 <strong>and</strong> became <strong>the</strong> first African heritage publishers <strong>and</strong><br />
booksellers in <strong>the</strong> UK. La Rose had had a ‘life experience with Britain’ in his native Trinidad & Tobago prior <strong>to</strong><br />
continuing <strong>to</strong> chart a life experience with Britain right here, in a nation seeking <strong>to</strong> redefine <strong>and</strong> reconstruct itself<br />
after two devastating world wars in less than a quarter <strong>of</strong> a century.<br />
John La Rose had not only been engaged in radical <strong>and</strong> revolutionary politics, he was immersed in <strong>the</strong> literary<br />
tradition <strong>of</strong> Trinidad & Tobago <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Caribbean generally. When La Rose was still a <strong>to</strong>ddler, CLR James started<br />
<strong>the</strong> ‘Beacon’ group which was dedicated <strong>to</strong> writing <strong>and</strong> promoting literature that dealt with ‘ordinary life’ in<br />
Trinidad. Between 1931 <strong>and</strong> 1939, <strong>the</strong>y published <strong>the</strong> ‘Beacon’ journal which carried short s<strong>to</strong>ries about ordinary<br />
folk <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir lives in <strong>the</strong>ir communities, as well as novels based on <strong>the</strong> struggles <strong>of</strong> workers <strong>and</strong> peasants that<br />
were framed within <strong>the</strong> politics <strong>and</strong> dynamics <strong>of</strong> race <strong>and</strong> class in colonial Trinidad. As a teenage activist, <strong>the</strong>refore,<br />
La Rose was nurtured within that tradition <strong>and</strong> was inspired by <strong>the</strong> creative writing <strong>and</strong> political commentaries<br />
<strong>of</strong> a vibrant generation <strong>of</strong> writers <strong>and</strong> political <strong>the</strong>orists.<br />
By <strong>the</strong> time John left <strong>the</strong> Caribbean <strong>to</strong> come <strong>to</strong> Britain, <strong>the</strong>refore, he had formed a view <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> world. He had<br />
seen evidence <strong>of</strong> imperialist plunder <strong>and</strong> exploitation, <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> relationship between labour <strong>and</strong> capital accumulation,<br />
evidence <strong>of</strong> people’s struggle for economic <strong>and</strong> cultural emancipation, evidence <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> strength <strong>of</strong> a united<br />
labour movement <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> lengths <strong>to</strong> which <strong>the</strong> oppressive state would go <strong>to</strong> subdue <strong>the</strong> people <strong>and</strong> crush<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir will as <strong>the</strong>y struggled for self-determination <strong>and</strong> for bread, freedom <strong>and</strong> justice.<br />
John was nurtured as a young activist, not just by Caribbean intellectuals, but by <strong>the</strong> lessons <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> courageous<br />
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struggles <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> masses <strong>of</strong> working people at home <strong>and</strong> abroad, people who<br />
demonstrated strength in unity <strong>of</strong> organisation <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> purpose, against <strong>the</strong> might<br />
<strong>of</strong> colonial police <strong>and</strong> armies.<br />
The great American abolitionist, Frederick Douglass famously said: “Find out just<br />
The great<br />
American<br />
abolitionist,<br />
Frederick Douglass<br />
famously said:<br />
“Find out just what<br />
any people will<br />
quietly submit <strong>to</strong><br />
<strong>and</strong> you have <strong>the</strong><br />
exact measure <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> injustice <strong>and</strong><br />
wrong which will<br />
be imposed on<br />
<strong>the</strong>m! “Frederick<br />
Douglass (1857)<br />
what any people will quietly submit <strong>to</strong> <strong>and</strong> you have <strong>the</strong> exact measure <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
injustice <strong>and</strong> wrong which will be imposed on <strong>the</strong>m! “Frederick Douglass (1857)<br />
The enslaved <strong>and</strong> subjugated peoples <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Caribbean knew that very well. And<br />
that is why, throughout his<strong>to</strong>ry, in <strong>the</strong> face <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> barbarism <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> British Crown<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> colonial armies <strong>of</strong> Europe, <strong>the</strong>y resisted, rebelled <strong>and</strong> revolted. From <strong>the</strong><br />
revolution <strong>of</strong> enslaved Africans in Haiti, <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Morant Bay rebellion <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> massacre<br />
by Governor Edward John Eyre in Jamaica, <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> labour revolts across <strong>the</strong> Caribbean<br />
in <strong>the</strong> middle <strong>to</strong> late 1930s, his<strong>to</strong>ry recorded <strong>the</strong> most pr<strong>of</strong>ound examples<br />
<strong>of</strong> struggle in <strong>the</strong> Caribbean against enslavement <strong>and</strong> barbarism on <strong>the</strong> plantations,<br />
against state oppression <strong>and</strong> capitalist exploitation <strong>and</strong> for fundamental freedoms<br />
<strong>and</strong> human dignity.<br />
That his<strong>to</strong>ry also taught John La Rose <strong>the</strong> familiar patterns <strong>of</strong> colonial domination<br />
<strong>and</strong> subjugation, through religion, through schooling <strong>and</strong> education, through <strong>the</strong><br />
peddling <strong>of</strong> cultural supremacy <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> forcible erasure <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> culture that colonised<br />
people carried <strong>and</strong> created, through psychological warfare <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> systematic<br />
process <strong>of</strong> making <strong>the</strong> colonised <strong>to</strong> deny <strong>the</strong>ir very essence <strong>and</strong> adopt<br />
mindsets that affirmed white supremacy <strong>and</strong> cultural hegemony, while apologising<br />
for <strong>and</strong> bemoaning <strong>the</strong>ir blackness.<br />
So dominant <strong>and</strong> prohibitive were those processes, that we were coerced in<strong>to</strong><br />
being apologetic about ourselves, our capacity <strong>to</strong> interpret our world, <strong>to</strong> interpret<br />
colonialism <strong>to</strong> itself, <strong>to</strong> tell our own s<strong>to</strong>ries, <strong>to</strong> critique <strong>and</strong> debunk <strong>the</strong> colonialists’<br />
representation <strong>of</strong> us <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> shape our own destiny as nations <strong>and</strong> as people with a<br />
common his<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>and</strong> a common African heritage.<br />
The Caribbean project <strong>the</strong>refore had two main purposes. One was <strong>to</strong> struggle<br />
against colonialism <strong>and</strong> against people like ourselves who were only <strong>to</strong>o eager <strong>and</strong><br />
happy <strong>to</strong> be h<strong>and</strong>picked, groomed, deployed, validated <strong>and</strong> if necessary defended<br />
militarily <strong>to</strong> be efficient neo-colonialists in <strong>the</strong> service <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Crown, in <strong>the</strong> service<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> plantation economy <strong>and</strong> in <strong>the</strong> interests <strong>of</strong> western capitalism. The o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
purpose was <strong>to</strong> forge an identity as creative people, with a creative spirit <strong>and</strong> capacity<br />
that was not crushed <strong>and</strong> obliterated by enslavement, but that empowered<br />
<strong>and</strong> inspired us <strong>to</strong> make sense <strong>of</strong> our existential reality <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> be ac<strong>to</strong>rs on <strong>the</strong><br />
world stage.<br />
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But, if colonialists engaged with us in those familiar ways <strong>and</strong> installed neo-colonialists<br />
<strong>to</strong> succeed <strong>the</strong>m <strong>and</strong> take care <strong>of</strong> business at home in <strong>the</strong>ir interests, <strong>the</strong>y<br />
did even worse as we left <strong>the</strong> colonies <strong>to</strong> come <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> ‘Mo<strong>the</strong>r Country’, here <strong>to</strong><br />
experience <strong>the</strong> racism that was in <strong>the</strong> very DNA <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> nation. We were expected<br />
But, what we<br />
leave, we<br />
carry.<br />
<strong>to</strong> ab<strong>and</strong>on <strong>the</strong> self-assertiveness we had practised back home <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> experience<br />
<strong>of</strong> struggle in <strong>the</strong> cause <strong>of</strong> freedom <strong>and</strong> human liberation <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> sharing our s<strong>to</strong>ries<br />
that had made us what we were.<br />
We bring<br />
what<br />
we are <strong>and</strong><br />
we are<br />
what we<br />
bring.<br />
But, what we leave, we carry. We bring what we are <strong>and</strong> we are what we bring.<br />
And that is how we engaged with <strong>the</strong> society that we found. But, we don’t just<br />
bring what we are, we also bring what we have <strong>the</strong> potential <strong>to</strong> be, what we have<br />
<strong>the</strong> capacity <strong>to</strong> grow <strong>and</strong> become. And that capacity includes impacting upon <strong>the</strong><br />
society <strong>and</strong> changing it, even as we <strong>to</strong>o are changed by it. We <strong>the</strong>refore discover<br />
not just <strong>the</strong> society, its physical <strong>and</strong> human geography, its multiculturalism in all its<br />
whiteness, its cus<strong>to</strong>ms, traditions <strong>and</strong> cultural norms; we discover ourselves <strong>and</strong><br />
one ano<strong>the</strong>r <strong>and</strong> become identified as a people.<br />
So much so, that it <strong>to</strong>ok some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> natives a long time <strong>to</strong> underst<strong>and</strong> that <strong>the</strong><br />
‘West Indies’ is not one continuous l<strong>and</strong> mass called Jamaica, full <strong>of</strong> rebellious <strong>and</strong><br />
talawa people. If I had been given a fiver every time I was asked which part <strong>of</strong><br />
Jamaica was Grenada, by now I would have been a millionaire. So, we discovered<br />
one ano<strong>the</strong>r in Britain <strong>and</strong> we were seen as One People, even if we did not acknowledge<br />
one ano<strong>the</strong>r as such.<br />
What we leave we carry; including our his<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>of</strong> struggle <strong>and</strong> our awareness<br />
<strong>of</strong> just how much we had been denied access <strong>to</strong> knowledge <strong>of</strong> our own his<strong>to</strong>ry,<br />
knowledge <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> contribution <strong>of</strong> our Ances<strong>to</strong>rs <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> evolution <strong>of</strong> his<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
development <strong>of</strong> humankind, knowledge <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> massive extent <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir contribution<br />
<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> economic, scientific <strong>and</strong> cultural development <strong>of</strong> Britain <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> Europe itself.<br />
What we leave, we carry.<br />
It was not surprising, <strong>the</strong>refore, that John La Rose chose <strong>to</strong> call his publishing, book<br />
selling <strong>and</strong> book distribution company ‘New Beacon’ <strong>and</strong> that his mission as both<br />
a writer <strong>and</strong> a publisher was rooted in what <strong>the</strong> ‘Beacon’ represented <strong>and</strong> did in<br />
Trinidad society. It is as part <strong>of</strong> that genre that CLR James produced his first novel,<br />
Minty Alley, which was one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> first titles published by New Beacon Books.<br />
New Beacon <strong>the</strong>refore had a number <strong>of</strong> key objectives which were very much<br />
related <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> state <strong>of</strong> Britain in <strong>the</strong> 1960s <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> following decades. Broadly<br />
speaking, one can identify 10 objectives which could be summarised as follows:To<br />
be an outlet for <strong>the</strong> creative products <strong>of</strong> writers, poets <strong>and</strong> academics who typi-<br />
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cally had had <strong>to</strong> leave <strong>the</strong> Caribbean for <strong>the</strong> UK, elsewhere in Europe <strong>and</strong> North America in order <strong>to</strong> write <strong>and</strong> be<br />
published<br />
To make literature from Africa <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Global African Diaspora available <strong>to</strong> a UK <strong>and</strong> wider European audience<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> Africa <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Diaspora itself. I am sure some <strong>of</strong> us remember well <strong>the</strong> Heinemann African Writers Series,<br />
distributed by New Beacon, that brought us books such as Chinua Achebe’s trilogy (Things Fall Apart, Arrow <strong>of</strong><br />
God <strong>and</strong> No Longer at Ease), <strong>and</strong> those <strong>of</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r writers, including: Steve Biko, Ama Ata Aidoo, Nadine Gordimer,<br />
Buchi Emecheta, <strong>and</strong> Okot p’Bitek.<br />
To encourage <strong>and</strong> give exposure <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> work <strong>of</strong> young writers from among <strong>the</strong> African Diaspora in <strong>the</strong> UK<br />
To help inform <strong>and</strong> give direction <strong>to</strong> political struggles on <strong>the</strong> axis <strong>of</strong> race <strong>and</strong> class in <strong>the</strong> UK<br />
To publish <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rwise distribute curriculum material that was inclusive <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> massive contribution <strong>to</strong> human<br />
knowledge <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> societies, especially <strong>the</strong> economic <strong>and</strong> cultural development <strong>of</strong> Europe, that<br />
Africa <strong>and</strong> its Diaspora have made throughout his<strong>to</strong>ry<br />
To write, publish <strong>and</strong> distribute <strong>the</strong> outcomes <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> process in which we interpreted <strong>the</strong> society <strong>to</strong> itself through<br />
<strong>the</strong> prism <strong>of</strong> our experience <strong>of</strong> it, here <strong>and</strong> in <strong>the</strong> countries from whence we came<br />
To publish <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rwise distribute resources that could propel <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> an independent black working<br />
class movement in schooling <strong>and</strong> education<br />
To publish <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rwise distribute resources that connect <strong>the</strong> struggle for human liberation <strong>and</strong> for racial equality<br />
<strong>and</strong> social justice across <strong>the</strong> five continents<br />
To ensure that <strong>the</strong>re could be no excuse for imposing upon <strong>the</strong> nation’s children, <strong>of</strong> any class <strong>and</strong> any ethnicity, a<br />
white, eurocentric curriculum <strong>and</strong> pedagogy<br />
To encourage <strong>and</strong> support <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r African publishers <strong>and</strong> booksellers that are equally<br />
grounded in communities <strong>and</strong> that have a mission <strong>to</strong> support independent organisation <strong>and</strong> free, open <strong>and</strong> democratic<br />
debate within those communities <strong>and</strong> in <strong>the</strong> society generally<br />
From its inception, New Beacon Books has been organic <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> communities whose struggles it seeks <strong>to</strong> inform<br />
<strong>and</strong> support. Its rootedness in those communities, combined with John La Rose’s leadership as an experienced<br />
political/cultural activist <strong>and</strong> political strategist is evidenced by <strong>the</strong> following:<br />
The founding <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Caribbean Artists Movement, also in 1966, <strong>and</strong> CAM’s focus on art <strong>and</strong> culture in its most<br />
inclusive sense, <strong>of</strong> which, more later<br />
New Beacon’s presence at community meetings, rallies <strong>and</strong> cultural events both as active participants <strong>and</strong> as<br />
booksellers<br />
New Beacon was central <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> formation in <strong>the</strong> late 1960s <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Caribbean Education <strong>and</strong> Community Workers<br />
Association (CECWA) <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> formulation <strong>of</strong> CECWA’s position on pressing education issues, e.g.:<br />
The disproportionate number <strong>of</strong> African heritage children being sent <strong>to</strong> schools for <strong>the</strong> educationally subnormal.<br />
CEWCA commissioned Bernard Coard <strong>to</strong> write <strong>the</strong> seminal work ‘How <strong>the</strong> West Indian child is made educationally<br />
subnormal in <strong>the</strong> British school system’, which New Beacon first published in 1971<br />
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The practice <strong>of</strong> b<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>and</strong> busing children from <strong>the</strong> Caribbean Diaspora on <strong>the</strong> basis <strong>of</strong> racist stereotypes <strong>and</strong> assumptions.<br />
The licence given <strong>to</strong> schools by <strong>the</strong> department for education <strong>to</strong> bus such children away from <strong>the</strong>ir local<br />
area <strong>to</strong> schools elsewhere once <strong>the</strong>ir number in any one school was in excess <strong>of</strong> 30% <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> school’s roll<br />
The culturally <strong>and</strong> racially biased intelligence tests that were administered <strong>to</strong> our children with dire consequences, especially<br />
if <strong>the</strong> children had recently arrived from <strong>the</strong> Caribbean <strong>to</strong> join parents/relatives<br />
Police in schools, not just for community liaison purposes but in order <strong>to</strong> perform cl<strong>and</strong>estine <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong>ten not so overt<br />
policing functions <strong>and</strong> place our children in <strong>the</strong> school-<strong>to</strong>-prison pipeline, a system imported from <strong>the</strong> USA<br />
The criminalisation <strong>of</strong> our youth, including school students<br />
Police aggressive <strong>and</strong> illegal ‘S<strong>to</strong>p & Search’ operations<br />
Careers <strong>of</strong>ficers <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir low expectations <strong>of</strong> <strong>and</strong> aspirations for our children, <strong>of</strong>ten pointing <strong>the</strong>m in <strong>the</strong> direction <strong>of</strong><br />
dead end jobs<br />
The development <strong>of</strong> Saturday/Supplementary Schools <strong>and</strong> strategies for dealing with mainstream headteachers, as well<br />
as <strong>the</strong> police, who sought <strong>to</strong> obstruct those schools <strong>and</strong> victimise students who attended <strong>the</strong>m.<br />
New Beacon was instrumental in <strong>the</strong> formation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Black Parents Movement <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Black Youth Movement<br />
New Beacon provided advice <strong>and</strong> guidance <strong>to</strong> groups wishing <strong>to</strong> set up supplementary schools, drawing upon <strong>the</strong><br />
experience <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Black Parents Movement in running its own, viz.: <strong>the</strong> Albertina Sylvester Saturday School <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
George Padmore Supplementary School<br />
New Beacon introduced many school students <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir families <strong>to</strong> writers in <strong>the</strong> community, or/<strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> those visiting<br />
London from <strong>the</strong> wider Diaspora whom New Beacon persuaded <strong>to</strong> come <strong>and</strong> talk about <strong>the</strong>ir work in <strong>the</strong> bookshop or<br />
some o<strong>the</strong>r community venue. That was something Bogle-L’Ouverture Publications also did <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> a far greater extent.<br />
School students would crowd in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> bookshops with <strong>the</strong>ir teachers <strong>and</strong> hear <strong>and</strong> interact with established publishers<br />
whom <strong>the</strong>y <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir parents never thought <strong>the</strong>y would ever set eyes upon. Such was <strong>the</strong> organic rootedness <strong>of</strong> our<br />
bookshops <strong>and</strong> publishing houses in our communities.<br />
For example, it was hugely inspiring, motivating <strong>and</strong> self-affirming <strong>to</strong> be able <strong>to</strong> discuss with writers such as Andrew<br />
Salkey, John La Rose himself, Eddie (later Kamau) Brathwaite, George Lamming, Sylvia Wynter, Sam Selvon at our regular<br />
meetings at <strong>the</strong> West Indian Students Centre in Earls Court, <strong>the</strong> base <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Caribbean Education <strong>and</strong> Community<br />
Workers Association.<br />
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New Beacon provided s<strong>to</strong>cks <strong>of</strong> books <strong>to</strong> public libraries <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> local education authority Teachers Centres/<br />
Pr<strong>of</strong>essional Development Centres <strong>and</strong> ran training <strong>and</strong> development workshops for teachers <strong>and</strong> curriculum<br />
development staff on <strong>the</strong> books/teaching resources <strong>and</strong> how <strong>the</strong>y might be used<br />
New Beacon organised public seminars o<strong>the</strong>rwise on policy matters <strong>and</strong> state practices that impacted negatively<br />
<strong>and</strong> disproportionately on African heritage communities<br />
When in 1981 <strong>the</strong> government established Special Access Courses <strong>to</strong> provide alternative entry routes <strong>to</strong> higher<br />
education for black <strong>and</strong> ethnic minority adults who had missed out on, or had had poor educational outcomes<br />
from, mainstream schooling, New Beacon provided essential advice both <strong>to</strong> individual mature students who<br />
were pursuing those courses <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> leaders <strong>and</strong> teaching staff on those courses. Such courses, led principally<br />
by African Diaspora staff, were in every sense <strong>the</strong> adult equivalent <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Black Supplementary Schools,<br />
except that unlike <strong>the</strong> latter, <strong>the</strong>y were full-time, one- or two-year courses<br />
Over time, New Beacon came <strong>to</strong> be seen as <strong>the</strong> ‘go <strong>to</strong>’ place for guidance <strong>and</strong> advice on <strong>the</strong>sis proposals, ethnographic<br />
research methods, course material, potential interviewees, etc.<br />
New Beacon, with <strong>the</strong> Black Parents Movement <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r partners with whom it worked in alliance, intervened<br />
on <strong>the</strong> issue <strong>of</strong> criminal prosecutions that were politically motivated <strong>and</strong> developed a method for defendants<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir families/supporters/campaigns <strong>to</strong> take control <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir defence against those charges <strong>and</strong> ensure that<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir legal team acted under <strong>the</strong>ir instructions<br />
On January 1981, 13 young people lost <strong>the</strong>ir lives in a house fire at 439 New Cross <strong>Road</strong> in Deptford, South London.<br />
One more was <strong>to</strong> die later. Within days <strong>of</strong> that tragedy, <strong>the</strong> New Cross Massacre Action Committee was<br />
formed, with John Las Rose as its Chair, <strong>and</strong> it went on <strong>to</strong> organise <strong>the</strong> New Cross Massacre Black People’s Day<br />
<strong>of</strong> Action on 2nd March 1981, which brought 25,000 predominantly African people <strong>to</strong> march from Deptford <strong>to</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> Houses <strong>of</strong> Parliament <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n <strong>to</strong> Hyde Park on an ordinary working Monday. New Beacon was involved in<br />
<strong>the</strong> activities <strong>of</strong> both formations<br />
Between 1982 <strong>and</strong> 1995, New Beacon, Bogle-L’Ouverture Publications <strong>and</strong> Race Today Publications ran an<br />
international book fair <strong>and</strong> book fair festival that spanned all five continents <strong>and</strong> was located in Bradford/Leeds,<br />
Manchester <strong>and</strong> London. Fittingly, <strong>the</strong> first book fair was opened by CLR James at Isling<strong>to</strong>n Town Hall in 1982.<br />
As <strong>the</strong> years progressed, New Beacon remained <strong>the</strong> only publisher organising <strong>the</strong> book fair<br />
New Beacon established <strong>the</strong> New Beacon Educational Trust <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> George Padmore Institute (GPI) was founded<br />
in 1991 by John La Rose <strong>and</strong> a number <strong>of</strong> political <strong>and</strong> cultural activists associated with New Beacon <strong>and</strong><br />
with many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> movements, initiatives <strong>and</strong> organisations outlined above. The GPI is an archive, educational<br />
resource <strong>and</strong> research centre that houses “materials relating <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> black community <strong>of</strong> Caribbean, African <strong>and</strong><br />
Asian descent in Britain <strong>and</strong> continental Europe”<br />
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By <strong>the</strong> time New Beacon, Bogle L’Ouverture Publications <strong>and</strong> Race Today Publications came <strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>r <strong>to</strong> organise<br />
<strong>the</strong> International Bookfair <strong>of</strong> Radical Black <strong>and</strong> Third World Books, each <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m in <strong>the</strong>ir own right <strong>and</strong> working<br />
<strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>r had engaged with political struggles <strong>and</strong> literary <strong>and</strong> artistic developments <strong>and</strong> creative products across<br />
<strong>the</strong> five continents. To give just a few examples:<br />
Political repression in Daniel Arap Moi’s Kenya:<br />
In 1986, having returned <strong>to</strong> Kenya, Wanyiri Kihoro, a founder member <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Committee against Political Repression<br />
<strong>and</strong> for <strong>the</strong> Release <strong>of</strong> Political Prisoners in Kenya, was himself imprisoned without trial. In response <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
international pressure put upon Daniel Arap Moi as a result <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> campaigning work <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Committee <strong>and</strong> a barrage<br />
<strong>of</strong> letters from its Chair, John La Rose, a frustrated Moi was heard <strong>to</strong> exclaim: ‘What does this descendant <strong>of</strong><br />
slaves know about Kenyan affairs <strong>and</strong> about Africa?’ One helpful aide, no less affronted than his tyrannical master,<br />
<strong>the</strong>n interjected without hesitation: ‘Why don’t you have him arrested?’ John La Rose <strong>and</strong> his committee continued<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir campaign in spite <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> repressive Kenyan secret service, publishing <strong>the</strong> campaigning bulletin, Kenya<br />
News, until 1989. http://www.georgepadmoreinstitute.org/trinidad-memorial-owtu-2006<br />
The <strong>Anti</strong>-apar<strong>the</strong>id movement in South Africa <strong>and</strong> across <strong>the</strong> world <strong>and</strong> support for political exiles from <strong>the</strong> South<br />
Africa liberation struggles living in Britain <strong>and</strong> continental Europe, especially Germany<br />
The Sowe<strong>to</strong> massacre <strong>and</strong> its aftermath<br />
The struggles <strong>of</strong> Nigerian academics against persecution <strong>and</strong> political repression, especially <strong>the</strong> work <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Association <strong>of</strong> Staff <strong>of</strong> Universities (ASU) against state tyranny, especially as perpetrated by successive military<br />
regimes<br />
Workers’ struggles across <strong>the</strong> Caribbean, in Sou<strong>the</strong>rn Africa <strong>and</strong> in <strong>the</strong> USA<br />
<strong>Anti</strong>racist <strong>and</strong> anti-fascist struggles across Europe <strong>and</strong> in France, Germany <strong>and</strong> Italy in particular<br />
The Black Studies Movement in <strong>the</strong> USA<br />
The Civil Rights Movement in <strong>the</strong> USA<br />
The independence struggles in Guadeloupe <strong>and</strong> Martinique<br />
The perennial threats facing <strong>the</strong> revolutionary government in Cuba<br />
The perennial threats, internal <strong>and</strong> external, facing <strong>the</strong> revolutionary government in Grenada<br />
Workers’ struggles here in <strong>the</strong> UK <strong>and</strong> not least <strong>the</strong> onslaught on <strong>the</strong> National Union <strong>of</strong> Mineworkers by Margaret<br />
Thatcher <strong>and</strong> her government in <strong>the</strong> early 1980s<br />
The fatwa pronouncedby Aya<strong>to</strong>llah Khomeini against <strong>the</strong> writer, Salman Rushdie, following <strong>the</strong> publication <strong>of</strong> The<br />
Satanic Verses in 1988 <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> burning <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> book by Muslims in Bradford in 1989. Across <strong>the</strong> free world, <strong>the</strong>re<br />
was outrage at <strong>the</strong> fatwa <strong>and</strong> at what <strong>the</strong> burning <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> book heralded in terms <strong>of</strong> attitudes <strong>to</strong> free speech <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>to</strong> judgements about ‘blasphemy’ on <strong>the</strong> part <strong>of</strong> certain sections <strong>of</strong> Islam. Intervening in relation <strong>to</strong> both matters,<br />
John wrote:<br />
‘Believers have <strong>the</strong>ir right <strong>to</strong> believe. Writers have <strong>the</strong>ir right <strong>to</strong> write. Between belief <strong>and</strong> expression <strong>the</strong>re is a<br />
right <strong>to</strong> statement <strong>and</strong> counterstatement, <strong>to</strong> argument <strong>and</strong> counterargument. That is where I st<strong>and</strong>. Let those who<br />
disagree make <strong>the</strong>ir case in <strong>the</strong> open forums <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> world. Death <strong>and</strong> sentencing <strong>to</strong> death have never triumphed<br />
over ideas <strong>and</strong> belief. Christianity <strong>and</strong> Islam are pro<strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong> this.’<br />
To digress for a moment, one might observe at this time that <strong>the</strong> Khomeini fatwa, <strong>the</strong> burning <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Satanic verses<br />
in Bradford in 1989 <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> murder <strong>of</strong> Charlie Hebdo journalists in Paris in January 2015 all lie along <strong>the</strong> same<br />
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continuum <strong>and</strong> all have <strong>the</strong> issue <strong>of</strong> ‘blasphemy’ at <strong>the</strong>ir core.<br />
Against that background <strong>of</strong> solidarity with <strong>and</strong> active support for struggles <strong>and</strong><br />
movements across <strong>the</strong> world, <strong>the</strong> book fair organisers could be confident, <strong>the</strong>refore,<br />
that when <strong>the</strong> Call went out for <strong>the</strong> first <strong>and</strong> every o<strong>the</strong>r book fair, <strong>the</strong>re<br />
would be an enthusiastic response from political <strong>and</strong> cultural activists, including<br />
publishers, abroad <strong>and</strong> at home.<br />
The name John La Rose is synonymous with New Beacon Books <strong>and</strong> with <strong>the</strong><br />
Despite that<br />
his<strong>to</strong>ry I have<br />
charted thus far<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
incontrovertible<br />
impact New<br />
Beacon <strong>and</strong> its<br />
satellites have<br />
had on political<br />
life in post-war<br />
Britain, <strong>the</strong> sad<br />
fact is that a<br />
large<br />
percentage <strong>of</strong><br />
people born in<br />
1980 <strong>and</strong> after<br />
have not even<br />
heard <strong>of</strong> New<br />
Beacon Books<br />
or John La<br />
Rose.<br />
movement <strong>of</strong> which New Beacon Books itself has been a part since its birth in<br />
1966, including CAM, <strong>the</strong> book fair <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> George Padmore Institute.<br />
As evidenced above, New Beacon has never been just about publishing, marketing<br />
<strong>and</strong> selling books. Indeed, its practice <strong>the</strong>se last 50 years has been consonant<br />
with <strong>the</strong> 10 objectives listed at <strong>the</strong> <strong>to</strong>p <strong>of</strong> this paper.<br />
It has undergirded a political movement <strong>and</strong> inspired many generations <strong>to</strong> find<br />
<strong>and</strong> use <strong>the</strong>ir voice <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> connect with current <strong>and</strong> past struggles <strong>and</strong> learn from<br />
our advances as well as our defeats.<br />
Despite that his<strong>to</strong>ry I have charted thus far <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> incontrovertible impact New<br />
Beacon <strong>and</strong> its satellites have had on political life in post-war Britain, <strong>the</strong> sad fact<br />
is that a large percentage <strong>of</strong> people born in 1980 <strong>and</strong> after have not even heard<br />
<strong>of</strong> New Beacon Books or John La Rose.<br />
Maybe that’s not so surprising when one considers that most people in <strong>the</strong> media<br />
would also have heard <strong>of</strong> nei<strong>the</strong>r.<br />
A quick anecdote in this regard. When John died in February 2006, Ngugi wa<br />
Thongo <strong>and</strong> I were invited <strong>to</strong> appear on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme <strong>to</strong> talk<br />
about his life <strong>and</strong> work. We were interviewed by John Humphreys <strong>and</strong> Edward<br />
S<strong>to</strong>ur<strong>to</strong>n. At <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> interview, Edward S<strong>to</strong>ur<strong>to</strong>n accompanied us out <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> studio <strong>and</strong> said: ‘I cannot believe that this man has done so much <strong>and</strong> been<br />
such a huge cultural figure right here in London <strong>and</strong> I have not even heard <strong>of</strong> him.<br />
I really must find out some more about him <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> work that you all do’.<br />
Such is <strong>the</strong> reality <strong>of</strong> marginalisation <strong>of</strong> our contribution <strong>to</strong> Changing Britannia <strong>and</strong><br />
our efforts <strong>to</strong> get this nation <strong>to</strong> wake up <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> fact that we are not on <strong>the</strong> margins<br />
looking in but very much part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> process <strong>of</strong> transforming <strong>the</strong> society <strong>and</strong><br />
helping it <strong>to</strong> underst<strong>and</strong> its internal contradictions <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> be at ease with itself.<br />
So, where now for New Beacon Books?<br />
As you ga<strong>the</strong>red for this lecture you will have been h<strong>and</strong>ed a statement indicat-<br />
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ing <strong>the</strong> changes <strong>the</strong>re have been in <strong>the</strong> operation <strong>of</strong> New Beacon Bookshop <strong>and</strong> that are planned in 2017. There is no<br />
doubt that New Beacon like so many o<strong>the</strong>r independent publishers <strong>and</strong> small bookshops have had <strong>to</strong> confront many<br />
challenges, from on-line shopping <strong>to</strong> Kindle, electronic publishing <strong>and</strong> much else besides. These changes have markedly<br />
impacted <strong>the</strong> viability <strong>of</strong> small bookshops. It is reassuring <strong>to</strong> learn that <strong>the</strong> publishing <strong>and</strong> bookservice will continue.<br />
I want <strong>to</strong> suggest, however, that ways be found <strong>of</strong> enabling New Beacon Books <strong>to</strong> continue <strong>to</strong> perform <strong>the</strong> following<br />
key functions:<br />
Confronting <strong>the</strong> process <strong>of</strong> writing us out <strong>of</strong> British social <strong>and</strong> cultural his<strong>to</strong>ry<br />
Encouraging <strong>and</strong> assisting young people <strong>to</strong> underst<strong>and</strong> New Beacon’s his<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>and</strong> purpose <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> draw upon it as <strong>the</strong>y<br />
discover <strong>and</strong> use <strong>the</strong>ir own voice <strong>and</strong> continue <strong>to</strong> change Britannia <strong>and</strong> shape <strong>the</strong> future <strong>the</strong>y want, ra<strong>the</strong>r than allow<br />
o<strong>the</strong>rs <strong>to</strong> shape that future for <strong>the</strong>m based on insularity, chauvinism, isolationism <strong>and</strong> backwardness<br />
Continuing <strong>to</strong> influence new social <strong>and</strong> cultural movements, e.g., ‘Why is my curriculum white?’; ‘Why isn’t my pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
black?’, <strong>the</strong> decoloniality movement <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> growing body <strong>of</strong> young writers, playwrights <strong>and</strong> spoken word artists that<br />
is emerging, especially in urban Britain which has become home <strong>to</strong> so many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m<br />
Linking <strong>the</strong>m <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> work <strong>of</strong> iconic pioneers such as Una Marson, Edric <strong>and</strong> Pearl Connor, Geraldine Connor, Yvonne<br />
Brewster, Mona Hammond, Joan Hooley, Carmen Munroe, Corinne Skinner-Carter, Norman Bea<strong>to</strong>n, Earl Lovelace, Aubrey<br />
Williams, Edna Manley <strong>and</strong> many, many more<br />
Confronting <strong>the</strong> challenges <strong>of</strong> Brexit <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> resurgence <strong>of</strong> fascism in Britain <strong>and</strong> Europe<br />
Subverting <strong>the</strong> neo-liberal schooling project whereby government exp<strong>and</strong>s <strong>the</strong> process by which schooling displaces<br />
education <strong>and</strong> produces a nation <strong>of</strong> certificated (if not certified) ignoramuses, devoid <strong>of</strong> any underst<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
own his<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> his<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>and</strong> reality <strong>of</strong> how <strong>the</strong> global majority population, as well as globalism <strong>and</strong> globalisation<br />
changed Britain <strong>and</strong> its relationship with <strong>the</strong> rest <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> world.<br />
The international bookfair provided opportunities for young people, including aspiring writers <strong>and</strong> cultural activists, <strong>to</strong><br />
self-educate <strong>and</strong> make sure that, in Mark Twain’s famous words, <strong>the</strong>y never let <strong>the</strong>ir schooling interfere with <strong>the</strong>ir education.<br />
I regularly meet many who tell passionate tales <strong>of</strong> how much <strong>the</strong> book fair <strong>and</strong> book fair festivals contributed<br />
<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir education, self affirmation <strong>and</strong> self development.<br />
If New Beacon has never been just about book selling, <strong>the</strong> challenge for that his<strong>to</strong>rical movement <strong>and</strong> for us is how <strong>to</strong><br />
shape <strong>and</strong> structure it <strong>to</strong> perform all <strong>the</strong> above functions <strong>and</strong> more, so that in <strong>the</strong> same way that John La Rose built<br />
upon <strong>the</strong> praxis <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Beacon group <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> political <strong>and</strong> cultural movement <strong>of</strong> which <strong>the</strong>y were a part in Trinidad &<br />
Tobago <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Caribbean in that volatile period <strong>of</strong> Caribbean his<strong>to</strong>ry, New Beacon could continue <strong>to</strong> inspire new generations<br />
<strong>and</strong> help shape <strong>the</strong>ir struggles as <strong>the</strong>y build a new order in Britain, long after <strong>the</strong> likes <strong>of</strong> me have popped my<br />
clogs <strong>and</strong> popped along <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> realm <strong>of</strong> Ances<strong>to</strong>rs.<br />
And talking about ‘Ances<strong>to</strong>rs’, it is now 10 years since John La Rose joined <strong>the</strong>m. Let us remember him through some<br />
poignant tributes that his comrades, including Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Stuart Hall, shared <strong>the</strong> day we celebrated his life <strong>and</strong> returned<br />
him <strong>to</strong> Mo<strong>the</strong>r Earth.<br />
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Part 2<br />
<strong>1976</strong><br />
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Introduction <strong>to</strong> Part 2<br />
As you have seen <strong>the</strong> backdrop <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> racism <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 1970s began way back in 1919, but<br />
it was Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers <strong>of</strong> blood’ speech which gave it a huge revival during <strong>the</strong> 70’s.<br />
Powell’s words still have a deep impact on British politics, but during <strong>the</strong> early 70’s it directly<br />
led <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> growth <strong>of</strong> racist attacks, <strong>and</strong> far right groups such as <strong>the</strong> National Front. The<br />
National Front grew on <strong>the</strong> words <strong>of</strong> Powell, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> campaign <strong>to</strong> oppose Britain’s membership<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> European Economic Community, which began on 1 January 1973. By <strong>1976</strong> it had<br />
14,000 registered members, <strong>and</strong> polled nearly 20% <strong>of</strong> votes in local elections in Leicester.<br />
Yet, it was in <strong>1976</strong> that communities across <strong>the</strong> country began <strong>to</strong> come out <strong>and</strong> fight back<br />
against racism.<br />
<strong>Racism</strong> was rife. The Institute <strong>of</strong> Race Relations closely moni<strong>to</strong>red <strong>the</strong> press in <strong>1976</strong><br />
<strong>and</strong> noted <strong>the</strong> close correlation between press reports <strong>and</strong> families facing racist violence.<br />
Jenny Bourne writing in Race <strong>and</strong> Class noted, “On 2 May, <strong>the</strong> News <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> World headline<br />
read: ’One slips through on every boat’; three days later Asian parents in Redbridge made<br />
an appeal for <strong>the</strong> safety <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir children after <strong>the</strong>y were constantly attacked in <strong>the</strong> school<br />
playground. On 6 May <strong>the</strong> Sun headlines read, ’Ano<strong>the</strong>r 20,000 Asians are on <strong>the</strong> way’ <strong>and</strong><br />
’S<strong>to</strong>rm over two-wife immigrant’. That night an Asian shop in West Essex was repeatedly<br />
attacked. On 7 May <strong>the</strong> Sun reported, ’4-star Asians run up £4,000 bill’ <strong>and</strong>’ Queue jumping<br />
rumpus’. The Guardian on 9 May headlined ’Asians rile neighbours’ (<strong>the</strong> report was, in<br />
fact, on how <strong>the</strong> Malawian family was set upon by white families at <strong>the</strong> ’reception centre’ <strong>to</strong><br />
which <strong>the</strong>y were moved from <strong>the</strong> hotel). The next day a concrete slab was thrown through<br />
<strong>the</strong> window <strong>of</strong> a Asian’s house in Hackney, paraffin was poured over <strong>the</strong> furniture <strong>and</strong> it<br />
was set alight. Four days later a 40-year-old Bengali in Oldham was beaten <strong>and</strong> knifed by<br />
a-gang <strong>of</strong> fifteen white youths. Shopkeepers <strong>and</strong> restauranteurs reported continual attacks.<br />
On 17 May <strong>the</strong> Daily Express wrote <strong>of</strong> ’Asian flood warning’. The next day <strong>the</strong> Sun <strong>to</strong>ld <strong>of</strong><br />
’New Asian invaders’, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Mirror headlined ’Our Asian burden by Mellish’. Two days later<br />
a West Indian mo<strong>the</strong>r in Poplar asked for help against constant attacks, threats on her children,<br />
obscene letters <strong>and</strong> paint daubed on her house. That same’ night, two students, one<br />
Indian, <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r Jordanian, were stabbed <strong>to</strong> death in Woodford, three miles away. “ (Race<br />
<strong>and</strong> Class, XV111, 1(<strong>1976</strong>)<br />
On Friday 4th June, Granada TV broadcast a short film by Paul Foot in which he argued<br />
that “race hate <strong>and</strong> race violence does not rise <strong>and</strong> fall according <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> numbers <strong>of</strong> immigrants<br />
coming in<strong>to</strong> Britain. It rises <strong>and</strong> falls <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> extent <strong>to</strong> which people’s prejudices are<br />
inflamed <strong>and</strong> made respectable by politicians <strong>and</strong> newspapers.’ (’What <strong>the</strong> Papers Say’,<br />
Granada TV 4 June <strong>1976</strong>). That same evening a young Asian boy, Gurdeep Singh Chagger,<br />
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was stabbed <strong>to</strong> death outside <strong>the</strong> cinema in Southall, west London. It was clear <strong>to</strong> young<br />
Asian people who had grown up in Southall, this was <strong>the</strong> racist prejudice that <strong>the</strong>y had<br />
been watching, now l<strong>and</strong>ing on <strong>the</strong>ir <strong>to</strong>wn.<br />
Following <strong>the</strong> death <strong>of</strong> Gurdeep Singh Chaggar in June <strong>1976</strong>, <strong>the</strong> youth marched <strong>to</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> police station dem<strong>and</strong>ing protection from racist violence <strong>and</strong> declared ‘We shall fight<br />
like lions’. The police station was surrounded, <strong>the</strong> youth staged a sit in refusing <strong>to</strong> leave<br />
until two Asian men that had been arrested during <strong>the</strong> commotion were released. They<br />
won <strong>the</strong>ir dem<strong>and</strong>s <strong>and</strong> held ano<strong>the</strong>r meeting later in <strong>the</strong> evening <strong>to</strong> organise defence<br />
units. With this demonstration <strong>and</strong> show <strong>of</strong> force <strong>the</strong> Southall Youth Movement was born.<br />
The SYM was dedicated <strong>to</strong> ‘physically keeping racism <strong>of</strong>f <strong>the</strong> streets <strong>of</strong> Southall’ <strong>and</strong><br />
countering <strong>the</strong> ‘lack <strong>of</strong> youth provision in <strong>the</strong> Borough’. Within months Asian Youth Movements<br />
appeared across <strong>the</strong> country, in East London, Lu<strong>to</strong>n, Nottingham, Leicester, Manchester,<br />
Sheffield, Burnley, Birmingham, Lu<strong>to</strong>n <strong>and</strong> Watford.<br />
In this section we begin by recounting <strong>the</strong> s<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>of</strong> Southall through <strong>the</strong> words <strong>of</strong> long<br />
time activist, Vishnu Sharma. Sharma was born in <strong>the</strong> Punjab in 1921, Sharma was active<br />
in <strong>the</strong> peasant movement <strong>and</strong> later in trade unions, becoming Assistant General Secretary<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Punjab Provincial TUC at a time <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> British Raj. Because <strong>of</strong> his militancy, he<br />
was arrested six times <strong>and</strong> imprisoned for a <strong>to</strong>tal <strong>of</strong> 31/2 years. He was forced <strong>to</strong> stay<br />
in his village for 21 months <strong>and</strong> visit <strong>the</strong> police at 11am every Sunday. Sharma joined <strong>the</strong><br />
Communist Party <strong>of</strong> India in 1937. He left for Britain in 1957, arriving on a Friday, speaking<br />
no English <strong>and</strong> with just three pounds in his pocket. On <strong>the</strong> Monday, he joined <strong>the</strong> British<br />
Communist Party. He worked in a rubber fac<strong>to</strong>ry in Southall, taught himself English <strong>and</strong><br />
immersed himself in trade unionism; Sharma became a member <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> British Communist<br />
Party’s Executive Committee from 1971. Long active in <strong>the</strong> Indian Workers Association, he<br />
was elected President <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Southall IWA in 1977. He was also Vice-Chair <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Campaign<br />
against Racial Discrimination, a founder member <strong>and</strong> full time worker for <strong>the</strong> Joint<br />
Council for <strong>the</strong> Welfare <strong>of</strong> Immigrants <strong>and</strong> a member <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> National Council for Commonwealth<br />
<strong>of</strong> Immigrants, <strong>the</strong> forerunner <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Commission for Racial Equality, from which he<br />
resigned in protest at <strong>the</strong> 1968 Immigration Act. He was a member <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> original Steering<br />
Committee <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Anti</strong>-Nazi League. His career <strong>the</strong>refore charts <strong>the</strong> long struggles against<br />
colonialism in India, through <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> modern anti racist movements.<br />
In this section we also have contributions from Karamjit Chaggar, <strong>the</strong> older bro<strong>the</strong>r <strong>of</strong><br />
Gurdeep Singh Chaggar. He movingly recounts <strong>the</strong> days <strong>and</strong> days following his bro<strong>the</strong>r’s<br />
death. We rarely hear <strong>the</strong> voices <strong>of</strong> families <strong>and</strong> we are grateful for <strong>the</strong> time he provided<br />
<strong>to</strong> us. We also recount <strong>the</strong> s<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>of</strong> Southall Youth Movement through <strong>the</strong> words <strong>of</strong> Suresh<br />
Grover, Avtar Brah, <strong>and</strong> Balraj Purewal.<br />
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These individuals came <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Youth Movement through different str<strong>and</strong>s <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
words recounts <strong>the</strong> different approaches <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> events in June 76, perhaps showing that<br />
<strong>the</strong>re is never one coherent voice in our communiites at any given moment.<br />
In August <strong>1976</strong>, we also saw <strong>the</strong> start <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Grunwick strike. In <strong>1976</strong>, led by Jayaben Desai,<br />
a group <strong>of</strong> mainly Asian workers walked out in protest against low pay <strong>and</strong> poor treatment<br />
by managers at <strong>the</strong> Grunwick Film Processing Labora<strong>to</strong>ry in Willesden. They staged a<br />
strike against <strong>the</strong>ir poor working conditions, dem<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>the</strong> right <strong>to</strong> join a union. Less than<br />
two years later, those six had been joined by 20,000 supporters in an his<strong>to</strong>ric dispute fighting<br />
for better rights for poorly treated workers. Predominantly Asian women, <strong>the</strong>se strikers<br />
shattered stereotypes, challenged <strong>the</strong> establishment, brought a community <strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>r <strong>to</strong><br />
support <strong>the</strong> rights <strong>of</strong> workers <strong>and</strong> changed <strong>the</strong> face <strong>of</strong> trade unionism. Here we recount<br />
<strong>the</strong> strike through <strong>the</strong> words <strong>of</strong> Laxmiben Patel, who was interviewed by Harsha Ahyave,<br />
her daughter. This is followed with <strong>the</strong> thoughts <strong>of</strong> Gautam Appa, who supported <strong>the</strong> strike<br />
through his role at <strong>the</strong> Indian Workers Association (IWA GB). The IWA (GB) had, by <strong>the</strong>n,<br />
spent almost a decade supporting asian workers through industrial disputes, <strong>and</strong> some <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong>se previous disputes are listed in <strong>the</strong> endnotes.<br />
During <strong>the</strong> summer heatwave <strong>of</strong> <strong>1976</strong>, Engl<strong>and</strong> started <strong>the</strong> series <strong>of</strong> cricket games<br />
against <strong>the</strong> West Indies, in confident mood, with <strong>the</strong>ir captain Tony Grieg, arrogantly proclaiming<br />
before TV cameras that Engl<strong>and</strong> would make West Indies “grovel”. These comments<br />
along with <strong>the</strong> racist coverage <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> series, left <strong>the</strong> West Indians, players <strong>and</strong> fans<br />
alike so fired up, that by <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> test series it was <strong>the</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong> team that was on its<br />
knees. In 2010 <strong>the</strong> s<strong>to</strong>ry was made in<strong>to</strong> a documentary, ‘Fire in Babylon’. The documentary<br />
describes how <strong>the</strong> West Indians earned <strong>the</strong> respect, admiration, <strong>and</strong> love <strong>of</strong> cricket fans <strong>and</strong><br />
even opposing teams from across <strong>the</strong> world. It was against this background that we witnessed<br />
increased racial tensions due largely in part <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> police’s ‘s<strong>to</strong>p <strong>and</strong> search’ policy.<br />
Three thous<strong>and</strong> police <strong>of</strong>ficers – 10 times <strong>the</strong> usual number – were assigned <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Notting<br />
Hill Carnival in <strong>1976</strong>. According <strong>to</strong> police reports, on August 30, <strong>the</strong> last day <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> festivities,<br />
<strong>of</strong>ficers attempted <strong>to</strong> arrest a pickpocket near Por<strong>to</strong>bello <strong>Road</strong>. A number <strong>of</strong> carnival-goers<br />
– both black <strong>and</strong> white – came <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> pickpocket’s aid <strong>and</strong> within minutes, this incident escalated<br />
in<strong>to</strong> violence. Those caught up in <strong>the</strong> riots included Joe Strummer <strong>and</strong> Paul Simonon,<br />
who later went on <strong>to</strong> form <strong>the</strong> b<strong>and</strong> The Clash. The events <strong>of</strong> August 30 inspired <strong>the</strong>ir 1977<br />
song White Riot. In this section we have reproduced <strong>the</strong> words <strong>of</strong> Cecil Gutzmore, former<br />
worker at <strong>the</strong> Notting Hill Advice <strong>and</strong> Information centre, recounting <strong>the</strong> s<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Carnival,<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> changes which came about during <strong>1976</strong>, <strong>and</strong> its lasting legacy.<br />
Lastly, we reproduce <strong>the</strong> words <strong>of</strong> film-maker, Gurinder Chadha, who attended one<br />
fo <strong>the</strong> first Rock against <strong>Racism</strong> concerts.Rock Against <strong>Racism</strong> (RAR) was a campaign set<br />
up September <strong>1976</strong> as a response <strong>to</strong> an increase in racial conflict <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> growth <strong>of</strong> white<br />
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nationalist groups such as <strong>the</strong> National Front. The campaign involved pop, rock, punk <strong>and</strong><br />
reggae musicians staging concerts with an anti-racist <strong>the</strong>me, in order <strong>to</strong> discourage young<br />
people from embracing racism. The campaign was founded, in part, as a response <strong>to</strong> statements<br />
<strong>and</strong> activities by well-known rock musicians including Eric Clap<strong>to</strong>n <strong>and</strong> David Bowie.<br />
At its height, in spring 1978, 100,000 people marched six miles from Trafalgar Square <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
East End <strong>of</strong> London (a National Front hotspot) for an open-air music festival at Vic<strong>to</strong>ria <strong>to</strong><br />
counteract <strong>the</strong> growing wave <strong>of</strong> racist attacks in <strong>the</strong> UK.<br />
These series <strong>of</strong> events, all occured in London, <strong>and</strong> people went from one event <strong>to</strong> ano<strong>the</strong>r,<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> influences across <strong>the</strong> wide spectrum <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> black, asian <strong>and</strong> white communities<br />
since have been huge. indeed, much <strong>of</strong> what we see in modern day art, politics <strong>and</strong><br />
culture can be traced back <strong>to</strong> this period <strong>of</strong> political activism, yet this contribution is rarely<br />
talked about <strong>to</strong>day.<br />
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Timeline <strong>of</strong> events in<br />
<strong>1976</strong><br />
03 January <strong>1976</strong><br />
LB Ealing council faces criticism over continued 'bussing' <strong>of</strong> Asian school children <strong>to</strong> areas where schools<br />
capable <strong>of</strong> accommodating <strong>the</strong>m exist instead <strong>of</strong> building infrastructure in <strong>the</strong> local area <strong>to</strong> accommodate<br />
<strong>the</strong>m, claimed <strong>the</strong> policy <strong>of</strong> doing so contravenes <strong>the</strong> Race Relations Act<br />
Enoch Powell inflames debate about racism by highlighting 'quietly corrected' net immigration figures<br />
21 January <strong>1976</strong><br />
Civil rights pioneer Paul Robeson dies<br />
23 January <strong>1976</strong><br />
Paul Robeson dies in Philadelphia<br />
01 February <strong>1976</strong><br />
First reading <strong>of</strong> Race Relations Act <strong>1976</strong> in House <strong>of</strong> Commons<br />
07 February <strong>1976</strong><br />
Runnymede Trust criticizes <strong>the</strong> Race Relations Commission's plan not <strong>to</strong> take up individual cases <strong>of</strong><br />
discrimination<br />
12 February <strong>1976</strong><br />
Report reveals hundreds <strong>of</strong> Ug<strong>and</strong>an Asians who sought refuge in Engl<strong>and</strong> three years’ prior now live in<br />
poverty <strong>and</strong> destitution<br />
National Front picket outside Heathrow <strong>and</strong> Gatwick airport<br />
03 March <strong>1976</strong><br />
The BBC is criticised for platforming racist propag<strong>and</strong>a on 'Open Door' programme<br />
04 March <strong>1976</strong><br />
Application for injunction against broadcasting <strong>of</strong> programme by 'British Campaign <strong>to</strong> S<strong>to</strong>p Immigration'<br />
submitted. It also faces protest at <strong>the</strong> Birmingham <strong>and</strong> Glasgow studios for rerunning racist TV programme<br />
produced by 'British Campaign <strong>to</strong> S<strong>to</strong>p Immigration'<br />
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05 March <strong>1976</strong><br />
National Front propag<strong>and</strong>a circulated in run-up <strong>to</strong> 1974 general election ruled racist by judge<br />
Chief Constable <strong>of</strong> Greater Manchester Police claims it was entirely his decision not <strong>to</strong> prosecute National Front<br />
supporters who 'smashed up' National Council for Civil Liberties meeting<br />
06 March <strong>1976</strong><br />
Black community shocked by verdict <strong>of</strong> Carib Trial as Dennis Bovell <strong>and</strong> Royfield Dockery sentenced <strong>to</strong> three<br />
years in prison<br />
02 April <strong>1976</strong><br />
Home Secretary urged by West Indian St<strong>and</strong>ing Conference <strong>to</strong> launch full inquiry in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> relations between<br />
police <strong>and</strong> young black people in Britain<br />
Relations between young black people <strong>and</strong> police deteriorated with a massive lack <strong>of</strong> confidence on <strong>the</strong> part <strong>of</strong><br />
young black people in <strong>the</strong> police according <strong>to</strong> Runnymede Trust<br />
05 April <strong>1976</strong><br />
The Sun front page headline 20,000 exiled Malawian Asian <strong>to</strong> come <strong>to</strong> Britain, The Mirror 'New flood <strong>of</strong> Asian in<br />
Britain', Telegraph 'Invasion <strong>of</strong> Asians force boroughs <strong>to</strong> call for help'<br />
08 April <strong>1976</strong><br />
New report examining Britain as a multiracial society declares that young blacks look forward <strong>to</strong> a future which<br />
holds no hope<br />
09 April <strong>1976</strong><br />
News <strong>of</strong> World - 'sc<strong>and</strong>al <strong>of</strong> £150,000 mansion given <strong>to</strong> Asian refugee'<br />
12 April <strong>1976</strong><br />
More inflamma<strong>to</strong>ry remarks from Enoch Powell as he claims mugging is an issue connected with a 'racial shift in<br />
Britain's cities'<br />
19 April <strong>1976</strong><br />
Increasing unity between anti-racist/anti-fascist organisations as plans form for counter march against National<br />
Front's 'St George's Day March'<br />
23 April <strong>1976</strong><br />
Asian youth <strong>and</strong> police clash after NF march on Brick Lane<br />
26 April <strong>1976</strong><br />
5000 strong anti-fascist march through Bradford <strong>to</strong> counter 800 strong National Front demo. Twenty-one 21<br />
anti-fascists were arrested <strong>and</strong> charged after clashes with National Front<br />
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02 May <strong>1976</strong><br />
New <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> World headline: ‘One slips through on every boat’<br />
05 May <strong>1976</strong><br />
Asian parent in Redbridge appeal for safety <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir children after <strong>the</strong>y are constantly attacked in <strong>the</strong> school<br />
playground<br />
06 May <strong>1976</strong><br />
Sun headline - ano<strong>the</strong>r 20,000 Asians on <strong>the</strong>ir way<br />
Asian shop in West Essex attacked<br />
07 May <strong>1976</strong><br />
Four star Asians run by 4,000 bill<br />
09 May <strong>1976</strong><br />
Guardian report Asian rile neighbor<br />
10 May <strong>1976</strong><br />
Concrete slab through through window <strong>of</strong> Asian house in Hackney<br />
15 May <strong>1976</strong><br />
40 year Bengali man in Oldham was beaten <strong>and</strong> knifed by gang <strong>of</strong> 15<br />
17 May <strong>1976</strong><br />
Daily Express 'Asian flood warning'<br />
18 May <strong>1976</strong><br />
The Sun headline, ‘New Asian invaders’<br />
Mirror headline’ ‘Our Asian burden’<br />
19 May <strong>1976</strong><br />
West Indian mo<strong>the</strong>r ask for help against racism in Poplar<br />
Two student - one Indian one Jordanian stabbed <strong>to</strong> death in Woodford<br />
20 May <strong>1976</strong><br />
Times headline, ‘100 more Goans refugees from Malawi expected <strong>to</strong>morrow’<br />
22 May <strong>1976</strong><br />
1000 strong anti-racism march held in Blackburn (called by newly formed Blackburn Action against Racialism<br />
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Council <strong>to</strong> combat new NF presence)<br />
23 May <strong>1976</strong><br />
National Party <strong>and</strong> National Front demo at Gatwick Airport as 40 refugees arrive from Malawi<br />
25 May <strong>1976</strong><br />
Mirror headline, ‘Ano<strong>the</strong>r race war warning by Enoch Powell’<br />
Mail headline, ‘Vast queues all planning <strong>to</strong> surge in Britain’<br />
29 May <strong>1976</strong><br />
National Front march <strong>to</strong> Stafford Jail in support <strong>of</strong> 'jailed racist' Robert Relf<br />
01 June <strong>1976</strong><br />
Representatives from 120 organisations <strong>of</strong> Britain's 200,000 strong Pakistani community call on government <strong>to</strong><br />
ban racist marches through black communities<br />
03 June <strong>1976</strong><br />
West Indian cricket team start Test match against Engl<strong>and</strong><br />
Appeal <strong>to</strong> Pakistani premier, Benezir Bhut<strong>to</strong>, by Britain’s Pakistani community in <strong>the</strong> UK <strong>to</strong> put pressure on PM<br />
James Callaghan <strong>to</strong> protect Asian community in <strong>the</strong> UK<br />
04 June <strong>1976</strong><br />
Paul Foot 'What <strong>the</strong> papers say' Granada TV race hate <strong>and</strong> prejudice<br />
Gurdeep Singh Chagger murdered in Southall<br />
06 June <strong>1976</strong><br />
3000 person strong march in Southall <strong>to</strong> commemorate <strong>the</strong> death <strong>of</strong> Gurdeep Singh Chagger<br />
Spaghetti House trial - Black people refuse <strong>to</strong> accept legitimacy <strong>of</strong> English courts<br />
07 June <strong>1976</strong><br />
Clashes between Indian community <strong>and</strong> police in Southall<br />
West London Asian community leaders dem<strong>and</strong> PM <strong>to</strong> show 'good faith' <strong>to</strong>wards <strong>the</strong> immigrant communities<br />
<strong>and</strong> repudiate racism<br />
Two white youths attacked In Southall, one stabbed, one mugged, near <strong>the</strong> spot where Gurdeep Singh Chagger<br />
was murdered<br />
7 out <strong>of</strong> 8 or 9 Asians arrested after picking up sticks <strong>to</strong> defend <strong>the</strong>mselves when surrounded by an estimated<br />
150 whites in Barking<br />
Pakistani shop in Barking 'up in flames' after being set on fire<br />
Labour forms plans for a major campaign <strong>to</strong> fight racism following increases in racist <strong>and</strong> fascist activities as well<br />
as increased support for <strong>the</strong> National Front<br />
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Police arrest 2 demonstra<strong>to</strong>rs after youth picket Southall Police station<br />
08 June <strong>1976</strong><br />
Southall Youth Movement formed<br />
09 June <strong>1976</strong><br />
Relations between black community <strong>and</strong> police are bad according <strong>to</strong> Robert Mark’s, Metropolitan Police<br />
commissioner, annual report<br />
Trail <strong>of</strong> 11 black <strong>and</strong> 1 white youth in Leeds Chapel<strong>to</strong>w<br />
People throwing s<strong>to</strong>nes at police cars in Rossing<strong>to</strong>n Green near Spencer Place Leeds - 12 people r<strong>and</strong>omly<br />
selected<br />
10 June <strong>1976</strong><br />
Local anti-racists outline plans <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Blackburn Action against <strong>Racism</strong> group at press conference in Blackburn<br />
Friends Meeting House<br />
Four young Asian men charged for unlawfully fighting in <strong>the</strong> altercation which led <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> murder <strong>of</strong> Gurdeep<br />
Chagger<br />
Met Police Commissioner Sir Robert Mark joins attack on black youth, criticising 'a growing tendency <strong>of</strong> groups<br />
<strong>of</strong> black people <strong>to</strong> react in violent opposition <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Police'<br />
Engineers' leader George Carbon invites all organisations in Sheffield area opposed <strong>to</strong> racism <strong>to</strong> a meeting in<br />
order <strong>to</strong> plan counter-demo against National Front in Ro<strong>the</strong>rham<br />
Vishnu Sharma, chairman <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Broad Alliance <strong>of</strong> Asian organisations in Southall urges support for 'March <strong>of</strong><br />
Unity' in West London that day<br />
11 June <strong>1976</strong><br />
5 point plan drawn up <strong>to</strong> tackle racism by 37 community relations council <strong>of</strong>ficers<br />
13 June <strong>1976</strong><br />
Families <strong>and</strong> children as <strong>to</strong> move from Canning Town after repeated attacks<br />
Fire bomb on Brentford family<br />
14 June <strong>1976</strong><br />
Archbishop <strong>of</strong> Canterbury condemns racism <strong>and</strong> its advocates<br />
Calls for <strong>the</strong> arrest <strong>of</strong> Mr. Kingsley Read, leader <strong>of</strong> National Front, after inciting race hatred <strong>and</strong> violence in an<br />
East London speech<br />
7000 strong march in Southall <strong>to</strong> commemorate Gurdeep Singh Cahgger<br />
15 June <strong>1976</strong><br />
Sir Robert Mark publishes annual talking about trouble with black youth<br />
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16 June <strong>1976</strong><br />
National Union <strong>of</strong> Journalists boycott coverage <strong>of</strong> National Front meetings after some <strong>of</strong> its members are<br />
refused entry <strong>to</strong> meetings due <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir skin colour<br />
17 June <strong>1976</strong><br />
West Indian community faces crisis according <strong>to</strong> conservative cabinet minister, Peter Walker, if unemployment<br />
<strong>and</strong> bad housing is not tackled<br />
South Yorkshire county council calls for a ban on upcoming National Front march in Ro<strong>the</strong>rham<br />
18 June <strong>1976</strong><br />
Sowe<strong>to</strong> massacre <strong>of</strong> student protes<strong>to</strong>rs in South Africa<br />
19 June <strong>1976</strong><br />
300 march in Cardiff <strong>to</strong> show solidarity with those murdered in Sowe<strong>to</strong><br />
20 June <strong>1976</strong><br />
Bengali family in Popular East forced <strong>to</strong> flee hosing estate after repeated attacks<br />
21 June <strong>1976</strong><br />
Asian community leaders visit Downing Street <strong>to</strong> deliver word <strong>of</strong> declining race relations <strong>to</strong> PM Callaghan, with<br />
concern about <strong>the</strong> East End where assaults on members <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> community <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir property occur nightly<br />
21 June <strong>1976</strong><br />
4000 strong anti-racist march in Ro<strong>the</strong>rham<br />
W<strong>and</strong>sworth community despair as at<strong>to</strong>rney general Sam Silkin decides not <strong>to</strong> prosecute NF c<strong>and</strong>idate after<br />
distributing leaflet inciting racial hatred<br />
23 June <strong>1976</strong><br />
Clashes in Nottingham as teddy boys assault black residents in <strong>the</strong> local area<br />
Robert Relf released from prison after hunger strike, upon release refused <strong>to</strong> remove sign outside house<br />
stating it was for sale <strong>to</strong> 'an English family' for which he was originally imprisoned<br />
24 June <strong>1976</strong><br />
Largest ever emergency meeting called by Barking Community Relations Council <strong>to</strong> decide on programme <strong>to</strong><br />
deal with racism locally<br />
Racial violence reached levels not seen since events <strong>of</strong> Autumn 1958 in Notting Hill <strong>and</strong> Nottingham<br />
Six black women beat up by police at Burning Spear nighclub Harlesden – afterwards <strong>the</strong>re is a picket outside<br />
Harlesden police station<br />
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26 June <strong>1976</strong><br />
Labour MP for Ealing-Southall Syd Bidwell calls for resistance <strong>to</strong> racism in article titled, 'Time <strong>to</strong> Fight Back'<br />
28 June <strong>1976</strong><br />
8,000 strong march in London <strong>to</strong> condemn Sowe<strong>to</strong> massacre<br />
30 June <strong>1976</strong><br />
Incendiary bomb thrown in home <strong>of</strong> West Indian family in Bath<br />
01 July <strong>1976</strong><br />
Mass sit down at Piccadilly circus in protest against increased racial violence<br />
05 July <strong>1976</strong><br />
1,000 strong funeral procession for Gurdeep Singh Chagger<br />
Protest in West London following <strong>the</strong> funeral <strong>of</strong> Gurdeep Singh Chagger<br />
07 July <strong>1976</strong><br />
Miners Union unanimously votes <strong>to</strong> condemn <strong>the</strong> National Front<br />
Home Secretary Roy Jenkins sets up parliamentary committee <strong>to</strong> look at proposal for a register <strong>of</strong> dependents<br />
<strong>of</strong> families in British minority communities<br />
09 July <strong>1976</strong><br />
Home Secretary Roy Jenkins declares <strong>the</strong>re will be no change <strong>to</strong> government policy on race relations after<br />
visiting <strong>the</strong> site <strong>of</strong> Gurdeep Chagger's murder in Southall<br />
10 July <strong>1976</strong><br />
Tory attempt <strong>to</strong> derail Race Relations Act in House <strong>of</strong> Commons fails after '22 hours <strong>of</strong> poisonous debate' as it<br />
continues through <strong>to</strong> third reading<br />
New inflamma<strong>to</strong>ry outburst by Enoch Powell claiming Britain had a political death wish as symp<strong>to</strong>m <strong>of</strong> a<br />
multicultural society<br />
14 July <strong>1976</strong><br />
In Deptford far right poll 44.5%<br />
17 July <strong>1976</strong><br />
Housing Chief <strong>of</strong> biggest local housing authority in Britain admits that black people get <strong>the</strong> worst <strong>of</strong>fers from<br />
council housing<br />
The opening ceremony <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 21st Olympic Games in Montreal has been marred by <strong>the</strong> withdrawal <strong>of</strong> 25<br />
African countries.<br />
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23 July <strong>1976</strong><br />
South Africa expelled from International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) for practicing racial discrimination<br />
in athletics<br />
Final two defendants in <strong>the</strong> Carib Club trial case freed by appeal court<br />
27 July <strong>1976</strong><br />
United front <strong>of</strong> campaigners launch campaign <strong>to</strong> fight 'race-hate myths with <strong>the</strong> facts'<br />
Home Secretary Roy Jenkins calls on nation <strong>to</strong> 'ignore' National front demonstrations<br />
01 August <strong>1976</strong><br />
Nation's 3rd largest Union, <strong>the</strong> General <strong>and</strong> Municipal workers, sends out pamphlet <strong>to</strong> all its shop stewards<br />
<strong>and</strong> branch <strong>of</strong>ficials setting out reasons why racial division is against <strong>the</strong> interests <strong>of</strong> union members as part <strong>of</strong><br />
campaign against racism in <strong>the</strong> work place<br />
13 August <strong>1976</strong><br />
Prime Minister Bhut<strong>to</strong> <strong>of</strong> Pakistan writes <strong>to</strong> Prime Minister Callaghan <strong>to</strong> request <strong>the</strong> return <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Koh-i-Noor<br />
diamond, which is part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Crown Jewels.<br />
14 August <strong>1976</strong><br />
10,000 Nor<strong>the</strong>rn Irel<strong>and</strong> women demonstrate for peace in Belfast<br />
16 August <strong>1976</strong><br />
Eric Clap<strong>to</strong>n racist outburst at Birmingham Civil centre<br />
17 August <strong>1976</strong><br />
Engl<strong>and</strong> loose series against West Indies cricket team<br />
18 August <strong>1976</strong><br />
Pho<strong>to</strong>grapher, Red Saunders writes letter <strong>to</strong> Melody Maker <strong>and</strong> NME in protest <strong>to</strong> Eric Clap<strong>to</strong>n’s racist outburst<br />
23 August <strong>1976</strong><br />
Asian women walk out <strong>and</strong> Grunwick strike begins<br />
30 August <strong>1976</strong><br />
Riot break out at Notting Hill carnival<br />
01 September <strong>1976</strong><br />
West Indian organisations meet <strong>to</strong> discuss defense <strong>of</strong> carnival amid calls for it <strong>to</strong> be banned<br />
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01 September <strong>1976</strong><br />
Dem<strong>and</strong>s for public inquiry in<strong>to</strong> Notting Hill clashes, Labour MP Syd Bidwell <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs questioning <strong>the</strong><br />
massive police presence<br />
Notting Hill carnival direc<strong>to</strong>r Selwyn Baptiste describes event as more like a state <strong>of</strong> emergency than a<br />
carnival as police presence reaches 1600 in number<br />
11 September <strong>1976</strong><br />
Rock against <strong>Racism</strong> open letter <strong>to</strong> Eric Clap<strong>to</strong>n published in 'New Musical Express'<br />
12 September <strong>1976</strong><br />
Young woman discloses racism <strong>and</strong> discrimination practiced by national employment agency <strong>and</strong> it's client<br />
firms<br />
4000 strong anti-racist march in Blackburn<br />
17 September <strong>1976</strong><br />
Conservative party annual conference agenda 'swamped by racist resolutions from constituency<br />
associations' with 45 calling for a complete halt <strong>to</strong> immigration, 17 dem<strong>and</strong>ing repeal <strong>of</strong> Race Relations Act<br />
19 September <strong>1976</strong><br />
Carnival meeting at Metro Youth Club questions whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong> brutal attack on black people well planned<br />
20 September <strong>1976</strong><br />
<strong>Anti</strong>-racist 'carnival' march through Hackney in answer <strong>to</strong> National Front's racist activities in <strong>the</strong> area<br />
27 September <strong>1976</strong><br />
1,000 strong counter protest in Walsall against NF demo<br />
28 September <strong>1976</strong><br />
Public inquiry dem<strong>and</strong>ed in<strong>to</strong> case <strong>of</strong> immigration <strong>of</strong>ficer at Heathrow airport admitting <strong>to</strong> being a National<br />
Front member<br />
02 Oc<strong>to</strong>ber <strong>1976</strong><br />
Enoch Powell speech planned for <strong>the</strong> coming evening described as 'most vicious' yet in its call for public<br />
policy <strong>of</strong> repatriation<br />
10 Oc<strong>to</strong>ber <strong>1976</strong><br />
Tory Deputy Leader William Whitelaw 'waves <strong>the</strong> racist banner' after spelling out a <strong>to</strong>ugh new immigration<br />
policy targeting <strong>the</strong> far-right vote<br />
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Home Secretary Merlyn Rees, Tory Deputy Leader William Whitelaw <strong>and</strong> Powell's fellow United Ulster Unionist<br />
MP Jim Kilfedder condemn Powell's latest speech in which he dem<strong>and</strong>s repatriation<br />
17 Oc<strong>to</strong>ber <strong>1976</strong><br />
Grunwick Strike march on Parliament<br />
100 strong group picket Enoch Powell's speaking event at school in Bromley<br />
17 Oc<strong>to</strong>ber <strong>1976</strong><br />
Grunwick Strike enquiry called<br />
National Front banned from its annual meeting place, Conway Hall on Red Lion Square<br />
01 November <strong>1976</strong><br />
First Rock against <strong>Racism</strong> gig in east London<br />
21 November <strong>1976</strong><br />
Black People conference - Metro Youth club with Bryon Lawrence, Dr. David Pitt, Dr. Hinds, Ruddy Nareyen, Bro<br />
Tony St. Helene<br />
22 November <strong>1976</strong><br />
Race Relations Act <strong>1976</strong> get Royal Assent<br />
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Southall : pho<strong>to</strong>graphs from our past<br />
PHOTOS<br />
Above : Southall Dominion,<br />
1977<br />
Left : Woman working at printing<br />
press, Uxbridge <strong>Road</strong>, 1980<br />
Right Community protest at<br />
Ac<strong>to</strong>n <strong>to</strong>wn hall, 1974<br />
:<br />
Left:<br />
Supplementary school class,<br />
1963<br />
Right : Bookshop <strong>of</strong> Indian<br />
Youth <strong>of</strong>fice, 1979<br />
Bot<strong>to</strong>m left : Sikh ga<strong>the</strong>ring<br />
Havelock <strong>Road</strong> 2001<br />
Bot<strong>to</strong>m right : Indian Workers<br />
Association <strong>of</strong>fice, 1979<br />
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PHOTOS CAPTION. Above :<br />
Southall Unity parade, June<br />
<strong>1976</strong>, Right : same location<br />
April 1979,<br />
Middle left : Southall Residents<br />
Associa<strong>to</strong>n campaign , 1968<br />
Middle right: National<br />
Association <strong>of</strong> Indian Youth<br />
building, 1977<br />
Bot<strong>to</strong>m left : Shopping on<br />
Southall High street, 1972<br />
Bot<strong>to</strong>m right: early shops at<br />
<strong>the</strong> Green, Southalll, 1973<br />
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Above : Vishnu Sharma<br />
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The need for unity :<br />
an interview with Vishnu Sharma<br />
Reproduced courtesy <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Institute <strong>of</strong> Race Relations, publisher <strong>of</strong><br />
Race & Class, 58/1. July 2016, ‘Race <strong>and</strong> class: <strong>the</strong> colour <strong>of</strong> struggle<br />
1950s-1980s’ in which this piece first appeared.<br />
Harsh Punja: How did Southall become <strong>the</strong> Asian <strong>to</strong>wn it<br />
is <strong>to</strong>day?<br />
Vishnu Sharma: I came <strong>to</strong> this <strong>to</strong>wn in 1957 from India<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> population <strong>of</strong> Indian people was less than<br />
one thous<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> very few fac<strong>to</strong>ries employed Asians.<br />
R. Woolf fac<strong>to</strong>ry was <strong>the</strong> first <strong>to</strong> recruit. There was a Mr<br />
Dunn, he had been in <strong>the</strong> army in Punjab <strong>and</strong> knew Asians;<br />
he said <strong>the</strong>y are very hard-working <strong>and</strong> he started recruiting<br />
from Aldgate in East London.<br />
But <strong>the</strong>n people began <strong>to</strong> come from central Punjab, from<br />
Hoshiarpur, Jullundhur <strong>and</strong> Ludhiana, for economic reasons.<br />
You know at independence in 1947 <strong>the</strong> two provinces<br />
<strong>of</strong> Punjab <strong>and</strong> Bengal were affected because <strong>of</strong> Partition,<br />
so most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Hindus <strong>and</strong> Sikhs from Pakistan had <strong>to</strong><br />
migrate <strong>to</strong> what was <strong>the</strong>n called <strong>the</strong> Indian Punjab. In <strong>the</strong><br />
districts I mentioned before, <strong>the</strong> l<strong>and</strong> holdings were not<br />
large, so <strong>the</strong>re was <strong>to</strong>o much pressure on l<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>y<br />
had <strong>to</strong> go some- where <strong>to</strong> seek work. So some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m<br />
started coming <strong>to</strong> Britain. Most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m, till about 1963,<br />
were from <strong>the</strong> rural areas: <strong>the</strong>y were ei<strong>the</strong>r poor or middle<br />
peasants, or simply agricultural workers. But just before<br />
<strong>the</strong> Commonwealth Immigrants Act <strong>of</strong> 1962 some educated<br />
people from <strong>the</strong> <strong>to</strong>wns <strong>and</strong> cities as well as retired<br />
soldiers started coming, <strong>and</strong> after that many teachers <strong>and</strong><br />
businessmen, but <strong>the</strong> vast majority who came <strong>to</strong> this <strong>to</strong>wn<br />
were from <strong>the</strong> rural Punjab.<br />
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First single men came, but when <strong>the</strong>y had paid <strong>of</strong>f <strong>the</strong>ir debts or whatever, after four or five<br />
years, <strong>the</strong>y thought <strong>of</strong> bringing <strong>the</strong>ir families in. So people started buying houses. Before 1962<br />
<strong>the</strong>re was no control on Commonwealth citizens, all <strong>the</strong>y had <strong>to</strong> do was establish <strong>the</strong>ir identity.<br />
Most who came just arrived with addresses <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir relations, village folk or friends.<br />
When I came, I brought only two addresses <strong>and</strong> one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> sons <strong>of</strong> my friends used <strong>to</strong> live in<br />
Southall, so I came <strong>to</strong> Southall. But he had moved <strong>to</strong> Derby. But I <strong>to</strong>ld <strong>the</strong> people at <strong>the</strong> address<br />
I had, ‘I came last night from India’, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>y <strong>to</strong>ok me in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir house! They did not know me at<br />
all. Then <strong>the</strong>y asked who I was, from which village. Next morning (this man had been on night<br />
shift) three people at <strong>the</strong> fac<strong>to</strong>ry who knew me from Punjab, who could not believe that I was<br />
here, came <strong>to</strong> greet me. In two days, I found forty people who knew me here in Southall so I felt<br />
at home. I was <strong>the</strong> third person who came from my village, but <strong>the</strong> first one in Southall. After<br />
me, twenty-three followed <strong>to</strong> Southall <strong>and</strong> all came <strong>to</strong> me, <strong>to</strong> my premises here, at this address,<br />
not even telling me beforeh<strong>and</strong> – just came <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> airport <strong>and</strong> had my address. When I saw a<br />
taxi parked outside my house, I immediately thought, oh ano<strong>the</strong>r one has come from my village.<br />
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This was happening not <strong>to</strong> me alone, this is how it worked.<br />
HP: And how was it working at Woolf’s rubber fac<strong>to</strong>ry?<br />
VS: Most people coming from villages were not used <strong>to</strong> working in industry <strong>and</strong> it was difficult<br />
in <strong>the</strong> beginning for <strong>the</strong>m <strong>to</strong> adapt <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> new environment. There was <strong>the</strong> problem <strong>of</strong><br />
language for many, <strong>and</strong> colleagues who knew English would interpret from charge-h<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />
foreman. We, with <strong>the</strong> Irish, Polish, few West Indians, were in <strong>the</strong> smelly jobs, burning rubber,<br />
<strong>and</strong> so on. White people were in <strong>the</strong> white- collar jobs like transport or admin. Immigrants<br />
were concentrated in production. [Woolf’s made rubber accessories <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> process used<br />
carbon black <strong>and</strong> sulphur which made <strong>the</strong> work smelly <strong>and</strong> unpleasant. A sixty-hour week was<br />
considered normal <strong>and</strong> pay so low that most men did overtime, taking <strong>the</strong>ir week <strong>to</strong> some<br />
seventy-five hours over seven days. (1)<br />
There was no union in <strong>the</strong> fac<strong>to</strong>ry for a very long time <strong>and</strong> people thought, because <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
appalling conditions <strong>and</strong> very low wages, we must form one. Some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> people [Sharma<br />
himself] already had trade union activity in India so it was not difficult for <strong>the</strong>m <strong>to</strong> realise that<br />
till we formed a union, our interests would not be protected nor could we compel management<br />
<strong>to</strong> accept our conditions. So, <strong>the</strong> first meeting for this purpose was held on 1 May 1957<br />
in <strong>the</strong> community center. But <strong>the</strong> management resisted <strong>and</strong> sacked one or two workers who<br />
wanted <strong>the</strong> union. [Attempts were made in 1958 <strong>and</strong> again in 1960 <strong>to</strong> establish a union.] But<br />
<strong>the</strong>n in 1963, we in <strong>the</strong> Indian Workers’ Association brought in <strong>the</strong> Transport Workers’ union<br />
<strong>and</strong> tried <strong>to</strong> get everyone <strong>to</strong> join, but secretly, going house <strong>to</strong> house in <strong>the</strong> community, so<br />
management could not know <strong>the</strong> people who were actively behind this. After two, three,<br />
months majority <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> workers in production department had become members <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> union<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> matter was h<strong>and</strong>ed over <strong>to</strong> union <strong>of</strong>ficials <strong>to</strong> negotiate with fac<strong>to</strong>ry management.<br />
HP: When did <strong>the</strong> Indian Workers’ Association form, <strong>the</strong>n?<br />
VS: The first Indian Workers’ Association was formed in <strong>the</strong> UK in late 1930s, but with hardly<br />
any branches, perhaps London, Manchester, Huddersfield <strong>and</strong> Coventry. Southall people<br />
were first members <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> London branch, but Southall branch had its inaugural meeting on<br />
3 March 1957 at <strong>the</strong> community centre <strong>and</strong> I think <strong>the</strong>re were about 200 members. They<br />
had <strong>the</strong>n no separate <strong>of</strong>fice but met at <strong>the</strong> community centre. IWA was set up for three<br />
main purposes: as a platform <strong>to</strong> make people realise <strong>the</strong>y were no longer farmers but now<br />
workers – hence Indian Workers’ Association. (It was not a separate ethnic union, it was also<br />
encouraging its members <strong>to</strong> join a union <strong>to</strong> protect <strong>the</strong>ir rights.) Second, most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> people<br />
found difficulties in approaching doc<strong>to</strong>rs, going <strong>to</strong> hospitals, or solici<strong>to</strong>rs <strong>to</strong> buy houses <strong>and</strong><br />
such things, so IWA provided a free service, for example <strong>of</strong> interpreters <strong>to</strong> people in need.<br />
The third purpose was <strong>to</strong> organise a campaign against <strong>the</strong> overwhelming racial prejudice <strong>and</strong><br />
discrimination we faced: IWA gave a lead.<br />
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HP: How did <strong>the</strong> community respond when it came <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> showdown with R. Woolf in <strong>the</strong><br />
1965/6 dispute when a worker was sacked <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> union refused <strong>to</strong> make <strong>the</strong> subsequent<br />
strike <strong>of</strong>ficial?<br />
VS: The first dispute was for recognition <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> union branch, so <strong>the</strong> management had <strong>to</strong><br />
recognise <strong>the</strong> union but after a few years <strong>the</strong>re was ano<strong>the</strong>r dispute about wages, bonuses<br />
<strong>and</strong> working conditions in <strong>the</strong> fac<strong>to</strong>ry. This second dispute went on for over one month. The<br />
community massively supported <strong>the</strong> dispute in many ways: l<strong>and</strong>lords, for example, for weeks<br />
till it was over, did not ask for rent <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> grocers were providing all kinds <strong>of</strong> goods <strong>to</strong> people<br />
on strike as a sort <strong>of</strong> loan <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Gurdwaras opened <strong>the</strong>ir kitchens for <strong>the</strong> strikers <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> premises for us <strong>to</strong> organise meetings. The community was in many, many ways helpful <strong>to</strong><br />
this dispute.<br />
HP: Can you tell us something about how <strong>the</strong> community developed, were people buying<br />
shops in Southall by now, for example?<br />
VS: In 1957 when I came <strong>the</strong>re was only one shop, near <strong>the</strong> railway bridge, it was a cafe <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong>y used <strong>to</strong> deliver groceries at home in vans. Later on, people worked hard <strong>and</strong> saved,<br />
working nightshifts, <strong>the</strong>n slept for a while, <strong>the</strong>n during <strong>the</strong> day [were] working at <strong>the</strong> shops<br />
<strong>and</strong> this is how businesses started. The population grew during <strong>the</strong> mid-1960s when thous<strong>and</strong>s<br />
more people came here.<br />
The first problem that people faced was <strong>to</strong> get places in schools for <strong>the</strong>ir children, particularly<br />
those <strong>of</strong>, say, 10 <strong>to</strong> 13 who didn’t know a single word <strong>of</strong> English – so first enrolment was<br />
an issue, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n how <strong>to</strong> deal with <strong>the</strong> language ‘problem’. The local authority was just not<br />
ready <strong>to</strong> face <strong>the</strong>se sorts <strong>of</strong> issues, although com- munity leaders had been warning <strong>the</strong><br />
local authority this was about <strong>to</strong> happen.<br />
HP: So racism was rife?<br />
VS: At this time, <strong>the</strong>re was what I would call sheer hypocrisy because <strong>the</strong> politicians were<br />
saying <strong>the</strong>re is no discrimination in this country – Britain is <strong>the</strong> most <strong>to</strong>lerant country, it just<br />
couldn’t be. But in 1963, when <strong>the</strong> Campaign Against Racial Discrimination (CARD) was<br />
formed, it studied local situations. There was for example in 1964 a team <strong>of</strong> students from<br />
Oxford university who were testing discrimination by sending a West Indian or Indian <strong>to</strong> a<br />
certain job <strong>to</strong> see if he was refused even at <strong>the</strong> fac<strong>to</strong>ry gate. And later on a white person<br />
was sent, <strong>and</strong> invariably taken in, recruited. CARD did this sort <strong>of</strong> testing not just in fac<strong>to</strong>ries<br />
but also in public bars which wouldn’t serve Asians or black people. (2) This kind <strong>of</strong> testing<br />
<strong>the</strong>n compelled <strong>the</strong> government <strong>to</strong> pass <strong>the</strong> 1965 Race Relations Act, o<strong>the</strong>rwise <strong>the</strong>re would<br />
have been absolutely no realisation that discrimination existed in this society.<br />
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HP: How did <strong>the</strong> Commonwealth Immigrants Act <strong>of</strong> 1962 affect levels <strong>of</strong> racism?<br />
VS: It created immigration controls on Commonwealth citizens via a system <strong>of</strong> employment<br />
vouchers so people could not come <strong>to</strong> Britain <strong>to</strong> settle without acquiring <strong>the</strong> voucher from<br />
<strong>the</strong> Ministry <strong>of</strong> Labour. Vouchers were issued in three categories, a, b <strong>and</strong> c. A was for<br />
skilled <strong>and</strong> highly qualified people, b for semi-skilled <strong>and</strong> c for unskilled people. The Act put<br />
first control on immigration <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>re was much talk among politicians about <strong>the</strong>re being<br />
‘<strong>to</strong>o many’ coming in. Yet <strong>the</strong>y were talking all <strong>the</strong> time about those from New Commonwealth<br />
countries, those who were black or Asian, not immigration as a whole. In Southall,<br />
<strong>the</strong>re were few people or organisations that were, you know, pro-immigrants. There were<br />
some trade unions that were trying hard <strong>to</strong> educate white workers that, if Commonwealth<br />
immigrants were in this <strong>to</strong>wn, it was because <strong>the</strong> British government wanted <strong>the</strong>m <strong>to</strong> be<br />
here, had recruited <strong>the</strong>m in certain countries <strong>and</strong> [<strong>the</strong>y] were only let in when immigration<br />
<strong>of</strong>ficers allowed. So it was no sort <strong>of</strong> invasion as some rightwing lobby was propag<strong>and</strong>ising<br />
at that time. Apart from a few in <strong>the</strong> unions, many people were hostile. Semi-fascist organisations<br />
were formed here, like The Southall Residents’ Association – this was not a Southall<br />
residents’ association, it was an association <strong>of</strong> Southall’s white residents. And people like<br />
john Bean who were fascist <strong>and</strong> belonged <strong>to</strong> British National Party in those days used <strong>to</strong><br />
organise street meetings against immigrants coming in <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>to</strong>wn. [Bean s<strong>to</strong>od in Southall<br />
in <strong>the</strong> general elections <strong>of</strong> 1964 <strong>and</strong> 1966.]<br />
There were incidents <strong>of</strong> personal assaults during <strong>the</strong> first dispute at R. Woolf when people<br />
attacked Asians coming home. For some time, <strong>the</strong>y <strong>to</strong>lerated <strong>the</strong>se things, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong>re<br />
was a fight back within <strong>the</strong> community. People organised <strong>the</strong>mselves <strong>and</strong> gave on one or<br />
two occasions good hidings <strong>to</strong> Teddy Boys (as <strong>the</strong>y were called in those days). Later, that<br />
s<strong>to</strong>pped <strong>the</strong>m wanting <strong>to</strong> do that sort <strong>of</strong> thing in Southall again.<br />
HP: Do you feel <strong>the</strong> community is stronger now in Southall?<br />
VS: The community now has grown enormously – out <strong>of</strong> a population <strong>of</strong> 78,000 almost half<br />
are Indians, West Indians, Pakistanis, with a few from Ug<strong>and</strong>a, etc. So stronger in numbers.<br />
But also, stronger because <strong>the</strong>y now have well-established community organisations – <strong>the</strong><br />
IWA, at least three Sikh Gurdwaras, two Hindu M<strong>and</strong>ir, cultural <strong>and</strong> literary organisations,<br />
so now <strong>the</strong> community is more organised. And <strong>the</strong> people are more radicalised. Because<br />
<strong>the</strong> more <strong>the</strong>y live in this country, <strong>the</strong> more <strong>the</strong>y get aware <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> political, socio-economic<br />
situation. And <strong>the</strong> more <strong>the</strong>y are conscious <strong>of</strong> discrimination, <strong>the</strong> more <strong>the</strong>y are keen <strong>to</strong><br />
fight back <strong>and</strong> not <strong>to</strong> <strong>to</strong>lerate it at all. The community has built up, over <strong>the</strong> years, a great<br />
confidence.<br />
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Southall has always been a <strong>to</strong>wn at <strong>the</strong> forefront <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> fight against laws like immigration<br />
acts – from 1962 when <strong>the</strong> first Act passed <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> IWA had a very big meeting. It was addressed<br />
by Fenner Brockway, George Pargiter, <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> MP for this area, as well as members<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Pakistani community <strong>and</strong> Claudia jones who was in those days a great name<br />
within <strong>the</strong> black population. (3)<br />
The Labour government was elected in 1964 <strong>and</strong> in August 1965 it published a White Paper<br />
where <strong>the</strong> employment vouchers were reduced <strong>to</strong> 8,500 per year <strong>and</strong> much more restrictive,<br />
so again <strong>the</strong> IWA with CARD <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs fought against it. 1968 ano<strong>the</strong>r [immigration]<br />
act [largely directed at Asians from Kenya under threat <strong>of</strong> expulsion] was passed, controlling<br />
those citizens <strong>and</strong> British passport holders who had acquired that status overseas.<br />
Against <strong>the</strong> 1971 Act [affectively ending all primary immigration], again Southall was active.<br />
Southall was always active against such discrimina<strong>to</strong>ry immigration laws <strong>and</strong> also was campaigning<br />
<strong>to</strong> streng<strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> 1965 Race Relations Act <strong>and</strong> exposing its weaknesses.<br />
We also had <strong>to</strong> fight at <strong>the</strong> local level <strong>to</strong>o. When families started coming in <strong>the</strong> 1960s, <strong>the</strong><br />
local authority was not ready <strong>to</strong> cope <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong>re were racially prejudiced organisations,<br />
<strong>and</strong> even fascist organisations like <strong>the</strong> British National Party, that started agitating that<br />
teachers were <strong>to</strong>o involved in having <strong>to</strong> teach English <strong>to</strong> Asian children for whom it was a<br />
second language. They threatened <strong>the</strong> council that <strong>the</strong>y would withdraw <strong>the</strong>ir white children<br />
from school, particularly from <strong>the</strong> junior School at Beaconsfield <strong>Road</strong>. And <strong>the</strong>n Edward<br />
Boyle, minister <strong>of</strong> education, with Tories in power, he came down <strong>to</strong> Southall <strong>and</strong> with<br />
<strong>the</strong> council evolved a sort <strong>of</strong> formula that in any class or any school in Southall <strong>the</strong>re should<br />
not be more than 33 per cent immigrant children. And those 33 per cent were even taken<br />
in<strong>to</strong> a separate reception class, segregated as it were. And this is how a discrimina<strong>to</strong>ry<br />
attitude started. The surplus number <strong>of</strong> immigrant children were bussed away from Southall<br />
<strong>to</strong> schools as far as six miles from <strong>the</strong> catchment area. This caused controversy within <strong>the</strong><br />
community – some Asian parents thought it might be for <strong>the</strong> long-term good <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> children<br />
<strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs asked why <strong>the</strong>y did not build new schools if <strong>the</strong>re were not enough places in<br />
existing schools. It was around 1968 that people realised that bussing was racially discrimina<strong>to</strong>ry.<br />
Why did Asian parents not have <strong>the</strong> same rights under <strong>the</strong> education acts as white<br />
<strong>to</strong> choose <strong>the</strong> school for <strong>the</strong>ir children? Bussing started in 1965 <strong>and</strong> not s<strong>to</strong>pped until a very<br />
extensive campaign was launched in <strong>the</strong> 1970s in Southall, going house <strong>to</strong> house, explaining<br />
how disastrous <strong>the</strong> policy was. In <strong>the</strong> 1974 local elections, bussing was one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> major<br />
issues in Southall <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> case was taken <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Race Relations Board [in 1975] <strong>and</strong> heard<br />
by <strong>the</strong> High Court <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> local authority had <strong>to</strong> accept <strong>the</strong> ruling <strong>to</strong> phase out bussing<br />
over three years, which <strong>the</strong>y have now. So for that <strong>the</strong>y had <strong>to</strong> build three new schools in<br />
Southall. The community campaigned for years <strong>to</strong> win that battle.<br />
HP: Can you tell me a bit more about <strong>the</strong> campaigns against immigration laws? What kind <strong>of</strong><br />
alliances did <strong>the</strong> IWA make?<br />
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VS: There was <strong>the</strong> IWA <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r organisations, <strong>and</strong> in September 1967 <strong>the</strong> Joint Council for<br />
<strong>the</strong> Welfare <strong>of</strong> Immigrants (4) was born in Southall in <strong>the</strong> Dominion Cinema. IWA was one <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> sponsors <strong>and</strong> its first conference was held <strong>the</strong>re. The main task <strong>of</strong> JCWI was <strong>to</strong> provide<br />
a free service <strong>to</strong> individuals who faced immigration difficulties – say, if at <strong>the</strong> airport, <strong>of</strong>ficials<br />
say, we are not satisfied that this is your wife or <strong>the</strong>se are your children. So our job was <strong>to</strong><br />
convince <strong>the</strong> authorities, this was his wife or his children <strong>and</strong> get all kinds <strong>of</strong> documentary<br />
evidence. We were deeply involved in providing a personal service <strong>to</strong> victims <strong>of</strong> discrimina<strong>to</strong>ry<br />
immigration policy <strong>and</strong> we used that information, based on concrete case- work, <strong>to</strong><br />
campaign through JCWI <strong>and</strong> groups like <strong>the</strong> IWA as a pressure group <strong>to</strong> get changes <strong>and</strong><br />
gradually <strong>to</strong> suggest <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> government. This was great work done by JCWI, <strong>the</strong> IWA <strong>and</strong> in<br />
<strong>the</strong> beginning West Indian St<strong>and</strong>ing Conference.<br />
This continuous work created a kind <strong>of</strong> consciousness about <strong>the</strong> discrimina<strong>to</strong>ry nature <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
law.<br />
In Southall, <strong>the</strong> IWA <strong>the</strong> first body, provided facilities <strong>to</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r communities like <strong>the</strong> Afro-Caribbean’s<br />
<strong>of</strong> Southall under <strong>the</strong> guidance <strong>of</strong> Jimmy Barzie <strong>to</strong> organise <strong>the</strong>mselves <strong>and</strong> Pakistanis<br />
were also encouraged <strong>to</strong> form <strong>the</strong>ir own organisation. There was a time in Southall<br />
when <strong>the</strong>y could not even get premises in Southall for <strong>the</strong>ir Eid prayers, which are very<br />
auspicious, <strong>and</strong> we provided <strong>the</strong> hall in <strong>the</strong> Dominion Cinema <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong>m <strong>and</strong> said, have Nawaz<br />
here. We had very close <strong>and</strong> cordial relations between <strong>the</strong> communities.<br />
HP: How were relations, though, with state agencies like <strong>the</strong> police?<br />
VS: Things were bad in Southall, particularly after <strong>the</strong> <strong>1976</strong> incident <strong>of</strong> Chaggar’s death<br />
[Gurdip Singh Chaggar was knifed <strong>to</strong> death on 4 June <strong>1976</strong> by a group <strong>of</strong> white youths,<br />
prompting <strong>the</strong> formation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Southall Youth Movement (5) no doubt when youth organisations<br />
started forming here <strong>and</strong> West Indian youth had <strong>the</strong>ir own organisations. Park View<br />
centre, organised <strong>and</strong> managed by West Indian youth, was continuously subject <strong>to</strong> all sorts<br />
<strong>of</strong> attacks <strong>and</strong> all sorts <strong>of</strong> criticism by <strong>the</strong> police particularly. And no doubt <strong>the</strong> relations<br />
between black youth <strong>and</strong> Asian <strong>and</strong> police was very strained. Relations with <strong>the</strong> police never<br />
have been very good in Southall. (6)<br />
HP: Relations between Southall <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> state seemed <strong>to</strong> come <strong>to</strong> a head in 1979 over <strong>the</strong><br />
death <strong>of</strong> Blair Peach (7) <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> no<strong>to</strong>rious virginity testing?<br />
VS: The IWA began <strong>to</strong> hear rumours that <strong>the</strong> local council had given permission <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> National<br />
Front <strong>to</strong> hold one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir election meetings in <strong>the</strong> Southall <strong>to</strong>wn hall. So all organisations,<br />
irrespective <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir political creed, community organisations, <strong>the</strong> people from churches,<br />
gurdwaras, West Indians, Pakistanis, all <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m, <strong>the</strong>ir organisations were invited <strong>to</strong> a<br />
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planning meeting on 12 April. It led <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> whole community taking <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> streets on 23 April<br />
<strong>to</strong> protest at <strong>the</strong> invasion <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>to</strong>wn. Businesses, fac<strong>to</strong>ries <strong>and</strong> transport were s<strong>to</strong>pped<br />
from 1pm onwards. <strong>Anti</strong>-fascists from across London came <strong>to</strong> Southall in support. The protest<br />
was met by an enormous police presence <strong>of</strong> 2,700+ <strong>of</strong>ficers, including <strong>the</strong> Special<br />
Patrol Group, which first penned people between cordons, <strong>to</strong> protect <strong>the</strong> fascists, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n<br />
used inordinate violence <strong>to</strong> clear <strong>the</strong> streets, during which Blair Peach was killed by a blow<br />
<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> head <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs received serious injuries. (8)<br />
Virginity tests (intimate vaginal checks), supposedly <strong>to</strong> detect whe<strong>the</strong>r fiancées were bona<br />
fide, were carried out at points <strong>of</strong> entry <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> UK not only outraged Southall but <strong>the</strong> whole<br />
country. And <strong>the</strong>re was much more upheaval in India where every paper <strong>and</strong> magazine<br />
covered it, <strong>and</strong> for <strong>the</strong> first time <strong>the</strong>re was a debate on UK immigration matters in <strong>the</strong> Indian<br />
parliament. The Indian government made strong diplomatic protests <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong>ok <strong>the</strong> case<br />
<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> united Nations. In two days, <strong>the</strong> British government had <strong>to</strong> s<strong>to</strong>p <strong>the</strong>se shameful acts.<br />
(We had known that this was going on from 1969, <strong>and</strong> were complaining about it but government<br />
denied it was happening.) But a girl came from Delhi <strong>to</strong> Southall in 1979 <strong>and</strong> at <strong>the</strong> airport<br />
she was given a gynecological test. Suddenly, because <strong>the</strong> fiancé found she had signed<br />
a so-called letter <strong>of</strong> consent when she had no idea what she was signing, it became an issue.<br />
The consent form was brought <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> IWA <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n was publicly released <strong>and</strong> published on<br />
<strong>the</strong> front page <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Guardian <strong>and</strong> debates <strong>the</strong>n held in <strong>the</strong> British parliament. The community<br />
had a great vic<strong>to</strong>ry, <strong>the</strong>y knew that <strong>the</strong>y could move governments!<br />
HP: How do we fight on?<br />
VS: We have <strong>to</strong> be organised. And I am very proud <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Southall community, I can tell you,<br />
because here, not only <strong>the</strong> young people who have been victims <strong>of</strong> racism, not only women,<br />
<strong>the</strong> whole community, not just <strong>the</strong> black <strong>and</strong> Asian, even white people organised in trade<br />
unions <strong>and</strong> conscious, radical people, <strong>the</strong> whole Southall community, when it feels that it is<br />
threatened, all come out in <strong>the</strong> streets – this happened in <strong>1976</strong>, this happened in 1979 <strong>and</strong> it<br />
happened last year in July 1981. These three examples show quite clearly not just that Southall<br />
com- munity is able <strong>to</strong> fight back, but also Southall community is able <strong>to</strong> move international<br />
opinion on <strong>the</strong>se sorts <strong>of</strong> matters. I am very proud that Southall is at <strong>the</strong> forefront <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
overall fight against racism.<br />
In my view, racism has gone much fur<strong>the</strong>r than just personal attacks <strong>and</strong> dam- aging property<br />
or daubing slogans, in areas where black people are settled like St. Paul’s Bris<strong>to</strong>l, Chapel<strong>to</strong>wn<br />
Leeds, Toxteth, Brix<strong>to</strong>n, Southall, a whole <strong>to</strong>wn is being discriminated against – look at<br />
housing, streets, traffic, education. Local authorities are deliberately ignoring those <strong>to</strong>wns,<br />
<strong>and</strong> that is where we must fight.<br />
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There are sometimes differences on strategies <strong>and</strong> tactics, whe<strong>the</strong>r we should come out on<br />
<strong>the</strong> streets or not; businessmen might not want that, sometimes differences between West<br />
Indian community <strong>and</strong> Asian or amongst Asians, say, between Indians <strong>and</strong> Pakistanis, Sikhs<br />
<strong>and</strong> Hindus but all <strong>the</strong>se are very minor things. I think our attitude in Southall clearly shows<br />
that if our existence is ever threatened, we act <strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>r like anything, <strong>and</strong> that is marvelous,<br />
that is what we need. That inspite <strong>of</strong> religious, political, ideological differences on country or<br />
national origin, we forget if our existence is at stake. And that is <strong>the</strong> need <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> hour, complete<br />
unity on at least a minimum programme.<br />
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The murder <strong>of</strong><br />
Gurdip Singh Chaggar<br />
A large ga<strong>the</strong>ring came out<br />
for Chaggar’s<br />
funeral on 5th July <strong>1976</strong><br />
Middle <strong>and</strong> bot<strong>to</strong>m : Marchers<br />
on <strong>the</strong> ‘March for Unity’ 14th<br />
June, 76<br />
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Above : Almost<br />
immediately after <strong>the</strong> murder,<br />
Suresh Grover <strong>and</strong> his friend,<br />
Denis, write graffitti on <strong>the</strong><br />
pavement reading, ‘this racist<br />
murder will be avenged’<br />
Middle: March against racism<br />
in Southall 14th June <strong>1976</strong><br />
Bot<strong>to</strong>m : Ga<strong>the</strong>ring on<br />
Southall Broadway after<br />
Chaggar’s murder<br />
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PHOTOS<br />
Top left :Protests in Southall,<br />
June 76<br />
Top right : Newspaper<br />
coverage <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> march<br />
Middle : Guardian reports on<br />
<strong>the</strong> weekend events<br />
immediately after <strong>the</strong> murder.<br />
The image shows <strong>the</strong> sit down<br />
protest outside Southall police<br />
station<br />
Bot<strong>to</strong>m : Hostile press coverage<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> youth people began<br />
almost immediately, with<br />
accusations <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ‘peril <strong>of</strong><br />
black gangs’.<br />
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PHOTOS<br />
Above left <strong>and</strong> right :<br />
Pho<strong>to</strong>graphs from <strong>the</strong> ‘March<br />
<strong>of</strong> Unity’ June 76<br />
Middle : Newspaper coverage<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> sit down protest by<br />
Southall Youth Movement<br />
Bot<strong>to</strong>m : newspaper coverage<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> trial<br />
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Above : Funeral <strong>of</strong> Gurdeep Singh Chagger<br />
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Karamjit Chaggar<br />
The bro<strong>the</strong>r <strong>of</strong> Gurdip Singh Chagger<br />
I was born in Hoshiarpur, India 1948, <strong>and</strong> was <strong>the</strong> 3rd <strong>of</strong> five children; two older sisters,<br />
one younger sister <strong>and</strong> my late bro<strong>the</strong>r Gurdeep, who was <strong>the</strong> youngest. My fa<strong>the</strong>r found<br />
work in Tanzania, Africa, which is where we spent our childhood years. As with many o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
Indians I <strong>to</strong>o left Tanzania for Britain in 1967, prior <strong>to</strong> a brief stay in India; leaving my family<br />
behind in Hoshiarpur. I lived in various places with friends <strong>and</strong> relatives while I studied, <strong>and</strong><br />
looked for work. My parents <strong>and</strong> two younger siblings came <strong>to</strong> join my here in 1972 (my two<br />
older sisters were now married <strong>and</strong> settled in India). Our first home was in Ealing, (west London),<br />
but we soon bought a house in Southall, which is where we settled. I was married in <strong>the</strong><br />
August <strong>of</strong> 1974, <strong>and</strong> my first son was born in <strong>the</strong> August <strong>of</strong> 1975. At this point my younger<br />
bro<strong>the</strong>r, Gurdeep was 16 years old.<br />
On Friday 4 June <strong>1976</strong>, Gurdeep went <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Dominion cinema in Southall with friends, as<br />
he sometimes did. It was outside this cinema that <strong>the</strong> heinous murder was committed. This<br />
whole period <strong>of</strong> time, from <strong>the</strong> murder, <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> court case, is very difficult <strong>to</strong> talk about. It is<br />
difficult, but it’s something that I won’t ever forget.<br />
He never came home on <strong>the</strong> night <strong>of</strong> 4 June. My parents were concerned, but I <strong>to</strong>ld <strong>the</strong>m<br />
not <strong>to</strong> worry, as from time <strong>to</strong> time he stayed over at a friends. I thought it was just him being<br />
a teenager, having fun, <strong>and</strong> forgetting <strong>to</strong> call home. On <strong>the</strong> day after he died, I was at home<br />
when <strong>the</strong> police came <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> house, <strong>and</strong> asked me <strong>to</strong> come with <strong>the</strong>m <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> police station<br />
as my bro<strong>the</strong>r had been in a fight. This was late afternoon. I went with <strong>the</strong>m, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>y asked<br />
me some questions, <strong>and</strong> gave me my bro<strong>the</strong>rs watch. I answered <strong>the</strong> questions <strong>and</strong> held<br />
<strong>the</strong> watch. I was shocked; <strong>the</strong>y didn’t tell me that he had been stabbed. I confirmed that <strong>the</strong><br />
watch was his, <strong>and</strong> answered some more questions, it was all very confusing. After questioning<br />
me, <strong>the</strong>y dropped me at <strong>the</strong> <strong>to</strong>p <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> street. As I walked <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> house, I met some people<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>y <strong>to</strong>ld me what had happened <strong>to</strong> Gurdeep. Our friends <strong>and</strong> family knew before<br />
me, I was in a complete state <strong>of</strong> shock. By <strong>the</strong> time I got home, <strong>the</strong> house was full <strong>of</strong> people,<br />
most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m were crying. My parents <strong>to</strong>ok it very badly, I watched <strong>the</strong>m crying. The murder<br />
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had a big impact; <strong>the</strong>y were shocked for a long time, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>y grieved for a long time. They<br />
never really recovered. In fact, my mo<strong>the</strong>r found it very difficult <strong>and</strong> in <strong>the</strong> end we left Southall.<br />
We went <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> trial at <strong>the</strong> Old Bailey <strong>and</strong> sat in court, but were asked <strong>to</strong> leave. Our<br />
friends stayed on in court, but we were not permitted <strong>to</strong> be present, <strong>and</strong> had <strong>to</strong> leave. I<br />
didn’t know <strong>the</strong> outcome <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> trial, <strong>the</strong> length <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> sentences or anything until members<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> public <strong>to</strong>ld me. We got a lot <strong>of</strong> support from <strong>the</strong> local community, everyone on<br />
our street supported us, <strong>and</strong> thous<strong>and</strong>s attended <strong>the</strong> funeral. The streets were full <strong>of</strong> people,<br />
who wanted <strong>to</strong> support us, <strong>and</strong> talk about <strong>the</strong> racism, which had caused this. We also<br />
received many letters <strong>of</strong> support, from groups, individuals <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong>tal strangers who wrote<br />
simply <strong>to</strong> provide words <strong>of</strong> kindness. These were genuine acts <strong>of</strong> kindness. I can’t forget<br />
this. This is a very difficult thing <strong>to</strong> talk about, <strong>and</strong> I am still deeply saddened, but I have <strong>the</strong><br />
memories <strong>of</strong> my innocent little bro<strong>the</strong>r, <strong>the</strong> loving memories, <strong>the</strong>y will always stay with me.<br />
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The famly received<br />
many letters <strong>of</strong> support<br />
after <strong>the</strong> death <strong>of</strong><br />
Kuldip. This is one <strong>of</strong><br />
letters <strong>the</strong>y received<br />
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Suresh Grover<br />
Here, Suresh Grover <strong>of</strong>fers a personal account <strong>of</strong> what became <strong>to</strong> be known as<br />
<strong>the</strong> hot summer <strong>of</strong> 76.<br />
My friend, how will you ever thrive<br />
in his strange <strong>and</strong> loveless l<strong>and</strong><br />
Where hatred mocks you at every turn<br />
Where souls are as cold as ice<br />
Where <strong>the</strong> very soil is contaminated<br />
Oos Pardesh by Kala Preet<br />
Now yu si fire burning in my eye<br />
Smell badness pan mi breat<br />
Feel vialence, vialence<br />
Birstin outta mi<br />
Look out!<br />
It <strong>to</strong>o late now<br />
I did warn yu<br />
Time Come lyrics by Lin<strong>to</strong>n Kwesi Johnson<br />
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Over four decades ago, on Friday 4 June <strong>1976</strong>, a young Asian teenager, Gurdeep Singh<br />
Chaggar, had made plans <strong>to</strong> see a Bollywood movie at a local Cinema Hall in Southall. When<br />
<strong>the</strong> film ended he was in a happy mood. Within minutes he was dead, fatally stabbed by a<br />
gang <strong>of</strong> white youths. The combined impact <strong>of</strong> his racist murder <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> protests, including<br />
violent public disturbances <strong>and</strong> street occupations, that followed were his<strong>to</strong>ric. The events<br />
propelled a new generation <strong>of</strong> young street fighters <strong>and</strong> campaigners against state racism<br />
busting myths <strong>of</strong> Asian docility. A new voice emerged <strong>and</strong> it’s potency unleashed new political<br />
<strong>and</strong> artistic forces <strong>of</strong> dissent <strong>and</strong> vic<strong>to</strong>ries.<br />
I first heard <strong>the</strong> terrible news on Saturday, a day after his killing when it was spreading<br />
throughout <strong>the</strong> <strong>to</strong>wn. I was outside <strong>the</strong> Dominion Cinema with my friend Denis Almeida <strong>and</strong><br />
we bumped in<strong>to</strong> a couple people who had taken Chaggar <strong>to</strong> hospital. They pointed <strong>to</strong>wards<br />
a pool <strong>of</strong> blood across <strong>the</strong> road. A lone police <strong>of</strong>ficer was stationed near it. The image startled<br />
me because I realised that we were looking at a murder scene. I made my way <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>of</strong>ficer <strong>and</strong> asked, ‘Is this where he was killed?’ but he didn’t respond <strong>and</strong> simply stared back<br />
at me. At that moment, Denis <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r people joined me. I continued: ‘Whose blood is it’?<br />
His <strong>to</strong>ne was unsympa<strong>the</strong>tic, ‘He was just an Asian’. I was surprised by his answer <strong>and</strong> both<br />
Denis <strong>and</strong> I looked at each o<strong>the</strong>r in disbelief. I continued, ‘Why don’t you cover <strong>the</strong> blood or<br />
clean it? It’s disrespectful <strong>to</strong> leave it as it is, a young man has just died here’. He ignored my<br />
plea <strong>and</strong> without uttering a word simply walked away leaving a murder scene unattended.<br />
For a while we s<strong>to</strong>od over <strong>the</strong> pool <strong>of</strong> blood in silence. We discussed <strong>the</strong> need <strong>to</strong> preserve<br />
a dead teenager’s dignity. The least we could do was ensure that no one would accidently<br />
trample over his blood. There was also anger in <strong>the</strong> air at <strong>the</strong> police <strong>of</strong>ficer’s attitude.<br />
He had shown no respect <strong>and</strong> revealed his bias in such a brazen <strong>and</strong> unkind manner <strong>and</strong> did<br />
so knowingly, <strong>and</strong> literally, over our dead bro<strong>the</strong>r’s blood. We wanted <strong>to</strong> contact his family<br />
but we didn’t know where <strong>the</strong>y lived. Denis <strong>and</strong> I <strong>to</strong>ok <strong>the</strong> initiative by deciding <strong>to</strong> cover <strong>the</strong><br />
pool <strong>of</strong> blood <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> surrounding area with red cloth <strong>and</strong> write a message with paint on <strong>the</strong><br />
pavement. The temporary shrine also carried a defiant message <strong>to</strong> racists <strong>and</strong> authorities<br />
alike. We had written: ‘this racist murder will be avenged. We’ll get you racist scum’! Our<br />
choice <strong>of</strong> words provoked a backlash from some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> journalists <strong>and</strong> politicians who had<br />
come <strong>to</strong> Southall that day. But we simply couldn’t hide <strong>the</strong> anger burning inside us. Chaggar’s<br />
murder was <strong>the</strong> latest injustice in a list <strong>of</strong> many o<strong>the</strong>rs <strong>and</strong> we had little faith in <strong>the</strong><br />
police <strong>to</strong> protect us.<br />
My own experience had already taught me this bitter lesson. I was only eleven years old<br />
when my family arrived in Engl<strong>and</strong> in <strong>the</strong> cold winter <strong>of</strong> 1966. It was <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> a momen<strong>to</strong>us<br />
journey <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> beginning <strong>of</strong> new awakening. Our journey started in Nairobi, travelling in a<br />
people carrier through Kenya, a year earlier. We reached India by sea <strong>and</strong> after brief stay<br />
travelled across three continents via <strong>the</strong> Suez canal <strong>and</strong> Paris <strong>and</strong> finally ending in Nelson,<br />
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No one<br />
warned me <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
approaching s<strong>to</strong>rm<br />
<strong>of</strong> racism that had<br />
been festering in<br />
<strong>the</strong> underbelly <strong>of</strong><br />
our society fuelled<br />
by <strong>the</strong> media <strong>and</strong><br />
politicians. By <strong>the</strong><br />
early 1970’s violent<br />
racism was rearing<br />
its ugly head in my<br />
<strong>to</strong>wn. In a deadly<br />
‘sport’ called ‘paki-bashing’,<br />
gangs <strong>of</strong><br />
white teenagers <strong>and</strong><br />
skinheads would<br />
target <strong>and</strong> damage<br />
Asian homes<br />
<strong>and</strong> businesses<br />
<strong>and</strong> provoke daily<br />
fights against Asian<br />
people in schools,<br />
sports fields <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
streets.<br />
a small mill <strong>to</strong>wn hidden in <strong>the</strong> Pendle district <strong>of</strong> Lancashire, For a<br />
young child <strong>the</strong> journey was a momen<strong>to</strong>us adventure <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> first<br />
encounter with people <strong>of</strong> different cultures <strong>and</strong> nationalities. The<br />
French owned ship, Steam Ship Vietnam, had provided <strong>the</strong> very first<br />
opportunity <strong>to</strong> share my life <strong>and</strong> adventure, <strong>and</strong> in such confined<br />
space, with African children, a friendly English woman <strong>and</strong> Vietnamese<br />
cooks. But life in Nelson was hard. We learnt <strong>to</strong> endure <strong>the</strong><br />
reality <strong>of</strong> freezing winters <strong>and</strong> cold rain. There was no luxury in our<br />
home. My parent’s made titanic efforts <strong>to</strong> provide human love <strong>and</strong><br />
care but nei<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong> harsh conditions nor <strong>the</strong> dripping affect <strong>of</strong> racist<br />
incidents allowed one <strong>to</strong> live a life on a feast <strong>of</strong> hopes <strong>and</strong> dreams.<br />
During my formative years, in a very short space <strong>of</strong> time, my ambitions<br />
were wrenched out <strong>of</strong> me, <strong>and</strong> I faced an uncertain future with<br />
trepidation.<br />
No one warned me <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> approaching s<strong>to</strong>rm <strong>of</strong> racism that had<br />
been festering in <strong>the</strong> underbelly <strong>of</strong> our society fuelled by <strong>the</strong> media<br />
<strong>and</strong> politicians. By <strong>the</strong> early 1970’s violent racism was rearing its<br />
ugly head in my <strong>to</strong>wn. In a deadly ‘sport’ called ‘paki-bashing’, gangs<br />
<strong>of</strong> white teenagers <strong>and</strong> skinheads would target <strong>and</strong> damage Asian<br />
homes <strong>and</strong> businesses <strong>and</strong> provoke daily fights against Asian people<br />
in schools, sports fields <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> streets.<br />
My parents had only drummed respect in my head. I had <strong>to</strong> learn<br />
<strong>to</strong> defend myself <strong>and</strong> overcoming fear was <strong>the</strong> first great obstacle.<br />
In my first confrontation I was terrified <strong>of</strong> being hit so I tried <strong>to</strong> reason<br />
with my assailants but my logical arguments proved fruitless.<br />
They certainly didn’t help me avoid <strong>the</strong> first hard punch <strong>to</strong> my face.<br />
But <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> school bell rang <strong>and</strong> I was saved. In ano<strong>the</strong>r encounter,<br />
I remember being hit without warning. My head rolled backwards.<br />
At first <strong>the</strong> fight seemed <strong>to</strong> slow down <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n suddenly real time<br />
kicked in when both pain <strong>and</strong> senses became more pronounced <strong>and</strong><br />
where you could smell your own blood. I had no time <strong>to</strong> fear <strong>and</strong> I<br />
managed <strong>to</strong> block <strong>and</strong> hit back. My reactions seemed <strong>to</strong> surprise<br />
every one including <strong>the</strong> assailant’s supporters who had surrounded<br />
us during <strong>the</strong> fight, purposely <strong>to</strong> deny me, <strong>the</strong>ir targeted victim, any<br />
escape route. This time I had survived <strong>and</strong> only suffered a black eye.<br />
At my school racism was never challenged ei<strong>the</strong>r in <strong>the</strong> classroom<br />
or playground. Enoch Powell was viewed as a folk hero by<br />
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some <strong>of</strong> my schoolmates. His name was <strong>of</strong>ten used as a chant <strong>to</strong> reinforce supremacy <strong>and</strong><br />
as a signal <strong>to</strong> start or provoke a fight. We were always outnumbered <strong>and</strong> forced <strong>to</strong> fight<br />
in an unfair <strong>and</strong> unequal contest but we quickly learned that vic<strong>to</strong>ry, especially when faced<br />
with a sea <strong>of</strong> hostility, didn’t always require a decisive win. It also meant carving an ending<br />
where one didn’t loose.<br />
We would regularly navigate our way <strong>to</strong> school by avoiding <strong>the</strong> main roads. One Saturday<br />
evening both my nephew <strong>and</strong> I couldn’t avoid a group <strong>of</strong> white racists. In a calculated<br />
brutal attack my nephew’s jaw was broken as soon as he opened his mouth <strong>and</strong> I was<br />
stabbed. We had just come out <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Cinema having watched Clint Eastwood’s latest movie.<br />
We reported <strong>the</strong> incident <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> police <strong>and</strong> my fa<strong>the</strong>r even arranged a meeting with a<br />
senior police <strong>of</strong>ficer but nothing happened.<br />
After some time, <strong>the</strong> s<strong>to</strong>rm <strong>of</strong> hatred receded in Nelson. It drifted away <strong>to</strong>wards o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
cities bringing more pain <strong>and</strong> harm in its wake. I encountered an entirely different world<br />
when I enrolled for a sixth from college in a different <strong>to</strong>wn. The student’s common room had<br />
a visible presence <strong>of</strong>’ ‘hippy’ <strong>and</strong> left wing culture as well as world music. For a brief moment<br />
I was on safe ground <strong>and</strong> readily embraced this new free spirited wave with open arms.<br />
Our direct experience forced us <strong>to</strong> investigate <strong>the</strong> origins <strong>of</strong> racism <strong>and</strong> its global impact.<br />
People, throughout <strong>the</strong> world, struggling against oppression, inspired us. However,<br />
nothing changed at home. My parents were fac<strong>to</strong>ry workers <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir life was as hard as<br />
ever. Both my nephew <strong>and</strong> I knew we couldn’t survive in a <strong>to</strong>wn already devoid <strong>of</strong> any real<br />
<strong>and</strong> meaningful opportunities for working people. These were reduced even fur<strong>the</strong>r for people<br />
like us. At a young age, both <strong>of</strong> us could feel <strong>the</strong> burden, not <strong>the</strong> expectations, <strong>of</strong> our<br />
families on our little shoulders. A year later, after repairing my confidence <strong>and</strong> armed with a<br />
new political consciousness, <strong>and</strong> on reaching my 18th birthday, we both left <strong>the</strong> warmth <strong>of</strong><br />
our homes <strong>and</strong> headed down south on a night coach <strong>to</strong>wards London.<br />
It is both remarkable <strong>and</strong> ironic how violence is <strong>to</strong>lerated in British society, especially in<br />
working class areas where it is perpetually promoted by <strong>the</strong> state as a basis <strong>of</strong> survival <strong>and</strong><br />
manhood but <strong>the</strong>n condemned when its usage is exposed. This allows a simmering <strong>and</strong> an<br />
‘acceptable’ level <strong>of</strong> violence <strong>to</strong> exist, unchallenged, <strong>and</strong> ready <strong>to</strong> be deployed, with impunity,<br />
against <strong>the</strong> most vulnerable or discriminated sections <strong>of</strong> our society. In this sense, <strong>the</strong><br />
greatest tragedy <strong>of</strong> a killing in our communities lies not just in its painful occurrence but also<br />
in <strong>the</strong> State’s own bewildering impotence or complicity. Chaggar’s murder was no exception.<br />
In <strong>1976</strong>, racism in our country had reached ano<strong>the</strong>r peak. The tabloids fuelled anti immigrant<br />
sentiments by creating fake news that white Britain was on <strong>the</strong> verge <strong>of</strong> being<br />
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Left : Suresh Grover<br />
in <strong>1976</strong><br />
swamped by Black <strong>and</strong> Brown people from <strong>the</strong> new Commonwealth. His<strong>to</strong>ry tells us that<br />
when racial prejudice is constantly drummed up publicly, <strong>the</strong>re is invariably a corresponding<br />
spike in ‘hate’ crimes against targeted groups <strong>of</strong> people <strong>and</strong> always disproportionally<br />
against <strong>the</strong> Black <strong>and</strong> Asian communities. A more deadly s<strong>to</strong>rm had risen <strong>and</strong> we began <strong>to</strong><br />
experience racial attacks on our communities, No arena was spared: people, bookshops,<br />
centres, workplaces or places <strong>of</strong> worship.<br />
Our makeshift shrine for Chaggar began <strong>to</strong> attract large numbers <strong>of</strong> young people on<strong>to</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> streets. Initially we made spontaneous speeches <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs joined in but by early that<br />
Saturday evening, <strong>the</strong>re were over 500 young local people ga<strong>the</strong>red round a corner <strong>and</strong><br />
outbreaks <strong>of</strong> spontaneous violence began <strong>to</strong> occur, mainly directed at owners <strong>of</strong> cars who<br />
were perceived residents <strong>of</strong> a white enclave <strong>of</strong> Southall. The police responded by implementing<br />
a blanket s<strong>to</strong>p <strong>and</strong> search policy <strong>of</strong> any Asian person living or entering <strong>the</strong> area.<br />
By mid evening arrests <strong>of</strong> young Asians began <strong>to</strong> take place. We responded by dem<strong>and</strong>ing<br />
<strong>the</strong> immediate closure <strong>of</strong> all Indian owned Cinemas <strong>and</strong> restaurants as a mark <strong>of</strong> respect for<br />
Chaggar. There were no formal discussion or meetings, but everyone engaged in discussing<br />
<strong>the</strong> next steps <strong>of</strong> action, gravitated <strong>to</strong>ward <strong>the</strong> Dominion Cinema. `It was <strong>the</strong> only building<br />
where we could hold large meetings <strong>and</strong> where Chaggar had spent his last hours. It was a<br />
symbol <strong>of</strong> self-reliance, owned by <strong>the</strong> Indian Workers Association (IWA) Southall. By sheer<br />
coincidence <strong>the</strong> organisation had planned a conference on fascism at <strong>the</strong> Dominion Cinema<br />
<strong>the</strong> next day. The IWA tried <strong>to</strong> appease <strong>the</strong> youth by passing a general resolution against<br />
racism but this response only made people angry. Resolutions never worked, <strong>the</strong>y were only<br />
symbolic. The time for symbols had gone, many in <strong>the</strong> audience wanted real change. The<br />
meeting descended in<strong>to</strong> a ferocious <strong>and</strong> sometimes chaotic battle between two camps -<br />
those who wanted immediate action against racism <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> police <strong>and</strong> those sought reliance<br />
or goodwill <strong>of</strong> politicians <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> state. Despite being seasoned community politicians,<br />
many <strong>of</strong> whom had challenged discrimination in <strong>the</strong> UK <strong>and</strong> fought for independence in<br />
India, <strong>the</strong> IWA leadership couldn’t convince <strong>the</strong>ir own audience <strong>and</strong> some looked frightened<br />
at <strong>the</strong> prospect <strong>of</strong> a new power emerging in <strong>the</strong>ir <strong>to</strong>wn. Then a local young man called for<br />
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an immediate demonstration outside <strong>the</strong> police station <strong>to</strong> dem<strong>and</strong> protection against racial<br />
attacks. The conference ended <strong>and</strong> everyone began <strong>to</strong> ga<strong>the</strong>r outside <strong>the</strong> Cinema. We <strong>to</strong>ok<br />
over <strong>the</strong> main road. It was all very peaceful until a car pulled up <strong>and</strong> a couple <strong>of</strong> white man<br />
got out. One had a weapon in his h<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> he shouted ‘you black bastards’. We ran after<br />
<strong>the</strong>m but <strong>the</strong>y drove away. The police cars could have chased <strong>the</strong>m but remained motionless.<br />
When we reached <strong>the</strong> station, we found it barricaded like a fort ready for battle. By<br />
staging a mass sit-in, we occupied <strong>the</strong> entire area surrounding <strong>the</strong> station. The police tried <strong>to</strong><br />
disperse us but failed miserably. They <strong>the</strong>n responded by creating a sterile area around <strong>the</strong><br />
entire <strong>to</strong>wn so that none could come in or leave. But more <strong>and</strong> more people, young <strong>and</strong> old,<br />
kept arriving <strong>to</strong> joint <strong>the</strong> protest.<br />
By late evening, despite police roadblocks <strong>and</strong> mass targeting <strong>of</strong> Asian car owners <strong>and</strong><br />
condemnation by national politicians, <strong>the</strong>re was new air <strong>of</strong> confidence in Southall. A call<br />
by some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ‘community leaders’ <strong>to</strong> check our militancy <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> keep a low pr<strong>of</strong>ile was<br />
ignored. Our actions were driven by a common anger against undiluted racism but <strong>the</strong>y<br />
had also rejected traditional politics in Southall. This also included a rejection <strong>of</strong> government-funded<br />
projects set up <strong>to</strong> mediate between our communities <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> state. Nei<strong>the</strong>r<br />
sought fundamental shift in power relationships <strong>and</strong> both wanted <strong>to</strong> buy <strong>of</strong>f our self – organisation.<br />
Within days a local group called <strong>the</strong> Southall Youth Movement was established. It<br />
carried <strong>the</strong> hopes a new generation.<br />
In reality <strong>the</strong> resistance inspired a new wider movement <strong>and</strong> different constellations<br />
began <strong>to</strong> assert <strong>the</strong>ir own influence over <strong>the</strong> next decade. Faced with incredible challenges,<br />
<strong>the</strong> young movement reacted in both a positive <strong>and</strong> destructive manner. Inspired by<br />
self-organisation <strong>and</strong> an uncompromising belief in <strong>the</strong>ir ability <strong>to</strong> provide its own solutions,<br />
it created a new political culture that forged new links between <strong>the</strong> Asian <strong>and</strong> West Indian<br />
youth. This unity became crucial in defending Southall from racist attacks <strong>and</strong> responding<br />
<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> aftermath <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> April 1979 events that led <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> murder <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> schoolteacher Blair<br />
Peach, by <strong>the</strong> Metropolitan Police’s Special Patrol Group; <strong>the</strong> arrest <strong>of</strong> 750 people for protesting<br />
against <strong>the</strong> fascist National Front; <strong>and</strong> destruction <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> People’s Unite building.<br />
The events had ushered a new creative energy for young independent musicians <strong>and</strong> artists<br />
<strong>and</strong> provided space for local b<strong>and</strong>s playing both Bhangra <strong>and</strong> Reggae music <strong>to</strong> flourish. It<br />
created youth clubs for young people <strong>to</strong> meet developing its own sports events <strong>and</strong> teams.<br />
It led <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> new rights based agenda <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> mushrooming <strong>of</strong> new community<br />
based organisations that both provided information on rights affecting young people,<br />
women <strong>and</strong> workers <strong>and</strong> campaigned with <strong>the</strong>m <strong>to</strong> challenge discrimination. For an important<br />
moment in his<strong>to</strong>ry, Southall had became a beacon for <strong>the</strong> Asian youth <strong>and</strong> communities<br />
nationally who, armed with fearless audacity, began <strong>to</strong> chart a new journey for <strong>the</strong> rest <strong>of</strong><br />
Britain.<br />
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Avtar Brah<br />
How did you become political?<br />
I was born in India, but grew up in East Africa, so I’m really a Ug<strong>and</strong>an Asian. From Ug<strong>and</strong>a<br />
I went <strong>to</strong> University in <strong>the</strong> USA, <strong>and</strong> it was during my undergraduate days, when I was<br />
studying in California, that I really got involved in politics. This was during <strong>the</strong> time <strong>of</strong> Black<br />
Power movement <strong>and</strong> feminism was just beginning <strong>to</strong> take <strong>of</strong>f <strong>the</strong> ground, so it was really<br />
at Davis, University <strong>of</strong> California, that I started <strong>to</strong> get involved with student politics. I was<br />
engaged with anti-racist politics on Davis campus. Politically, <strong>the</strong>y were exciting times. For<br />
example, <strong>the</strong>re was <strong>the</strong> Free Angela Davis campaign. We went on demonstrations <strong>and</strong> I<br />
remember going <strong>to</strong> Oakl<strong>and</strong> for an anti -racist demonstration, <strong>and</strong> that was <strong>the</strong> beginning<br />
<strong>of</strong> my awareness <strong>of</strong> what was happening <strong>to</strong> black Americans. It was a very different situation<br />
for Asian students in those days, I am talking about <strong>the</strong> late 1960’s <strong>and</strong> early 1970s. We<br />
were, I would say, orientalised but that was different from what African Americans had <strong>to</strong><br />
contend with.<br />
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<strong>Coming</strong> <strong>to</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong> marked a changing point, because it was here that I was called a<br />
‘Paki’ for <strong>the</strong> first time. Although I was involved in anti -racist politics in America, it was quite<br />
different <strong>to</strong> be called a ‘Paki’ yourself, it affects you personally, <strong>and</strong> at <strong>the</strong> level <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> subjective<br />
experience it is a question <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> difference between expressing solidarity with ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
group as opposed <strong>to</strong> facing racial abuse directly yourself. I was quite shocked <strong>and</strong> taken<br />
aback. This event set me on <strong>the</strong> path <strong>of</strong> anti- racist work here in Britain, <strong>and</strong> also socialist politics<br />
as well. My family wasn’t particularly political, I was <strong>the</strong> only one, but nor were my family<br />
right wing or anything like that so it wasn’t a big problem that I was political. I think <strong>the</strong>y just<br />
saw me as ra<strong>the</strong>r eccentric. Although my fa<strong>the</strong>r wasn’t involved in politics, I think he might<br />
have been a political person in a different era. He supported my desire for education though<br />
he wasn’t very happy about my going <strong>to</strong> America but when one <strong>of</strong> my teachers talked <strong>to</strong> him<br />
in my support he was fine about it. I found my fa<strong>the</strong>r <strong>to</strong> be a supportive influence in my life.<br />
How did you end up in Southall in <strong>1976</strong>, <strong>and</strong> what were <strong>the</strong> political dynamics?<br />
I came <strong>to</strong> Britain in 1971 <strong>and</strong> lived in London for a while <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n went <strong>to</strong> work in Bris<strong>to</strong>l.<br />
I was doing my PhD <strong>and</strong> working part time, undertaking research in <strong>the</strong> area <strong>of</strong> what was<br />
<strong>the</strong>n described as ‘ethnic relations’, <strong>and</strong> came <strong>to</strong> Southall in <strong>1976</strong> <strong>to</strong> do field work for my PhD<br />
<strong>the</strong>sis. What I remember particularly about that year was that it was a very hot summer. In<br />
Southall, I was doing comparative research interviews with Asians <strong>and</strong> White people about<br />
intergenerational change. My focus was on <strong>the</strong> similarities <strong>and</strong> differences between what<br />
young people <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir parents thought across ethnicity boundaries. I was talking <strong>to</strong> young<br />
people about <strong>the</strong>ir educational experiences <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir experiences at home in Southall, <strong>and</strong><br />
through our conversations I began <strong>to</strong> recognise that racism was a critical issue affecting<br />
<strong>the</strong> lives <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se young people. So although my <strong>the</strong>sis was about intergenerational change<br />
ra<strong>the</strong>r than about racism per se, never<strong>the</strong>less racism emerged as an important fac<strong>to</strong>r. When<br />
Gurdip Chaggar was killed in Southall that summer, I was shocked <strong>and</strong> began <strong>to</strong> realise how<br />
critical <strong>the</strong> situation was. My job contract in Bris<strong>to</strong>l came <strong>to</strong> an end before I could finish <strong>the</strong><br />
PhD so that a year later in 1977 I moved <strong>to</strong> Southall <strong>to</strong> take up a new post with <strong>the</strong> National<br />
Association <strong>of</strong> Asian Youth.<br />
From 1977 onwards, as I started working at <strong>the</strong> National Association <strong>of</strong> Asian Youth I<br />
came <strong>to</strong> meet politically conscious young people <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r activists in Southall. Two organisations<br />
were particularly active: <strong>the</strong> Southall Youth Movement <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Indian Workers Association.<br />
There were some tensions between <strong>the</strong> leadership <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se two organisations. The<br />
IWA had been a left leaning organisation in relation <strong>to</strong> working- class politics in fac<strong>to</strong>ries etc;<br />
<strong>and</strong> whilst <strong>the</strong>se concerns were still around in <strong>1976</strong> <strong>the</strong>y did not hold <strong>the</strong> same significance<br />
for young people. SYM seemed <strong>to</strong> feel <strong>the</strong> IWA had changed <strong>and</strong> it was not so radical anymore.<br />
SYM was more concerned with street level everyday racist conflict <strong>and</strong> questions <strong>of</strong><br />
policing <strong>and</strong> so on. I should say that <strong>the</strong> membership <strong>of</strong> SYM was mostly young men, <strong>the</strong>re<br />
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weren’t many women involved in SYM.<br />
Before we formed Southall Black Sisters, that was in 79, <strong>the</strong>re was a group <strong>of</strong> us who<br />
set up a Young Asian Women’s group. Some <strong>of</strong> us started meeting <strong>and</strong> became aware <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> problems facing women in Southall in terms <strong>of</strong>, for instance, <strong>the</strong> effects <strong>of</strong> immigration<br />
legislation, problems related <strong>to</strong> housing <strong>and</strong> benefits, <strong>and</strong> violence against women; problems<br />
related <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> state, but at <strong>the</strong> same time internal family problems; <strong>the</strong> whole question<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> patriarchal values which prevailed not just amongst Asians, critical though this<br />
was, but also across <strong>the</strong> wider society. We formed Southall Black Sisters in 79 not just as a<br />
women’s group but as an explicit feminist project. This resonated across <strong>the</strong> country, so for<br />
example, at a later stage Pratibha Parmar <strong>and</strong> I helped set up Leicester Black Sisters. There<br />
was a Black Sisters group in Bris<strong>to</strong>l as well.<br />
Left politics were quite complex in Southall. The Marxist left was quite active. On many<br />
issues we all worked <strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>r. But sometimes <strong>the</strong>re was a feeling, that groups from outside<br />
Southall wanted <strong>to</strong> see things happen in <strong>the</strong>ir own way. This created differences. The IWA<br />
did have some members who had been members <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> communist party in India, for example<br />
Vishnu Sharma was one such person, so it wasn’t as if <strong>the</strong>re weren’t any political sympathies.<br />
But <strong>the</strong>re were tensions when some outside organisations tried <strong>to</strong> impose <strong>the</strong>mselves.<br />
In o<strong>the</strong>r words, <strong>the</strong>re were differences as well as similarities, but what was good about that<br />
period was that despite all <strong>the</strong> that, people actually talked <strong>to</strong> each o<strong>the</strong>r, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>re was a<br />
sense that Southall could be a space for political activism, where something could be done<br />
for <strong>the</strong> better, that certain types <strong>of</strong> politics, e.g. racist, <strong>and</strong> for us in Southall Black Sisters,<br />
sexist politics had <strong>to</strong> be challenged. We felt we were part <strong>of</strong> a community irrespective <strong>of</strong><br />
any potential conflict.<br />
How important is <strong>the</strong> period from 76- 84 in our his<strong>to</strong>ries?<br />
Yes, its true, I think Southall has an important place in <strong>the</strong> political scene <strong>of</strong> <strong>1976</strong>-84, but<br />
I think Birmingham, Nottingham, Leeds, Manchester, Bradford <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r places are also<br />
important in this his<strong>to</strong>ry. Apart from <strong>1976</strong>, 79 was very critical in Southall when a large- scale<br />
police operation <strong>to</strong>ok place on 23 April. The police was <strong>the</strong>re in thous<strong>and</strong>s <strong>to</strong> enable <strong>the</strong><br />
National Front <strong>to</strong> hold a pre-election rally at <strong>the</strong> local <strong>to</strong>wn hall. Southall residents <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
supporters came out in force <strong>to</strong> protest as <strong>the</strong> fascist Right marched in <strong>the</strong>ir streets. Some<br />
people were trapped between police cordons <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> police charged vans at o<strong>the</strong>rs <strong>and</strong><br />
hit <strong>the</strong>m as <strong>the</strong>y scattered. Blair Peach was killed that day by injuries sustained <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> head<br />
at <strong>the</strong> h<strong>and</strong>s <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> police. Approximately 700 (predominantly Asian) individuals were arrested<br />
<strong>and</strong> 344 were charged <strong>and</strong> tried in court. We campaigned <strong>to</strong> try <strong>to</strong> get <strong>the</strong>m free. I<br />
remember those yellow badges we all had in Southall in 1979, ‘free <strong>the</strong> Southall 344’ badges,.<br />
I still have <strong>the</strong>m somewhere. There were o<strong>the</strong>r incidents such as <strong>the</strong> pitched battles in<br />
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1981 between young Asian men <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> skinheads who had arrived in Southall at a pub in<br />
buses decked with National Front banners. In <strong>the</strong> process <strong>the</strong> pub was set ablaze. In Bradford,<br />
12 Asian community activists were charged with conspiracy. All <strong>the</strong> defendants pleaded<br />
not guilty. This was really a period <strong>of</strong> political turmoil. A British born generation <strong>of</strong> Asian<br />
youth had come <strong>of</strong> age. The slogan ‘self defence is no <strong>of</strong>fense’ <strong>to</strong>ok on a real meaning. At<br />
a personal level, <strong>the</strong>se events had a huge impact on my academic work. In some sense I<br />
came <strong>to</strong> Southall as a naïve research student, but I learnt that I couldn’t be ‘objective’, not<br />
least because when I was interviewing white parents I was experiencing racism from <strong>the</strong>m,<br />
<strong>the</strong>y sat <strong>the</strong>re <strong>and</strong> talked about Asians in very racist terms, as if I didn’t exist <strong>and</strong> I began <strong>to</strong><br />
realise that actually something called ‘ objective research’ is a myth <strong>and</strong> we have <strong>to</strong> look at<br />
what we now call ‘situate knowledges’, -- that is <strong>to</strong> say that people speak from <strong>the</strong>ir own<br />
politically located position.<br />
In my work capacity with <strong>the</strong> National Association <strong>of</strong> Asian Youth I met with youth workers<br />
from across <strong>the</strong> country <strong>and</strong> we started a number <strong>of</strong> different groups in different cities<br />
whereby youth workers could jointly engage as pr<strong>of</strong>essionals on <strong>the</strong>ir specific local <strong>and</strong><br />
national concerns. People like Ravi Jain played an important role in supporting this initiative.<br />
We organised conferences, <strong>and</strong> set up locally relevant projects for young people in different<br />
parts <strong>of</strong> Britain. These youth worker forums were a conduit for a great deal <strong>of</strong> creative<br />
political energy.<br />
So yes, this period is a watershed in our personal <strong>and</strong> collective his<strong>to</strong>ries. There was<br />
a commonsense view at <strong>the</strong> time that Asian young people were much more radical than<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir parents, that <strong>the</strong> latter were conservative. I <strong>to</strong>ok issue with this position. The parental<br />
generation had been pretty radical in <strong>the</strong>ir own time. It’s just that young people expressed<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir politics in a different idiom. A number <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se issues were placed in relief following<br />
Chaggar’s murder which became a focal point for <strong>the</strong> contestation <strong>of</strong> different generational<br />
political strategies in dealing with <strong>the</strong> aftermath. Questions about how <strong>to</strong> deal with racism<br />
on <strong>the</strong> streets <strong>and</strong> safety <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> community became very prominent. Yes, <strong>1976</strong> was a watershed<br />
moment for Southall. Certainly it was.<br />
Unlike any o<strong>the</strong>r group, you, as Southall Black Sisters, were <strong>the</strong> first <strong>to</strong> use <strong>the</strong> term<br />
‘Black’ <strong>to</strong> talk about Asians <strong>and</strong> Caribbeans, that <strong>the</strong> women’s group chose <strong>to</strong> do this is very<br />
significant?<br />
Well, Asians women were always active in politics from <strong>the</strong> early years <strong>of</strong> Asian migration<br />
though this is not always recognised in narratives about Asian politics. For instance,<br />
Asian women were at <strong>the</strong> forefront <strong>of</strong> a number <strong>of</strong> well- known industrial strikes. In Southall<br />
itself Harbans Bains was exemplary in her activism, <strong>and</strong> she always grappled with how<br />
women were unacknowledged. In Southall Black Sisters, we were consciously giving priority<br />
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<strong>to</strong> women’s experiences. We had <strong>to</strong> address <strong>the</strong> sexism in Asian <strong>and</strong> Black communities,<br />
alongside <strong>the</strong> racialised sexism <strong>of</strong> British society. There is a particularity about sexism that<br />
we experience as Asian women, partly because <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> specificity <strong>of</strong> Asian culture, but also<br />
because, as I have said, patriarchal practices <strong>of</strong> British society at large impacts through <strong>the</strong><br />
prism <strong>of</strong> racism, so we experience that as well, <strong>and</strong> we have <strong>to</strong> deal with both. <strong>Racism</strong> was<br />
an issue even in relation <strong>to</strong> white women. So, for example, as feminists we worked with<br />
white women, but at <strong>the</strong> same time we were aware that white women could also be racist,<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>re was a lot <strong>of</strong> debate between white feminism <strong>and</strong> black feminism, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> exclusion<br />
<strong>of</strong> our concerns by <strong>the</strong> white feminist movements was an actual real issue for us.<br />
It’s whilst we were doing all this activist work in Southall as Asian women, we came<br />
across African-Caribbean women who had similar problems <strong>to</strong> ourselves, different <strong>and</strong> distinctive,<br />
but similar kinds <strong>of</strong> problems. It was a period when black power ideology was very<br />
strong, so I know, when we came <strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>r we were reading about Steve Biko, <strong>and</strong> what was<br />
happening in South Africa, <strong>the</strong> struggles <strong>the</strong>re. These sort <strong>of</strong> things, especially anti-racism<br />
<strong>and</strong> feminism were an important part <strong>of</strong> our developing consciousness. We realised we had<br />
common struggles, even though we had different shades <strong>of</strong> skin colour, we decided <strong>to</strong> call<br />
ourselves Black sisters, ra<strong>the</strong>r than something else because we wanted <strong>to</strong> create unity between<br />
people from African descent <strong>and</strong> people from Asian descent.<br />
Considering <strong>the</strong> importance <strong>of</strong> this period, why hasn’t much written or documented,<br />
certainly from <strong>the</strong> Asian perspective or <strong>the</strong> Black/Asian unity perspective, <strong>the</strong>re is an almost<br />
absence <strong>of</strong> documentation?<br />
That’s a good question, well <strong>the</strong>re have been some academic attempts but <strong>the</strong> academic<br />
research has its own agendas <strong>and</strong> takes a different form, but documentation <strong>of</strong> radical<br />
his<strong>to</strong>ry hasn’t happened. I’m not exactly sure why, but we can speculate that <strong>the</strong> politics <strong>and</strong><br />
class formation in Asian communities maybe an important fac<strong>to</strong>r. In class terms, Asians are<br />
characterised by significant class differentiation. We do have some vanguard intellectuals<br />
<strong>and</strong> academics, but <strong>the</strong> business community is more dominant amongst <strong>the</strong> Asians, <strong>and</strong> also<br />
<strong>the</strong> politics amongst <strong>the</strong> elite in <strong>the</strong> Asian community is not very radical. Moreover, sections<br />
<strong>of</strong> Asian communities are much more in<strong>to</strong> consumerism, I mean if you look at <strong>the</strong> weddings<br />
nowadays, <strong>the</strong>y cost some amazing amounts. There is a whole industry sprawled around <strong>the</strong><br />
planning <strong>and</strong> execution <strong>of</strong> weddings. Celebrity culture is very much <strong>the</strong> thing. And identity<br />
politics is part <strong>of</strong> this. Nowadays you can’t talk about <strong>the</strong> ‘ Asian’ as a palpable category: its<br />
Muslims or Hindus or Sikhs or Christians. Over <strong>the</strong> last twenty <strong>to</strong> thirty years, <strong>the</strong> ‘Asian’ category<br />
is fractured along religious lines. The category black as a common referent for people<br />
<strong>of</strong> colour has also disappeared. Southall Black Sisters still call <strong>the</strong>mselves Black Sisters, but<br />
black as a common symbol <strong>to</strong> refer <strong>to</strong> Asians <strong>and</strong> African- Caribbeans in our communities<br />
is gone now. We once had an organisation called Asian Women’s Network, that linked local<br />
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Asian women’s groups <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> national body, <strong>and</strong> that is gone <strong>to</strong>o.<br />
But yes, <strong>the</strong> his<strong>to</strong>ry is not written so young people can’t identify with it, <strong>the</strong>re aren’t<br />
that many resources, so people don’t engage with it, but this needs <strong>to</strong> be tackled especially<br />
in our schools, <strong>and</strong> within <strong>the</strong> curriculum. In some ways, <strong>the</strong> relative success <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Asian<br />
groups undermines <strong>the</strong> radical politics in some sense, some people might gravitate <strong>to</strong>wards<br />
a unified black his<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>and</strong> think this only happened in <strong>the</strong> 70s <strong>and</strong> 80s, yet forget <strong>the</strong><br />
Stephen Lawrence campaign which still resonates <strong>to</strong>day, or more recently, <strong>the</strong> Ro<strong>the</strong>rham 12<br />
campaign.<br />
Finally, how has your activism changed as you get older?<br />
In terms <strong>of</strong> your thinking you become more radical as you get older, both radical <strong>and</strong><br />
angry, because you see things not changing as much or as fast as you would like <strong>the</strong>m <strong>to</strong>.<br />
I am now involved in <strong>the</strong> edi<strong>to</strong>rial collective <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> journal Feminist Review, <strong>and</strong> I am on <strong>the</strong><br />
board <strong>of</strong> Feminist Review Trust. This keeps me quite busy alongside my academic work. As<br />
you get older your thinking becomes more acute, political commitments stronger, <strong>and</strong> you<br />
become clearer about priorities. But <strong>the</strong> situation is so dire at <strong>the</strong> moment, not just in Britain<br />
but globally <strong>to</strong>o. But I see hope in intersectional politics, <strong>and</strong> in emerging movements for<br />
social justice.<br />
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Balraj Purewal<br />
How did you develop an interest in political activism?<br />
I suppose <strong>the</strong>re are distinct memories which had an impact on me growing up. Firstly, I<br />
was at school in Southall in <strong>the</strong> late sixties, <strong>and</strong> this was a difficult time for Asians in Southall.<br />
I think I recall my time at school like a prison sentence. I was in one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>to</strong>p classes, but<br />
I hated being <strong>the</strong>re because all <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r kids were white, <strong>and</strong> I was alone. One day I ran<br />
away, <strong>and</strong> joined <strong>the</strong> lower class, 2b, just <strong>to</strong> spend time with my Asian friends, I’m not sure<br />
why, but it <strong>to</strong>ok <strong>the</strong>m two days <strong>to</strong> find me <strong>and</strong> take my back <strong>to</strong> my class. <strong>Racism</strong> was fairly<br />
open in <strong>the</strong> class, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> teachers would regularly ask you questions, <strong>and</strong> point <strong>to</strong> you<br />
directly just <strong>to</strong> mock you. One <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r kids, Harpal s<strong>to</strong>od up <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> teacher one day, <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>to</strong>ld <strong>the</strong>m he doesn’t want <strong>to</strong> be humiliated, some o<strong>the</strong>r Asian kids s<strong>to</strong>od up, <strong>and</strong> eventually<br />
I did <strong>the</strong> same. The school expelled Harpal for a while, though he is now Dr Gill, a successful<br />
doc<strong>to</strong>r. My worst experience was that <strong>of</strong> being chased by older white kids. We had <strong>to</strong> walk<br />
from one block <strong>to</strong> ano<strong>the</strong>r, <strong>and</strong> we would get regularly chased through <strong>the</strong> corridors, <strong>and</strong><br />
sometimes we would get beaten up. The teachers never intervened. Outside school was just<br />
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<strong>the</strong> same, older white boys would hang about outside school simply <strong>to</strong> chase <strong>and</strong> beat us.<br />
We would have <strong>to</strong> walk in<strong>to</strong> school through a different entrance. In <strong>the</strong> end, older Asian kids<br />
would also come <strong>and</strong> hang about outside school <strong>to</strong> get us home safely. They protected us,<br />
<strong>and</strong> this was perhaps <strong>the</strong> seeds <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Southall Youth Movement, an attitude that violence<br />
was prevalent everywhere, <strong>and</strong> we just had <strong>to</strong> deal with it ourselves.<br />
Secondly, I have a memory <strong>of</strong> a demonstration by some local white people along Southall<br />
Broadway in <strong>the</strong> late 1960’s, I can’t remember exactly what it was about, or if it was<br />
organised by a particular group, but I remember thinking, ‘<strong>the</strong>y don’t want us here’. Around<br />
that time, we used <strong>to</strong> see a lot <strong>of</strong> British flag flying in Southall.... <strong>and</strong> people would <strong>of</strong>ten be<br />
aggressive <strong>to</strong> you, sometimes just shout at you, <strong>and</strong> it dawned on me from an early age<br />
that <strong>the</strong>y were concerned about me, that <strong>the</strong>y didn’t want us here, <strong>and</strong> that effected me.<br />
It wasn’t political, I didn’t know about <strong>the</strong> National Front things like that but we knew that<br />
some white people didn’t like us. This wasn’t political, I don’t come from a political family,<br />
my fa<strong>the</strong>r wasn’t political but when he came in <strong>the</strong> 1950s he was <strong>to</strong>ld <strong>to</strong> go <strong>and</strong> get his hair<br />
cut, but he didn’t, he said he was a Sikh <strong>and</strong> he didn’t do it <strong>and</strong> despite this he did eventually<br />
get work. He never complained about things <strong>to</strong> us, but he had strong values, <strong>and</strong> he taught<br />
us <strong>to</strong> do <strong>the</strong> right thing. I got <strong>the</strong> message from him, <strong>and</strong> my bro<strong>the</strong>r that you had <strong>to</strong> talk<br />
straight, <strong>and</strong> when I was younger I was very introverted, but I learnt <strong>to</strong> do this, <strong>and</strong> I still get<br />
impatient with people who speak with forked <strong>to</strong>ngues. I think straight talking sits alongside<br />
honesty <strong>and</strong> trust, <strong>and</strong> this is important within communities.<br />
How did <strong>the</strong> Southall Youth Movement begin?<br />
I think all <strong>of</strong> us kids growing up in Southall were similar, <strong>and</strong> faced similar issues. We all<br />
grew up knowing we only had each o<strong>the</strong>r, because <strong>of</strong> this bond we never betrayed each<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r, that’s <strong>the</strong> sort <strong>of</strong> environment we moved in <strong>and</strong> experienced growing up all in Southall.<br />
So even before <strong>the</strong> Youth Movement started we already had <strong>the</strong>se networks operating<br />
informally, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>y worked quite well. The networks were came from a number <strong>of</strong> different<br />
places, <strong>the</strong> local pubs, <strong>the</strong> two kabbadi teams, <strong>the</strong> cricket teams, Southall college, <strong>and</strong> a<br />
number <strong>of</strong> different individuals. The Youth Movement was basically one or two people from<br />
each place, <strong>and</strong> everyone knew each o<strong>the</strong>r, though because we worked with one or two<br />
people from each place, not everyone knew everything.<br />
So, when <strong>the</strong> murder <strong>of</strong> Chagger happened we were able <strong>to</strong> react quickly, <strong>and</strong> we<br />
didn’t need a formal organisation <strong>to</strong> do this. The only reason we gave a name <strong>to</strong> this reaction<br />
was because people kept asking us, what is this? who are you? Everybody wanted a<br />
name, so we just said ‘Southall Youth Movement’(SYM). So, SYM was born. Also <strong>the</strong> Olympics<br />
was about <strong>to</strong> take place, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>re was all this discussion about South Africa, <strong>and</strong> we<br />
kept seeing <strong>the</strong> image <strong>of</strong> John Carlos <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Black Power salute in <strong>the</strong> earlier Olympics, so<br />
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we identified with that <strong>and</strong> we liked <strong>the</strong> <strong>to</strong>rch, so we made a logo for SMY inspired by <strong>the</strong><br />
Black Power salute. It was all very spontaneous <strong>and</strong> quick. We did have a committee, <strong>and</strong> in<br />
<strong>the</strong> beginning, we didn’t have a leader, but I was eventually asked <strong>to</strong> be <strong>the</strong> leader, because<br />
<strong>of</strong> my bro<strong>the</strong>r, I became <strong>the</strong> front man, <strong>and</strong> all it meant was that I would have contact with<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r people, whilst <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs stayed in <strong>the</strong> background. We had <strong>the</strong> sense <strong>to</strong> know that we<br />
had <strong>to</strong> be careful,<br />
What sort <strong>of</strong> things did <strong>the</strong> Southall Youth Movement do?<br />
We came <strong>to</strong> find out about <strong>the</strong> National Front. Initially we didn’t know about <strong>the</strong> National<br />
Front, we know about skinheads, <strong>and</strong> we didn’t really care if <strong>the</strong> skinheads were part <strong>of</strong> a<br />
group or not, but we started talking <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> different socialist groups which suddenly came <strong>to</strong><br />
Southall. Working with <strong>the</strong> socialist groups <strong>and</strong> later <strong>the</strong> <strong>Anti</strong> Nazi League, helped us <strong>to</strong> underst<strong>and</strong><br />
about <strong>the</strong> workings <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> far right. Some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> white people worked with us, <strong>the</strong>y<br />
went <strong>to</strong> NF meetings <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong>ld us what was happening, where <strong>the</strong>y were going <strong>to</strong> sell papers,<br />
<strong>and</strong> have meetings <strong>and</strong> if <strong>the</strong>y intended <strong>to</strong> attack people in certain places. So, we found out,<br />
<strong>and</strong> we would get our squads <strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>r <strong>and</strong> fight <strong>the</strong>m. We had a lot <strong>of</strong> volunteers, hard core<br />
people who wanted <strong>to</strong> fight <strong>the</strong> skinheads, this was an important part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> work.<br />
We wanted <strong>the</strong> make Southall a no-go areas for skinheads, <strong>and</strong> so if <strong>the</strong>y came here we<br />
would fight, in that sense if was quite effective. Southall very quickly became a no-go area<br />
for skinheads, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> violent racist attacks ceased. I think a lot <strong>of</strong> families s<strong>to</strong>pped getting<br />
harassed because <strong>of</strong> us so it worked. However, at ano<strong>the</strong>r level nobody really wanted<br />
violence, but you need <strong>to</strong> underst<strong>and</strong> that we had grown up facing violence, <strong>and</strong> nobody<br />
wanted <strong>to</strong> talk about <strong>the</strong> subject, it was if <strong>the</strong> violence we face didn’t exist, <strong>and</strong> before SYM<br />
many people had been beaten, <strong>and</strong> even when Chagger died, <strong>the</strong>y wanted <strong>to</strong> present it as<br />
anything but a racist murder, nobody wanted <strong>to</strong> talk about violence or racism, <strong>and</strong> we were<br />
afraid that it would remembered as just ano<strong>the</strong>r death, <strong>and</strong> so wanted <strong>to</strong> register its meaning<br />
<strong>to</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs.<br />
We didn’t <strong>to</strong>tally like <strong>the</strong> white left groups. We had concerns that <strong>the</strong>se white lefties kept<br />
coming <strong>to</strong> Southall, <strong>and</strong> telling us how we could achieve liberation. We kept saying <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong>m,<br />
‘nobody tells us what <strong>to</strong> do’. We knew that <strong>the</strong>y weren’t <strong>to</strong>tally committed, because when<br />
things got difficult <strong>the</strong>y just disappeared. We wanted <strong>to</strong> see things simply as black <strong>and</strong> white,<br />
but we also knew we had <strong>to</strong> learn about <strong>the</strong> left <strong>and</strong> right, about fascism, <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r things<br />
<strong>and</strong> we attempted <strong>to</strong> do this.<br />
We also had an impact nationally, especially up north. We contacted young people from<br />
Bradford, <strong>the</strong>y came <strong>to</strong> see us, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n we in 1981 we spent a couples <strong>of</strong> weeks with <strong>the</strong>m<br />
in Bradford. The two communities were <strong>to</strong>tally different, whereas Southall was vibrant, I<br />
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found Bradford <strong>to</strong>tally depressing, but <strong>the</strong>y were also different because <strong>the</strong>y had read a lot<br />
more political work, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>y had more knowledge, but <strong>the</strong>y had less connection with <strong>the</strong><br />
community, it felt less <strong>of</strong> a movement, not that it was not <strong>the</strong>re, <strong>the</strong> Asian Youth movements<br />
in Bradford, Batley, Dewberry <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs places were very important. They were trying<br />
<strong>to</strong> do <strong>the</strong>ir owns things, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>y were inspired by us, in fact, in front <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir <strong>of</strong>fice was<br />
huge wall with big letters ‘long live southall’. However, after <strong>the</strong> burning <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Hamborough<br />
Tavern we were under surveillance, <strong>the</strong>y had been charged with conspiracy, so it was dangerous<br />
<strong>to</strong> meet up <strong>and</strong> develop things.<br />
Did you work with <strong>the</strong> Southall Indian Workers Association?<br />
The SYM didn’t get on with <strong>the</strong> Indian Workers Association. As soon as we met <strong>the</strong>m we<br />
thought <strong>the</strong>y had a mentality <strong>of</strong> appeasement, we viewed <strong>the</strong>ir views as a humiliation for<br />
our people, <strong>and</strong> that what <strong>the</strong>y were doing didn’t represent any <strong>of</strong> us. The problem wasn’t<br />
just that <strong>of</strong> representation, but <strong>the</strong>y really had no contact with us, <strong>and</strong> didn’t engage with<br />
our lives. They didn’t really know what we were doing, <strong>the</strong>y didn’t influence our lives, <strong>the</strong>y<br />
were <strong>of</strong> a generation who related more <strong>to</strong> my parents, <strong>the</strong>y worked in fac<strong>to</strong>ries, <strong>and</strong> we<br />
were in school <strong>and</strong> colleges, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>y were <strong>to</strong>tally disconnected. It was like two separate<br />
communities, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>y couldn’t underst<strong>and</strong> where suddenly this all came from.<br />
In those days, we saw <strong>the</strong> Southall IWA as collabora<strong>to</strong>rs with <strong>the</strong> state, <strong>and</strong> with <strong>the</strong> police.<br />
When <strong>the</strong>re a racist attack, white on black, <strong>the</strong>ir message <strong>to</strong> us was always, ‘calm down,<br />
do not react’, <strong>and</strong> this is happened even so many racist attacks were occurring locally, so<br />
many people got injured, <strong>and</strong> even at <strong>the</strong> point where <strong>the</strong>re was a death, a racist murder,<br />
here in Southall <strong>the</strong>y did nothing.<br />
The Southall IWA had <strong>the</strong>ir own networks <strong>and</strong> it was huge. When <strong>the</strong>y had meetings<br />
hundreds <strong>of</strong> people would come <strong>and</strong> talk <strong>and</strong> go <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> elections, but <strong>the</strong>y created <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
own community, amongst <strong>the</strong>mselves, <strong>the</strong>y argued <strong>and</strong> heckled amongst <strong>the</strong>mselves, <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong>y didn’t talk <strong>to</strong> or listen <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> people outside <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir own structures. So suddenly <strong>the</strong>y<br />
found <strong>the</strong>mselves in a powerless position, because we were doing something different, <strong>and</strong><br />
we didn’t need <strong>to</strong> consult <strong>the</strong>m. Suddenly, <strong>the</strong>y were powerless, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>y didn’t know how<br />
<strong>to</strong> talk <strong>to</strong> us. When we sieged Southall police station because <strong>the</strong>y had arrested our members,<br />
<strong>the</strong>y came <strong>and</strong> said we can get <strong>the</strong>m out, instead <strong>the</strong>y went in <strong>and</strong> made a deal with<br />
<strong>the</strong> police, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>y came out <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong>ld us <strong>the</strong>y won’t be charged <strong>and</strong> we should disperse,<br />
but this was not true, after this <strong>the</strong>re was little trust between <strong>the</strong> SYM <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Southall IWA.<br />
They <strong>the</strong>n treated us like we were hooligans, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>y even <strong>to</strong>ld <strong>the</strong> media this, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> media<br />
treated us like we were hooligans. This leadership happens in all communities, certainly<br />
it’s something we are seeing in <strong>the</strong> Muslim community at <strong>the</strong> moment.<br />
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By <strong>the</strong> time we met <strong>the</strong>m, Southall IWA was huge, <strong>and</strong> wealthy <strong>and</strong> out <strong>of</strong> <strong>to</strong>uch with <strong>the</strong><br />
younger generation. Yet, it was once a leading organisation, <strong>and</strong> achieved a lot. And it is sad<br />
that when you look at <strong>the</strong> white left, <strong>the</strong> SWP <strong>and</strong> ANL <strong>the</strong>y have books, pamphlets, website,<br />
<strong>and</strong> yet when you look at our community, <strong>the</strong>re is nothing. Its political his<strong>to</strong>ry, its legacy<br />
is slowly disappearing, nobody has written about it, <strong>and</strong> this is perhaps why we had no<br />
direction. When we only have white people’s his<strong>to</strong>ry, ra<strong>the</strong>r than our own his<strong>to</strong>ry we don’t<br />
know what <strong>the</strong> rules <strong>of</strong> engagement should be. As a young person growing up in Southall<br />
back <strong>the</strong>n we had a series <strong>of</strong> encounters growing up, <strong>and</strong> when we did something <strong>the</strong>y labelled<br />
us, <strong>and</strong> we had <strong>the</strong> whole media <strong>and</strong> state apparatus tell us we were just gang members,<br />
its something that still happens <strong>to</strong>day.<br />
Are you less political as you get older?<br />
As you get older you get more political in <strong>the</strong> sense that when you are young you don’t<br />
have <strong>the</strong> range <strong>of</strong> vocabulary <strong>of</strong> words <strong>to</strong> really articulate things, but now now have <strong>the</strong><br />
words, It’s not that I could see things when I was younger, but now I have more words, but<br />
<strong>the</strong> danger is that you just talk <strong>and</strong> become part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> system, because that is what <strong>the</strong><br />
system wants you <strong>to</strong> do, just speak <strong>and</strong> not actually change anything. In some sense as you<br />
get older you can end <strong>of</strong> deskilling yourself by losing <strong>to</strong>uch with <strong>the</strong> real issues. I try <strong>to</strong> do<br />
this by still speaking <strong>to</strong> people in Southall in Punjabi mostly, this helps maintain some sharpness<br />
<strong>and</strong> connection.<br />
it still makes me realise that sometimes you can get more change by hurling a brick<br />
than by keep going <strong>to</strong> meetings. that sometimes community leadership is best achieved<br />
through less knowledge <strong>and</strong> underst<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> establishment. SYM was powerful because<br />
we thought differently <strong>and</strong> didn’t want <strong>to</strong> listen what o<strong>the</strong>rs had <strong>to</strong> say, this was both<br />
its strength <strong>and</strong> weakness.<br />
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PHOTOS<br />
Pho<strong>to</strong>graphs from <strong>the</strong> picket<br />
line<br />
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Grunwick Dispute<br />
PHOTOS<br />
Above :Mass <strong>of</strong> protes<strong>to</strong>rs fill<br />
<strong>the</strong> streets <strong>of</strong> North London<br />
Left : Publicity posters <strong>to</strong> advertise<br />
<strong>the</strong> daily picket,<br />
Right: Newspaper clipping<br />
showing <strong>the</strong> strikers on hunger<br />
strike ouside <strong>the</strong><br />
TUC headquarters<br />
Left :<br />
Mural remembers <strong>the</strong> strike on<br />
Chapter road, North Londo<br />
<strong>the</strong> former<br />
location <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Grunwick<br />
fac<strong>to</strong>ry.<br />
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Two images painted by artist Dan Jones<br />
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Laxmiben Patel<br />
Harsha Ahyave, talks <strong>to</strong> her mo<strong>the</strong>r, Laxmiben, one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> women who went out on strike at <strong>the</strong><br />
Grunwick fac<strong>to</strong>ry in North London in <strong>1976</strong><br />
Although my memory is somewhat sketchy, <strong>the</strong>re are some pivotal moments in my<br />
mo<strong>the</strong>rs’ life that remain permanently vivid <strong>and</strong> etched in my heart, because her thunderous<br />
quality left me spinning. Her education in Kenya was limited. English was not her mo<strong>the</strong>r<br />
<strong>to</strong>ngue <strong>and</strong> she was not raised in a home where politics <strong>and</strong> current affairs were discussed<br />
at <strong>the</strong> dinner table. However I believe her fighting spirit is innate, but also stems from <strong>the</strong><br />
many challenges she’s faced <strong>and</strong> knocked down. With endless ammunition she has always<br />
been equipped <strong>to</strong> cut through injustice, maybe <strong>the</strong> pace has slowed down but not <strong>the</strong> passion.<br />
She once said <strong>to</strong> me in Guajarati, “This generation has so much at <strong>the</strong>ir doorstep. You<br />
press a but<strong>to</strong>n <strong>and</strong> get an answer. You have access <strong>to</strong> all <strong>the</strong> education <strong>and</strong> knowledge from<br />
all over <strong>the</strong> world, but if you were stuck in a jungle or a city without your smartphone you<br />
wouldn’t know which direction <strong>to</strong> go. Wrong or right in my days we made a move, without<br />
<strong>the</strong> equipment you have.”<br />
My mo<strong>the</strong>r came <strong>to</strong> London on her own in 1966 on a Friday <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> following Monday<br />
she was working as a machinist for Ladybird, a Children’s clothing company. Ten years later<br />
she was working for Grunwick, a film processing Labora<strong>to</strong>ry in Willesden that soon made<br />
controversial headlines.<br />
Here is a small part <strong>of</strong> my mo<strong>the</strong>r’s journey…<br />
“It’s important <strong>to</strong> have guts in life because <strong>the</strong>n you can do anything. With guts you can<br />
make <strong>the</strong> life you want in this world. If you sit in silence unhappy, than what is your life?<br />
In <strong>1976</strong>, I walked out <strong>of</strong> my job at Grunwick <strong>to</strong> support <strong>the</strong> Grunwick Strikers. I was working<br />
for a pho<strong>to</strong>graphic company in Willesden. The conditions <strong>the</strong>re were not good, <strong>the</strong> pay<br />
was very low, people had <strong>to</strong> work very hard <strong>and</strong> you didn’t have your freedom like a normal<br />
human being, some workers had <strong>to</strong> ask for permission <strong>to</strong> go <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>to</strong>ilet. Some ladies<br />
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mainly Asian were scared, but not me. Must be that I am mad, I didn’t think, in my mind I just<br />
wanted a Union in this company <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> support my workers <strong>and</strong> friends. I was young <strong>and</strong> I<br />
didn’t even think what is going <strong>to</strong> happen in my life, I just thought if <strong>the</strong>re is a union, my life<br />
will be better.<br />
After some years I went <strong>to</strong> work for Chemilines, we women wanted a Union <strong>the</strong>re but it<br />
didn’t happen.<br />
Later I worked for ano<strong>the</strong>r fac<strong>to</strong>ry who make security alarms. It was Friday 3pm <strong>and</strong><br />
after working here for 13 years <strong>the</strong> manager tells me <strong>and</strong> 20 o<strong>the</strong>rs, ‘don’t come <strong>to</strong> work on<br />
Monday, <strong>the</strong>re is no work.’ I said ‘Why do you say this <strong>to</strong> me? I know this is unfair dismissal,<br />
<strong>the</strong>re are o<strong>the</strong>r workers who don’t even come <strong>to</strong> work, who don’t even work when <strong>the</strong>y<br />
are at work, but I can see you have made some people your favorites.’ Myself <strong>and</strong> 2 o<strong>the</strong>rs<br />
went <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> citizen advice bureau <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>re I saw Mahmoud who used <strong>to</strong> work for Grunwick.<br />
I <strong>to</strong>ld him, ‘if you can win this, <strong>the</strong>n I will take <strong>the</strong> action.’ Then I found Fatima my lawyer <strong>and</strong><br />
she <strong>to</strong>ld me, ‘I used <strong>to</strong> come <strong>and</strong> st<strong>and</strong> on <strong>the</strong> Grunwick picket line <strong>and</strong> I will win for you.’<br />
We didn’t win at <strong>the</strong> tribunal, but we went <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> higher courts in London. At this same time<br />
I found ano<strong>the</strong>r fac<strong>to</strong>ry job, but I was so scared that I must be on a black list that I didn’t say<br />
one word about <strong>the</strong> court date. I start a new job <strong>and</strong> I take <strong>of</strong>f a day <strong>to</strong> fight unfair dismissal<br />
for <strong>the</strong> old job, <strong>and</strong> this time we won.<br />
I have been st<strong>and</strong>ing up all my life. The Grunwick strike lasted two years, <strong>and</strong> APEX is<br />
<strong>the</strong> trade union that supported us <strong>and</strong> paid us some wage. We had caravans <strong>to</strong> sit in when<br />
it was cold <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> people in Willesden would open <strong>the</strong>ir front doors <strong>and</strong> give us tea. Many<br />
people, all <strong>the</strong>se ordinary men <strong>and</strong> women were <strong>the</strong>re. We didn’t win this fight but just think<br />
how many thous<strong>and</strong>s <strong>and</strong> thous<strong>and</strong>s <strong>of</strong> supporters came, from Yorkshire we had <strong>the</strong> Arthur<br />
Scargill <strong>and</strong> many miners, we had Jack Dromey, in London <strong>the</strong> Post Office <strong>and</strong> so many o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
trade unions supported us. There were hundreds <strong>of</strong> police <strong>and</strong> everything started from<br />
one little Asian lady, Jayaben Desai who had <strong>the</strong> guts.”<br />
Image left : Grunwick strikers picketing on<br />
Chapter <strong>Road</strong>, NW10. Laxmiben is s<strong>to</strong>od<br />
<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> far left.<br />
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My Political Journey <strong>to</strong><br />
Grunwick <strong>and</strong> Beyond<br />
Dr Gautam Appa<br />
Today’s young progressive activists are not <strong>the</strong> sole bearers <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> fight against racism<br />
<strong>and</strong> for a radical alternative, even though <strong>the</strong>y are <strong>the</strong> beacons <strong>of</strong> hope for <strong>the</strong> future.<br />
I am 73 years old. I have been active since I was 14. Originally from India, I have been<br />
a Londoner since 1963. I regard myself a socialist <strong>and</strong> feminist political activist fighting for<br />
workers’ rights <strong>and</strong> against racism, Islamophobia <strong>and</strong> misogyny in this country. I am also involved<br />
in <strong>the</strong> fight against communalism <strong>and</strong> castism in India <strong>and</strong> for poor people’s, such as<br />
tribal people’s, rights. Fur<strong>the</strong>rmore, with my equally political Irish wife, a lifelong fighter for<br />
Irish women’s right <strong>to</strong> choose, I am engaged in supporting Irish women who come <strong>to</strong> London<br />
for an abortion denied <strong>the</strong>m in both Irish states.<br />
The Grunwick strike was an important miles<strong>to</strong>ne in my political career. When <strong>the</strong> strike<br />
began in August <strong>1976</strong> I was <strong>the</strong> president <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Central London branch <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Indian Workers’<br />
Association (GB) - IWA (GB). Toge<strong>the</strong>r with my IWA colleagues I worked closely with <strong>the</strong><br />
strike leader Mrs Jayaben Desai. We realised from <strong>the</strong> start that <strong>the</strong> dispute at Grunwick had<br />
three important elements - gender, race <strong>and</strong> class - a fight by largely female Asian workers<br />
<strong>to</strong> be treated respectfully as women, paid a living wage <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> belong <strong>to</strong> a trade union.<br />
What follows is an account <strong>of</strong> my political journey <strong>to</strong> Grunwick <strong>and</strong> beyond – practical<br />
experiences from involvement in various struggles <strong>and</strong> ideological quests ranging from revolutionary<br />
paths <strong>to</strong> single issue campaigns. Of necessity <strong>the</strong>re are several threads: early days<br />
in India before I came <strong>to</strong> study at <strong>the</strong> London School <strong>of</strong> Economics (LSE) in 1963; formative<br />
experiences in <strong>the</strong> student revolts at LSE from 1966 <strong>to</strong> 1969; a brief sojourn <strong>to</strong> India with<br />
dreams <strong>of</strong> revolutionary change; my involvement with <strong>the</strong> IWA (GB) led by anti-revisionist,<br />
pro-Chinese Indian communists supporting <strong>the</strong> Maoist Communist Party <strong>of</strong> India known as<br />
CPI (ML); Grunwick days <strong>and</strong> ultimately, post Grunwick, work on single issue campaigns with<br />
many organisations in India <strong>and</strong> here. Now at 73, with reduced mobility, I continue <strong>to</strong> do researching<br />
<strong>and</strong> writing <strong>to</strong> pursue <strong>the</strong> same political aims.<br />
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Early days in India<br />
At <strong>the</strong> age <strong>of</strong> 14 I was radicalised in India during <strong>the</strong> Maha Gujarat movement that went<br />
on from 1956 <strong>to</strong> 1960 for <strong>the</strong> creation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> separate state <strong>of</strong> Gujarat for Gujarati-speaking<br />
people from <strong>the</strong> bilingual Bombay state. I <strong>to</strong>ok part in daily morning rallies; producing leaflets<br />
arguing <strong>the</strong> case for bifurcation under <strong>the</strong> guidance <strong>of</strong> my older <strong>and</strong> experienced Muslim<br />
men<strong>to</strong>r (1) Badamiya Peerzada; reading, analysing <strong>and</strong> trying <strong>to</strong> see in <strong>the</strong> broader context<br />
what was happening in my home<strong>to</strong>wn <strong>of</strong> Ahmedabad. I saw first-h<strong>and</strong> how <strong>the</strong> Indian National<br />
Congress, using <strong>the</strong> state’s might <strong>to</strong> maintain <strong>the</strong> status quo, was forced <strong>to</strong> concede<br />
by dedicated non-violent protesters.<br />
Socialists at <strong>the</strong> London School <strong>of</strong> Economics<br />
While studying at <strong>the</strong> LSE I got involved in student protests which had an international<br />
dimension. In 1966 <strong>the</strong> LSE announced <strong>the</strong> appointment <strong>of</strong> Walter Adams, <strong>the</strong>n direc<strong>to</strong>r <strong>of</strong><br />
University College in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), as <strong>the</strong> next direc<strong>to</strong>r. Students, led by <strong>the</strong><br />
Socialist Society, which I had joined, objected because Adams was a part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> racist regime<br />
in Rhodesia. Their concerns were ignored <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> appointment confirmed in January<br />
1967. There were sit-ins, suspension <strong>of</strong> students <strong>and</strong> arrests followed by a sit-in outside <strong>the</strong><br />
Bow Street police station. More sit-ins <strong>and</strong> occupations <strong>of</strong> administrative parts <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> LSE<br />
followed throughout 1967 <strong>and</strong> 1968. I participated in all <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se. Then came <strong>the</strong> closure <strong>of</strong><br />
LSE in 1969 over students tearing down steel gates installed by <strong>the</strong> direc<strong>to</strong>r <strong>to</strong> prevent us<br />
from occupying <strong>the</strong> admin buildings containing student files. What went on reminds me <strong>of</strong> a<br />
caustic saying in China after <strong>the</strong> Kuomintang (Chinese nationalist party that ruled China until<br />
1948) was defeated by <strong>the</strong> Communist Party: ‘Under <strong>the</strong> Kuomintang <strong>to</strong>o many taxes, under<br />
<strong>the</strong> communists <strong>to</strong>o many meetings.’ Sharing a flat with <strong>the</strong> socialist leaders <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> LSE’s<br />
student movement as I was, I did attend <strong>to</strong>o many meetings, but also learnt a lot about challenging<br />
<strong>the</strong> powerful <strong>and</strong> winning concessions.<br />
International dimension<br />
There were o<strong>the</strong>r events occurring which influenced politically aware <strong>and</strong> active students<br />
at <strong>the</strong> time. The volatile period <strong>of</strong> civil unrest among workers as well as students<br />
in France beginning in 1968 was punctuated by national demonstrations, massive general<br />
strikes as well as occupation <strong>of</strong> universities <strong>and</strong> fac<strong>to</strong>ries across France. In March 1967<br />
<strong>the</strong>re was <strong>the</strong> massive demonstration in London, <strong>the</strong> biggest in Britain until <strong>the</strong>n, against<br />
<strong>the</strong> Vietnam War. All politically active left-wing students in <strong>the</strong> LSE protests were influenced<br />
by <strong>the</strong>se events. All were searching for answers from radical literature <strong>and</strong> revolutionary<br />
movements. I read widely: Marx, Engels, Lenin, Mao, Che Guevara, Fanon, <strong>the</strong> his<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Chinese <strong>and</strong> Cuban revolutions <strong>and</strong> much more.<br />
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Struggles in India<br />
I was also keeping abreast <strong>of</strong> developments within <strong>the</strong> communist movement in India<br />
(2) because I was determined <strong>to</strong> return home <strong>and</strong> join <strong>the</strong> struggle <strong>the</strong>re. I had been following<br />
<strong>the</strong> Sino-Soviet split in <strong>the</strong> communist movement worldwide <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> formation in<br />
India <strong>of</strong> three communist parties. The main point <strong>of</strong> contention was whe<strong>the</strong>r in a primarily<br />
agricultural feudal society such as India it was possible <strong>to</strong> grab state power with armed<br />
struggle by <strong>the</strong> peasantry ra<strong>the</strong>r than industrial workers. There had been two significant<br />
armed insurrections, <strong>the</strong> Telangana Rebellion between 1946 <strong>and</strong> 1951<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Naxalbari<br />
uprising in 1967. Both had started in tribal areas by peasants led by local communists who<br />
defeated feudal l<strong>and</strong>lords but were rebuffed by <strong>the</strong> Communist Party <strong>the</strong>y belonged <strong>to</strong> at<br />
<strong>the</strong> time. In <strong>the</strong> Telangana region <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> princely state <strong>of</strong> Hyderabad <strong>the</strong> agitation led by<br />
communists belonging <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Communist Party <strong>of</strong> India – CPI - between 1946 <strong>and</strong> 1951 was<br />
successful in taking over 3000 villages from <strong>the</strong> feudal lords <strong>and</strong> distributing 1,000,000<br />
acres <strong>of</strong> agriculture l<strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> l<strong>and</strong>less peasants. Following <strong>the</strong> Soviet party’s line <strong>of</strong> peaceful<br />
co-existence with <strong>the</strong> capitalist world, <strong>the</strong> CPI asked <strong>the</strong>m in 1951 <strong>to</strong> surrender <strong>the</strong>ir arms.<br />
By 1964, when <strong>the</strong> CPI had become completely Muscovite in its views <strong>and</strong> policies, a split<br />
occurred leading <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> formation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Communist Party <strong>of</strong> India Marxist - CPI (M). In<br />
spite <strong>of</strong> much local opposition, however, it rejected armed struggle <strong>and</strong> adopted <strong>the</strong> tactic<br />
<strong>of</strong> united fronts <strong>of</strong> progressive forces <strong>to</strong> win parliamentary elections. In May 1967, during<br />
<strong>the</strong> first term <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> United Front government in West Bengal, in which <strong>the</strong> CPI (M) was<br />
represented, militants <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Naxalbari block in Darjeeling district occupied l<strong>and</strong> illegally<br />
possessed by l<strong>and</strong>lords, seized harvested paddy <strong>and</strong> successfully fought <strong>the</strong> local police<br />
<strong>and</strong> l<strong>and</strong>lords’ gangs with primitive weapons. The West Bengal CPI (M), pressured by its<br />
coalition partners <strong>to</strong> maintain ‘law <strong>and</strong> order’, expelled nineteen party members in June<br />
1967. On <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r h<strong>and</strong>, <strong>the</strong> Chinese party declared <strong>the</strong> armed uprising in Naxalbari as <strong>the</strong><br />
birth <strong>of</strong> a great revolutionary movement in India. (3)<br />
Although <strong>the</strong> Naxalbari uprising was suppressed, it remained a l<strong>and</strong>mark <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Indian<br />
polity which fur<strong>the</strong>r led <strong>to</strong> several similar armed conflicts in parts <strong>of</strong> Bihar <strong>and</strong> Uttar<br />
Pradesh. (see Lal Sena <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Naxalite–Maoist insurgency). All were led by local communist<br />
groups which regarded <strong>the</strong> Chinese revolution <strong>and</strong> Mao’s philosophy <strong>of</strong> waging a class<br />
war in a feudal society as <strong>the</strong>ir guide. They br<strong>and</strong>ed <strong>the</strong> Soviet position which was considered<br />
<strong>to</strong> be ab<strong>and</strong>oning <strong>the</strong> class struggle as revisionist (reformist), a term coined by <strong>the</strong><br />
Chinese. The term ‘Naxalites’ came <strong>to</strong> be associated with all such groups. A Coordination<br />
Committee <strong>of</strong> some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se groups formed <strong>the</strong> Communist Party <strong>of</strong> India Marxist Leninist<br />
– CPI (ML) - in Calcutta in 1969. While a lot <strong>of</strong> factions emerged from <strong>the</strong> CPI (ML), all <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong>m were Maoist groups loosely called Naxalites.<br />
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Back <strong>to</strong> India with dreams <strong>of</strong> revolutionary change<br />
In 1973 I went back <strong>to</strong> Ahmedabad on a one-year sabbatical leave from my full time job<br />
as a lecturer at <strong>the</strong> Enfield College <strong>of</strong> Technology, now Middlesex University. The idea was <strong>to</strong><br />
settle in India <strong>and</strong> support <strong>the</strong> emerging Naxalite movement. In Gujarat both CPI <strong>and</strong> CPI (M)<br />
had some presence but not CPI (ML) which had only a h<strong>and</strong>ful <strong>of</strong> sympathisers. Prominent<br />
among <strong>the</strong>se was Kumarbhai, a sexagenarian communist from Kerala running a small trade<br />
union <strong>of</strong> pottery workers who was in contact with one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> factions <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Naxalite movement.<br />
I helped him run <strong>the</strong> union <strong>and</strong> also started a Slum Dwellers’ Association <strong>to</strong> protect<br />
slums from demolition by property developers in cahoots with <strong>the</strong> police. I ended up leading<br />
a strike by <strong>the</strong> union <strong>to</strong> get <strong>the</strong> employers <strong>to</strong> implement <strong>the</strong> minimum wage law that had<br />
been made applicable <strong>to</strong> potteries during my stay.<br />
It was a formative experience for me. Families <strong>of</strong> workers on strike had nothing <strong>to</strong> eat<br />
after <strong>the</strong> first week while I continued <strong>to</strong> eat well. Some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> employers turned out <strong>to</strong> be<br />
from <strong>the</strong> school I had attended; <strong>the</strong>y tried <strong>to</strong> cajole <strong>and</strong> bribe me <strong>to</strong> suspend <strong>the</strong> strike,<br />
failing which <strong>the</strong>y reported me <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> police as a Naxalite. Indira G<strong>and</strong>hi, India’s Prime Minister<br />
at <strong>the</strong> time, had declared Naxalites as <strong>the</strong> ‘single greatest threat <strong>to</strong> India’s security’ <strong>and</strong><br />
sympathisers were being rounded up, imprisoned <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong>rtured all over India. When sympa<strong>the</strong>tic<br />
government <strong>of</strong>ficers let it be known <strong>to</strong> my friends that it was advisable for me <strong>to</strong><br />
leave so I returned <strong>to</strong> London <strong>and</strong> joined <strong>the</strong> Central London branch <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Indian Workers<br />
Association known as IWA (GB).<br />
In 1974 <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>n president <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Central London branch, Ranjana Ash, a long –st<strong>and</strong>ing<br />
supporter <strong>of</strong> CPI (ML), stepped down <strong>and</strong> I was elected <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> post. In 1975 I bought a house<br />
in East London with my politically active Irish partner but instead <strong>of</strong> working with <strong>the</strong> East<br />
London branch <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> IWA (GB) continued as president <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Central London branch.<br />
Reasons for joining <strong>the</strong> IWA (GB) in 1973<br />
In a nutshell I joined IWA (GB) because it was run by anti-revisionist, pro-Naxalite Indian<br />
communists. When I returned from India <strong>the</strong>re were two IWAs - IWA (Southall), effectively<br />
confined <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Southall area only, <strong>and</strong> IWA (GB) with 18 branches. (4 Both organisations<br />
were carrying out welfare work, trade union <strong>and</strong> anti-racist activities as well as international<br />
solidarity campaigns. But <strong>the</strong>re was an important difference in <strong>the</strong> ideology <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir leaders.<br />
IWAs led by Association <strong>of</strong> Indian Communists<br />
While all <strong>the</strong> IWA branches were mass organisations open <strong>to</strong> any Indian living in <strong>the</strong> UK,<br />
with a <strong>to</strong>tal <strong>of</strong> 20,000 plus members, each one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m was set up <strong>and</strong> run by Indian communists.<br />
On arrival in Britain <strong>the</strong>y had joined <strong>the</strong> Communist Party <strong>of</strong> Great Britain (CPGB), a<br />
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evisionist organisation, but also set up <strong>the</strong>ir own communist organisation in 1966 called <strong>the</strong><br />
Association <strong>of</strong> Indian Communists (AIC).<br />
The Sino-Soviet split was reflected in <strong>the</strong> CPGB with adherents <strong>and</strong> opponents <strong>of</strong> ‘<strong>the</strong><br />
British <strong>Road</strong> <strong>to</strong> Socialism’, <strong>the</strong> pro-Soviet analysis published by CPGB in 1951 recommending<br />
fighting for socialism within <strong>the</strong> democratic framework by working within <strong>the</strong> Labour Party<br />
<strong>and</strong> trade unions ra<strong>the</strong>r than waging a class war. A similar split was also reflected among AIC<br />
members in <strong>the</strong>ir attitude <strong>and</strong> actions not only in this country but also in India. IWA (Southall)<br />
was led by <strong>the</strong> AIC followers <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Soviet line. In 1971 <strong>the</strong>ir leader Vishnu Sharma became<br />
a member <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Executive Committee <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> CPGB. In India <strong>the</strong>y supported <strong>the</strong> CPI (M). In<br />
contrast <strong>the</strong> IWA (GB) eschewed “entryism” (meaning infiltration in political organisations<br />
such as <strong>the</strong> Labour party <strong>and</strong> trade unions) in Britain <strong>and</strong> supported <strong>the</strong> CPI (ML).<br />
The IWA (Southall) <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> IWA GB) also had different perspectives on race relations in<br />
Britain. The IWA (Southall) worked with government bodies whereas <strong>the</strong> IWA (GB) refused<br />
<strong>to</strong> become involved with state-sponsored organisations. The IWA (GB) claimed that <strong>the</strong> IWA<br />
(Southall) had an assimilationist philosophy <strong>and</strong> saw <strong>the</strong>ir role in educating Indians <strong>to</strong> make<br />
<strong>the</strong>mselves acceptable <strong>to</strong> British society. This was in contrast <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> IWA (GB) which considered<br />
<strong>the</strong> problem <strong>to</strong> be racism, <strong>and</strong> saw <strong>the</strong>ir role as one <strong>of</strong> fighting racism <strong>and</strong> not <strong>of</strong> Anglicizing<br />
Indians. After <strong>the</strong> passing <strong>of</strong> race relations legislation in <strong>the</strong> mid-1960s <strong>the</strong>se differences<br />
had become more pronounced.<br />
I joined <strong>the</strong> IWA (GB) as a way <strong>of</strong> pursuing my revolutionary dreams without knowing<br />
about, leave alone joining, <strong>the</strong> Association <strong>of</strong> Indian Communists. Once Ranjana Ash left <strong>the</strong><br />
branch <strong>the</strong>re was no AIC member left but all <strong>the</strong> branch central committee members were<br />
sympa<strong>the</strong>tic <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Naxalite cause.<br />
Activities <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Central London Branch<br />
As Indian ‘communists’ in London we primarily involved ourselves with Indian workers’<br />
struggles in London which had two dimensions: fighting for rights at work <strong>and</strong> fighting<br />
against racism, The 1960s <strong>and</strong> 70s was a period <strong>of</strong> expansion <strong>of</strong> medium-sized manufacturing<br />
<strong>and</strong> engineering companies in West London. Many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se hired recently arrived Indian<br />
migrants from Ug<strong>and</strong>a <strong>and</strong> Kenya as a source <strong>of</strong> cheap labour. (5) Struggles broke out<br />
all over <strong>the</strong> place for minimum wages, parity with white workers about wages <strong>and</strong> working<br />
conditions, proper work contracts, right <strong>to</strong> join trade unions <strong>and</strong> more. Strikes, walk-outs<br />
<strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r forms <strong>of</strong> struggle were commonplace. Among o<strong>the</strong>r things, we joined picket<br />
lines, distributed leaflets, sought support from o<strong>the</strong>r workers <strong>and</strong> from trade unions. The silk<br />
thread-making firm Perivale Gutterman’s strike in Perivale near Southall in 1973 <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> strike<br />
at <strong>the</strong> film processing business run by Grunwick Processing Labora<strong>to</strong>ries Ltd in Willesden in<br />
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<strong>1976</strong> were <strong>the</strong> most notable examples <strong>of</strong> this side <strong>of</strong> our work.<br />
Grunwick strike - August <strong>1976</strong> <strong>to</strong> July 1978 (6)<br />
Grunwick Labora<strong>to</strong>ries was described in 1977 by Which? magazine as <strong>the</strong> most efficient<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> least expensive <strong>of</strong> all <strong>the</strong> film-processing companies. From 100 employees in 1973,<br />
by <strong>1976</strong> it had grown <strong>to</strong> a workforce exceeding 480. Pre-tax pr<strong>of</strong>its were £13,500 in 1969,<br />
£126,719 in 1973-74 <strong>and</strong> £210,687 in 1975-76. By August <strong>1976</strong> when <strong>the</strong> strike broke out in<br />
<strong>the</strong> mail order department, Grunwick was occupying several properties within half a mile<br />
radius <strong>of</strong> Dollis Hill underground station in Willesden. (7)<br />
Grunwick exploiting a vulnerable workforce<br />
Grunwick was successful in persuading pho<strong>to</strong>graphers from <strong>the</strong> Ne<strong>the</strong>rl<strong>and</strong>s, Belgium<br />
<strong>and</strong> Germany as well as Britain <strong>to</strong> post <strong>the</strong>ir films directly <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> company for rapid <strong>and</strong> good<br />
quality turnaround at cheap rates. The low prices it <strong>of</strong>fered depended on hiring a cheap <strong>and</strong><br />
vulnerable work force. In 1974 when Jayaben Desai, <strong>the</strong> leader <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> strike, started work,<br />
<strong>the</strong> majority <strong>of</strong> her co-workers were white women. (8) The presence <strong>of</strong> a large <strong>and</strong> vulnerable<br />
workforce in <strong>the</strong> shape <strong>of</strong> thous<strong>and</strong>s <strong>of</strong> Asians <strong>of</strong> Indian origin expelled from Kenya <strong>and</strong><br />
Ug<strong>and</strong>a <strong>and</strong> concentrated in a few areas <strong>of</strong> Britain, one being <strong>the</strong> borough <strong>of</strong> Brent in west<br />
London, meant that <strong>the</strong> company discriminated in favour <strong>of</strong> cheaper Asians. By <strong>1976</strong> over<br />
90% were people <strong>of</strong> colour whose wages in real terms were considerably lower than what<br />
was paid in 1974. Holiday entitlements were also reduced <strong>and</strong> compulsory overtime with little<br />
or no advance notice was enforced.<br />
The role <strong>of</strong> IWA (GB)<br />
We arrived at <strong>the</strong> Grunwick fac<strong>to</strong>ry gate soon after <strong>the</strong> strike had begun. The starting<br />
point was a walk-out by Jayaben Desai, joined later by 130-odd workers, <strong>the</strong> majority <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong>m women, over <strong>the</strong> humiliations <strong>the</strong>y suffered. They were required <strong>to</strong> ask permission <strong>to</strong><br />
go <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>to</strong>ilet <strong>and</strong> reprim<strong>and</strong>ed for staying <strong>the</strong>re for more than ten minutes even during<br />
pregnancy or menstruation.<br />
What began as a walk out for self-respect was soon <strong>to</strong> become a strike for <strong>the</strong> recognition<br />
<strong>of</strong> APEX (Association <strong>of</strong> Pr<strong>of</strong>essional, Executive, Clerical <strong>and</strong> Computer Staff) as <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
union. The workers wanted APEX <strong>to</strong> negotiate on <strong>the</strong>ir behalf. The management was willing<br />
<strong>to</strong> take <strong>the</strong>m all back but not recognise <strong>the</strong> union. The national press chose <strong>to</strong> present it as a<br />
s<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>of</strong> poor, helpless Indian women in saris, speaking very little English, being denied <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
normal rights as workers.<br />
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We worked with Jayaben <strong>to</strong> persuade those who had not walked out <strong>to</strong> join <strong>the</strong> struggle.<br />
As <strong>the</strong> only Gujarati speaker in <strong>the</strong> branch I <strong>to</strong>ok <strong>the</strong> lead in this. Armed with a list provided<br />
by Jayaben <strong>and</strong> accompanied by a woman member <strong>of</strong> our IWA (GB) branch, I visited<br />
<strong>the</strong> homes <strong>of</strong> non-strikers. I found a complex picture <strong>of</strong> why some women were not able <strong>to</strong><br />
join – urgent financial need or disapproval by a dominant male member <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> family being<br />
<strong>the</strong> chief reasons. All had s<strong>to</strong>ries <strong>to</strong> tell <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir own experience <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> humiliating treatment<br />
by management <strong>and</strong> compulsory overtime without prior notice - <strong>the</strong> two most common<br />
grievances. And almost all were apologetic about not joining. It is difficult <strong>to</strong> say if our visits<br />
made a difference or not, but more workers did join <strong>the</strong> strike during <strong>the</strong> weeks that followed.<br />
Late in Oc<strong>to</strong>ber <strong>1976</strong> we accompanied Jayaben in directly approaching local post <strong>of</strong>fice<br />
workers <strong>to</strong> get <strong>the</strong>m <strong>to</strong> s<strong>to</strong>p delivering mail <strong>to</strong> Grunwick, which <strong>the</strong>y did. Also we had a<br />
fund raiser event at <strong>the</strong> Brent Trades Union hall. During mass pickets we were at <strong>the</strong> fac<strong>to</strong>ry<br />
gates <strong>and</strong> on a few occasions we were able <strong>to</strong> bring coach loads <strong>of</strong> IWA (GB) supporters<br />
from <strong>the</strong> Midl<strong>and</strong>s’ branches.<br />
From <strong>the</strong> trade union side <strong>the</strong> key organiser was Jack Dromey, <strong>the</strong> Secretary <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Brent Trades Council who was a non-voting member <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> strike committee. There was a<br />
major push by Jayaben <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> strike committee <strong>to</strong> send deputations <strong>to</strong> fac<strong>to</strong>ries, building<br />
sites <strong>and</strong> shipyards up <strong>and</strong> down <strong>the</strong> country <strong>to</strong> reach out <strong>to</strong> workers all over <strong>the</strong> country.<br />
This was followed by Jack Dromey’s successful appeal <strong>to</strong> Arthur Scargill, <strong>the</strong> leader <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> Mine Workers Union, all <strong>of</strong> which resulted in massive pickets every day <strong>to</strong> s<strong>to</strong>p <strong>the</strong> bus<br />
ferrying <strong>the</strong> scabs from going in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> fac<strong>to</strong>ry. The strike became <strong>the</strong> cause célèbre embracing<br />
Labour supporters, feminists <strong>and</strong> progressives <strong>of</strong> different political colours. Hundreds <strong>of</strong><br />
chemists’ shops who used Grunwick’s film processing service boycotted <strong>the</strong> fac<strong>to</strong>ry. There<br />
was wide <strong>and</strong> regular coverage in <strong>the</strong> media, including in <strong>the</strong> influential feminist magazine,<br />
Spare Rib. (9) The strike dragged on for nearly two years, from 20 August <strong>1976</strong> <strong>to</strong> 14 July<br />
1978, but failed <strong>to</strong> achieve its goals.<br />
The Grunwick strike was lost in spite <strong>of</strong> Labour government ministers joining <strong>the</strong> picket<br />
lines, first un<strong>of</strong>ficial, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n <strong>of</strong>ficial, s<strong>to</strong>pping <strong>of</strong> postal delivery <strong>to</strong> Grunwick for a period<br />
<strong>and</strong> worldwide support from <strong>the</strong> trade union movement including <strong>the</strong> banishing <strong>of</strong> air transport<br />
<strong>of</strong> Grunwick’s goods from Europe. Fur<strong>the</strong>rmore, <strong>the</strong>re were two favourable reports by<br />
ACAS, a High Court decision in favour <strong>of</strong> ACAS <strong>and</strong> against Grunwick, <strong>the</strong> Scarman Report<br />
recommending union recognition <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> finding by Brent Magistrate’s Court <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> police<br />
being guilty <strong>of</strong> arresting strikers without due cause.<br />
The employers were determined <strong>to</strong> hold out <strong>and</strong> were financed by <strong>the</strong> National Association<br />
for Freedom. Private planes were used <strong>to</strong> fly in films from all over Europe for processing.<br />
George Ward, <strong>the</strong> Anglo-Indian Managing Direc<strong>to</strong>r <strong>of</strong> Grunwick, ignored ACAS reports<br />
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labelling ACAS as <strong>the</strong> ‘Association <strong>of</strong> Comrades for <strong>the</strong> Advancement <strong>of</strong> Socialism’. Lord<br />
Denning’s Appeal Court ruling overturned <strong>the</strong> High Court verdict <strong>and</strong> declared <strong>the</strong> ACAS<br />
report invalid. The House <strong>of</strong> Lords confirmed Denning’s ruling against ACAS. The state deployed<br />
<strong>the</strong> Special Petrol Group (SPG) which used methods developed in Nor<strong>the</strong>rn Irel<strong>and</strong><br />
by <strong>the</strong> no<strong>to</strong>rious Royal Ulster Constabulary. Again <strong>and</strong> again <strong>the</strong>y <strong>to</strong>re in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> mass pickets<br />
<strong>and</strong> used violence unseen in normal policing <strong>of</strong> strikes. The right wing tabloids were able <strong>to</strong><br />
print images <strong>of</strong> ‘pickets fighting with <strong>the</strong> police’. The unions were not prepared <strong>to</strong> fight until<br />
<strong>the</strong> end. They tried <strong>to</strong> impose a limit on <strong>the</strong> number <strong>of</strong> pickets. For a while, anticipating an<br />
opportunity <strong>to</strong> gain a foothold among <strong>the</strong> Asian immigrant workers, <strong>the</strong>y had paid double<br />
<strong>the</strong> strike pay <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong>ficially sanctioned <strong>the</strong> Union <strong>of</strong> Postal Workers (UPW) <strong>to</strong> ban postal deliveries.<br />
But <strong>the</strong>y were losing control <strong>and</strong> faced with images in <strong>the</strong> tabloids <strong>of</strong> pickets fighting<br />
with police, feared a legal backlash which did materialise after Margaret Thatcher became<br />
<strong>the</strong> Prime Minister. As ‘<strong>the</strong> Grunwick Strike’ by A. Sivan<strong>and</strong>an clearly explains, <strong>the</strong> Social<br />
Contract, <strong>the</strong> government-trade union collaboration agreed by <strong>the</strong> Labour government <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> trade union movement, ensured that both <strong>the</strong> TUC <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> UPW withdrew support.<br />
For <strong>the</strong> Managing Direc<strong>to</strong>r Ward, <strong>and</strong> his managers, <strong>the</strong> main issue was <strong>the</strong> workers<br />
joining a union which threatened <strong>the</strong>ir cheap source <strong>of</strong> labour. Race or gender were irrelevant<br />
<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> bot<strong>to</strong>m line except when <strong>the</strong>y could use it <strong>to</strong> increase <strong>the</strong>ir pr<strong>of</strong>its. They did, <strong>of</strong><br />
course, use race <strong>and</strong> gender <strong>to</strong> get <strong>the</strong>ir way. Having replaced <strong>the</strong> largely white workforce<br />
with vulnerable Asian immigrants from Kenya <strong>and</strong> Ug<strong>and</strong>a, Ward had made a detailed study<br />
<strong>of</strong> workers’ home backgrounds <strong>and</strong> tried <strong>to</strong> use cultural <strong>and</strong> religious differences between<br />
different sub-groups <strong>of</strong> striking Asian workers <strong>to</strong> his advantage.<br />
Workers’ struggles in <strong>the</strong> 1970’s, including <strong>the</strong> one at Grunwick, were, among o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
things, about unions negotiating with employers on behalf <strong>of</strong> its members about wages,<br />
annual holidays, working conditions <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r aspects <strong>of</strong> workers’ rights. Today in Britain<br />
we are fighting against zero hour contracts <strong>and</strong> a ‘self-employed’ workforce. The rights <strong>of</strong><br />
workers <strong>to</strong> join picket lines in solidarity with o<strong>the</strong>rs, as was done so dramatically by miners<br />
during <strong>the</strong> Grunwick strike, is now illegal. In France collective bargaining is still <strong>the</strong> norm but<br />
Macron, <strong>the</strong> new president <strong>of</strong> France is trying <strong>to</strong> outlaw it. The struggle goes on.<br />
Lessons learnt<br />
Experience <strong>of</strong> working in conflicts like Grunwick made me question my younger self’s<br />
belief that all-out revolutionary struggle is <strong>the</strong> only way forward. It reinforced my emerging<br />
view that <strong>to</strong> bring about change, working in broad-front organisations on single issue campaigns<br />
should not be dismissed. I came <strong>to</strong> underst<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> importance <strong>of</strong> forming alliances<br />
with sympa<strong>the</strong>tic individuals <strong>and</strong> organisations <strong>to</strong> maximise <strong>the</strong> strength <strong>of</strong> one’s forces,<br />
even where <strong>the</strong>y embraced views at odds with my own on fundamental issues such as hu-<br />
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man rights, women’s rights, or even racism. One particular case st<strong>and</strong>s out in my memory<br />
that concerns <strong>the</strong> leader <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Grunwick strike, Jayaben Desai.<br />
Jayaben was a fearless fighter for social justice for workers, but was also a member<br />
<strong>and</strong> supporter <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), <strong>the</strong> UK branch <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Hindu nationalist<br />
extremist group Rashtriya Swayamaevak Sangh (RSS) in India known for its hostility<br />
<strong>to</strong> <strong>and</strong> attacks on Muslims. I remember a conversation with her in which she was berating<br />
Muslims in India. ‘Their houses smell’, ‘<strong>the</strong>y breed like rabbits’ etc. I pointed out that<br />
what she was saying about Indian Muslims was exactly <strong>the</strong> same as <strong>the</strong> far right National<br />
Front was saying about all <strong>the</strong> black migrants, including us. Her response was: “What I am<br />
saying about Indian Muslims is true, what <strong>the</strong> NF says about us is not”!<br />
On <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r h<strong>and</strong>, it is fair <strong>to</strong> say that without Jayaben <strong>the</strong>re would not have been<br />
a strike. 60% <strong>of</strong> those on strike were female, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> leading force was Jayaben Desai.<br />
There was a lot <strong>of</strong> simmering discontent among <strong>the</strong> workforce but no one else was able<br />
<strong>to</strong> articulate workers’ grievances in Gujarati as she did. Her English was far from perfect,<br />
but her fearless quick-witted re<strong>to</strong>rts <strong>to</strong> rude managers gave courage <strong>to</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs <strong>to</strong> come<br />
out <strong>and</strong> stay out. The most famous one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se is <strong>the</strong> one where she says before walking<br />
out:<br />
“What you are running here is not a fac<strong>to</strong>ry, it is a zoo. But in a zoo <strong>the</strong>re are many<br />
types <strong>of</strong> animals. Some are monkeys who dance on your fingertips, o<strong>the</strong>rs are lions who<br />
can bite your head <strong>of</strong>f. We are <strong>the</strong> lions, Mr Manager.”<br />
Equally impressive is her re<strong>to</strong>rt <strong>to</strong> a manager who said ‘you can’t win with that Sari on.<br />
Why don’t you change in<strong>to</strong> a mini-skirt?’ ‘I will tell you something, manager’ she re<strong>to</strong>rted,<br />
‘Mrs G<strong>and</strong>hi wears a sari <strong>and</strong> she runs a country <strong>of</strong> 600 million people. You can’t even run<br />
a little fac<strong>to</strong>ry’.<br />
I also realised that strikers <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir supporters had contradic<strong>to</strong>ry views on fundamental<br />
issues. Among <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r contradictions that struck me at <strong>the</strong> time was <strong>the</strong> proud declaration<br />
by most female strikers, including Jayaben, that while picketing <strong>the</strong>y had never<br />
failed <strong>to</strong> provide cooked meals, a clean <strong>and</strong> tidy house, <strong>and</strong> care <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir children, no matter<br />
how early <strong>the</strong>y had <strong>to</strong> rise each morning! British feminists who joined <strong>the</strong> picket would<br />
not have shared or appreciated this view! However, I found during our attempts <strong>to</strong> get<br />
more women <strong>to</strong> join <strong>the</strong> strike that <strong>the</strong> issue was much more complex. It is best articulated<br />
by Ann Rossiter (10) in an article published in Spare Rib. It says: “It takes a great deal <strong>of</strong><br />
guts for an Asian woman <strong>to</strong> come out on strike <strong>and</strong> st<strong>and</strong> on a picket line in <strong>the</strong> full glare<br />
<strong>of</strong> publicity day after day. All sorts <strong>of</strong> psychological pressures are brought <strong>to</strong> bear on her.<br />
Members <strong>of</strong> her family may gossip <strong>and</strong> deprecate her, as it is considered a dishonour for<br />
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a woman <strong>to</strong> put herself in <strong>the</strong> public eye.”<br />
Being <strong>the</strong> great strategist that she was, Jayaben came up with a practical solution. She<br />
<strong>and</strong> Jack Dromey got <strong>the</strong> strike committee <strong>to</strong> organise a meeting for <strong>the</strong> husb<strong>and</strong>s <strong>and</strong> relatives<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> women strikers. For three hours one Sunday forty <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> husb<strong>and</strong>s fired questions<br />
at Jack Dromey, Adrian Askew, an APEX <strong>of</strong>ficial, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>of</strong>ficers <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> strike committee.<br />
The meeting made a decisive contribution <strong>to</strong>wards helping <strong>the</strong> women play a full part<br />
in <strong>the</strong> strike <strong>and</strong> brought in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> dispute <strong>the</strong> families <strong>of</strong> those on strike. ‘I think a st<strong>and</strong>ard<br />
approach from now on in a strike situation like this must be <strong>to</strong> involve <strong>the</strong> strikers’ relatives’<br />
remarked Jack Dromey. (11)<br />
I found <strong>to</strong> my amazement that disagreements about fundamental values were <strong>to</strong> be<br />
found among political activists as well. Male chauvinism was not <strong>the</strong> preserve <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> strikers’<br />
menfolk; it was widespread among IWA (GB) members whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong>y described <strong>the</strong>mselves<br />
as ‘comrades’ or not. Added <strong>to</strong> this litany <strong>of</strong> contradictions was <strong>the</strong> existence <strong>of</strong> racism<br />
amongst Asian workers <strong>and</strong> IWA (GB) comrades <strong>to</strong>wards African Caribbeans, <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> white<br />
workers <strong>to</strong>wards all people <strong>of</strong> colour.<br />
Post-Grunwick decades<br />
After Grunwick I began <strong>to</strong> veer <strong>to</strong>wards single issue campaigns which is where I had<br />
started during <strong>the</strong> Maha Gujarat movement. Throughout <strong>the</strong> 40 years since <strong>the</strong> strike ended<br />
I have been involved in anti-communal, anti-racist <strong>and</strong> pro-poor struggles except for a brief<br />
period <strong>to</strong> follow my academic career at <strong>the</strong> LSE. There have been successes <strong>and</strong> failures. I<br />
record below only some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> major ones in which I think I played a meaningful part.<br />
<strong>Anti</strong>-communal work<br />
o Alliance Against Fascist Dicta<strong>to</strong>rship in India (AAFDI) 1975 <strong>to</strong> 1977<br />
AAFDI was set up by <strong>the</strong> IWA (GB) in <strong>the</strong> autumn <strong>of</strong> 1975 after <strong>the</strong> introduction <strong>of</strong> Emergency<br />
rule in India by Indira G<strong>and</strong>hi, <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>n Prime Minister <strong>of</strong> India, from June 1975 till 21<br />
March 1977. During this period she suspended elections, imprisoned leaders <strong>of</strong> all opposition<br />
parties as well as anyone suspected <strong>of</strong> being a Naxalite, curbed civil liberties, curtailed press<br />
freedom <strong>and</strong> endangered judicial independence. I was on <strong>the</strong> executive committee <strong>of</strong> AAFDI<br />
<strong>and</strong> also one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> edi<strong>to</strong>rs <strong>of</strong> an occasional publication launched by <strong>the</strong> organisation called<br />
India Today which was produced from my home in <strong>the</strong> East End. By uniting with all those<br />
who opposed <strong>the</strong> emergency rule in India AAFDI was able <strong>to</strong> organise a massive demonstration<br />
in London on 26 January <strong>1976</strong> which got a lot <strong>of</strong> publicity in <strong>the</strong> Indian press.<br />
o O<strong>the</strong>r anti-communal organisations<br />
Two important organisations were formed <strong>to</strong> tackle serious manifestations <strong>of</strong> commu-<br />
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nalism in India by <strong>the</strong> Sangh Parivar - <strong>the</strong> family <strong>of</strong> organisations for students, women, tribals<br />
etc, - led by <strong>the</strong> RSS. In 1992 <strong>the</strong> Alliance Against Communalism <strong>and</strong> for Democracy in India<br />
was formed in <strong>the</strong> aftermath <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> demolition <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Babri Mosque in Ayodhya, in India’s<br />
Uttar Pradesh state, which led <strong>to</strong> communal carnage in every district <strong>of</strong> India. It brought<br />
<strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>r not only left wing organisations but progressive organisations <strong>and</strong> individuals <strong>of</strong> all<br />
faiths <strong>and</strong> political colour <strong>to</strong> counter <strong>the</strong> propag<strong>and</strong>a being put out in Britain in <strong>the</strong> name <strong>of</strong><br />
all Hindus by <strong>the</strong> Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh - HSS. In 2002, Awaaz South Asia Watch was<br />
launched in <strong>the</strong> wake <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> massacre <strong>of</strong> 2000 plus Muslims in Gujarat in March 2002 for<br />
which it is said that Narendra Modi, <strong>the</strong> current Prime Minister <strong>of</strong> India was culpable. On two<br />
occasions Awaaz was able <strong>to</strong> s<strong>to</strong>p Modi visiting London <strong>to</strong> address HSS organised meetings<br />
while he was <strong>the</strong> chief minister <strong>of</strong> Gujarat. The edi<strong>to</strong>rs <strong>of</strong> this book assure me that as <strong>the</strong><br />
SMG <strong>and</strong> TMG were an important part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> founding <strong>and</strong> running <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se two organisations,<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir work will be covered in <strong>the</strong> next book in <strong>the</strong> series.<br />
<strong>Anti</strong>-racist work<br />
o Newham 8 Defence Campaign <strong>and</strong> Newham Moni<strong>to</strong>ring Project<br />
The 1980’s saw a spate <strong>of</strong> attacks on Asians in <strong>the</strong> East End <strong>of</strong> London by violent racists.<br />
(12) A high pr<strong>of</strong>ile instance at <strong>the</strong> time was what came <strong>to</strong> be known as <strong>the</strong> Newham 8 case.<br />
Eight Asian youths were arrested on 24th September 1982 <strong>and</strong> faced charges <strong>of</strong> Threatening<br />
Behaviour <strong>and</strong> Actual Bodily Harm. All <strong>the</strong>y had done was <strong>to</strong> defend <strong>the</strong>mselves after<br />
repeated attacks on Asians at <strong>the</strong> Little Ilford School <strong>and</strong> East Ham <strong>and</strong> Manor Park underground<br />
tube stations. The Newham 8 Defence Campaign was launched by <strong>the</strong> Newham<br />
Moni<strong>to</strong>ring Project (NMP) with <strong>the</strong> slogan “Self-Defence is no Offence”. The NMP was also<br />
active in o<strong>the</strong>r anti-racist campaigns which I participated in while I lived in East London.<br />
Pro-poor work<br />
o Mega-dam project on <strong>the</strong> river Narmada<br />
In 1991 <strong>the</strong> World Bank was forced <strong>to</strong> appoint a team <strong>to</strong> conduct an independent review<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> human <strong>and</strong> environmental impact <strong>of</strong> a mega-dam <strong>and</strong> water distribution project on<br />
<strong>the</strong> river Narmada in India. I had been working with Medha Patkar, <strong>the</strong> dynamic G<strong>and</strong>hian<br />
leader <strong>of</strong> Narmada Bachao Andolan - Save <strong>the</strong> Narmada Movement – (NBA) set up <strong>to</strong> fight<br />
for <strong>the</strong> rights <strong>of</strong> tribal people whose l<strong>and</strong> was going <strong>to</strong> be submerged by <strong>the</strong> dam. The<br />
review team led by Bradford Morse asked me <strong>to</strong> help assess <strong>the</strong> problems caused <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
people whose l<strong>and</strong> was going <strong>to</strong> be submerged by <strong>the</strong> 75,000-km canal network being<br />
built for <strong>the</strong> project. The assessment was done jointly with my academic colleague Sridharan.<br />
Our report was a part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> so-called Morse Report which led <strong>to</strong> acrimonious debates<br />
(13) between <strong>the</strong> World Bank’s managers <strong>and</strong> its board <strong>of</strong> direc<strong>to</strong>rs, ultimately leading <strong>the</strong><br />
World Bank <strong>to</strong> withdraw from <strong>the</strong> project, annulling <strong>the</strong> large loan <strong>of</strong>fered <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Indian state<br />
<strong>to</strong> carry it out. In its turn, <strong>the</strong> World Bank’s withdrawal was an important fac<strong>to</strong>r in <strong>the</strong> Indian<br />
Supreme Court’s decision in 1994 <strong>to</strong> s<strong>to</strong>p fur<strong>the</strong>r construction (14) pending a proper judicial<br />
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eview. By now <strong>the</strong> dam has been built. Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared <strong>the</strong> work<br />
completed on 20th September 2017. Medha Patkar <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> NBA spoke <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> press on <strong>the</strong><br />
day, saying ‘How can <strong>the</strong>y declare <strong>the</strong> project is complete when rehabilitation <strong>of</strong> tribal people<br />
whose l<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> homes are submerged, is not complete?’ The fight for <strong>the</strong> tribal peoples’<br />
rights goes on.<br />
Publications:<br />
The most important <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se is <strong>the</strong> book, ‘Narendra Modi Exposed’, (15) prior <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
general elections in India which brought Modi <strong>to</strong> power as Prime Minister <strong>of</strong> India. Among<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r things it exposes <strong>the</strong> myth that <strong>the</strong> Supreme Court <strong>of</strong> India has absolved Modi <strong>of</strong> culpability<br />
in <strong>the</strong> Gujarat riots <strong>of</strong> 2002.<br />
Finally<br />
In recent years, with increasing mobility problems <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r health issues, <strong>the</strong> main work<br />
has been researching <strong>and</strong> writing for campaigns. With <strong>the</strong> Hindu Rashtra agenda <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> RSS<br />
being implemented in India under Narendra Modi <strong>and</strong> zero hour contracts, Islamophobia <strong>and</strong><br />
privatisation <strong>of</strong> education <strong>and</strong> National Health services becoming <strong>the</strong> norm in this country,<br />
<strong>the</strong>re is no shortage <strong>of</strong> work for an activist - young or old!<br />
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Notting Hill ‘76<br />
PHOTOS<br />
Top left, right <strong>and</strong> left,<br />
Carnival 76 Por<strong>to</strong>bello <strong>Road</strong><br />
@Vernon St Hilaire<br />
Bot<strong>to</strong>m left <strong>and</strong> right:<br />
Don Letts at Notting Hill carnival 76<br />
Pho<strong>to</strong> by Rocco Macaulay<br />
The image was later reused on <strong>the</strong><br />
recod cover by The Clash on <strong>the</strong><br />
cover <strong>of</strong> ‘Super Black Market Clash’<br />
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PHOTOS<br />
Too left : Police with<br />
truncheons <strong>and</strong> bin lids<br />
Top right<br />
Inside grassroots newspaper,<br />
providing a detailed account<br />
for <strong>the</strong> events under <strong>the</strong> banner<br />
‘Carnival jump-up’<br />
Middle<br />
left: Grassroots<br />
newspaper cover , ‘Carnage<br />
76’<br />
Middle right :<br />
Police take cover from bricks<br />
with bin lids<br />
Bot<strong>to</strong>m<br />
Policeman watching crowds<br />
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Stafford Scott<br />
Coordina<strong>to</strong>r <strong>of</strong> Tottenham Rights<br />
The Uprising that <strong>the</strong>y wish <strong>to</strong> forget<br />
August <strong>1976</strong> I had just turned 16 <strong>and</strong> was excited at <strong>the</strong> thought <strong>of</strong> attending my first<br />
Notting Hill carnival as an ‘adult’. I had been <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> carnival <strong>the</strong> previous year but had gone<br />
on <strong>the</strong> ‘Family Sunday’ as a 15 year old school kid with some <strong>of</strong> my classmates.<br />
It had been fun, but this year I was going <strong>to</strong> Carnival with my bro<strong>the</strong>r <strong>and</strong> his friends on<br />
<strong>the</strong> biggest day <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 2-day event. This was going <strong>to</strong> be <strong>the</strong> real carnival that I’d seen on<br />
<strong>the</strong> black <strong>and</strong> white pictures in <strong>the</strong> press <strong>and</strong> on TV. Only this year I was going <strong>to</strong> be a part<br />
<strong>of</strong> it.<br />
I went expecting <strong>to</strong> see <strong>the</strong> colourful floats filled with happy smiling bro<strong>the</strong>rs <strong>and</strong> sisters<br />
adorned in <strong>the</strong>ir finest carnival outfits. I went expecting <strong>to</strong> hear <strong>the</strong> sound <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> steel b<strong>and</strong>s<br />
filling <strong>the</strong> air with <strong>the</strong> sunny Caribbean beats some <strong>of</strong> Calypso <strong>and</strong> SOCA. But most <strong>of</strong> all I<br />
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had gone <strong>to</strong> hear <strong>the</strong> clash <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> reggae sound systems. Carnival was <strong>the</strong> only place that<br />
you would have <strong>the</strong> chance <strong>to</strong> hear Jah Shaka, Coxsone, Sufferer <strong>and</strong> Tottenham’s finest<br />
Fatman Sound System all in <strong>the</strong> same place for FREE!<br />
On my way <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> carnival I felt my excitement increasing with each s<strong>to</strong>p that <strong>the</strong> tube<br />
made. For it seemed that this tube had been specifically reserved for young black carnival<br />
goers. At each s<strong>to</strong>p more <strong>and</strong> more black youths got on. You could see groups from north,<br />
east, west <strong>and</strong> south London boarding <strong>the</strong> tube all with one destination in mind.<br />
There were lots <strong>of</strong> different groupings, many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m identifiable as such because <strong>the</strong>y<br />
wore similar clothing <strong>to</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs in <strong>the</strong>ir group. Many had clearly put much time, thought <strong>and</strong><br />
effort in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir carnival outfits. Some had bought <strong>the</strong>ir ghet<strong>to</strong> blasters with <strong>the</strong>m, as if,<br />
warming <strong>the</strong>mselves, <strong>and</strong> everyone else in earshot, up for <strong>the</strong> carnival that was <strong>to</strong> come.<br />
The atmosphere on <strong>the</strong> train journey was electric, for this was 70’s Engl<strong>and</strong> where <strong>the</strong>re<br />
were few opportunities for <strong>the</strong> black community <strong>to</strong> ga<strong>the</strong>r <strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>r in remembrance <strong>and</strong><br />
celebration <strong>of</strong> our culture. Back in those day <strong>the</strong> most that we had were parties in our living<br />
rooms, <strong>and</strong> underground blues dances which were always likely <strong>to</strong> be shut down or raided<br />
by <strong>the</strong> local police. But this was our day, for it was legal <strong>and</strong> outside in <strong>the</strong> basking sunshine<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> famous <strong>1976</strong> heatwave, which was <strong>the</strong> hottest summer on record at <strong>the</strong> time.<br />
So its fair <strong>to</strong> say that I went <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> carnival full <strong>of</strong> heightened expectations, knowing that<br />
I was going <strong>to</strong> have one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> best days <strong>of</strong> my young life so far.<br />
But instead it turned in<strong>to</strong> something <strong>to</strong>tally different.<br />
There was ano<strong>the</strong>r backdrop <strong>to</strong> this years ga<strong>the</strong>ring that I had been unaware <strong>of</strong> at <strong>the</strong><br />
time. It seems that <strong>1976</strong> was also <strong>the</strong> year that <strong>the</strong> Metropolian Police Service (MPS) decided<br />
that current legislation, as it was <strong>the</strong>n, was simply not repressive enough when it came <strong>to</strong><br />
policing <strong>the</strong> Black community.<br />
So <strong>the</strong>y trawled old common law acts, that had been used <strong>and</strong>, most <strong>of</strong>ten, ab<strong>and</strong>oned<br />
during Vic<strong>to</strong>rian times, <strong>and</strong> came up with an <strong>of</strong>fence that no white person had been arrested<br />
for in this country in <strong>the</strong> past 100 years or more.<br />
The Suspicious Persons Act or <strong>the</strong> SUS law as it commonly known.<br />
The SUS law basically meant that police <strong>of</strong>ficers could, <strong>and</strong> did so in <strong>the</strong>ir thous<strong>and</strong>s,<br />
arrest a person who <strong>the</strong>y considered <strong>to</strong> be acting suspiciously <strong>and</strong> charge <strong>the</strong> said person<br />
with having committed <strong>the</strong> crime. The issue was that <strong>the</strong> <strong>of</strong>ficers did not need <strong>to</strong> have a<br />
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victim <strong>of</strong> a crime or any witnesses <strong>to</strong> confirm that <strong>the</strong> arrested person, who nine times out<br />
<strong>of</strong> ten was black, was acting in a suspicious or criminal manner.<br />
This meant that in court it was <strong>the</strong> <strong>of</strong>ficers word against <strong>the</strong> word <strong>of</strong> young black kids.<br />
The black kids s<strong>to</strong>od no chance, we knew this <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> course <strong>the</strong> police knew it <strong>to</strong>o.<br />
And, because <strong>the</strong> magistrates always believed <strong>the</strong> police, <strong>the</strong>y used it only <strong>to</strong>o well. The<br />
stats are available for all <strong>to</strong> see <strong>the</strong>y used <strong>the</strong> sus laws <strong>to</strong> criminalise young black kids in<br />
much <strong>the</strong> same way that <strong>the</strong>y use Joint Enterprise laws (also common law) <strong>to</strong> prosecute <strong>and</strong><br />
persecute predominantly Black youths nowadays.<br />
SUS is <strong>of</strong>ten cited as similar <strong>to</strong> S<strong>to</strong>p <strong>and</strong> Search but <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> SUS laws was much<br />
more pernicious <strong>and</strong> harmful than s<strong>to</strong>p <strong>and</strong> search is; as it was an indictable <strong>of</strong>fence that led<br />
<strong>to</strong> tens <strong>of</strong> thous<strong>and</strong>s <strong>of</strong> young black youths receiving criminal records <strong>and</strong> cus<strong>to</strong>dial sentences.<br />
Well many <strong>of</strong> those who had been arrested under <strong>the</strong> SUS laws during <strong>the</strong> heatwave <strong>of</strong><br />
76 were also attending <strong>the</strong> carnival that year.<br />
We were all disappointed at <strong>the</strong> large numbers <strong>of</strong> police <strong>of</strong>ficers that we found <strong>the</strong>re.<br />
This was meant <strong>to</strong> be our carnival. The ONE day <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> year that we hoped we would be<br />
free <strong>to</strong> enjoy ourselves instead we were being shepherded in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> narrow passages beneath<br />
<strong>the</strong> flyover by aggressive burly <strong>and</strong> very surly police <strong>of</strong>ficers with <strong>the</strong>ir rolled up shirt<br />
sleeves <strong>and</strong> black gloved h<strong>and</strong>s which were surly unnecessary in <strong>the</strong> middle <strong>of</strong> a heatwave<br />
but provided us with a clear indication <strong>of</strong> what was <strong>to</strong> come<br />
Rumours were spreading throughout <strong>the</strong> day that SPG <strong>of</strong>ficers, Special Patrol Group,<br />
were apparently being held in reserve, <strong>and</strong> were sitting in <strong>the</strong>ir vans showing <strong>of</strong>f <strong>the</strong>ir NF<br />
badges <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> crowds <strong>of</strong> carnival goers as <strong>the</strong>y passed by <strong>the</strong>m. The SPG were infamous in<br />
our community as <strong>the</strong> police force’s ‘s<strong>to</strong>rm troopers’ <strong>the</strong>y had earned a reputation amongst<br />
us as hard bastards who should be avoided at all costs.<br />
Looking back I guess it had <strong>the</strong> makings <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> classic s<strong>to</strong>rm. In that <strong>the</strong>re were hundreds<br />
<strong>of</strong> thous<strong>and</strong>s <strong>of</strong> mainly black youths, who simply wanted <strong>to</strong> enjoy <strong>the</strong> one-day <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> year<br />
that <strong>the</strong>y felt was ‘<strong>the</strong>ir/our day’.<br />
Amongst <strong>the</strong>m would have also been a number <strong>of</strong> youths who had been charged <strong>and</strong><br />
imprisoned for a crime that <strong>the</strong>y had not committed, SUS, <strong>and</strong> many would have been awaiting<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir day in court. This would have been a day in which <strong>the</strong>y would have just wanted <strong>to</strong><br />
forget <strong>the</strong> everyday pressures, <strong>of</strong> growing up Black in a white mans world, <strong>and</strong> truly ‘let <strong>of</strong>f’<br />
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some steam on <strong>the</strong> one day that such behavior was <strong>to</strong>lerated.<br />
What unified both groups wasn’t simply <strong>the</strong> fact that we were all black. It was more <strong>the</strong><br />
fact that nei<strong>the</strong>r grouping wanted <strong>the</strong> police in such close proximity on this day <strong>of</strong> all days.<br />
The year before <strong>the</strong>re had been no real reported trouble at <strong>the</strong> carnival, so no one unders<strong>to</strong>od<br />
why it was that <strong>the</strong>y were <strong>the</strong>re in such numbers <strong>and</strong> with such attitudes.<br />
For some reason it appeared that <strong>the</strong> police decided that <strong>the</strong>y would ignore <strong>the</strong> stewards<br />
<strong>and</strong> manage <strong>the</strong> crowds <strong>the</strong>mselves. This created tensions <strong>and</strong> ultimately led <strong>to</strong> some<br />
skirmishes between <strong>the</strong> police <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> carnival goers as <strong>the</strong> police kept trying <strong>to</strong> move people<br />
on.<br />
At some point <strong>the</strong>re was a confrontation <strong>and</strong> a woman was allegedly hit in <strong>the</strong> s<strong>to</strong>mach<br />
by a police <strong>of</strong>ficer wielding a truncheon. Whe<strong>the</strong>r it was true or not it was enough <strong>to</strong> turn an<br />
already tense situation in<strong>to</strong> a roaring street battle.<br />
If you ever see pho<strong>to</strong>graphs from that uprising you will see that <strong>the</strong> police were ill<br />
equipped for dealing with large-scale disorder. The short truncheons that <strong>the</strong>y’d been using<br />
<strong>to</strong> prod people <strong>to</strong> encourage us <strong>to</strong> move in <strong>the</strong> direction <strong>the</strong>y wanted, were now proving<br />
useless as <strong>the</strong> police were coming under fire from a barrage <strong>of</strong> missiles including bricks,bottles<br />
<strong>and</strong> paving slabs. In those pho<strong>to</strong>s you may also see police <strong>of</strong>fices using dustbin lids <strong>to</strong><br />
shelter from such attacks. But if you look really closely you will see <strong>the</strong> shock <strong>and</strong> fear in<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir eyes because <strong>the</strong>y had never come under attack like this before.<br />
Soon after <strong>the</strong> fighting had begun I got separated from my bro<strong>the</strong>r <strong>and</strong> his friends but<br />
<strong>the</strong>re was no way that I was going <strong>to</strong> leave <strong>and</strong> miss all <strong>the</strong> ‘fun’. I started <strong>to</strong> hang out with<br />
a group <strong>of</strong> youths who I had bumped in<strong>to</strong>, literally, as we were being chased down <strong>the</strong> road<br />
by a couple <strong>of</strong> SPG vans.<br />
They decided <strong>to</strong> go in<strong>to</strong> a supermarket, not <strong>to</strong> loot but <strong>to</strong> get cans <strong>and</strong> bottles that<br />
could be used as missiles against <strong>the</strong> police. As it sounded like a good idea I followed <strong>the</strong>m<br />
in <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> supermarket grabbing a trolley <strong>and</strong> filling it with big cans <strong>of</strong> corned beef , baked<br />
beans <strong>and</strong> Heinz soup. I was so engrossed in what I was doing that I didn’t notice <strong>the</strong> shop<br />
had become much quieter until I heard <strong>the</strong> unmistakable sound <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> cops “Oi you little<br />
black bastards. S<strong>to</strong>p right <strong>the</strong>re!” I s<strong>to</strong>pped <strong>and</strong> ran <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> back <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> s<strong>to</strong>re trying <strong>to</strong> find<br />
ano<strong>the</strong>r way out but <strong>to</strong> no avail. I hadn’t really done anything but I wasn’t going <strong>to</strong> try <strong>to</strong><br />
reason with <strong>the</strong>se cops. I could tell from <strong>the</strong>ir <strong>to</strong>ne <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> way <strong>the</strong>y were approaching that<br />
I was in deep trouble. “I’m only a kid, I’m only 16”, I screamed as <strong>the</strong>y started <strong>to</strong> <strong>to</strong>wards me<br />
with truncheons drawn. “Kick his fucking bollocks in”. I heard one screaming over <strong>and</strong> over<br />
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so I cupped mine <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong>ok <strong>the</strong> truncheon blows <strong>to</strong> my head <strong>and</strong> shoulders until I succumbed<br />
<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> beating.<br />
I woke up in a police cell with about 7 o<strong>the</strong>r bro<strong>the</strong>rs. I had been dumped on <strong>the</strong> cell<br />
floor <strong>and</strong> woke up <strong>to</strong> find myself laying in a pool <strong>of</strong> blood that turned out not <strong>to</strong> be mine.<br />
There was blood everywhere on <strong>the</strong> walls <strong>the</strong> door <strong>and</strong> somehow some <strong>the</strong>re were even<br />
blood splatters on <strong>the</strong> ceiling.<br />
I looked at <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs in <strong>the</strong> cell <strong>and</strong> decided that I had probably been one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> luckier<br />
ones even though my forehead was cut <strong>and</strong> my face was caked with dry blood. I had a broken<br />
<strong>to</strong>oth <strong>and</strong> later discovered that I had 2 dislocated fingers.<br />
I also had a number <strong>of</strong> bumps on my head but my Tom (hat) <strong>and</strong> small afro probably<br />
saved me from worse injuries. My shirt had been all but <strong>to</strong>rn <strong>of</strong>f <strong>of</strong> my back <strong>and</strong> I had bruising<br />
on my shoulders <strong>and</strong> wrists where it appears <strong>the</strong>y may have h<strong>and</strong>cuffed me.<br />
But I guess that I was lucky as I had been knocked out from <strong>the</strong> first blows <strong>and</strong> really<br />
was none <strong>the</strong> wiser in terms <strong>of</strong> what <strong>the</strong>y had done <strong>to</strong> me.<br />
All <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r bro<strong>the</strong>rs had <strong>the</strong>ir own s<strong>to</strong>ries <strong>to</strong> tell, two <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m swore that <strong>the</strong>y had<br />
been arrested <strong>and</strong> beaten up before <strong>the</strong>y had even gotten <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> carnival. One said he was<br />
trying <strong>to</strong> help a woman pack up her stall when <strong>the</strong> cops just rushed <strong>the</strong> two <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m. He said<br />
that <strong>the</strong>y had beaten her worse than <strong>the</strong>y had beaten him.<br />
Everyone had <strong>the</strong>ir s<strong>to</strong>ry but <strong>the</strong>re was one surprising common thread amongst all <strong>of</strong><br />
our s<strong>to</strong>ries was about <strong>the</strong> police <strong>of</strong>ficers going for our balls. One had had his balls squeezed<br />
<strong>the</strong> entire time that he was being transported <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> station in a police van. One who was<br />
vomiting <strong>and</strong> spitting blood said <strong>the</strong>y’d purposefully positioned him so that <strong>the</strong>y could slam<br />
<strong>the</strong> p<strong>and</strong>a car door in<strong>to</strong> his ne<strong>the</strong>r regions. Then <strong>the</strong>y kicked him several times before nicking<br />
him.<br />
In <strong>the</strong> next hour at least four more bro<strong>the</strong>rs were thrown in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> cell. After ano<strong>the</strong>r couple<br />
<strong>of</strong> hours a cop came in an asked if any <strong>of</strong> us were juveniles. We all were! So <strong>the</strong>y <strong>to</strong>ok a<br />
decision <strong>to</strong> let us out without charge. Before <strong>the</strong>y let me go <strong>the</strong>y <strong>to</strong>ok me in<strong>to</strong> a room where<br />
I was beaten by 2 cops <strong>and</strong> warned not <strong>to</strong> go back at <strong>the</strong> carnival as <strong>the</strong>re would be worse<br />
<strong>to</strong> come if I were <strong>to</strong> be caught a second time.<br />
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I didn’t make it back <strong>to</strong> Tottenham that night. I went straight back <strong>to</strong> Ladbroke Grove<br />
with a couple <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r juveniles who I had shared a cell with.<br />
I had initially gone <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> carnival looking for fun but now I was looking for revenge.<br />
It wasn’t <strong>the</strong> last uprising that I have been present at!<br />
I think that <strong>the</strong> Metropolitan Police FORCE with all <strong>of</strong> its, institutionalized, collective<br />
memory has been looking for revenge on <strong>the</strong> Black community ever since.<br />
I loved that summer<br />
Peace<br />
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Cecil Guztmore<br />
This article first appeared in Marxism Today, August 1982<br />
On <strong>the</strong> final weekend <strong>of</strong> August 1982 some hundreds <strong>of</strong> thous<strong>and</strong>s <strong>of</strong> people will take<br />
part in <strong>the</strong> 16th annual Notting Hill Carnival. Before <strong>the</strong> urban <strong>and</strong> largely black uprisings <strong>of</strong><br />
1980 (St Pauls, Bris<strong>to</strong>l) <strong>and</strong> 1981 (first in Brix<strong>to</strong>n <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n in at least 25 o<strong>the</strong>r centres), <strong>the</strong><br />
Carnival had been <strong>the</strong> setting for <strong>the</strong> major street disturbances in Britain since World War II.<br />
At <strong>the</strong> same time, <strong>the</strong> claim that it is one <strong>of</strong> Western Europe’s premier cultural events proved<br />
difficult <strong>to</strong> dispute with attendances <strong>of</strong> up <strong>to</strong> half a million people in <strong>the</strong> mid-1970s.<br />
The connection between popular culture <strong>and</strong> challenges <strong>to</strong> constituted orders is by no<br />
means unique <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Notting Hill Carnival. Simply <strong>to</strong> say ‘football hooliganism’ is <strong>to</strong> indicate<br />
<strong>the</strong> truth <strong>of</strong> this in <strong>the</strong> United Kingdom context. It is not, though, <strong>to</strong> tell <strong>the</strong> whole s<strong>to</strong>ry. Carnivals<br />
<strong>and</strong> festivals far <strong>and</strong> wide have displayed this connection. The observation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se by<br />
anthropologists in Africa has given us <strong>the</strong> notion <strong>of</strong> ‘rituals <strong>of</strong> rebellion’. Similar observations<br />
exist for South America. Indeed, ‘rituals <strong>of</strong> rebellion’ have been detected as far back as <strong>the</strong><br />
Ancient Orient where an instance is given from Babylon. There <strong>the</strong>y celebrated an annual<br />
religious festival called Sacees. This required <strong>the</strong> king <strong>to</strong> give a slave <strong>the</strong> chance <strong>to</strong> enact<br />
<strong>the</strong> role <strong>of</strong> king <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> extent <strong>of</strong> . . . issuing orders <strong>and</strong> ab<strong>and</strong>oning himself <strong>to</strong> luxury <strong>and</strong><br />
debauchery with <strong>the</strong> king’s concubine. At <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> this <strong>the</strong> slave was hanged or crucified.<br />
In Sumer in a similar religious festival in 2050 BC <strong>the</strong> elevated slave-gardener usurped <strong>the</strong><br />
throne, disposed <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> king’s son <strong>and</strong> reigned for twenty five years. The pattern recurs in<br />
Europe in modern times in <strong>the</strong> cities <strong>of</strong> Italy <strong>and</strong> Germany.<br />
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It has led <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> conclusion that: ‘Carnival is a cultural institution which regularises<br />
<strong>and</strong> ritualises <strong>the</strong> permanent social conflict. It is a .. . form <strong>of</strong> class struggle. It enables <strong>the</strong><br />
underprivileged class <strong>to</strong> make revolution without really performing it, <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> improve its<br />
social position again <strong>and</strong> again for a short period <strong>of</strong> time without even <strong>to</strong>uching <strong>the</strong> society’s<br />
existing power structure’.’<br />
But this is not <strong>the</strong> whole s<strong>to</strong>ry. Class struggle cannot always be ritualised. There are<br />
situations in which <strong>the</strong> existing structures <strong>of</strong> power, class or wealth are unstable; are <strong>the</strong><br />
object <strong>of</strong> quests for fundamental change. One such is <strong>the</strong> colonial situation. For example<br />
under British colonialism in Trinidad in <strong>the</strong> Caribbean <strong>the</strong> Carnival broke <strong>the</strong> bounds <strong>of</strong> ritual.<br />
This was certainly so after slavery. The colonial order was <strong>to</strong>o nervous <strong>to</strong> allow itself <strong>to</strong> be<br />
mocked. The danger that <strong>the</strong> masses (African <strong>and</strong> later African <strong>and</strong> Asian) might shift from<br />
mock <strong>to</strong> real rebellion was perceived as ‘a clear <strong>and</strong> present danger’. In <strong>the</strong> face <strong>of</strong> this<br />
fear suppression was attempted <strong>and</strong> this brought forth vigorous resistance from <strong>the</strong> people<br />
in defence <strong>of</strong> what <strong>the</strong>y knew <strong>to</strong> be legitimate culture <strong>and</strong> against illegitimate (white,<br />
colonial) authority. And within <strong>the</strong> United Kingdom itself, well before football became a main<br />
focus <strong>of</strong> working class cultural expression, well before <strong>the</strong> sway <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> music hall, <strong>the</strong>re were<br />
what have come <strong>to</strong> be called <strong>the</strong> metropolitan fairs.<br />
The growth <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Carnival<br />
The Notting Hill Carnival is still with us. Alive, <strong>and</strong> on <strong>the</strong> streets <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Royal Borough<br />
<strong>of</strong> Kensing<strong>to</strong>n <strong>and</strong> Chelsea, London. It made its first appearance <strong>the</strong>re in 1966. It is largely<br />
agreed that its founding spirit was a white social worker, Mrs Las- lette. The aim was <strong>to</strong> create<br />
a ‘West Indian’ carnival in this area <strong>of</strong> major black settlement in <strong>the</strong> UK. The model was<br />
<strong>the</strong> Eastern Caribbean <strong>and</strong> Trinidad in particular. But this was not <strong>the</strong> only model available.<br />
English people were not, after all, unfamiliar with <strong>the</strong> notion <strong>of</strong> ‘carnival’. Even in terms <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> local his<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>of</strong> North Kensing<strong>to</strong>n <strong>the</strong>re appears <strong>to</strong> have existed an idea <strong>of</strong> carnival as<br />
an ‘olde’ English celebration.<br />
Thus <strong>the</strong> main local newspaper <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> period, <strong>the</strong> Kensing<strong>to</strong>n News <strong>and</strong> West London<br />
Times, contains references <strong>to</strong> ‘carnivals’ in <strong>the</strong> area before 1966. The model_was last dusted<br />
<strong>of</strong>f <strong>and</strong> used as recently as <strong>the</strong> present Queen’s silver jubilee. In any event elements <strong>of</strong><br />
this ‘English’ idea <strong>of</strong> carnival were paraded at <strong>the</strong> first carnival in 1966.<br />
In <strong>the</strong> first eight years <strong>of</strong> its existence <strong>the</strong> Notting Hill carnival grew very slowly. Essentially<br />
it was small <strong>and</strong> run largely by people from <strong>the</strong> West Indies. The conflicts which appeared<br />
in those years were between West Indian individuals for control <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> management <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
event. Culturally its main contents were <strong>the</strong> music <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Trinidad originated steel b<strong>and</strong>,<br />
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costume b<strong>and</strong>s from that same part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> world <strong>and</strong> African music from <strong>the</strong> b<strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
late West African player Ginger Johnson. Black <strong>and</strong> white people attended. The Caribbean<br />
people enjoyed <strong>the</strong> recreation <strong>of</strong> a little bit <strong>of</strong>’home’ in <strong>the</strong> brutal slums <strong>of</strong> Nor<strong>the</strong>rn Kensing<strong>to</strong>n:<br />
<strong>the</strong> whites, it may be presumed, enjoyed <strong>the</strong> exotica <strong>of</strong> it all. It seemed in every respect<br />
unchallenging <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> state, both national <strong>and</strong> local. The former, in <strong>the</strong> guise <strong>of</strong> its police<br />
force, made propag<strong>and</strong>a as its <strong>of</strong>ficers embraced booze, <strong>the</strong> odd ‘spliff’ (Indian hemp/weed)<br />
<strong>and</strong> black women. They got <strong>the</strong>mselves pho<strong>to</strong>graphed doing some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se things <strong>and</strong> that<br />
was said by many <strong>to</strong> be good for race relations. The latter, <strong>the</strong> local state, was only worried<br />
about expense <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> feeling <strong>of</strong> its ‘residents’ <strong>and</strong> ‘ratepayers’ (all white for <strong>the</strong>se purposes).<br />
Complaints were few.<br />
After Carnival 1973, certain important developments <strong>to</strong>ok place. A partly-owned agency<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> local state called <strong>the</strong> North Kensing<strong>to</strong>n Amenity Trust had an ex-film direc<strong>to</strong>r at its<br />
head. Underst<strong>and</strong>ing matters cultural, he <strong>to</strong>ok a benevolent interest in <strong>the</strong> Carnival intervening<br />
<strong>to</strong> secure or <strong>to</strong> help secure <strong>the</strong> direc<strong>to</strong>rship <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Carnival for an able <strong>and</strong> energetic<br />
young Trinidadian by <strong>the</strong> name <strong>of</strong> Lesley Palmer <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> drum up good will for <strong>the</strong> event in<br />
<strong>the</strong> right quarters.<br />
Carnival 75<br />
In 1975 Palmer succeeded in organising <strong>the</strong> biggest Carnival ever in Notting Hill. He<br />
altered or broadened <strong>the</strong> cultural base <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> event <strong>to</strong> include what was effectively <strong>the</strong><br />
music <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> black popular masses in <strong>the</strong> UK, namely <strong>the</strong> Jamaican originated reggae. It was<br />
brought via <strong>the</strong> agency <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> best Sound Systems (black mobile discos <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> sort treated<br />
in <strong>the</strong> film Babylon). Capital Radio, one <strong>of</strong> London’s two commercial sta• tions, attended<br />
<strong>and</strong> broadcast live from <strong>the</strong> event encouraging attendance. It is estimated that about half a<br />
million people came. Black attendance was on a country-wide basis. Suddenly <strong>the</strong> Carnival<br />
was <strong>the</strong> place <strong>to</strong> go <strong>to</strong> meet people one had not seen for years. It was also an important<br />
commercial venue for <strong>the</strong> sale <strong>of</strong> Afro-Caribbean foods as well as drinks at prices from<br />
which frankly massive pr<strong>of</strong>its could be made. Also, <strong>and</strong> not unimportantly, a single car driven<br />
by a white man tried <strong>to</strong> speed through <strong>the</strong> crowd <strong>and</strong> was wrecked at <strong>the</strong> centre <strong>of</strong> things<br />
at <strong>the</strong> junction <strong>of</strong> Por<strong>to</strong>bello <strong>and</strong> Acklam <strong>Road</strong>s.<br />
Following Carnival 1975 things were never again <strong>the</strong> same. It may, in <strong>the</strong> words <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Deputy Council Leader — ano<strong>the</strong>r Tory businessman have ‘. . . proved <strong>to</strong> be a colourful <strong>and</strong><br />
happy event enjoyed by a lot <strong>of</strong> people <strong>and</strong> a good influence for race relations in <strong>the</strong> area.’<br />
Never<strong>the</strong>less it had <strong>to</strong> go. The document just quoted was nothing less than his Memor<strong>and</strong>um<br />
<strong>of</strong> April <strong>1976</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Home Secretary in effect requesting a ban on <strong>the</strong> event. By <strong>the</strong>n<br />
<strong>the</strong> Carnival was under wholesale attack from ‘local residents’, <strong>the</strong> local police comm<strong>and</strong>er<br />
<strong>and</strong> a local ‘community action group’, <strong>the</strong> Golborne 100, led by <strong>the</strong> well known activist <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong>orist <strong>of</strong> ‘community participation’ George Clarke. The Carnival was said <strong>to</strong> have become<br />
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‘<strong>the</strong> victim <strong>of</strong> its own success’; <strong>to</strong> have become a ‘field day for every wide- boy <strong>and</strong> huckster’;<br />
<strong>to</strong> be disruptive <strong>of</strong> local community life. Incredible pressure was put on <strong>the</strong> carnival. The Royal<br />
Borough’s position was that <strong>the</strong> event had <strong>to</strong> leave its streets for ei<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong> nearby open<br />
space called Wormwood Scrubs or go <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Chelsea football ground. Its proposals involving<br />
<strong>the</strong> latter space amounted <strong>to</strong> nothing less than a municipal take-over <strong>of</strong> fundamental aspects<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Carnival. The Borough said additionally, that should <strong>the</strong> event remain on <strong>the</strong> street<br />
<strong>and</strong> should funds not be forthcoming from <strong>the</strong> national exchequer, its own financial support<br />
would be limited <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> provision <strong>of</strong> additional public <strong>to</strong>ilets <strong>and</strong> cleaning up <strong>the</strong> streets after<br />
<strong>the</strong> event. The Metropolitan Police through its Divisional Comm<strong>and</strong>er Patterson supported<br />
<strong>the</strong> Borough’s proposals. If <strong>the</strong>y were not accepted <strong>the</strong> Carnival would be ruthlessly policed<br />
right <strong>the</strong>re on <strong>the</strong> streets. Each b<strong>and</strong> would be encircled by a ‘serial’ <strong>of</strong> 25 police <strong>of</strong>ficers: all<br />
previously permitted ‘illegal’ activity (from street selling <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> vending <strong>of</strong> booze without a<br />
license, weed smoking etc) would be stamped out: <strong>the</strong> police would determine <strong>the</strong> routes <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> Carnival procession <strong>and</strong> barricades would be used <strong>to</strong> prevent free flow within <strong>the</strong> terrain<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> event which was <strong>to</strong> be ‘sec<strong>to</strong>red’. More comically, one ‘white resident’ observed that<br />
<strong>the</strong> West Indians already had a Carnival in Trinidad, what did <strong>the</strong>y want ano<strong>the</strong>r for?<br />
While <strong>the</strong>re were those within <strong>the</strong> black community who were prepared <strong>to</strong> accept <strong>the</strong><br />
proposals <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Royal Borough <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> dictates <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> police for reasons ei<strong>the</strong>r <strong>of</strong> idiocy,<br />
backwardness or self-seeking, o<strong>the</strong>rs resisted. Those who resisted pointed out <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> authorities<br />
including, by letter, <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>n Police Commissioner Sir Robert Mark that attempted state<br />
repression <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Carnival entailed an attack on a cultural form which had become important<br />
<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> black community.<br />
These warnings were, indeed, heard but <strong>the</strong> response <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Metropolitan Police was arrogantly<br />
<strong>to</strong> hold <strong>to</strong> its line <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> prepare for a battle in which it contemplated nei<strong>the</strong>r defeat<br />
nor serious losses. An event which in 1975 had been policed with some 80 <strong>of</strong>ficers saw <strong>the</strong><br />
appearance in <strong>1976</strong> <strong>of</strong> hundreds <strong>of</strong> police persons on <strong>the</strong> streets. The Metropolitan Police<br />
staged a series <strong>of</strong> raids on all centres <strong>of</strong> entertainment on day one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>1976</strong> Notting Hill<br />
Carnival ‘stall holders were arrested for obstructing <strong>the</strong> highway; <strong>the</strong> sellers <strong>of</strong> booze were<br />
arrested or reported. This, <strong>and</strong> more, made for an atmosphere <strong>of</strong> palpable oppression <strong>and</strong><br />
not a ‘carnival’ atmosphere. Not a carnival atmosphere certainly if that is taken <strong>to</strong> mean solely<br />
one <strong>of</strong> ‘jollity’ <strong>and</strong> yet in so far as it is also <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> essence <strong>of</strong> carnivals as occasions <strong>of</strong> mass<br />
cultural expression that <strong>the</strong>y are pregnant with rebellion, <strong>the</strong> police had succeeded in deepening<br />
<strong>the</strong> reality <strong>of</strong> this particular Carnival.<br />
A turning point<br />
Towards <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> day two <strong>of</strong> Carnival <strong>1976</strong> <strong>the</strong> resistance <strong>to</strong>ok on physical form. The<br />
police, who felt <strong>the</strong>y had large enough forces <strong>to</strong> withst<strong>and</strong> anything, moved without restraint.<br />
They claimed <strong>to</strong> be making arrests <strong>of</strong> pickpockets. In reality <strong>the</strong>y were laying in<strong>to</strong> black<br />
youths with <strong>the</strong>ir truncheons with a certain ab<strong>and</strong>on. The youths fought back. The battle<br />
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spread <strong>to</strong> envelop large areas <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> part <strong>of</strong> Notting Hill known locally as The Grove. Hundreds<br />
<strong>of</strong> youths joined battle against blatantly misused police power which is in reality part<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> daily experience <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> black community as a whole. It was on a terrain brimming over<br />
with missiles, with bricks, half bricks, bottles <strong>and</strong> canned s<strong>of</strong>t drinks. More than 300 <strong>of</strong> over<br />
1600 <strong>of</strong>ficers deployed (<strong>of</strong>ficially) were injured. Pictures <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se battles went round <strong>the</strong><br />
world once more giving Notting Hill <strong>the</strong> no<strong>to</strong>riety it had not experienced since 1958, <strong>the</strong> year<br />
<strong>of</strong> its his<strong>to</strong>ric race riots. The battle <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>1976</strong> Notting Hill Carnival gave world-wide confirmation<br />
<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> fact that <strong>the</strong> culture <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> black communities in <strong>the</strong> UK is inescapably one <strong>of</strong><br />
resistance.<br />
The feeling that things have gone downhill all <strong>the</strong> way since <strong>1976</strong> for <strong>the</strong> Notting Hill<br />
Carnival must be resisted. The event has remained under internal <strong>and</strong> external attack in <strong>the</strong><br />
last six years. The central source <strong>of</strong> internal attack has been an externally fostered disunity.<br />
Whereas up <strong>to</strong> <strong>1976</strong> <strong>the</strong>re had never been any question <strong>of</strong> more than one organising committee<br />
for <strong>the</strong> event, afterwards a second was created with <strong>the</strong> active support <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Borough<br />
Council, <strong>the</strong> Commission for Racial Equality, Trinidad High Commission <strong>and</strong> West Indian<br />
St<strong>and</strong>ing Conference. These agencies exploited <strong>the</strong> feelings <strong>of</strong> some ‘carnival people’ (steel<br />
<strong>and</strong> costume b<strong>and</strong> devotees) that <strong>the</strong> ‘trouble’ at <strong>the</strong> Carnival was caused by youth <strong>and</strong> reggae-based<br />
culture. The solution <strong>the</strong>y felt was <strong>to</strong> suppress this element —or at least ab<strong>and</strong>on<br />
it <strong>to</strong> its fate. The police were a key external source <strong>of</strong> pressure. They reached for <strong>the</strong> myth<br />
that <strong>the</strong>ir attitude in <strong>1976</strong> had been determined by <strong>the</strong> need <strong>to</strong> fight street crime within <strong>the</strong><br />
Carnival. Mark had spoken <strong>of</strong> his opposition <strong>to</strong> ‘no go areas’. Later still in his au<strong>to</strong>biography<br />
he was <strong>to</strong> compare <strong>the</strong> black community’s Carnival <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> ancient crowds at Tyburn Field.<br />
But most importantly <strong>the</strong>y mounted pressure for better protective gear for police <strong>of</strong>ficers.<br />
They were issued with riot shields before Carnival 1977. And by 1978 <strong>the</strong>y had learnt a whole<br />
series <strong>of</strong> lessons about crowd control, space control <strong>and</strong> street clearance operations which<br />
were applied with absolute ruthlessness in Southall in 1979 in defence <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> National Front<br />
<strong>and</strong> against <strong>the</strong> Asian community. It was in this assault upon black people <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Left that<br />
Blair Peach was murdered. Blood red is one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> colours <strong>of</strong> Carnival.<br />
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Left : The letter sent <strong>to</strong> NME<br />
magazine by pho<strong>to</strong>grapher<br />
Red Sauders, marking <strong>the</strong><br />
beginning <strong>of</strong> Rock against<br />
<strong>Racism</strong><br />
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Gurinder Chadha<br />
The folllowing is part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> talk gave at <strong>the</strong> launch <strong>of</strong> ‘Reminances <strong>of</strong> Rock aganst <strong>Racism</strong>’,<br />
at Conway Hall, November 2016<br />
In <strong>1976</strong> I was a London school girl. I had no idea who Eric Clap<strong>to</strong>n was, I used <strong>to</strong> watch<br />
Top <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Pops, but I was suspicious <strong>of</strong> glam rock <strong>and</strong> heavy metal, in fact all kinds <strong>of</strong> rock.<br />
It represented <strong>the</strong>m, people different <strong>to</strong> me, not like <strong>the</strong> nice b<strong>and</strong>s that my parents liked,<br />
<strong>the</strong> Beatles or Cliff. I liked <strong>the</strong> Jackson 5, never dreaming <strong>of</strong> seeing someone like me, up<br />
<strong>the</strong>re on Top <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Pops. The only Indian i had ever seen on <strong>the</strong> show was Biddu, <strong>the</strong> singing<br />
boy vocals on <strong>the</strong> song, ‘Kung fu fighting’.<br />
My parents owned a shop, so most <strong>of</strong> my days were spent ei<strong>the</strong>r at school or helping<br />
in <strong>the</strong> shop. I hated being in <strong>the</strong> shop, you never knew when a racist might come in, <strong>and</strong> at<br />
best call you a ‘Paki’, <strong>and</strong> brazenly steal something, or at worst, try <strong>and</strong> hurt you. Once a<br />
group <strong>of</strong> English boys came in <strong>and</strong> mooned my mum <strong>the</strong>n ran <strong>of</strong>f with crates <strong>of</strong> beer. Many<br />
years later, that unruly moment found its way in<strong>to</strong> my first feature film, ‘Bhaji on <strong>the</strong> beach’.<br />
At that time, I was amazed how my parents <strong>to</strong>ok this in <strong>the</strong>ir stride. We <strong>of</strong>ten learned<br />
about how o<strong>the</strong>r Indian shopkeepers were brutally hurt <strong>and</strong> hospitalised. It happened <strong>to</strong> my<br />
uncle in a shop he ran with his wife in Lewisham. On <strong>the</strong> day <strong>the</strong> National Front marched<br />
through that part <strong>of</strong> London, he <strong>and</strong> his wife were beaten up <strong>and</strong> hospitalised. We went <strong>to</strong><br />
visit <strong>the</strong>m. My dad said afterwards, ‘this is life what can we do’. I was enraged, <strong>and</strong> helpless.<br />
Do we put up <strong>and</strong> shut up like that generation? Britain was tense, <strong>and</strong> years <strong>of</strong> immigrant<br />
bashing had succeeded in wearing down my parents. The racism on <strong>the</strong> streets was <strong>of</strong>ten<br />
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supported by <strong>the</strong> police, <strong>and</strong> meant we were isl<strong>and</strong>s on our own, no wonder Indians <strong>to</strong>ok <strong>to</strong><br />
owning shops, as <strong>the</strong>y thought <strong>the</strong>y could get some control <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir lives, even as isolated<br />
units.<br />
At school I heard someone talking about a new group tackling anti racism <strong>and</strong> I was<br />
suspicious. It was about white male rockers with long hair, I thought this was a bizarre idea.<br />
Why would those white haired rockers st<strong>and</strong> up for people like me <strong>and</strong> my parents? By now<br />
punk had changed <strong>the</strong> music l<strong>and</strong>scape, I was put <strong>of</strong>f by <strong>the</strong> more aggressive b<strong>and</strong>s like <strong>the</strong><br />
Sex Pis<strong>to</strong>ls, ‘why would <strong>the</strong>y want <strong>to</strong> put safety pins in <strong>the</strong>ir noses?’, but o<strong>the</strong>r b<strong>and</strong>s like<br />
<strong>the</strong> Clash seemed <strong>to</strong> be different. They used black music, reggae, <strong>and</strong> played homage <strong>to</strong> it<br />
openly, clearly something was changing.<br />
I began reading about Rock against <strong>Racism</strong>’ <strong>and</strong> how <strong>the</strong>y were going <strong>to</strong> have a march<br />
from Trafalgar square <strong>to</strong> Vic<strong>to</strong>ria park <strong>to</strong> st<strong>and</strong> up <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> National Front in <strong>the</strong>ir own back<br />
yard. I was intrigued, I wanted <strong>to</strong> go <strong>and</strong> see what this was about. I <strong>to</strong>ld my parents I wanted<br />
<strong>to</strong> go on <strong>the</strong> march, but <strong>the</strong>y were not happy, <strong>the</strong>y said, “you’ll be protecting <strong>the</strong> NF, <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong>y’ll be violent why would you want <strong>to</strong> put yourself up this in <strong>the</strong>ir way.. you’ll be beaten<br />
up <strong>and</strong> arrested.. no way.. your place is here with us, safe in <strong>the</strong> shop”. To be honest, part<br />
<strong>of</strong> me agreed with <strong>the</strong>m. I must be mad putting myself in <strong>the</strong> way <strong>of</strong> all that aggression, but<br />
I also felt that I was on <strong>the</strong> brink <strong>of</strong> new ideas, <strong>of</strong> thinking that possibility I could climb <strong>of</strong> this<br />
sheltered trench. Afterall <strong>the</strong>se b<strong>and</strong>s putting <strong>the</strong>mselves out <strong>the</strong>re speaking out about racism,<br />
even if nothing came out, it worth at least checking out.<br />
So I misdirected <strong>the</strong>m, I <strong>to</strong>ld my parents I was going <strong>to</strong> C<strong>and</strong>A <strong>to</strong> get a new —- jacket. I<br />
was <strong>to</strong>o scared <strong>to</strong> go <strong>to</strong> Trafalgar square, so I went <strong>to</strong> Vic<strong>to</strong>ria park on my own.<br />
I arrived in <strong>the</strong> vast empty park while <strong>the</strong> clash were doing a sound check. Wow, Joe<br />
Strummer showed up, I watched <strong>the</strong>m <strong>and</strong> when b<strong>and</strong> finished I wondered around alone for<br />
a bit but nothing was happening, No crowds, no audience building nothing, <strong>and</strong> after a couple<br />
<strong>of</strong> hours hanging around I thought <strong>to</strong> myself it was a good try, but nobody cares enough<br />
<strong>to</strong> come out, or maybe like me <strong>the</strong>y were intimidated by <strong>the</strong> threat <strong>of</strong> violence <strong>and</strong> stayed<br />
away. Ei<strong>the</strong>r way I proceeded <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> gate <strong>to</strong> make my way home, but as I approached <strong>the</strong><br />
gate I started <strong>to</strong> hear this bizarre sound a kind <strong>of</strong> high pitch buzz that was growing louder<br />
<strong>and</strong> louder. What was it, should I run away? But <strong>the</strong>n I heard music <strong>and</strong> chanting. I headed<br />
for <strong>the</strong> gate <strong>and</strong> found a old box <strong>to</strong> st<strong>and</strong> on.<br />
When I looked down <strong>the</strong> street what I saw changed my life forever, from that moment I<br />
became <strong>the</strong> political filmmaker I am <strong>to</strong>day. What I saw was hundreds <strong>and</strong> hundreds <strong>of</strong> people<br />
marching side by side in a display <strong>of</strong> exuberance <strong>and</strong> solidarity, <strong>and</strong> most importantly<br />
vic<strong>to</strong>ry. I couldn’t believe my eyes, <strong>the</strong>se were quite English people, some with long hair like<br />
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<strong>the</strong> rockers, marching <strong>and</strong> chanting <strong>to</strong> help me <strong>and</strong> my family find out place in our adopted<br />
homel<strong>and</strong>. I didn’t know any English boys, I went <strong>to</strong> a girls school so <strong>the</strong> sight <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m along<br />
with all <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r women <strong>and</strong> Blacks <strong>and</strong> Asians, made me feel like I belonged. I had found<br />
my tribe, my kindred klan.<br />
When I got home, I <strong>to</strong>ld my parents where I had been <strong>and</strong> what I had seen, <strong>and</strong> in a<br />
strange way my fa<strong>the</strong>r was actually quite proud <strong>of</strong> me. He said you <strong>to</strong>ok a risk but you<br />
s<strong>to</strong>od up for what is right. In years <strong>to</strong> comes <strong>the</strong>se sentiments found <strong>the</strong>ir way in <strong>the</strong> final<br />
fa<strong>the</strong>r <strong>and</strong> daughter scene in my film ‘Bend it like Beckham’.<br />
Rock against <strong>Racism</strong> helped <strong>to</strong> my find my voice, <strong>and</strong> it made me feel like I was part <strong>of</strong><br />
something bigger. All my eight features film <strong>to</strong> date are about race, <strong>and</strong> what what possibilities<br />
exist are for us as a human race, without that division based on prejudice <strong>and</strong> hate.<br />
Above : Post for benefit gig for <strong>the</strong> defendants <strong>of</strong> Southall ‘79<br />
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Endnotes<br />
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When Black was a political colour:<br />
a guide <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> literature<br />
Jenny Bourne<br />
Reproduced courtesy <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Institute <strong>of</strong> Race Relations, publisher <strong>of</strong> Race &<br />
Class, 58/1. July 2016, ‘Race <strong>and</strong> class: <strong>the</strong> colour <strong>of</strong> struggle 1950s-1980s’ in<br />
which this piece first appeared.<br />
Unlike in <strong>the</strong> US, <strong>the</strong>re is no established Black Studies in <strong>the</strong><br />
UK.(1) And, it is an obvious point, but one that needs making at<br />
<strong>the</strong> outset, that <strong>the</strong> idea that Black people (2) had agency, that<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir presence as New Commonwealth citizens, after <strong>the</strong> war <strong>and</strong><br />
Independence, could be welcomed, that <strong>the</strong>y were anything but a<br />
social problem (i.e., one that had <strong>to</strong> be integrated) was a long time<br />
in becoming accepted. And a very long time in entering <strong>the</strong> accepted<br />
literature on this period, probably not really <strong>the</strong>re until <strong>the</strong><br />
‘Windrushery’ from <strong>the</strong> late 1990s onwards.(3)<br />
..for many years<br />
<strong>and</strong> especially<br />
during <strong>the</strong> struggle<br />
<strong>to</strong> transform <strong>the</strong><br />
Institute <strong>of</strong> Race<br />
Relations (IRR),<br />
<strong>the</strong> ‘narrative’<br />
itself was a site <strong>of</strong><br />
struggle..<br />
I have <strong>to</strong> confess, <strong>the</strong>refore, that I spent half my pr<strong>of</strong>essional<br />
life denouncing a section <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> books I will refer <strong>to</strong> <strong>and</strong> ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
half retrieving information from <strong>the</strong>m! The point I am making is<br />
that, for many years <strong>and</strong> especially during <strong>the</strong> struggle <strong>to</strong> transform<br />
<strong>the</strong> Institute <strong>of</strong> Race Relations (IRR), <strong>the</strong> ‘narrative’ itself was<br />
a site <strong>of</strong> struggle. For <strong>the</strong> research <strong>and</strong> many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> books that<br />
eventuated in <strong>the</strong> 1940s, ’50s, ’60s <strong>and</strong> ’70s ei<strong>the</strong>r bore <strong>the</strong> colonial<br />
hallmarks <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir disciplines or were policy oriented <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong>refore shamelessly geared <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> dubious (<strong>and</strong> racist) concerns<br />
<strong>of</strong> government. Instead <strong>of</strong> looking at <strong>the</strong> colonial imperatives <strong>of</strong><br />
migration, <strong>the</strong> literature stressed <strong>the</strong> neutral ‘push <strong>and</strong> pull’ fac<strong>to</strong>rs;<br />
instead <strong>of</strong> looking at <strong>the</strong> racism that made for a second-class<br />
citizenship, it looked at <strong>the</strong> ‘problem’ black people posed <strong>to</strong> white<br />
society. Their underlying perspectives were ana<strong>the</strong>ma <strong>to</strong> people<br />
trying <strong>to</strong> find <strong>the</strong>ir own voices <strong>and</strong> own tales <strong>of</strong> migration in a<br />
hostile environment where <strong>the</strong>ir very presence was questioned re-<br />
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peatedly. So <strong>the</strong>se preliminary books are not recommended for <strong>the</strong>ir analyses but are valuable<br />
for <strong>the</strong>ir ‘facts’. Reading between <strong>the</strong> lines <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir bibliographies <strong>and</strong> indexes one can,<br />
Sherlock-like, find out much about <strong>the</strong> starkness <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> crude racism that had <strong>to</strong> be faced<br />
<strong>and</strong> fought in that period <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> ways in which ‘coloured immigrants’ forged Black communities<br />
<strong>and</strong> Black became a political colour.<br />
And <strong>the</strong>re is an additional impetus for needing <strong>to</strong> write on <strong>the</strong> literature about this period.<br />
Students who have approached <strong>the</strong> IRR over <strong>the</strong> last few years <strong>to</strong> find out about ‘Black<br />
Power’ have in <strong>the</strong> main been kept ignorant <strong>of</strong> a whole body <strong>of</strong> writing. It may be that students<br />
are anyway <strong>to</strong>o used <strong>to</strong> Googling for everything <strong>and</strong> much <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> literature predates<br />
<strong>the</strong> internet. It may be because <strong>the</strong>re is no longer one library in London that specifically covers<br />
‘race’ (<strong>the</strong>re used <strong>to</strong> be ourselves, <strong>the</strong> Commission for Racial Equality, <strong>the</strong> Runnymede<br />
Trust). But <strong>the</strong> pity <strong>of</strong> it is that <strong>the</strong>y are ei<strong>the</strong>r beginning <strong>the</strong>ir literature quest with that which<br />
is easily accessible, which begins in <strong>the</strong> 1990s, <strong>and</strong>/or seeking out a few primary source documents<br />
from Black archives (<strong>of</strong> which <strong>the</strong>re are actually four in London)(4) without having<br />
<strong>the</strong> basic knowledge within which <strong>to</strong> contextualise <strong>the</strong>m. My knowledge does not purport <strong>to</strong><br />
be exhaustive (I am not going over ground that o<strong>the</strong>rs have traversed) <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>re are areas<br />
which this small essay could not cover.(5) What I am interested in is opening out readers <strong>to</strong><br />
a specific aspect <strong>of</strong> his<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>to</strong> supplement <strong>the</strong> information in o<strong>the</strong>r articles in this July 2016<br />
issue <strong>of</strong> Race & Class. And for that I draw on <strong>the</strong> knowledge I have gained as researcher <strong>and</strong><br />
worker in <strong>the</strong> IRR’s library services for over forty-five years.<br />
Apart from things like The Keys, <strong>the</strong> journal <strong>of</strong> The League <strong>of</strong> Coloured people (1937–<br />
1951) <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> occasional <strong>and</strong> sometimes self-financed diary <strong>of</strong> a bewitched or alienated<br />
student, Black people’s presence <strong>and</strong> essence in <strong>the</strong> post-war period was being reflected<br />
in anthropological <strong>the</strong>ses – <strong>the</strong> titles <strong>of</strong> which indicate in part <strong>the</strong> attitudes <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> ‘subjects’<br />
at <strong>the</strong> time: Negroes in Britain by Kenneth Little (1948) on Cardiff, The Coloured Quarter by<br />
Michael Ban<strong>to</strong>n (1955) on Stepney, Sheila Patterson’s Dark Strangers (1963) on Brix<strong>to</strong>n. Similarly<br />
reflected were <strong>the</strong> experi- ences <strong>of</strong> overseas students: A. T. Carey’s Colonial Students<br />
(1956), Disappointed Guests: essays on African, Asian <strong>and</strong> West Indian students edited by<br />
Henri Tajfel <strong>and</strong> John Dawson (1965).(6) A book with a more progressive premise, perhaps<br />
because its author was not an anthropologist but worked in urban studies, was Newcomers:<br />
<strong>the</strong> West Indians in London (1960) by Ruth Glass, who is, incidentally, credited with coming<br />
up with <strong>the</strong> term ‘gentrification’.<br />
From 1958 <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> ‘race riots’ in Nottingham <strong>and</strong> Notting Hill, when <strong>the</strong> authorities <strong>to</strong>ok<br />
fright that <strong>the</strong> UK might follow <strong>the</strong> pattern <strong>of</strong> racial strife in <strong>the</strong> US, race relations became a<br />
subject <strong>of</strong> study <strong>and</strong> this Institute its epicentre, producing a series <strong>of</strong> policy-oriented books,<br />
booklets, pamphlets <strong>and</strong> mimeographs on different communities <strong>and</strong> in different sec<strong>to</strong>rs<br />
until well in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> 1970s.(7) The IRR, before it was reoriented in 1972, was <strong>to</strong> look at Maltese,<br />
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... it is also<br />
abundantly clear that<br />
because Black, in <strong>the</strong><br />
UK, had taken on a<br />
political meaning<br />
derived from its<br />
anti-colonial<br />
provenance, it<br />
attracted <strong>to</strong> its<br />
st<strong>and</strong>ard immigrants<br />
from <strong>the</strong> Indian<br />
sub-continent,<br />
Africans <strong>and</strong><br />
Indo-Caribbeans. In<br />
fact, Ajoy Ghosh from<br />
India <strong>and</strong> Roy Sawh<br />
from Guyana played<br />
a large part in <strong>the</strong><br />
UCPA, Farrukh<br />
Dhondy <strong>and</strong> Mala Sen<br />
in <strong>the</strong> Pan<strong>the</strong>rs, Tony<br />
Soares (from Goa) in<br />
<strong>the</strong> Black Liberation<br />
Front, <strong>and</strong> Sri Lankan<br />
A. Sivan<strong>and</strong>an as a<br />
fellow-traveller <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
BuFP ....<br />
Chinese, Cypriots, Sikhs, children, youth, families, workers –<br />
literally hundreds <strong>of</strong> studies, which would now be called ethnographic,<br />
came from <strong>the</strong> IRR stable. And even when studies<br />
looked at political organisation within ethnic communities, <strong>the</strong>y<br />
tended <strong>to</strong> be ethnographic ra<strong>the</strong>r than political <strong>and</strong> tediously<br />
detailed ra<strong>the</strong>r than enlightening – for example, Indian Workers’<br />
Associations in Britain by Dewitt John (1969) <strong>and</strong> The Politics <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> Powerless: a study <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Campaign Against Racial Discrimination<br />
by Benjamin Heineman Jnr (1972). But <strong>the</strong> latter <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> comprehensive <strong>to</strong>me by Sheila Patterson Immigration <strong>and</strong><br />
Race Relations in Britain 1960–1967 (1969), as well as <strong>the</strong> now<br />
no<strong>to</strong>rious Colour <strong>and</strong> Citizenship by E. J. B. Rose, et al. (1969)(8)<br />
which summed up a whole plethora <strong>of</strong> research projects in <strong>the</strong><br />
1960s, are well worth using as reference <strong>to</strong>ols.<br />
However, <strong>the</strong> ‘<strong>the</strong>m as a social problem’ <strong>to</strong>ne was punctured<br />
by three key books by <strong>the</strong> subalterns: Journey <strong>to</strong> an<br />
Illusion: <strong>the</strong> West Indian in Britain (1966) was written by London<br />
Transport worker Donald Hinds, who was also a cub reporter<br />
for The West Indian Gazette <strong>and</strong> Black British: White British<br />
by Indian journalist Dilip Hiro (1973) both published by a mainstream<br />
publisher <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> latter released as a Penguin paperback<br />
in 1992. Edward Scobie, a Dominican journalist who had<br />
edited <strong>the</strong> magazine Flamingo in <strong>the</strong> early 1960s, wrote <strong>the</strong><br />
telling Black Britannia: a his<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>of</strong> Blacks in Britain (1972) half<br />
on <strong>the</strong> post-war situation but, published in <strong>the</strong> US, it was hard<br />
<strong>to</strong> find copies in <strong>the</strong> UK. All <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se, <strong>the</strong> latter two with useful<br />
indexes, give an excellent flavour <strong>of</strong> life in Britain from what<br />
some termed ‘<strong>the</strong> worm’s eye view’.<br />
But <strong>the</strong> worm had already turned! There may not have<br />
been in <strong>the</strong> 1950s <strong>and</strong> ’60s <strong>the</strong> time, <strong>the</strong> money, <strong>the</strong> contacts,<br />
for <strong>the</strong> writing <strong>of</strong> many Black books, but <strong>the</strong>re was an extremely<br />
vibrant <strong>and</strong> variegated Black press – which ran <strong>the</strong> gamut<br />
from <strong>the</strong> coloured glossy Flamingo magazine with eye-catching<br />
women on <strong>the</strong> cover <strong>to</strong> small cyclostyled <strong>and</strong> folded occasional<br />
broadsheets like The Black Ram or Black Chat, cl<strong>and</strong>estinely<br />
produced in someone’s front room – telling it like it was. At<br />
least forty black magazines/papers/journals were produced between<br />
1958 <strong>and</strong> 1970.9 one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> first <strong>and</strong> longest running was<br />
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The West Indian Gazette (<strong>and</strong> Afro-Asian Caribbean News) founded <strong>and</strong> edited from 1958<br />
by Claudia Jones (10) <strong>and</strong> published until 1965; ano<strong>the</strong>r was a large-size broadsheet paper<br />
Magnet, edited by Jan Carew <strong>and</strong> printed somehow on The Times’ press, which ran for some<br />
months in 1965.<br />
Looking at <strong>the</strong> magazines <strong>of</strong> this period reveals <strong>the</strong> gradual adoption <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> term Black<br />
(as opposed <strong>to</strong> New Commonwealth, coloured, West Indian, Caribbean, Indian, etc.) <strong>and</strong> by<br />
1967 <strong>the</strong> term Black Power was part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> vocabulary. (11) In January 1967, <strong>the</strong> Universal<br />
Coloured People’s Association (UCPA) was formed by Nigerian playwright obi Egbuna <strong>and</strong> in<br />
Oc<strong>to</strong>ber, as its leader, he was urging <strong>the</strong> need for Black Power ‘<strong>to</strong> liquidate capitalist oppression<br />
<strong>of</strong> black people wherever it exists by any means necessary’ at a Vietnam protest rally in<br />
Trafalgar Square.(12) The UCPA’s Black Power Manifes<strong>to</strong> was launched in pamphlet form on<br />
10 November 1967. The UCPA was <strong>to</strong> splinter in 1968. What emerged was <strong>the</strong> Black Pan<strong>the</strong>r<br />
Movement <strong>and</strong> later, in 1970, <strong>the</strong> Black unity <strong>and</strong> Freedom Party (BuFP) was formed, each<br />
with <strong>the</strong>ir own community-based political papers, sold <strong>to</strong> <strong>and</strong> by <strong>the</strong>ir members <strong>and</strong> on <strong>the</strong><br />
streets, at public meetings, etc. (Commercial news-st<strong>and</strong> publications such as West Indian<br />
Digest, <strong>the</strong> West Indian World <strong>and</strong> later Caribbean Times, Asian Times <strong>and</strong> African Times<br />
appeared in <strong>the</strong> 1970s <strong>and</strong> some continued till 1997, but with a somewhat different political<br />
purpose! (13) By <strong>the</strong> early years <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 1970s, which could be considered <strong>the</strong> heyday <strong>of</strong> Black<br />
Power in Britain, <strong>the</strong>re were effectively three black papers: Freedom News (strongly influenced<br />
by <strong>the</strong> US Black Pan<strong>the</strong>r Movement), Black Voice (which though clearly influenced by<br />
<strong>the</strong> US movement <strong>and</strong> anti-colonial movements in Africa <strong>to</strong>ok an openly Marxist Leninist <strong>and</strong><br />
later Marxist Leninist Maoist line) <strong>and</strong> Grassroots (which grew out <strong>of</strong> Pan-Africanism <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
more nationalist Black Liberation Front).(14) The Black Libera<strong>to</strong>r was a <strong>the</strong>oretical magazine,<br />
instigated by BuFP’s Ricky Cambridge in 1971, <strong>and</strong> attracting black scholars like Cecil Gutzmore<br />
<strong>and</strong> Colin Prescod, which was published until 1978.<br />
And who, you might ask, self-identified as Black? on <strong>the</strong> face <strong>of</strong> it <strong>and</strong> following <strong>the</strong><br />
influence <strong>of</strong> Black US politics, <strong>the</strong> majority <strong>of</strong> those in such Black Power movements in <strong>the</strong><br />
UK were from <strong>the</strong> Caribbean. But <strong>of</strong> course, that does not mean that <strong>the</strong> majority <strong>of</strong> West<br />
Indians in Britain identified with such radical parties, only a small minority did. And it is also<br />
abundantly clear that because Black, in <strong>the</strong> UK, had taken on a political meaning derived<br />
from its anti-colonial provenance,(15) it attracted <strong>to</strong> its st<strong>and</strong>ard immigrants from <strong>the</strong> Indian<br />
sub-continent, Africans <strong>and</strong> Indo-Caribbeans. In fact, Ajoy Ghosh from India <strong>and</strong> Roy Sawh<br />
from Guyana played a large part in <strong>the</strong> UCPA, Farrukh Dhondy <strong>and</strong> Mala Sen in <strong>the</strong> Pan<strong>the</strong>rs,<br />
Tony Soares (from Goa) in <strong>the</strong> Black Liberation Front, <strong>and</strong> Sri Lankan A. Sivan<strong>and</strong>an as a<br />
fellow-traveller <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> BuFP.(16) During <strong>the</strong> late 1960s <strong>and</strong> in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> early 1970s, organisations<br />
which rallied ‘New Commonwealth immigrants’ <strong>to</strong> fight raw racism on a number <strong>of</strong> terrains<br />
– Powell, police racism, immigration laws, racial violence, for example in <strong>the</strong> UK, apar<strong>the</strong>id in<br />
South Africa <strong>and</strong> UDI in Rhodesia – used <strong>the</strong> term Black. People could <strong>the</strong>refore identify over<br />
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certain issues (for example, working conditions, children’s education, religious observance)<br />
as, say, Indian, Pakistani or West Indian <strong>and</strong> on o<strong>the</strong>r issues, which addressed common racial<br />
oppression <strong>and</strong> class exploitation, as Black. (They were not categories in opposition <strong>to</strong> one<br />
ano<strong>the</strong>r or seen <strong>the</strong>n as exclusive.)(17) Thus <strong>the</strong> Black People’s Alliance, set up in 1968 as<br />
a response <strong>to</strong> Powell <strong>and</strong> his aftermath, was exactly an alliance under a Black umbrella <strong>of</strong><br />
Indian Workers’ Associations, <strong>the</strong> National Federation <strong>of</strong> Pakistani Associations, <strong>the</strong> West<br />
Indian St<strong>and</strong>ing Conference as well as <strong>the</strong> uCPA <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> more uncompromising RAAS (Racial<br />
Action Adjustment Society, formed following Malcolm X’s 1965 visit <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> uK18) <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs.<br />
And a few books were now emerging on Black Power, though not perhaps always <strong>the</strong><br />
most reliable <strong>of</strong> texts, for Black Power was generally regarded by <strong>the</strong> media as a frightening<br />
sort <strong>of</strong> extremism, <strong>and</strong> Black leaders (all male) enjoyed playing up <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> stereotype. First<br />
<strong>the</strong>re was The Black Man in Search <strong>of</strong> Power: a survey <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> black revolution across <strong>the</strong><br />
world (1968) written <strong>and</strong> published by <strong>the</strong> London Times News Team, a sensationalist, ra<strong>the</strong>r<br />
conspira<strong>to</strong>rial account. Then <strong>the</strong> self-publicist leader <strong>of</strong> RAAS wrote as Michael Abdul Malik,<br />
with <strong>the</strong> help <strong>of</strong> ghost-writer John X, <strong>the</strong> highly readable au<strong>to</strong>biography From Michael de<br />
Freitas <strong>to</strong> Michael X (1968)19 followed by Obi Egbuna’s more thoughtful but still very personal<br />
version, Destroy this Temple: <strong>the</strong> voice <strong>of</strong> Black Power in Britain (1971).(20) Roy Sawh’s<br />
1968 essay ‘Black Power in Britain’ appeared in Justice First edited by Lewis Donnelly (<strong>and</strong><br />
later republished with a number <strong>of</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r pieces by or on Sawh in From Where I St<strong>and</strong>: black<br />
people want <strong>to</strong> hear <strong>and</strong> white people fear by Hansib Publishing in 1987). And students were<br />
beginning <strong>to</strong> take Black Power on as a <strong>the</strong>sis <strong>to</strong>pic.(21)<br />
The tendency <strong>to</strong> personalise <strong>the</strong> Black fight begun by Michael X, Obi Egbuna <strong>and</strong> Roy<br />
Sawh when writing about racism <strong>and</strong> political action was <strong>to</strong> colour a number <strong>of</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r works<br />
<strong>to</strong> emerge in <strong>the</strong> 1970s – for example, Black Engl<strong>and</strong> by Rudy Narayan (1977), Britain, <strong>the</strong><br />
Black Man <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Future (1972) <strong>and</strong> How Black Power Overcame Fifty Years <strong>of</strong> Oppression<br />
in Britain 1945–1995 (1998), both by Vince Hines, <strong>and</strong> A Savage Culture by Remi Capo (1981).<br />
But two books from <strong>the</strong> early 1970s manage <strong>to</strong> combine <strong>the</strong> existential with <strong>the</strong> political<br />
<strong>and</strong> each have chapters on Black Power: Because <strong>the</strong>y’re Black by Derek Humphry <strong>and</strong><br />
Gus John (1971) <strong>and</strong> Black Britain by Chris Mullard (1973). Shattering illusions: West Indians in<br />
British politics (1986) by Trevor Carter (Communist Party member <strong>and</strong> Black activist), though<br />
part personal testimony, was a later heartfelt political attempt <strong>to</strong> chart <strong>the</strong> fight for equality,<br />
including a section on Black Power. The first <strong>and</strong> still <strong>the</strong> seminal text <strong>to</strong> situate Black Power<br />
his<strong>to</strong>rically was by A. Sivan<strong>and</strong>an who, in 1981, in <strong>the</strong> wake <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> inner-city ‘riots’, wrote<br />
<strong>the</strong> 10,000 word essay ‘From resistance <strong>to</strong> rebellion: Asian <strong>and</strong> Afro-Caribbean struggles<br />
in Britain’ still available in Catching His<strong>to</strong>ry on <strong>the</strong> Wing (2008).(22) His analysis, situating<br />
black activism within both <strong>the</strong> larger class struggle <strong>and</strong> as a protest against state racism, has<br />
s<strong>to</strong>od <strong>the</strong> test <strong>of</strong> time. It has necessarily made its mark on key works that came after, such<br />
as Peter Fryer’s path-breaking book which starts with <strong>the</strong> black presence under <strong>the</strong> Romans,<br />
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... It is a pity<br />
that so many<br />
<strong>of</strong> those who<br />
were active in<br />
that period but<br />
in o<strong>the</strong>r factions<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> movement<br />
have now<br />
‘gone home’,<br />
some have died,<br />
some left <strong>the</strong><br />
fray or o<strong>the</strong>rwise<br />
shunned publicity<br />
<strong>and</strong> accounting<br />
for Black<br />
Power in Britain.<br />
The full s<strong>to</strong>ry is<br />
yet <strong>to</strong> be written.<br />
Staying Power: <strong>the</strong> his<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>of</strong> Black People in Britain (1984) reissued<br />
in 2010 <strong>and</strong> Ron Ramdin’s The Making <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Black Working Class<br />
(1987) <strong>and</strong> more recently (<strong>and</strong> not always uncritically) Black Star:<br />
Britain’s Asian Youth Movements by An<strong>and</strong>i Ramamurthy (2013),<br />
<strong>and</strong>, more sociologically, The Changing Pattern <strong>of</strong> Black Politics in<br />
Britain, Kalbir Shukra (1998) <strong>and</strong> <strong>Racism</strong>, Class <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Racialized<br />
Outsider by Satnam Virdee (2014).<br />
The kind <strong>of</strong> dispassionate analysis based on lived experience<br />
was continued in two key areas looking at <strong>the</strong> fight-back in <strong>the</strong><br />
period under review – in relation <strong>to</strong> women’s experiences <strong>and</strong> local<br />
studies. Finding a Voice: Asian women in Britain by Amrit Wilson<br />
was published in 1978, followed by <strong>the</strong> collectively researched <strong>and</strong><br />
written Heart <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Race: Black women’s lives in Britain by Beverley<br />
Bryan, et al. (1985).<br />
And local community his<strong>to</strong>ries, <strong>to</strong>o, were a way <strong>of</strong> setting black<br />
agency in<strong>to</strong> a his<strong>to</strong>rical material context: for example, <strong>the</strong> two<br />
pamphlets published by <strong>the</strong> Campaign Against <strong>Racism</strong> <strong>and</strong> Fascism<br />
(CARF), <strong>and</strong> distributed by IRR, ‘Southall: <strong>the</strong> birth <strong>of</strong> a black community’<br />
(1981) <strong>and</strong> ‘Newham: forging a black community’ (1991). Four<br />
films, produced by Race & Class Ltd <strong>and</strong> directed by Colin Prescod,<br />
Struggles for Black Community, covered Cardiff, Notting Hill, Southall<br />
<strong>and</strong> Leicester (1983, reissued 2008). (23) Also in this area fall<br />
Lambeth Council’s ‘Forty Winters on: memories <strong>of</strong> Britain’s postwar<br />
Caribbean immigrants’ (1988), ‘The longest journey: a his<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>of</strong><br />
black Lewisham’ by Joan Anim-Addo (1995) <strong>and</strong> Brick Lane 1978 by<br />
Kenneth Leech (1980).<br />
With <strong>the</strong> move in academia away from political sociology <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>to</strong>wards cultural studies, <strong>the</strong> interest in political blackness in <strong>the</strong><br />
main gave way <strong>to</strong> discourse analysis, identity <strong>and</strong> ‘o<strong>the</strong>rness’ studies<br />
during <strong>the</strong> 2000s – which also explains <strong>the</strong> fact that <strong>the</strong> ‘looking<br />
back’ books that came out commemorating <strong>the</strong> half century<br />
since <strong>the</strong> Empire Windrush are easily misread as <strong>the</strong> start <strong>of</strong> Black<br />
Studies in <strong>the</strong> UK. Windrush: <strong>the</strong> irresistible rise <strong>of</strong> multiracial Britain<br />
by Mike <strong>and</strong> Trevor Phillips (1998) is a useful journalistic narrative<br />
based on fifty interviews with members <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Windrush generation;<br />
Hurricane hits Engl<strong>and</strong>: an anthology <strong>of</strong> writing about Black Britain,<br />
edited by Oneykachi Wambu (1998), is an anthology <strong>of</strong> previously<br />
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published short fiction <strong>and</strong> non-fiction pieces by a range <strong>of</strong> writers; Changing Britannia: life<br />
experience with Britain, edited by Roxy Harris <strong>and</strong> Sarah White (1999)(24) encompasses narratives<br />
by <strong>and</strong> interviews with seven ‘prominent figures’.<br />
Slightly <strong>to</strong> one side st<strong>and</strong>s Black British Culture & Society: a text reader edited by Kwesi<br />
Owusu (2000), which, while reflecting <strong>the</strong> interest in <strong>the</strong> cultural development <strong>of</strong> Black Britain,<br />
included within its forty-two contributions key his<strong>to</strong>rical political pieces by Claudia Jones<br />
<strong>and</strong> Obi Egbuna, Paul Gilroy’s ‘Black Atantic’ <strong>the</strong>sis <strong>and</strong> a strong hearing from Black women<br />
as well as original interviews debating ‘Black’ with Stuart Hall, <strong>and</strong> A. Sivan<strong>and</strong>an (<strong>the</strong> latter<br />
reproduced in this issue <strong>of</strong> Race & Class). It should be noted that <strong>the</strong> eminent black scholars<br />
Stuart Hall <strong>and</strong> Paul Gilroy have primarily, in <strong>the</strong>ir many publications, discussed ‘Black’ as cultural<br />
<strong>the</strong>orists. But, although <strong>the</strong>ir focus has not been on <strong>the</strong> period under review here, both<br />
have written key texts on young black men <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> state/policing in, respectively, Policing<br />
<strong>the</strong> crisis: mugging, <strong>the</strong> state <strong>and</strong> law <strong>and</strong> order (1978) <strong>and</strong> ‘Steppin’ out <strong>of</strong> Babylon’ in The<br />
Empire Strikes back: race <strong>and</strong> racism in 70s Britain (1982). Paul Gilroy’s The Black Atlantic:<br />
modernity <strong>and</strong> double consciousness (1993), published well after Black had ceased <strong>to</strong> be a<br />
political colour, can be seen as a useful (if ra<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong>oretical) framing <strong>of</strong> <strong>and</strong> antidote <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
essentialism <strong>and</strong> nationalism <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> time.<br />
Students dipping in<strong>to</strong> later reference <strong>to</strong>mes such as <strong>the</strong> beautifully produced Black<br />
Britain: a pho<strong>to</strong>graphic his<strong>to</strong>ry by Paul Gilroy <strong>and</strong> Stuart Hall (2007) or The Oxford Companion<br />
<strong>to</strong> Black British His<strong>to</strong>ry by David Dabydeen, John Gilmore <strong>and</strong> Cicely Jones (2007) will<br />
be disappointed. Though <strong>the</strong> first is evocative <strong>and</strong> thus emotionally charged, it says next<br />
<strong>to</strong> nothing about Black Power as political agency; (25) <strong>the</strong> second, organised as a kind <strong>of</strong><br />
dictionary <strong>of</strong> world events <strong>and</strong> people, is not just patchy in coverage but necessarily without<br />
coherence or narrative.<br />
However, two recently published memoirs from erstwhile Black Power activists may<br />
prove more fruitful. The first by Wins<strong>to</strong>n Trew, one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> (Black Power activist) Fasimbas<br />
in <strong>the</strong> 1972 ‘Oval 4 case’, Black for a Cause … Not Just Because: <strong>the</strong> case <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ‘Oval 4’ <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> s<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>of</strong> Black Power in 1970s Britain (2010) amongst o<strong>the</strong>r things graphically recalls in<br />
a telling chapter experiences at <strong>the</strong> h<strong>and</strong>s <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> police. The second book, a biography <strong>of</strong><br />
activist Darcus Howe, largely based on interviews with him, partner Leila Hassan <strong>and</strong> friend<br />
Farrukh Dhondy, is more problematic. All renderings <strong>of</strong> his<strong>to</strong>ry, especially from its protagonists,<br />
are going <strong>to</strong> be partial (Wins<strong>to</strong>n James, for example, finds Sivan<strong>and</strong>an a romantic (26),<br />
but this hagiographic rendering in a political biography by Robin Bunce <strong>and</strong> Paul Field (2013)<br />
tends <strong>to</strong> conflate one man’s s<strong>to</strong>ry with <strong>the</strong> his<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> time. Without doubt Howe, a former<br />
Black Pan<strong>the</strong>r, was involved in key moments <strong>of</strong> Black his<strong>to</strong>ry – from <strong>the</strong> 1970 uprising in<br />
Trinidad <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Mangrove trial, <strong>the</strong> editing <strong>of</strong> Race Today <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Black People’s Day <strong>of</strong> Action<br />
– <strong>and</strong> was influential for some years (27) but in this retelling <strong>of</strong> his<strong>to</strong>ry through Howe’s<br />
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experience, <strong>the</strong> importance <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ideas <strong>of</strong> C. L. R. James (his great-uncle) <strong>to</strong> Black Power<br />
<strong>and</strong> black community perspectives appears overblown. (28)<br />
This same elevation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> importance <strong>of</strong> James’ anti-vanguardist line on <strong>the</strong> spontaneity<br />
<strong>of</strong> British black struggle can be read in Oobi B. Egbuna, C. L. R. James <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> birth <strong>of</strong> black<br />
radicalism in Britain 1967–72’ also by Bunce <strong>and</strong> Field in Twentieth Century British His<strong>to</strong>ry 22,<br />
no. 3 (2010), pp. 391–414. But Anne-Marie Angelo somewhat balances <strong>the</strong> his<strong>to</strong>rical account<br />
by revealing <strong>the</strong> influence <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> US Black Pan<strong>the</strong>rs on <strong>the</strong> British movement in ‘The Black<br />
Pan<strong>the</strong>rs in London, 1967–1972: a diasporic struggle navigates <strong>the</strong> Black Atlantic’ in Radical<br />
His<strong>to</strong>ry Review 103 (Winter 2009). And in Radicals Against Race: black activism <strong>and</strong> cultural<br />
politics (2002) Brian W. Alleyne seeks, in his account <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> mainly educational/cultural work<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ‘New Beacon Circle’ around John la Rose, <strong>to</strong> fur<strong>the</strong>r question <strong>the</strong> relationship between<br />
organisation <strong>and</strong> activism.<br />
It is a pity that so many <strong>of</strong> those who were active in that period but in o<strong>the</strong>r factions<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> movement have now ‘gone home’, some have died, some left <strong>the</strong> fray or o<strong>the</strong>rwise<br />
shunned publicity <strong>and</strong> accounting for Black Power in Britain. The full s<strong>to</strong>ry is yet <strong>to</strong> be written.<br />
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Timeline <strong>of</strong><br />
events<br />
1900-<strong>1976</strong><br />
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Art, Activism, Race <strong>and</strong> Social Justice - 1900/<strong>1976</strong><br />
1900<br />
1st Pan African<br />
Conference<br />
The Conference was<br />
primarily by <strong>the</strong><br />
Trinidadian barrister<br />
Henry Sylvester<br />
Williams, <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong>ok<br />
place in July at<br />
Westminster Hall. It<br />
was attended by 37<br />
delegates <strong>and</strong> about 10<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r participants <strong>and</strong><br />
observers from Africa,<br />
<strong>the</strong> West Indies, <strong>the</strong> US<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> UK, including<br />
Samuel Coleridge<br />
Taylor , John<br />
Alcindor, Dadabhai<br />
Naoroji, John Archer,<br />
Henry Francis<br />
Downing, <strong>and</strong> W. E. B.<br />
Du Bois.<br />
Samuel Coleridge Taylor was a English<br />
composer <strong>of</strong> part Creole descent who<br />
achieved such success that he was once<br />
called <strong>the</strong> "African Mahler".<br />
John Archer was born in Liverpool. His<br />
fa<strong>the</strong>r was from Barbados, <strong>and</strong> his mo<strong>the</strong>r<br />
was an Irish immigrant. In November 1906<br />
Archer became a councillor in <strong>the</strong> on<br />
Battersea Borough Council. He was a<br />
founding member <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> African<br />
Progress Union. He was also a<br />
successful pho<strong>to</strong>grapher<br />
Dadabhai Naoroji was <strong>the</strong> first<br />
Indian <strong>to</strong> be elected <strong>to</strong><br />
Parliament in Britain..<br />
John Alcindor was a physician from<br />
Trinidad who settled in London. He is known<br />
for his role in <strong>the</strong> African Progress<br />
Union.<br />
Bhikhaiji Rus<strong>to</strong>m Cama (Bhikai Sorab<br />
Patel,) (left) was a Indian political activist <strong>and</strong><br />
advocate for women’s rights who had <strong>the</strong><br />
unique distinction <strong>of</strong> unfurling <strong>the</strong> first version<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Indian national flag—a tricolour <strong>of</strong> green,<br />
saffron, <strong>and</strong> red stripes—at <strong>the</strong><br />
International Socialist Congress held at<br />
Stuttgart, Germany, in 1907.<br />
Shyamji Krishna Varma was a<br />
journalist who founded <strong>the</strong> Indian Home<br />
Rule Society, India House <strong>and</strong> The Indian<br />
Sociologist in London.<br />
1905<br />
India House<br />
India House was set up as a hostel for Indian students <strong>and</strong> became a hotbed for Indian<br />
revolutionaries, <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs including <strong>the</strong> Women’s Suffrage movement. The House was opened<br />
on 1 July 1905 by H. M. Hyndman in Highgate. O<strong>the</strong>r prominent figures present at <strong>the</strong> opening<br />
included Shyamji Krishna Varma, Dadabhai Naoroji, Charlotte Despard, Christabel<br />
Pankhurst <strong>and</strong> Bhikaji Cama.<br />
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Art, Activism, Race <strong>and</strong> Social Justice - 1900/<strong>1976</strong><br />
1905<br />
The Workers Welfare League <strong>of</strong><br />
India<br />
In 1916 a body <strong>of</strong> British <strong>and</strong> Indian<br />
activists formed <strong>the</strong> Workers<br />
Welfare League <strong>to</strong> ensure Indian<br />
<strong>and</strong> British workers had <strong>the</strong> same<br />
rights, <strong>the</strong>reby ensuring that <strong>the</strong><br />
labour conditions in India was not<br />
used <strong>to</strong> keep British labour<br />
conditions at a low level.<br />
1919<br />
Race Riots across UK<br />
In <strong>the</strong> wake <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> First World War<br />
<strong>and</strong> demobilization, <strong>the</strong> surplus <strong>of</strong><br />
labour led <strong>to</strong> dissatisfaction among<br />
Britain’s workers <strong>and</strong> across <strong>the</strong><br />
seaport <strong>to</strong>wns, white crowds<br />
attacked Black workers, <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
families <strong>and</strong> communities,. This<br />
was most intense in <strong>the</strong> places with<br />
<strong>the</strong> largest black communities,<br />
London, Glasgow, Liverpool,<br />
Cardiff, Salford, Hull,<br />
South Shields , Newport, <strong>and</strong> Barry.<br />
1925<br />
Shapurji Saklatvala was born in India.<br />
The Bolshevik Revolution in Russia <strong>of</strong><br />
November 1917 was an inspiration <strong>to</strong><br />
Saklatvala joined <strong>the</strong> Communist Party<br />
with Emile Burns, R. Palme Dutt, J.<br />
Wal<strong>to</strong>n Newbold, Helen Crawfurd,<br />
<strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs as part <strong>of</strong> an organised faction<br />
called <strong>the</strong> Left Wing Group, later <strong>the</strong>y<br />
joined <strong>the</strong> Community Part GB. He<br />
attended <strong>the</strong> 2nd Pan-African<br />
Congress held in Paris in 1921 as a<br />
delegate <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> CPGB. He was a MP in<br />
Battereas North for <strong>the</strong> Communist Party<br />
(GB).<br />
Amy Ashwood was born in Jamaica, on 10 January 1897.<br />
She met Marcus Garvey, with whom she founded <strong>the</strong><br />
Universal Negro Improvement Association<br />
(UNIA) in 1914. She married Marcus 1919, but <strong>the</strong> marriage<br />
quickly broke down, ending in divorce in 1922. She moved <strong>to</strong><br />
Great Britain, where she struck up a friendship with Ladipo<br />
Solanke. Toge<strong>the</strong>r, <strong>the</strong>y founded <strong>the</strong> Nigerian Progress<br />
Union, <strong>and</strong> she later supported Solanke's West African<br />
Students' Union. After a short spell in New York, she<br />
returned <strong>to</strong> London opened <strong>the</strong> Florence Mills Social<br />
Club a jazz club on Carnaby Street which became a ga<strong>the</strong>ring<br />
spot for supporters <strong>of</strong> Pan-Africanism. She helped <strong>to</strong> establish<br />
<strong>the</strong> International African Friends <strong>of</strong> Abyssinia with<br />
C.L.R. James, <strong>the</strong> International African Service<br />
Bureau with figures like George Padmore, Chris<br />
Braithwaite <strong>and</strong> Jomo Kenyatta, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> London<br />
Afro-Women's Centre. She chaired <strong>the</strong> first session <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> 5th Pan-African Congress in Manchester in<br />
1945.She helped <strong>to</strong> set up <strong>the</strong> "Afro Peoples Centre" in<br />
Ladbroke Grove in 1953. She was a friend <strong>of</strong> Claudia Jones,<br />
<strong>and</strong> was on <strong>the</strong> edi<strong>to</strong>rial board <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Brix<strong>to</strong>n-based West<br />
Indian Gazette, founded by Jones in 1958. In <strong>the</strong> wake <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> Notting Hill riots in 1958, she co-founded <strong>the</strong><br />
Association for <strong>the</strong> Advancement <strong>of</strong> Coloured<br />
People. In 1959, she chaired an enquiry in<strong>to</strong> race relations<br />
following <strong>the</strong> murder <strong>of</strong> Kelso Cochrane in London.<br />
West African Students Union<br />
WASU was founded in 1925 <strong>to</strong> campaign for <strong>the</strong> improved welfare <strong>of</strong> African students. it was led by<br />
Ladipo Solanke <strong>and</strong> Herbert Bankole-Bright, with <strong>the</strong> Amy Ashwood Garvey. Over time its<br />
campaigns broadened <strong>to</strong> anti colonialism abroad <strong>and</strong> against colour bars in Britain.<br />
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Art, Activism, Race <strong>and</strong> Social Justice - 1900/<strong>1976</strong><br />
1925<br />
League <strong>of</strong> Coloured People<br />
(LCP) was a British civil-rights<br />
organization that was founded in<br />
1931 in London by Jamaican<br />
Harold Moody, Peter Abrahams,<br />
<strong>and</strong> Eric Williams with <strong>the</strong> goal<br />
<strong>of</strong> racial equality around <strong>the</strong><br />
world. Although <strong>the</strong> League's<br />
primary focus was black rights in<br />
Britain, it also was involved in<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r civil-rights issues, such as<br />
<strong>the</strong> persecution <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jews in<br />
Germany.<br />
1931<br />
Negro Welfare<br />
Association<br />
Formed by Arnold Ward<br />
<strong>and</strong> Chris Braithwatie <strong>the</strong><br />
NWA become a promenade<br />
anti racist organisation<br />
during <strong>the</strong> 1930’s.<br />
Sulaiman Katwaroon set up <strong>the</strong> Indian Freedom Association,<br />
later called <strong>the</strong> Indian Home Rule League <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> Indian<br />
Freedom League. They appealed <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> British working class through a<br />
common fight against capitalism, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Universal Negro<br />
Improvement Association <strong>and</strong> Negro Welfare Association<br />
were allies.<br />
George Padmore (left) was born in Trinidad in 1902. He moved <strong>to</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> United States l<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>re he joined <strong>the</strong> Communist Party. In<br />
1929, Padmore travelled <strong>to</strong> Moscow, where he met Rajani Palme<br />
Dutt. He re-located <strong>to</strong> London in 1935, where he became involved<br />
with, but never a member <strong>of</strong>, <strong>the</strong> Independent Labour Party,<br />
collaborating with Fenner Brockway <strong>and</strong> Reginald Reynolds. In<br />
1935, he also became close friends with T. Subasinghe, who would<br />
later become ambassador <strong>of</strong> Ceylon.K. D. Kumria, at an Indian<br />
National Congress rally. Swaraj House <strong>of</strong>ten become a venue for<br />
protest meetings <strong>of</strong> African groups. Padmore also became a close friend<br />
<strong>of</strong> Krishna Menon, In 1937, Padmore founded <strong>the</strong> International<br />
African Service Bureau <strong>and</strong> in late 1944, Later ee moved <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
newly independent Ghana where he became Kwame Nkrumah's<br />
personal adviser on African affairs.<br />
1936<br />
Battle <strong>of</strong> Cable Street<br />
The Battle <strong>of</strong> Cable Street <strong>to</strong>ok place on Sunday 4 Oc<strong>to</strong>ber 1936 in<br />
Cable Street in <strong>the</strong> East End <strong>of</strong> London. It was a clash between <strong>the</strong><br />
Metropolitan Police, protecting a march by members <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> British<br />
Union <strong>of</strong> Fascists, led by Oswald Mosley, <strong>and</strong> various anti-fascist<br />
demonstra<strong>to</strong>rs, including local Jewish, Irish, socialist, anarchist<br />
<strong>and</strong> communist groups.<br />
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Art, Activism, Race <strong>and</strong> Social Justice - 1900/<strong>1976</strong><br />
1937<br />
International African<br />
Service Bureau<br />
The International African<br />
Service Bureau (IASB) was a<br />
pan-African organisation<br />
founded in London in 1937 by<br />
West Indians George<br />
Padmore, C. L. R. James,<br />
Amy Ashwood Garvey, T.<br />
Ras Makonnen <strong>and</strong> Kenyan<br />
nationalist Jomo Kenyatta<br />
<strong>and</strong> Sierra Leonean labour<br />
activist <strong>and</strong> agita<strong>to</strong>r I. T. A.<br />
Wallace-Johnson.<br />
1938<br />
Indian Workers Association<br />
The Indian Workers Associations was<br />
established in 1938 with <strong>the</strong> dual aim: <strong>to</strong> raise<br />
consciousness <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> struggle for Indian<br />
independence among working-class Indians in<br />
Britain, <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> protect <strong>and</strong> enhance <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
welfare.<br />
Ras Makonnen was a Guyanese-born Pan-<br />
African activist.He was deported for publishing an<br />
article that claimed that Denmark was producing<br />
<strong>the</strong> mustard gas being used <strong>to</strong> kill civilians in <strong>the</strong><br />
Italian invasion <strong>of</strong> Ethiopia.. He became an active<br />
member <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> International African Service<br />
Bureau that had formed under George<br />
Padmore's leadership. True <strong>to</strong> his<br />
entrepreneurial spirit, he opened four restaurants,<br />
<strong>the</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>its from which went <strong>to</strong>wards his political<br />
work, <strong>and</strong>, along with George Padmore <strong>and</strong><br />
Kwame Nkrumah, helped organize <strong>the</strong> fifth<br />
Pan-African Congress in 1945.<br />
C.L.R. James was a West Indianborn<br />
cultural his<strong>to</strong>rian, cricket<br />
writer, <strong>and</strong> political activist who was<br />
a leading figure in <strong>the</strong> Pan-African<br />
movement.<br />
James was certified as a teacher<br />
from Trinidad. In 1932 he moved <strong>to</strong><br />
Engl<strong>and</strong>, where he was a cricket<br />
correspondent for The Guardian<br />
(Manchester) <strong>and</strong> became<br />
increasingly involved in Marxist<br />
politics <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> African <strong>and</strong> West<br />
Indian independence movements.<br />
His most notable work was The<br />
Black Jacobins (1938), a Marxist<br />
study <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Haitian slave revolution<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 1790s, which won him<br />
widespread acclaim. His political<br />
career spans <strong>the</strong> period from <strong>the</strong><br />
Great Depression in <strong>the</strong> 1930’s <strong>to</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> birth <strong>of</strong> Black Power in <strong>the</strong><br />
1970’s<br />
1944<br />
Pan African Federation<br />
PAF was a multi-national Pan-African organisation established in Manchester. It aims included <strong>the</strong><br />
promotion <strong>of</strong> African people <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir descendants across <strong>the</strong> UK, <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> secure equality <strong>of</strong> civil rights.<br />
Its founding groups included <strong>the</strong> Negro Association (Manchester), Coloured Workers Association<br />
(London), Coloured Peoples Association (Edinburgh), African Union (Glasgow), United<br />
Committee <strong>of</strong> Colonial <strong>and</strong> Coloured Peoples' Associations (Cardiff), Association <strong>of</strong> Students <strong>of</strong><br />
African Descent (Dublin), Kikuyu Central Association (Kenya) represented by Jomo Kenyatta,<br />
West African Youth League (Sierra Leone section) represented by Isaac Wallace-Johnson, Friends <strong>of</strong><br />
African Freedom Society (Gold Coast)<br />
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Art, Activism, Race <strong>and</strong> Social Justice - 1900/<strong>1976</strong><br />
1945<br />
Fifth Pan African Congress<br />
After <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> World War 2, many felt that <strong>the</strong>y now<br />
deserved independence. This Congress is widely<br />
considered <strong>to</strong> have been <strong>the</strong> most important. Organised<br />
by <strong>the</strong> influential Trinidadian pan-Africanist George<br />
Padmore <strong>and</strong> Ghanaian independence leader Kwame<br />
Nkrumah, it was attended by 90 delegates, 26 from<br />
Africa. They included many scholars, intellectuals <strong>and</strong><br />
political activists including American activist <strong>and</strong><br />
academic W. E. B. Du Bois, <strong>and</strong> black activists from<br />
across Britain. Some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> local groups who attended<br />
were League <strong>of</strong> African People (Birmingham), Young<br />
African Progressive League, International African<br />
Service Bureau, African Students Union, Edinburgh,<br />
Negro Welfare centre, Liverpool, Negro Association,<br />
Manchester, African Progressive Association, London,<br />
Coloured Workers Association, United Committee <strong>of</strong><br />
Coloured <strong>and</strong> Colonial People, Cardiff.<br />
1945<br />
West Indian Students<br />
Union<br />
Formed in London in 1945 <strong>to</strong><br />
promote <strong>the</strong> interests <strong>of</strong> West<br />
Indian students in Britain<br />
who campaigned for colonial<br />
freedom, <strong>and</strong> equality in<br />
Britain. It would later house<br />
<strong>the</strong> <strong>of</strong>fices <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Caribbean<br />
Arts Movement, <strong>the</strong><br />
Commission for Race Equality<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> West Indian St<strong>and</strong>ing<br />
Conference.<br />
Paul Robeson (below) <strong>and</strong><br />
Esl<strong>and</strong>a Goode Robeson were<br />
civil rights activist. One <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> most<br />
celebrated singers <strong>and</strong> ac<strong>to</strong>rs <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
20th century, Robeson was attacked,<br />
blacklisted <strong>and</strong> hounded by <strong>the</strong><br />
government for his political beliefs.<br />
Esl<strong>and</strong>a Robeson, known by her friends<br />
as "Essie," was an author, an<br />
anthropologist <strong>and</strong> a globally<br />
connected activist who worked <strong>to</strong> end<br />
colonialism in Africa, Engl<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> in <strong>the</strong><br />
United States.<br />
Bayard Rustin was close<br />
advisor <strong>to</strong> Martin Lu<strong>the</strong>r<br />
King <strong>and</strong> one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> most<br />
influential <strong>and</strong> effective organizers<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> civil rights movement, He<br />
spent time with leaders <strong>of</strong> India’s<br />
Independence Movement <strong>and</strong><br />
brought G<strong>and</strong>hi’s protest<br />
techniques <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> American civil<br />
rights movement. Rustin’s<br />
biography is particularly important<br />
for lesbian <strong>and</strong> gay Americans,<br />
highlighting <strong>the</strong> major<br />
contributions <strong>of</strong> a gay man <strong>to</strong><br />
ending <strong>of</strong>ficial segregation in<br />
America. He was friendly with <strong>the</strong><br />
Quaker Movement in Britain,<br />
<strong>and</strong> through this he met Marian<br />
Glean, who helped him arrange<br />
King’s brief visit <strong>to</strong> Britain.<br />
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1954<br />
Movement for Colonial<br />
Freedom<br />
After <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> World War 2,<br />
many felt that <strong>the</strong>y now deserved<br />
independence. This Congress is<br />
widely considered <strong>to</strong> have been<br />
<strong>the</strong> most important. Organised by<br />
<strong>the</strong> influential Trinidadian pan-<br />
Africanist George Padmore <strong>and</strong><br />
Ghanaian independence leader<br />
Kwame Nkrumah, it was<br />
attended by 90 delegates, 26 from<br />
Africa. They included many<br />
scholars, intellectuals <strong>and</strong><br />
political activists including<br />
American activist <strong>and</strong> academic<br />
W. E. B. Du Bois, <strong>and</strong> black<br />
activists from across Britain.<br />
Marion Glean prominent role within<br />
<strong>the</strong> black community. Glean brought<br />
<strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>r Alan Lovell <strong>and</strong> Michael<br />
R<strong>and</strong>le, who were pacifists <strong>and</strong> former<br />
members <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Committee <strong>of</strong> 100, with<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r friends who had written for Peace<br />
News including an Asian woman,<br />
Ranjana Ash (an active member <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Movement for Colonial Freedom),<br />
C. L. R. James <strong>and</strong> Barry Reckord.<br />
The initial outcome was that a debating<br />
group called Multi-Racial Britain was<br />
formed; however, when Martin Lu<strong>the</strong>r<br />
King, Jr was on his way <strong>to</strong> S<strong>to</strong>ckholm <strong>to</strong><br />
receive <strong>the</strong> Nobel Peace Prize, Glean<br />
arranged with Bayard Rustin for King<br />
<strong>to</strong> come <strong>to</strong> London <strong>to</strong> address a meeting,<br />
which was chaired by David Pitt.<br />
According <strong>to</strong> The Guardian′s report at<br />
<strong>the</strong> time: "Mrs Glean, hastily assembled<br />
about 30 Indians, Pakistanis, West Indians,<br />
<strong>and</strong> Africans...at <strong>the</strong> Hil<strong>to</strong>n Hotel in<br />
London, where Dr King spoke for only a<br />
few minutes. The whole discussion lasted<br />
only an hour <strong>and</strong> a half, but at <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong><br />
it <strong>the</strong> Campaign Against Racial<br />
Discrimination (CARD) was formed.<br />
1957<br />
Pakistani Welfare Association<br />
Established in 1957 <strong>to</strong> address <strong>the</strong> needs <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Pakistani community across<br />
<strong>the</strong> UK.<br />
1958<br />
Nottingham <strong>and</strong> Notting Hill riots<br />
On 23rd August 1958 civil unrest erupted in Nottingham as a result <strong>of</strong> racist attacks in <strong>the</strong> St. Annes<br />
area. A week later rioting erupted in Notting Hill. It began at around midnight on 30 August <strong>and</strong><br />
lasted a week. Crowds <strong>of</strong> up <strong>to</strong> 400 white youths chased Caribbeans in North Kensing<strong>to</strong>n. Petrol<br />
bombs <strong>and</strong> milk bottles were thrown at houses. Trouble spread <strong>to</strong> Padding<strong>to</strong>n, Notting Dale,<br />
Shepherd's Bush <strong>and</strong> Marylebone. Some 140 people were arrested, largely White, but including some<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Black victims who had armed <strong>the</strong>mselves in self-defence.<br />
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1959<br />
Association for <strong>the</strong><br />
Advancement <strong>of</strong> Coloured<br />
People<br />
Established in 1959 in response<br />
<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> death <strong>of</strong> Kelso Cochrane,<br />
<strong>and</strong> was a broad alliance <strong>of</strong><br />
leftist, Caribbean, African <strong>and</strong><br />
Asian organisations<br />
campaigning for race equality.<br />
1963<br />
Bris<strong>to</strong>l Bus Boycott<br />
The Bris<strong>to</strong>l Bus Boycott <strong>of</strong> 1963<br />
arose from <strong>the</strong> refusal <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Bris<strong>to</strong>l Omnibus Company <strong>to</strong><br />
employ black or Asian bus crews<br />
in <strong>the</strong> city <strong>of</strong> Bris<strong>to</strong>l, Engl<strong>and</strong>. In<br />
common with o<strong>the</strong>r British<br />
cities, Bris<strong>to</strong>l was plagued by<br />
colour bars <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> campaign<br />
helped <strong>to</strong> raise <strong>the</strong> issue across<br />
<strong>the</strong> country.<br />
Malcolm X visits UK<br />
Claudia Jones <strong>and</strong> Indian Workers<br />
Association invited Malcolm <strong>to</strong> visit<br />
Smethwick, a <strong>to</strong>wn plagued by colour bars<br />
<strong>and</strong> racism. “I have come,” Malcolm X <strong>to</strong>ld<br />
reporters as he posed for pictures in<br />
Marshall Street, “because I am disturbed<br />
by reports that coloured people in<br />
Smethwick are being treated badly. I have<br />
heard <strong>the</strong>y are being treated as <strong>the</strong> Jews<br />
were under Hitler.” Reporters asked him<br />
what should be done. “I would not wait for<br />
<strong>the</strong> fascist elements in Smethwick <strong>to</strong> erect<br />
gas ovens.”<br />
1964<br />
Smethwick Election<br />
In 1964, <strong>the</strong> West Midl<strong>and</strong>s constituency <strong>of</strong> Smethwick was <strong>the</strong> most colour-conscious place in <strong>the</strong><br />
country, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> scene <strong>of</strong> a Tory campaign that successfully exploited anti-immigrant sentiment.<br />
In what is surely <strong>the</strong> most racist election campaign ever fought in Britain, <strong>the</strong> Labour incumbent,<br />
shadow home secretary Patrick Gordon Walker lost his seat <strong>and</strong> saw is vote reduced from 20,670<br />
in <strong>the</strong> previous election <strong>to</strong> 14,916.<br />
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1965<br />
Campaign against Racial Discrimination<br />
The Campaign Against Racial Discrimination (CARD) was launched 1965 <strong>and</strong> lobbied for race relations<br />
legislation. The group's formation was inspired by a visit by Martin Lu<strong>the</strong>r King <strong>to</strong> London in<br />
December 1964. The Trinidadian pacifist Marion Glean, <strong>the</strong>n a graduate student at <strong>the</strong> London School<br />
<strong>of</strong> Economics, arranged with Bayard Rustin for King <strong>to</strong> meet a group <strong>of</strong> Black spokespersons <strong>and</strong><br />
activists at <strong>the</strong> Hil<strong>to</strong>n Hotel, where an ad hoc committee was formed for a movement <strong>to</strong> "agitate for<br />
social justice <strong>and</strong> oppose all forms <strong>of</strong> discrimination”. CARD's founding members, as well as Marion<br />
Glean, included politician Anthony Lester, London County Councillor David Pitt, C. L. R. James<br />
<strong>and</strong> Hamza Alavi.<br />
1966<br />
Caribbean Arts Movement<br />
The Caribbean Artists Movement (CAM) was an<br />
influential cultural initiative, begun in London,<br />
Engl<strong>and</strong>, in 1966. It focused on <strong>the</strong> works being<br />
produced by Caribbean writers, visual artists,<br />
poets, dramatists, film makers, ac<strong>to</strong>rs <strong>and</strong><br />
musicians. The key people involved in setting up<br />
CAM were Edward Kamau Brathwaite, John La<br />
Rose <strong>and</strong> Andrew Salkey. In its intense five-year<br />
existence it set <strong>the</strong> dominant artistic trends, at<br />
<strong>the</strong> same time forging a bridge between West<br />
Indian migrants <strong>and</strong> those who came <strong>to</strong> be known<br />
as black Bri<strong>to</strong>ns. O<strong>the</strong>r notable artists <strong>and</strong><br />
intellectuals associated with CAM include C. L. R.<br />
James, Stuart Hall, Wilson Harris, Kenneth<br />
Ramch<strong>and</strong>, Ronald Moody, Aubrey Williams,<br />
Gordon Rohlehr, Chris<strong>to</strong>pher Laird, Louis<br />
James, Orl<strong>and</strong>o Patterson, Ivan Van Sertima,<br />
Al<strong>the</strong>a McNish, Donald Hinds, James Berry,<br />
Errol Lloyd, Anne Walmsley. <strong>and</strong> Lin<strong>to</strong>n<br />
Kwesi.Johnson<br />
Gus John - Augustine "Gus" John<br />
is a Grenadian-born writer,<br />
education campaigner, lecturer <strong>and</strong><br />
researcher, <strong>and</strong> has been an activist<br />
in Britain for over five decades. He<br />
moved <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> UK in 1964 <strong>and</strong><br />
became a member <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Campaign Against Racial<br />
Discrimination (CARD), <strong>the</strong><br />
New Cross Massacre Action<br />
Committee, <strong>and</strong> one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
organisers <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> "Black<br />
People's Day <strong>of</strong> Action" held<br />
on 2 March, a response <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
New Cross Fire. Following <strong>the</strong><br />
uprisings in Moss Side in July 1981<br />
he chaired <strong>the</strong> Moss Side<br />
Defence Committee, he was<br />
adviser <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Liverpool 8<br />
Defence Committee following<br />
<strong>the</strong> Toxteth Uprisings that same<br />
year. He was <strong>the</strong> co-ordina<strong>to</strong>r <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> Black Parents Movement<br />
in Manchester, founded <strong>the</strong><br />
Education for Liberation book<br />
service <strong>and</strong> helped <strong>to</strong> organise <strong>the</strong><br />
International Book Fair <strong>of</strong><br />
Radical Black <strong>and</strong> Third<br />
World Books in Manchester,<br />
London <strong>and</strong> Bradford. In 1989 he<br />
was appointed Direc<strong>to</strong>r <strong>of</strong><br />
Education in Hackney <strong>and</strong> was <strong>the</strong><br />
first black person <strong>to</strong> hold such a<br />
position.<br />
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1967<br />
Universal Coloured Peoples Association<br />
The UCPA was established in 1967 by Nigerian, Obi Bene<br />
Egbuna <strong>and</strong> Indian, Ajay Ghose. The UCPA <strong>to</strong>ok a militant st<strong>and</strong><br />
against racism. Several members <strong>of</strong> UCPA were fined for<br />
incitement <strong>to</strong> racism, most noticeable was Roy Sawah. The use <strong>of</strong><br />
Race Relations <strong>to</strong> fine leaders <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> black power movement was<br />
fairly common in <strong>the</strong> late 1960’s.<br />
1967<br />
The Congress on <strong>the</strong> Dialectics <strong>of</strong><br />
Liberation<br />
The congress on <strong>the</strong><br />
Dialectics <strong>of</strong><br />
Liberation was an<br />
international<br />
congress organised in<br />
London between 15 <strong>and</strong> 30 July 1967. Set<br />
against <strong>the</strong> backdrop <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> war in<br />
Vietnam, uprisings in <strong>the</strong> US, <strong>the</strong> US Black<br />
Power movement <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong> antipsychiatry<br />
movement, <strong>the</strong> aim <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Congress was ‘<strong>to</strong> form a long-term<br />
network <strong>of</strong> people who were interested in<br />
an in-depth, nitty-gritty examination <strong>of</strong><br />
what seemed <strong>to</strong> be <strong>the</strong> most important<br />
critical areas in <strong>the</strong> state <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> human<br />
species’. The wide spectrum <strong>of</strong> speakers<br />
included Herbert Marcuse, William<br />
Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, R.D Laing,<br />
<strong>and</strong> S<strong>to</strong>kely Carmichael. Whilst in<br />
London he addressed a meeting <strong>of</strong><br />
activists in Hackney invited by John La<br />
Rose <strong>and</strong> CLR James, Micheal X, Stefan<br />
Darcus Howe (below) is a British<br />
broadcaster, writer, <strong>and</strong> civil liberties<br />
campaigner. Like his uncle, CLR James,<br />
Howe came from Trinidad. He arrived in<br />
Engl<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> throughout his life he spoke<br />
frequently with CLR James. He joined <strong>the</strong><br />
British Black Pan<strong>the</strong>rs in 1970, <strong>and</strong><br />
came <strong>to</strong> public attention as one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Mangrove Nine, when he marched <strong>to</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> police station in Notting Hill, London,<br />
<strong>to</strong> protest against police raids <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Mangrove restaurant, <strong>and</strong> again in<br />
1981 when he worked with John La<br />
Rose, Gus John <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs <strong>to</strong> organise<br />
a 20,000-strong "Black People's<br />
March" in protest at <strong>the</strong> h<strong>and</strong>ling <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
investigation in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> New Cross Fire,<br />
in which 13 black teenagers die. He is a<br />
former edi<strong>to</strong>r <strong>of</strong> Race Today, <strong>and</strong><br />
former chair <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Notting Hill<br />
Carnival. He is best known in <strong>the</strong> UK<br />
for his Black on Black series on<br />
Channel 4; his current affairs programme,<br />
Devil's Advocate.<br />
Kalipha <strong>and</strong> Horace Ove. His scorn for<br />
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1968<br />
British Black Pan<strong>the</strong>r Movement<br />
The Black Pan<strong>the</strong>r Movement was first Pan<strong>the</strong>r organisation <strong>to</strong> form outside <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> USA. It was<br />
founded by Obi Egbuna in 1968, however after his arrest, <strong>the</strong> leadership was passed <strong>to</strong> Al<strong>the</strong>a<br />
Jone-Lecointe. In 1970 Darcus Howe <strong>and</strong> Farrukh Dhondy joined <strong>the</strong> movement. Around 1970,<br />
<strong>the</strong> Pan<strong>the</strong>rs relocated <strong>the</strong> centre <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir organization from Por<strong>to</strong>bello <strong>Road</strong> in Notting Hill <strong>to</strong><br />
Brix<strong>to</strong>n <strong>and</strong> established separate branches in Ac<strong>to</strong>n <strong>and</strong> Finsbury Park as part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir push <strong>to</strong><br />
establish roots in <strong>the</strong> poorest black communities. In doing so, <strong>the</strong> new leadership, in contrast <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
old, focused on community outreach. A minority <strong>of</strong> Pan<strong>the</strong>rs were not happy with this new<br />
direction. Tony Soares, left <strong>the</strong> Pan<strong>the</strong>rs in 1970 <strong>to</strong> help form <strong>the</strong> separatist Black Liberation<br />
Front, In 1973, <strong>the</strong> BBPM ceased with some organized under <strong>the</strong> new name <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Black Workers’<br />
Movement. Shortly afterwards Howe, Leila Hassan, <strong>and</strong> Dhondy started <strong>the</strong> Race Today<br />
Collective.<br />
1968<br />
RIvers <strong>of</strong> Blood<br />
Enoch Powell's April ‘68 address<br />
<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> West Midl<strong>and</strong>s Area<br />
Conservative Centre was a speech<br />
criticising Commonwealth<br />
immigration <strong>and</strong> antidiscrimination<br />
legislation. It was<br />
set against <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong> assignation <strong>of</strong><br />
Martin Lu<strong>the</strong>r King a week earlier,<br />
riots in <strong>the</strong> US, <strong>and</strong> increasing black<br />
militancy in <strong>the</strong> Black Power<br />
movement. The racism unleashed<br />
by <strong>the</strong> speech lasted through <strong>the</strong><br />
1970s, <strong>and</strong> led <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> increasing<br />
popularity <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> far right National<br />
Front.<br />
Olive Morris (right) was a community leader <strong>and</strong> activist in <strong>the</strong><br />
feminist, black nationalist, <strong>and</strong> squatters' rights campaigns <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
1970s in <strong>the</strong> United Kingdom. She was a founding member <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Organisation <strong>of</strong> Women <strong>of</strong> African <strong>and</strong> Asian<br />
Descent (OWAAD) in London, established <strong>the</strong> Brix<strong>to</strong>n<br />
Black Women's Group, was a member <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> British<br />
Black Pan<strong>the</strong>rs movement, <strong>and</strong> helped found <strong>the</strong><br />
Manchester Black Women's Cooperative <strong>and</strong><br />
Manchester Black Women's Mutual Aid Group.<br />
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1968<br />
Black Peoples Alliance<br />
In 1968 <strong>the</strong> Black People’s Alliance was formed in response <strong>to</strong> Enoch Powell’s ‘rivers <strong>of</strong> blood’ speech.<br />
It brought <strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>r more than 50 African, Caribbean <strong>and</strong> Asian organisations. In 1969 activists organised a march<br />
<strong>of</strong> more than 7,000 people, dem<strong>and</strong>ing that <strong>the</strong> legislation proposed <strong>to</strong> s<strong>to</strong>p immigration from black<br />
commonwealth countries should be dropped. This was <strong>the</strong> largest such black demo <strong>to</strong> that date.<br />
1970<br />
Black Freedom <strong>and</strong> Unity Party<br />
Formed in 1970 by Alrick (Ricky) Xavier<br />
Cambridge, George Joseph, Danny Morrell <strong>and</strong><br />
Sonia Chang, among o<strong>the</strong>rs. In its early years <strong>the</strong><br />
organisation had three branches, two in London<br />
<strong>and</strong> one in Manchester. The BUFP's actively<br />
sought solidarity with groups like <strong>the</strong> Indian<br />
Workers' Association (GB) <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Institute <strong>of</strong><br />
Race Relations. From August 1970,t he BUFP<br />
also began publishing a newspaper, Black Voice.<br />
This was printed in <strong>the</strong> form <strong>of</strong> a tabloid<br />
newspaper with pictures <strong>and</strong> articles<br />
documenting British <strong>and</strong> international political<br />
developments <strong>and</strong> was an important publication<br />
until is demise at end <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 1980’s. Black<br />
Women's Action Committee was set up within<br />
<strong>the</strong> BUR by female member Gerlin Bean <strong>and</strong> in<br />
1971 it published a pamphlet called 'Black Women<br />
Speak Out, which gave a female perspective <strong>to</strong><br />
racism.<br />
Mala Sen (above) is a writer who <strong>to</strong><br />
writing through social activism, having<br />
taken up numerous causes in London in<br />
<strong>the</strong> 1960s, at a time when women's<br />
groups were emerging <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>re was a<br />
combined movement <strong>of</strong> black activist<br />
organisations. After her divorce, She<br />
fought for <strong>the</strong> rights <strong>of</strong> Indian fac<strong>to</strong>ry<br />
workers in Leicester. She was a member<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Race Today collective, <strong>and</strong><br />
she reported on how Bangladeshis in<br />
<strong>the</strong> East End <strong>of</strong> London worked in<br />
sweatshops. Toge<strong>the</strong>r with her husb<strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r activists, Sen founded <strong>the</strong><br />
Bengali Housing Action Group<br />
which led <strong>to</strong> Bengalis Youth Movements<br />
in east London. She is also remembered<br />
for her book India's B<strong>and</strong>it Queen:<br />
The True S<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>of</strong> Phoolan Devi<br />
which led <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> highly acclaimed 1994<br />
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Art, Activism, Race <strong>and</strong> Social Justice - 1900/<strong>1976</strong><br />
1971<br />
Mangrove 9 Trial<br />
The Mangrove was a restaurant in Notting Hill, owned by Frank Criclow, which quickly became<br />
centre for <strong>the</strong> black community, attracting intellectuals, creatives <strong>and</strong> campaigners. The restaurant<br />
was repeatedly raided by police. The central incident <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Mangrove affair <strong>to</strong>ok place when a<br />
deputation <strong>of</strong> 150 black people protested against long-term police harassment <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> popular<br />
Mangrove Restaurant. The protest later led <strong>to</strong> nine arrests <strong>and</strong> 29 charges. The nine were<br />
Barbara Beese, Rupert Boyce, Frank Critchlow, Rhodan Gordon, Darcus Howe, Anthony Innis,<br />
Al<strong>the</strong>a Lecointe Jones, Rothwell Kentish, <strong>and</strong> Godfrey Millett. The charges ranged from making<br />
an affray, incitement <strong>to</strong> riot, assaulting a policeman, <strong>to</strong> having an <strong>of</strong>fensive weapon. 22 <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
charges against <strong>the</strong> nine were dismissed including all <strong>the</strong> serious ones. Only seven minor counts<br />
were found proven. The high pr<strong>of</strong>ile trial lasted for two months finishing in December 1971 with five<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> defendants being completely acquitted<br />
1974<br />
Race <strong>and</strong> Class<br />
In 1972 Britain's oldest <strong>and</strong> largest non-governmental race<br />
relations organisation, <strong>the</strong> IRR changed beyond recognition when<br />
its staff voted against <strong>the</strong> wishes <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir board <strong>of</strong> direc<strong>to</strong>rs <strong>and</strong><br />
financial backers <strong>to</strong> transform <strong>the</strong> organisation from 'a policyorientated,<br />
disinterested research body in<strong>to</strong> a progressive thinktank<br />
in <strong>the</strong> service <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> black community. Unbeknown <strong>to</strong> senior<br />
management, As a result, by 1974 <strong>the</strong> IRR had lost all its old<br />
sources <strong>of</strong> funding <strong>and</strong> its premises <strong>and</strong> consisted <strong>of</strong> just a library<br />
<strong>and</strong> three members <strong>of</strong> staff, Sivan<strong>and</strong>an, Bourne <strong>and</strong> Hazel<br />
Waters. They kept <strong>the</strong> Institute going with <strong>the</strong> help <strong>of</strong> unpaid<br />
volunteers from <strong>the</strong> black community, including several Black<br />
Power activists such as <strong>the</strong> BLF's Tony Soares, <strong>the</strong> BUFP's Roger<br />
L<strong>of</strong>tus <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> BPM's Darcus Howe. In 1974 Race <strong>and</strong> Class – a<br />
journal for Black <strong>and</strong> Third World Liberation – became <strong>the</strong><br />
leading international English-language journal on racism <strong>and</strong><br />
imperialism, attracting <strong>to</strong> its edi<strong>to</strong>rial board Orl<strong>and</strong>o Letelier,<br />
Eqbal Ahmad, Malcolm Caldwell, John Berger, Basil<br />
Davidson, Thomas Hodgkin, Jan Carew, Manning Marable<br />
among o<strong>the</strong>rs.<br />
Two key figures in <strong>the</strong> work <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Indian Workers Association<br />
(GB) <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Birmingham branch<br />
were Jagmohan Joshi <strong>and</strong><br />
Avtar Jouhl. Joshi, who spent his<br />
entire life engaged in revolutionary<br />
<strong>and</strong> campaigning activity, was General<br />
Secretary <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> IWA (GB) from<br />
1964 until 1979 <strong>and</strong> was also involved<br />
in a number <strong>of</strong> alliances in which he<br />
established links with people like<br />
Maurice Ludmer, Roy Sawh<br />
<strong>and</strong> Claudia Jones. From 1972<br />
until his death in 1979, Joshi ran a<br />
bookshop called ‘Progressive<br />
Books <strong>and</strong> Asian Arts’ on<br />
Bris<strong>to</strong>l <strong>Road</strong>. The bookshop sold<br />
Marxist <strong>and</strong> progressive literature<br />
from all over <strong>the</strong> world as well as<br />
Chinese arts <strong>and</strong> crafts. Jouhl was<br />
active as a union shop-steward in <strong>the</strong><br />
foundries <strong>and</strong> served as secretary <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> Birmingham branch <strong>and</strong> General<br />
Secretary <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Indian Workers<br />
Association (GB) from 1961 until<br />
1964. Both men came from <strong>the</strong><br />
Punjab <strong>and</strong> were instrumental in<br />
leading local <strong>and</strong> national campaigns<br />
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Art, Activism, Race <strong>and</strong> Social Justice - 1900/<strong>1976</strong><br />
1974<br />
Imperial Typewriters strike, Leicester<br />
In May 1974, 1,100 Asian workers at <strong>the</strong><br />
Imperial Typewriter Company in Leicester<br />
went on strike over unequal bonus payments<br />
<strong>and</strong> discrimination in promotion. The shop<br />
stewards committee <strong>and</strong> union branch<br />
refused <strong>the</strong>ir support, but <strong>the</strong> strikers,<br />
supported by Benny Bunsee, a South<br />
African Asian, <strong>the</strong> Indian Workers<br />
Association, Race Today <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs, stayed<br />
on strike for almost 14 weeks. The dispute<br />
was important in shifting <strong>the</strong> attitude <strong>of</strong><br />
British trade unionists <strong>to</strong> immigrant workers.<br />
This would bear fruit with much wider<br />
support for <strong>the</strong> largely Asian Grunwick<br />
dispute three years later.<br />
Bennie Bunsee (right) was born in Durban,<br />
South African in 1935 He joined <strong>the</strong> Pan<br />
Africanist Congress (PAC) in <strong>the</strong> early 1960s<br />
<strong>and</strong> was part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> first group that went <strong>to</strong> China<br />
for military training with o<strong>the</strong>r PAC stalwarts.<br />
Bunsee was influenced by <strong>the</strong> ideologies <strong>of</strong><br />
Robert Sobukwe <strong>and</strong>, later, Steve Biko. He<br />
moved <strong>to</strong> Leicester in <strong>the</strong> late 1960s, <strong>and</strong> was a<br />
champion <strong>of</strong> black workers <strong>and</strong> blazed a trail as<br />
leader <strong>of</strong> Asian strikers at <strong>the</strong> Mansfield<br />
Hosiery Mills in 1972, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Imperial<br />
Typewriters strike in 1974.<br />
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Known racist murders in <strong>the</strong> UK<br />
during <strong>the</strong> 1970s<br />
1970<br />
April – Tausir Ali, east London<br />
December – Abdul Bari, Birmingham<br />
1971<br />
January – Chancal Singh, west Yorkshire<br />
1973<br />
April – Velma Murray, Coventry<br />
June- Jag Singh Kenth, Leicester<br />
July – Jennifer Williams, Birmingham<br />
1975<br />
January – Ronald Jones, south London<br />
February – Hec<strong>to</strong>r Smith, Glasgow<br />
<strong>1976</strong><br />
May – Ribbi Al-Haddia, Woodford, Essex<br />
May – Dinesh Choudhury, Woodford, Essex<br />
June – Gurdip Singh Chaggar, Southall<br />
August – Mohan Gautam, Leaming<strong>to</strong>n Spa<br />
1978<br />
April – Kennith Singh, Plais<strong>to</strong>w, east London<br />
May – Altab Ali, Tower hamlets, east London<br />
June – Ishaque Ali, Hackney, east London<br />
July – Benjamin Thompson, northwest London<br />
September – Vernon Brown, Birmingham<br />
September – Amber Ali, north London<br />
December – Micheal Ferreira, S<strong>to</strong>ke Newing<strong>to</strong>n, east London<br />
1979<br />
January – Abdul Aziz, Peterborough<br />
August – Kayimarz Anklesaria, east London<br />
August – Sawdagar Khan, Birmingham<br />
Source : Cottle, S (1989) The Racist Murder <strong>of</strong> Stephen Lawrence, Media Performance <strong>and</strong> Public Transformation<br />
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Industrial disputes involving black<br />
<strong>and</strong> asian workers 1965-1975<br />
Start date Name Location Notes<br />
Jun-65<br />
Nov-65<br />
Lancashire rubber firm<br />
R Woolf <strong>and</strong> Co Southall<br />
8 workers dismissed<br />
for refused <strong>to</strong> take<br />
orders from Pakistani<br />
foreman<br />
Strike <strong>of</strong> 600 Punjabi<br />
Dec-65 Middlesex rubber firm<br />
men over union rights<br />
Jul-66<br />
Feb-67<br />
NUP Eus<strong>to</strong>n<br />
West Bromwich<br />
West Indian guard<br />
applied for job at<br />
NUP Eus<strong>to</strong>n but <strong>to</strong>ld<br />
policy <strong>to</strong> not employ<br />
coloured guards<br />
300 white women<br />
May-67 Coneygre fac<strong>to</strong>ry Tip<strong>to</strong>n<br />
workers walk out<br />
after 15 year old<br />
Jamaican employed<br />
- agreement reached<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> workers work<br />
alongside <strong>the</strong> colored<br />
woman<br />
TGWU members’<br />
Aug-67 Newby foundry West Bromwich<br />
mainly Asian workers’<br />
position was <strong>to</strong> work<br />
share instead <strong>of</strong><br />
redundancies. But<br />
<strong>the</strong> AEU members<br />
who were mainly<br />
white were in favour<br />
<strong>of</strong> redundancies<br />
instead <strong>of</strong> work share.<br />
The strike lasted 10<br />
weeks. Employers<br />
brought scab labour<br />
but strikers did not let<br />
<strong>the</strong>m cross <strong>the</strong> picket<br />
line.<br />
Newby foundry <strong>and</strong><br />
Jul-68 Queensbury Middlesex<br />
<strong>the</strong> workers unitedly<br />
fought for <strong>the</strong>ir right<br />
Pakistani workers on<br />
strike over law pay<br />
<strong>and</strong> conditions<br />
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May-69<br />
Jun-69<br />
Essex fac<strong>to</strong>ry<br />
Lancashire Textile fac<strong>to</strong>ry<br />
900 men went on<br />
strike over dismissal<br />
<strong>of</strong> Indian shop<br />
steward<br />
400 Indian <strong>and</strong><br />
Feb-70 Dartmouth castings West Bromwich<br />
Pakistani opera<strong>to</strong>rs<br />
went on strike over<br />
reduction in pay<br />
Workers went on<br />
Feb-70 Midl<strong>and</strong> Mo<strong>to</strong>r Smethwick<br />
strike because 24<br />
Indians were refused<br />
<strong>to</strong> join <strong>the</strong> AEF<br />
Mr Shir Singh was<br />
Feb-70 Aluminium Dyecasting Birmingham<br />
promoted <strong>to</strong> job<br />
<strong>of</strong> moulder, white<br />
workers complained<br />
<strong>and</strong> Mr Shir Singh was<br />
sacked<br />
10 Kashmiris<br />
Apr-70 Courtaulds Wolverhamp<strong>to</strong>n<br />
complained that <strong>the</strong>y<br />
had been sacked<br />
for attending prayer<br />
meetings<br />
Dispute around<br />
May-70 GKN Fac<strong>to</strong>ry Birmingham<br />
Ronald Davidsonm<br />
a NF member <strong>and</strong><br />
shop steward, He<br />
claimed white<br />
workers would strike<br />
if his bid <strong>to</strong> become<br />
shop steward was<br />
blocked by coloured<br />
workers - he expected<br />
Wolverhamp<strong>to</strong>n IWA<br />
would s<strong>to</strong>p his bid <strong>to</strong><br />
st<strong>and</strong> for NF in local<br />
elections<br />
Trouble started when<br />
<strong>the</strong> management put<br />
up a notice about<br />
<strong>the</strong> race relations<br />
act - white workers<br />
assumed that <strong>the</strong>y<br />
had done wrong- but<br />
<strong>the</strong>y claimed <strong>to</strong> get<br />
on well with black<br />
<strong>and</strong> Asian workers<br />
- strikers wanted a<br />
apology<br />
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Dec-70<br />
Apr-71<br />
Birmid Qualcast foundry<br />
Bradford Mills<br />
Wolverhamp<strong>to</strong>n<br />
Bradford<br />
4,500 Asian Indians<br />
went on un<strong>of</strong>ficial<br />
strike over a pay<br />
claim - <strong>the</strong> men acted<br />
independently <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
union - 2 foundries<br />
closed for a month<br />
A dozen immigrants<br />
Dec-71 Green <strong>and</strong> Russell Wednesfield<br />
allege that <strong>the</strong>y<br />
had been dismissed<br />
because <strong>of</strong> increase in<br />
work<br />
130 Indian went on<br />
Mar-72 ideal Casement Reading<br />
strike alleging that<br />
white men had been<br />
<strong>to</strong>ld by o<strong>the</strong>rs <strong>to</strong><br />
join a white man’s<br />
union, <strong>and</strong> that <strong>the</strong><br />
management had<br />
promoted whites over<br />
Asians<br />
Two west Indians <strong>and</strong><br />
May-72 Vicrafy Metal Spinning Smethwick<br />
Asian were ordered<br />
<strong>to</strong> withdraw strike<br />
notices<br />
TGWU claim colour<br />
Jun-72 Crepe Sizes Nottingham<br />
bar in operation over<br />
'<strong>to</strong>ilets' - he claimed<br />
that Asians were<br />
threatened with a fine<br />
if <strong>the</strong>y used <strong>to</strong>ilets<br />
reserved for whites -<br />
over 30 men went on<br />
strike over <strong>the</strong> colour<br />
bars<br />
39 Pakistani workers<br />
Jun-72 Stanmore Engineering Wembley<br />
won <strong>the</strong>ir strike for<br />
<strong>the</strong> re-instatement <strong>of</strong><br />
five men sacked <strong>and</strong><br />
for union <strong>and</strong> shop<br />
steward recognition.<br />
140 machine<br />
opera<strong>to</strong>rs, 120<br />
Asian - <strong>the</strong> Guardian<br />
(27/6/72) said it<br />
was <strong>the</strong> first strike<br />
<strong>to</strong> be organised by<br />
black workers with<br />
<strong>the</strong> support <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Pan<strong>the</strong>rs <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Black Workers League.<br />
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Oct-72<br />
Nov-72<br />
Brillo Works<br />
British Army<br />
Maidenhead<br />
Tidworth Barracks<br />
90 Pakistani admitted<br />
that <strong>the</strong>y were foced<br />
<strong>to</strong> pay bribes <strong>of</strong> 20 <strong>to</strong><br />
get jobs at <strong>the</strong> fac<strong>to</strong>ry.<br />
After a brawl between<br />
black <strong>and</strong> white<br />
soldiers, three white<br />
soldiers were fined<br />
at Winchester crown<br />
court<br />
Jan-73<br />
Midl<strong>and</strong>s Mo<strong>to</strong>r Cylinder<br />
(Birmid)<br />
Smethwick<br />
Closure <strong>of</strong><br />
Middlemore <strong>Road</strong><br />
foundry threatened <strong>to</strong><br />
start a row with over<br />
150 Asian complaining<br />
that <strong>the</strong> fac<strong>to</strong>ry<br />
were being made<br />
redundant <strong>to</strong> make<br />
way for white workers<br />
Mar-73<br />
Mar-73<br />
Mansfield Hosery<br />
Zulu Seaman<br />
Loughborough<br />
Merchant Navy<br />
Dispute arose because<br />
an Asian was refused<br />
<strong>the</strong> job <strong>of</strong> knitter<br />
although he had<br />
worked in <strong>the</strong> fac<strong>to</strong>ry<br />
- white were taken on<br />
a knitters only<br />
17 Zulu seamen<br />
May-73 Jaffe <strong>and</strong> Son Nottingham<br />
walked <strong>of</strong>f British ship<br />
in Sweden for poor<br />
wage conditions.<br />
32 Asian went on 12<br />
day strike dem<strong>and</strong>ing<br />
reinstatement <strong>of</strong><br />
a worker <strong>and</strong> poor<br />
working conditions<br />
Jun-73<br />
Midl<strong>and</strong>s Mo<strong>to</strong>r Cylinder<br />
(Birmid)<br />
Smethwick<br />
180 Asian workers<br />
s<strong>to</strong>pped work <strong>of</strong>r<br />
more than a month<br />
because a white<br />
foreman had behaved<br />
unreasonably <strong>to</strong>wards<br />
a Sikh shop steward.<br />
Jul-73<br />
Aug-73<br />
Crawley Moulding<br />
Artid Plastics<br />
Surrey<br />
Slough<br />
20 Asian workers<br />
went on strike for<br />
a week after one<br />
workers was sent<br />
home for refusing <strong>to</strong><br />
work faster.<br />
Pakistani strike<br />
for better pay <strong>and</strong><br />
conditions<br />
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Sep-73<br />
Nov-73<br />
Qualcast Lawn Moers<br />
St<strong>and</strong>ard Telephone Company<br />
Derby<br />
New Southgate<br />
The Derby trades<br />
council urged its<br />
members <strong>to</strong> boycott<br />
products <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
company after <strong>the</strong><br />
company refused <strong>to</strong><br />
allow Pakistani shop<br />
stewards <strong>to</strong> take a<br />
shop stewards course<br />
In August 300 black<br />
Nov-73 London Eating Housing Group<br />
workers went on<br />
strike for 8 weeks<br />
alleging vicitimisation<br />
<strong>of</strong> a black workers<br />
TGWU were involved<br />
Nov-73 GKN Bolts <strong>and</strong> Nuts Birmingham<br />
in negotiations <strong>to</strong> end<br />
a week long strike by<br />
450 Turkish workers<br />
Asian man went on<br />
Dec-73 Fords - Dagenham Essex<br />
strike because he<br />
wanted pay rise<br />
Arbitration rules that<br />
Dec-73 Perivale Gutterman Middlesex<br />
Fords had wrongfully<br />
dismissed Wins<strong>to</strong>n<br />
Williams after an<br />
incident in which<br />
it was claimed he<br />
threatened a foreman<br />
with a iron bar.<br />
After <strong>the</strong> dismissal<br />
in Sep 73, 2,400<br />
men walked out <strong>and</strong><br />
8,000 workers were<br />
laid <strong>of</strong>f. The dispute<br />
sprang from a incident<br />
where <strong>the</strong> foreman<br />
used excessive force<br />
on Mr Williams.<br />
TGWU supported Mr<br />
Williams<br />
70 Asian workers<br />
maintained a picket<br />
line for 4 weeks after<br />
<strong>the</strong>y were locked out<br />
by management. They<br />
alleged that <strong>the</strong> walk<br />
out was a result <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
management slave<br />
owner management.<br />
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Dec-73<br />
Mar-74<br />
British Steel works<br />
Art Castings<br />
Wolverhamp<strong>to</strong>n<br />
Nunea<strong>to</strong>n<br />
Industrial Tribunal<br />
heard that <strong>the</strong> case<br />
<strong>of</strong> Indian workers<br />
who had ignored <strong>the</strong><br />
new shift system it<br />
was started because<br />
it interfered with<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir Sunday religious<br />
activities. The 20<br />
Indians, all from<br />
Wolverhamp<strong>to</strong>n,<br />
claimed unfair<br />
dismissal.<br />
83 Asian transport<br />
Apr-74 Mansfield Hosiery Leicester<br />
workers went on<br />
strike for three<br />
months’ <strong>of</strong>ficial<br />
support by TGWU<br />
- white workers <strong>of</strong><br />
TWGU refused <strong>to</strong> join<br />
<strong>the</strong> strike a few did<br />
600 employees were<br />
Apr-74 Laings (Barbican Art Centre) London<br />
involved in a protest<br />
s<strong>to</strong>ppage over a<br />
report that a Indian<br />
girl linker was earning<br />
70 a week - <strong>the</strong>y<br />
dem<strong>and</strong>ed higher<br />
wages, claiming <strong>the</strong>y<br />
worked hard. NUHKW<br />
said <strong>the</strong> report was<br />
wrong<br />
Workers went on<br />
May-74 Imperial Typewriters Leicester<br />
strike in solidarity<br />
with a Sikh man who<br />
answered back <strong>to</strong><br />
abuse from foreman.<br />
Biggest his<strong>to</strong>rical black<br />
strike after Mansfield<br />
Asian workers<br />
dem<strong>and</strong>ed equality<br />
for women, revision<br />
<strong>of</strong> PI Bonus system<br />
more shop stewards<br />
representation <strong>and</strong><br />
equality in promotion.<br />
T<strong>and</strong>G <strong>and</strong> white<br />
workers did not<br />
support <strong>the</strong> strike.<br />
T<strong>and</strong> G set up inquiry<br />
<strong>and</strong> backed strike<br />
dem<strong>and</strong>s<br />
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Aug-74<br />
Aug-74<br />
Kenilworth Components<br />
Barring<strong>to</strong>n Products<br />
Kenilworth Asian ladies <strong>and</strong> men<br />
twice came out on<br />
strike over low pay<br />
<strong>and</strong> long hours. The<br />
women being paid<br />
something like #12 for<br />
42 hour week<br />
Strike over low<br />
Aug-74 Combined Optical Industry Slough<br />
pay. Asian workers<br />
dem<strong>and</strong>ed an<br />
increase about 10 in<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir basic wages<br />
Pakistani strike<br />
Dec-74 Delta Mouldings<br />
for better pay <strong>and</strong><br />
conditions<br />
Strike over low pay.<br />
Jan-75<br />
Feb-75<br />
Intax Ltd<br />
Yarnolds<br />
Asian workers came<br />
out on victimisation<br />
over white a shop<br />
steward<br />
Asian women strike<br />
over low pay<br />
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References<br />
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Jaqueline Jenkinson : Black Britain 1919<br />
1. It should be noted that many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> primary sources used <strong>to</strong> research this book provided little<br />
specific information on nationality, hence where such detail is missing or in cases where groups <strong>of</strong><br />
people <strong>of</strong><br />
various nationalities are involved, <strong>the</strong> term „black‟ is used <strong>to</strong> describe people from Africa, those <strong>of</strong><br />
African Caribbean birth <strong>and</strong> persons <strong>of</strong> African descent. For people from Asia, <strong>the</strong> terms used are<br />
Chinese where this can be identified <strong>and</strong> South Asian for those from <strong>the</strong> Indian sub-continent. Readers<br />
may also need <strong>to</strong> know that all sailors from <strong>the</strong> Indian sub-continent were identified in contemporary<br />
accounts as „Lascars.‟ The term „Lascar‟ had its roots in <strong>the</strong> Urdu name for an army or camp: „lashkar‟<br />
<strong>and</strong> had developed through usage <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> term „gun-lascar‟ for artillery men used on board Royal Navy<br />
ships in <strong>the</strong> eighteenth century. Sailors from terri<strong>to</strong>ries in East Africa, <strong>the</strong> horn <strong>of</strong> Africa <strong>and</strong> south west<br />
Arabia, including <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>n British port <strong>of</strong> Aden, <strong>the</strong> protec<strong>to</strong>rate <strong>of</strong> Aden <strong>and</strong> Somalia (Somalil<strong>and</strong>) are<br />
referred <strong>to</strong> by nation where known. This type <strong>of</strong> information is frequently unknown, <strong>and</strong> in this instance,<br />
<strong>the</strong> contemporary catch-all term „Arab‟ is used in paren<strong>the</strong>sis.<br />
2. See chapter two for more on <strong>the</strong>se wartime riots.<br />
3. J. White, „The Summer Riots <strong>of</strong> 1919‟ New Society 57 (3 August 1981), 261.<br />
4. See House <strong>of</strong> Commons (HOC) debates, vol. 116, 26 May 1919, col. 991.<br />
5. Neil Gordon Orr, „Keep <strong>the</strong> Home Fires Burning: Peace Day in Lu<strong>to</strong>n 1919‟ Family <strong>and</strong><br />
Community His<strong>to</strong>ry 2/1 (May 1999), 17.<br />
6. For <strong>the</strong> London Aldwich riot see <strong>the</strong> Times, 10 March 1919, 10; 17 March 1919, 8; for <strong>the</strong><br />
Edinburgh Gayfield square riot see <strong>the</strong> Glasgow Herald, 10 July 10 1919, 3 <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Bulletin (Glasgow) 7<br />
July 1919,<br />
7. Press accounts <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> time frequently commented on <strong>the</strong> involvement <strong>of</strong> service <strong>and</strong> ex-service<br />
personnel in <strong>the</strong> seaport riots, see chapter three for some examples.<br />
8. J. Bourke, Dismembering <strong>the</strong> Male: men’s bodies, Britain <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Great War (Reaktion Books,<br />
1996), 22 <strong>and</strong> 252. Note that where no place <strong>of</strong> publication is given books are published in London.<br />
9. J. Bourke, An Intimate His<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>of</strong> Killing: face <strong>to</strong> face killing in twentieth century warfare (Basic<br />
Books, 1999), 207.<br />
10. Times, 13 June 1919, 5.<br />
11. British Nationality <strong>and</strong> Status <strong>of</strong> Aliens Act, 1914, 33.<br />
12. L. Colley, „Britishness <strong>and</strong> O<strong>the</strong>rness: an argument‟ Journal <strong>of</strong> British Studies, 31 (Oc<strong>to</strong>ber 1992),<br />
324-5.<br />
13. Colley „Britishness <strong>and</strong> O<strong>the</strong>rness‟, (1992), 311.<br />
14. R. Lapiere, „Race Prejudice: France <strong>and</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong>‟, Social Forces, 7 (1918), 111, cited in C. Holmes,<br />
John Bull’s Isl<strong>and</strong>: Immigration <strong>and</strong> British Society (Basings<strong>to</strong>ke: Macmillan, 1988), 106.<br />
15. See chapter by S.O. Rose in C. Hall, ed., Cultures <strong>of</strong> Empire: colonizers in Britain <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Empire<br />
in <strong>the</strong> nineteenth <strong>and</strong> twentieth centuries: a reader (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2000),<br />
247. See also Rose, Which People’s War? National Identity <strong>and</strong> Citizenship in Britain 1939-1945<br />
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), 9.<br />
16. T. Kushner <strong>and</strong> D. Ceserani, The Internment <strong>of</strong> Aliens in Britain (Frank Cass, 1993), 12.<br />
17. T. Kushner, „<strong>Anti</strong>-Semitism <strong>and</strong> Austerity: <strong>the</strong> August 1947 riots in Britain‟, ch. in P. Panayi ed.,<br />
Racial Violence in Britain in <strong>the</strong> 19th <strong>and</strong> 20th centuries (Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1996),<br />
153.<br />
18. K. Paul, Whitewashing Britain: Race <strong>and</strong> Citizenship in <strong>the</strong> Postwar Era (Ithica, New York: Cornell<br />
University Press, 1997), xii.<br />
19. C. Hall, et al, Defining <strong>the</strong> Vic<strong>to</strong>rian Nation: class, race, gender <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> British Reform act <strong>of</strong> 1867<br />
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 51.<br />
20. C. Hall, ed., Civilising Subjects: metropole <strong>and</strong> colony in <strong>the</strong> English imagination 1830-1867<br />
(Cambridge: Polity Press, 2002), 8.<br />
21. Liverpool Courier, 12 June 1919, 3.<br />
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22. See Hall, et al, Defining <strong>the</strong> Vic<strong>to</strong>rian Nation, (2000), 182.<br />
23. L. Tabili, „We Ask for British Justice’: workers <strong>and</strong> racial difference in late imperial Britain<br />
(Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1994), 2 (1994), 3.<br />
24. Tabili, „We Ask for British Justice’, (1994), 2.<br />
25. R. May <strong>and</strong> R. Cohen, „The Interaction between race <strong>and</strong> colonialism: a case study <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Liverpool race riots <strong>of</strong> 1919‟ Race <strong>and</strong> Class 16 (1974), 113.<br />
26. TNA CO 323/814 282-283, Lord Milner, „Memor<strong>and</strong>um on <strong>the</strong> Repatriation <strong>of</strong> Coloured Men‟, 23<br />
June 1919.<br />
27. South Wales Daily News, 14 June 1919, 4.<br />
28. Liverpool Daily Post <strong>and</strong> Mercury, 11 June 1919, 3.<br />
29. Letter from <strong>the</strong> Clerk <strong>of</strong> Liverpool Presbytery, Church <strong>of</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> Liverpool Corporation,<br />
Liverpool Watch Committee Minutes, 8 July 1919.<br />
30. Report from <strong>the</strong> Daily Graphic reprinted in <strong>the</strong> Liverpool Courier, 12 June 1919, 3.<br />
31. N. Evans, „Across <strong>the</strong> racial violence: racial violence in <strong>the</strong> post-war crisis in imperial Britain 1919-<br />
1925‟ in D. Frost, Ethnic Labour <strong>and</strong> British Imperial Trade: a his<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>of</strong> ethnic seafarers in <strong>the</strong> United<br />
Kingdom (Frank Cass, 1995), 28.<br />
32. Hercules was also associate secretary <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> African Progress Union. Hercules was an outspoken<br />
critic <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> British government during <strong>the</strong> seaport riots <strong>and</strong> later <strong>to</strong>ured <strong>the</strong> Caribbean <strong>to</strong> raise support<br />
for <strong>the</strong> SPAO. See P. Fryer, Staying Power: a his<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>of</strong> black people in Britain (Plu<strong>to</strong> Press, 1984), 313-4.<br />
33. Report <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> SPAO meeting in <strong>the</strong> Liverpool Courier, 16 June 1919, 8.<br />
34. Evening Times, (Glasgow) 19 June 1919, 1.<br />
35. African Telegraph, (London), 3 (July-August 1919), 243.<br />
36. Daily Record, (Glasgow) 25 June 1919, 8.<br />
37. ARAG affiliated with <strong>the</strong> West African Students Union in 1928. The latter London-based<br />
organisation was formed in 1925. For more information, see I. Geiss, The Pan-African Movement.<br />
(Methuen, 1974), 299<br />
38. N. Evans, „The South Wales Race Riots <strong>of</strong> 1919‟, Llafur 3 (Spring 1980), 20.<br />
39. TNA, CO 318/349, Enclosure in Government Despatch 1 Oc<strong>to</strong>ber 1919: Petition by 44 signa<strong>to</strong>ries<br />
<strong>to</strong> Colonel. Bryan, Acting Governor <strong>of</strong> Jamaica, 29 August 1919. For fur<strong>the</strong>r discussion <strong>of</strong> this petition<br />
see, R. Smith, Jamaican Volunteers in <strong>the</strong> First World War: race, masculinity <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
national consciousness, (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2004), 143-144.<br />
40. South Wales Echo, 14 June 1919, 1.<br />
41. Western Mail, (Cardiff), 19 June 1919, 7.<br />
42. See chapter three for more on <strong>the</strong> violence between black <strong>and</strong> Chinese sailors in Hull in 1919.<br />
43. South Wales Argus, 14 June 1919, 4.<br />
44. Evening Times, (Glasgow) 19 June 1919, 1.<br />
45. The longevity <strong>of</strong> such divisions is discussed in <strong>the</strong> journal <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> League <strong>of</strong> Coloured Peoples, The<br />
Keys, (London). See issues 2/2 (Oct. - Dec., 1934) 22, <strong>and</strong> 4/2 (Oct. - Dec. 1936), 16. The Keys: <strong>the</strong> organ<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> League <strong>of</strong> Coloured Peoples was reprinted in a single volume with an introduction by Roderick J.<br />
MacDonald (New York, <strong>1976</strong>).<br />
46. See P. Gilroy, The Black Atlantic: modernity <strong>and</strong> double consciousness (Verso Books, 1993), 2.<br />
47. C. McKay, Banjo: a s<strong>to</strong>ry without a plot (New York: Harper Bro<strong>the</strong>rs Publishers, 1929), 101.<br />
48. N. Evans, „Red Summers 1917-1919‟, His<strong>to</strong>ry Today 51 /2, (Feb. 2001), 28.<br />
49. Evans, „Red Summers‟, (2001), 31.<br />
50. J. Horne, „Immigrant workers in France during World War One‟ French His<strong>to</strong>rical Studies 14/1<br />
(Spring 1985), 80.<br />
51. R. Segal, The Race War, (Penguin, 1967), 230.<br />
52. A.D. Grimshaw, „Actions <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Police <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Military in American Race Riots‟, Phylon, 24/2<br />
(1963), 272<br />
53. A rare exception is J. Stevenson, British Society 1914-45 (Penguin, 1988), 98, which contains a<br />
passing reference <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> riots.<br />
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A Sivan<strong>and</strong>an : From Rebellion <strong>to</strong> Riots<br />
1. Ruth Glass <strong>and</strong> Harold Pollins, Newcomers, London: ban Studies <strong>and</strong> George Alien & Unwin, I960.<br />
2. D.R. Manley, The social structure <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Liverpool Negro community’ with special reference <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
formations <strong>of</strong> formal associations7 published <strong>the</strong>sis (1958).<br />
3. 3. Keys, Vol. 3, no. 2, Oc<strong>to</strong>ber-December 1925.<br />
4. 4. Edward Scobie, Black Britannia, Chicago: Johnson Publishing<br />
5. it sprang Link Carib, Anglo-Canbbean News, Tropic, Flamingo Daylight International West Indies<br />
Observer, Manget <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs.<br />
6. “Without integration, limitation is inexcusable, without limitation integration is impossible’ Roy<br />
Hattersely, 1965<br />
7. That Fenner Brockway, a ceasless campaigner for colonial freedom had introduced a Private<br />
Member’s anti-dissemination bill year after year from 1951 had. <strong>of</strong> course, made no impact on<br />
Labour consciousness.<br />
8. West Indies Observer, Vol. 1, no. 19, 4 May 1963.<br />
9. West Indies Observer, Vol. 1, no. 22, 15 June 1963.<br />
10. West Indies Observer, No. 36, 18 January 1964.<br />
11. Joseph A. Hunte, Nigger Hunting in Engl<strong>and</strong>, London: West Indian St<strong>and</strong>ing Conference, 1965.<br />
12. Commonwealth Immigration Advisory Council, Second Report, London, 1964.<br />
13. Department <strong>of</strong> Education Circular 7/65, London, 1965.<br />
14. Paul Foot, The strike at Courtaulds, Pres<strong>to</strong>n’, IRR Newsletter Supplement, July 1965.<br />
15. Peter Marsh, The Ana<strong>to</strong>my <strong>of</strong> a Strike, London: Institute <strong>of</strong> Race Relations, 1967.<br />
16. Raas, a Jamaican swear word, gave a West Indian flavour <strong>to</strong> Black Power. I remember <strong>the</strong> time in<br />
South London when an old black woman was being jostled <strong>and</strong> pushed out <strong>of</strong> a bus queue. Michael<br />
went up <strong>and</strong> s<strong>to</strong>od behind her, an ill-concealed machete in his h<strong>and</strong> — <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> line <strong>of</strong> white queues<br />
vanished before her — <strong>and</strong> she entered <strong>the</strong> bus like royalty.<br />
17. The National Federation <strong>of</strong> Pakistani Associations was formed in 1963.<br />
18. Times News Team, The Black Man in Search <strong>of</strong> Power, London: Nelson, 1968.<br />
19. A. Sivan<strong>and</strong>an, Race <strong>and</strong> resistance: <strong>the</strong> IRR s<strong>to</strong>ry, London: IRH, 1974. See also Jenny Bourne <strong>and</strong><br />
A. Sivan<strong>and</strong>an, cheerleaders <strong>and</strong> ombudsmen: <strong>the</strong> sociology <strong>of</strong> race relations in Britain*, Race &<br />
Class, Vol. XXI, no. 4, 1980.<br />
20. In real life <strong>and</strong> real struggle, <strong>the</strong> economic, <strong>the</strong> political <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> ideological move in concert with<br />
sometimes one <strong>and</strong> sometimes <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r striking <strong>the</strong> dominant note —but orchestrated, always, by<br />
<strong>the</strong> mode <strong>of</strong> production. It is only <strong>the</strong> Marxist textualisms who are preoccupied with determinisms,<br />
economic <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rwise.<br />
21. E. Dilip Hiro. Black British. ‘White British, Harmondsworth: Penguin,<br />
22. The Times (24 Oc<strong>to</strong>ber 1967) quoted in IRR Newsletter, December 24. IRR Newsletter, December<br />
1967.<br />
23. The Times (24 Oc<strong>to</strong>ber 1967)<br />
24. IRR Newsletter, December 1967<br />
25. Ibid.<br />
26. Such as <strong>the</strong> Naxalites, Adivasis, Dalit Pan<strong>the</strong>rs in India, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Pakhtun. Sindhi <strong>and</strong> Baluchi<br />
oppressed people’s movements in Pakistan. In 1974 organisations <strong>of</strong> un<strong>to</strong>uchables in Britain came<br />
<strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>r at <strong>the</strong> (new) IRR <strong>to</strong> organise an International Conference on Un<strong>to</strong>uchability (which for<br />
financial reasons never got <strong>of</strong>f <strong>the</strong> ground).<br />
27. Quoted in EJ.B. Rose et at, Colour <strong>and</strong> Citizenship. London: Oxford University Press for IRR, 1969.<br />
28. There were in fact about 66,000 at this time who were entitled <strong>to</strong> settle in Britain.<br />
29. Jagmohan Joshi, quoted in C. Karadia, The BPA’, IRR Newsletter, June 1968.<br />
30. A reference <strong>to</strong> Powell’s Birmingham speech (April 1968) in which he said: ‘As I look ahead, I am filled<br />
with foreboding. Like <strong>the</strong> Roman, I seem <strong>to</strong> see “<strong>the</strong> River Tiber foaming with much blood”.’<br />
31. The Bill proposed <strong>to</strong> give immigrants who were refused entry <strong>the</strong> right <strong>of</strong> appeal <strong>to</strong> a tribunal.<br />
32. A. Sivan<strong>and</strong>an, ‘Imperialism <strong>and</strong> disorganic development in <strong>the</strong> silicon age’, see pp. 143-61 below.<br />
33. JCWI was set up in 1967 as a one-man welfare service for incoming dependants at Heathrow Airport,<br />
but later burgeoned in<strong>to</strong> a case-work <strong>and</strong> campaigning organisation.<br />
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34. According <strong>to</strong> a letter in <strong>the</strong> Guardian <strong>of</strong> 10 September 1981 from members <strong>of</strong> Jawaharlal Nehru<br />
University (Delhi), <strong>the</strong>re are still ‘20,000 people <strong>of</strong> Indian origin from East Africa... waiting in<br />
India for <strong>the</strong>ir entry vouchers <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> UK’.<br />
35. See, for example, Robert Moore <strong>and</strong> Tina Wallace, Slamming <strong>the</strong> Door, London: Martin<br />
Robertson, 1975.<br />
36. See ‘Notes <strong>and</strong> documents’ in Race & Class, special issue» ‘Rebellion <strong>and</strong> repression: Britain<br />
‘81’, Vol. XXIII, nos. 2/3, 1981/2”.<br />
37. John La Rose had been Executive <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Federated Workers’ Union in Trinidad <strong>and</strong> Tobago.<br />
38. It was one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> founders <strong>of</strong> this school. Tony Munro, who was later <strong>to</strong> be involved in <strong>the</strong><br />
Spaghetti House Siege<br />
39. The BWM (Black Workers Movement) was <strong>the</strong> new name <strong>the</strong> black pan<strong>the</strong>rs <strong>to</strong>ok in early<br />
1970s<br />
40. Lois Kushnick, ‘Black Power <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> media’, Race <strong>to</strong>day, November 1970<br />
41. See IRR Police against black people, 1979<br />
42. Stuart Hall et al, Policing <strong>the</strong> Crisis, London: Macmillan.<br />
43. Institute <strong>of</strong> Race Relations, Police against black people<br />
44. These included representatives from Indian, Pakistani, <strong>and</strong> West India Associations such as<br />
<strong>the</strong> BPFM, BUFP, BCC <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Black Workers’ Co-ordinating Committee, etc.<br />
45. For all <strong>the</strong> above strikes, see various issues <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> BPFM Weekly, (later Uhuru), <strong>the</strong> Black<br />
Weekly Review, Black Voice <strong>and</strong> Race Today.<br />
46. See Colin Prescod, *The people’s cause in <strong>the</strong> Caribbean’. Race & Class, Vol. XVII, no. 1, 1975;<br />
Horace Campbell, *Rastafari: culture <strong>of</strong> resistance’. Race & Class, Vol. XXII, no. 1, 1980 <strong>and</strong><br />
Paul Gilroy, ‘You can’t fool <strong>the</strong> youths’, in Race & Class, Vol. XXIII, nos. 2/3, 1981/2.<br />
47. The Community Relations Commission (CRC) emerged as <strong>the</strong> successor <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> NCCI in <strong>the</strong><br />
Race Relations Act <strong>of</strong> 1968.<br />
48. A. Sivan<strong>and</strong>an, ‘Race, class <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> state: <strong>the</strong> black experience in Britain’, see pp. 101-26<br />
below.<br />
49. Sir Robert Mark, In <strong>the</strong> Office <strong>of</strong> Constable, London: Collins, 1978.<br />
50. See Tony Bunyan, The Political Police in Britain, London: Julian Friedmann, <strong>1976</strong>, <strong>and</strong> S.<br />
Chibnall, Law <strong>and</strong> Order News, London: Tavis<strong>to</strong>ck, 1977.<br />
51. ‘Race <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> press’ in Race & Class, Vol. XVII, no. 1, Summer <strong>1976</strong>.<br />
52. IRR, Police against black people, op. cit.<br />
53. Campaign Against <strong>Racism</strong> <strong>and</strong> Fascism/Southall Rights, Southall: <strong>the</strong> birth <strong>of</strong> a black<br />
community, London: Institute <strong>of</strong> Race Relations, 1981.<br />
54. See ‘Grunwick’, pp. 126-31 below, <strong>and</strong> ‘UK commentary* in Race & Class. Vol. XIX, no. 3,<br />
1978.<br />
55. A. Sivan<strong>and</strong>an, ‘From immigration control <strong>to</strong> “induced repatriation” ‘, see pp. 131-40 below.<br />
56. Campaign Against <strong>Racism</strong> <strong>and</strong> Fascism/Southall Rights, op. cit.<br />
57. 3 July 1981 — <strong>the</strong> day on which Asian youths burnt down a public house at which a racist pop<br />
group <strong>and</strong> its skinhead fans had ga<strong>the</strong>red, This event was part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 1981 uprisings.<br />
58. Tax relief in respect <strong>of</strong> dependent children was replaced by child benefit paid <strong>to</strong> wives — but<br />
those with children abroad were not entitled <strong>to</strong> it, even if <strong>the</strong>y were supporting <strong>the</strong>m.<br />
59. See ‘Notes <strong>and</strong> documents’ m Race & Class, Vol. XXIII, nos. 2/3,<br />
60. Symbolicaly, <strong>the</strong> man who had initiated so many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> black working-class <strong>and</strong> community<br />
movements <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> early years clarified for us all <strong>the</strong> lines <strong>of</strong> race/class struggle, Jagmonan<br />
Joshi, died on <strong>the</strong> march, <strong>of</strong> a heart attack.<br />
61. Campbell was arrested on 1 March 1980 on charge she claimed were false.<br />
62. The Race Today Collective emerged from <strong>the</strong> radicalisation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Institute <strong>of</strong> Race Relations<br />
(1969-72) as an independent black journal <strong>and</strong> had grown, under Darcus Howe <strong>and</strong> John La<br />
Rose, in<strong>to</strong> an activist<br />
63. For example. Greater Manchester Chief Constable James Ander<strong>to</strong>n referred <strong>to</strong> police critics<br />
*as creepy <strong>and</strong> dangerous minorities... who are obviously using <strong>the</strong> protection imparted by our<br />
very constitution in order first <strong>to</strong> undermine it <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n eventually <strong>to</strong> displace it’ (September<br />
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1980).<br />
64. Juries, opined Sir Robert Mark, ‘perform <strong>the</strong> duty rarely, know little <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> law, are occasionally<br />
stupid, prejudiced, barely literate <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong>ten incapable <strong>of</strong> applying <strong>the</strong> law as public opinion is led <strong>to</strong><br />
suppose <strong>the</strong>y do) (Observer, 16 March 1975).<br />
65. Declaring that ‘prejudice is a state <strong>of</strong> mind brought about by experience’, Detective Superintendent<br />
Holl<strong>and</strong> identified long-haired, unshaven youths as <strong>the</strong> ones likely <strong>to</strong> have cannabis <strong>and</strong> West Indians<br />
hanging around in jeans <strong>and</strong> T-shirts as likely
Jenny Bourne :When Black was a political colour<br />
1. There have been a multitude <strong>of</strong> attempts, from <strong>the</strong> Free university for Black Studies in 1969<br />
organised by Roy Sawh, <strong>the</strong> classes <strong>and</strong> projects run by black parties in <strong>the</strong> 1970s <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
module on Race <strong>and</strong> Culture at Middlesex university from 1994 <strong>to</strong> 2002, <strong>to</strong> establish forms <strong>of</strong><br />
Black Studies in <strong>the</strong> UK.<br />
2. The term Black is a contested one in <strong>the</strong> uK <strong>and</strong> has been used by different groups in different<br />
ways over time.<br />
3. SS Empire Windrush was <strong>the</strong> vessel that came in June 1948 from <strong>the</strong> West Indies, usually<br />
credited for bringing in <strong>the</strong> first tranche <strong>of</strong> New Commonwealth citizens – which somewhat<br />
goes against <strong>the</strong> facts. In 1998, fifty years on, <strong>the</strong> arrival <strong>of</strong> Windrush gained iconic status<br />
with several books <strong>and</strong> a series <strong>of</strong> TV <strong>and</strong> radio programmes.<br />
4. The Institute <strong>of</strong> Race Relations’ Black His<strong>to</strong>ry Collection, <strong>the</strong> Black Cultural Archives, <strong>the</strong><br />
George Padmore Institute <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Huntley Collection at <strong>the</strong> London Metropolitan Archives.<br />
5. For example, it does not cover fiction, purely academic works which <strong>to</strong>uch on racism <strong>and</strong><br />
hence <strong>the</strong> black presence, or <strong>the</strong> Black arts movement in <strong>the</strong> Uk. The Caribbean Artists<br />
Movement, begun in 1966 by influential writers like John La Rose, Edward Brathwaite <strong>and</strong><br />
Andrew Salkey, has been written up by Anne Walmsley in The Caribbean Artists Movement<br />
1966–72: a literary <strong>and</strong> cultural his<strong>to</strong>ry (1992).<br />
6. The experience <strong>of</strong> West African students was covered in Hakim Adi’s West Africans in Britain<br />
1900–1960: Nationalism, Pan Africanism, <strong>and</strong> Communism (1998).<br />
7. For a critique <strong>of</strong> IRR’s work, see Jenny Bourne, ‘Cheerleaders <strong>and</strong> ombudsmen: <strong>the</strong> sociology<br />
<strong>of</strong> race relations in Britain’, Race & Class 21, no. 4 (Spring 1980) <strong>and</strong> A. Sivan<strong>and</strong>an, ‘Race <strong>and</strong><br />
resistance: <strong>the</strong> IRR s<strong>to</strong>ry’, Race & Class 50, no. 2 (oc<strong>to</strong>ber–December 2008).<br />
8. For a discussion <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> furore around <strong>the</strong> book which was part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> s<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>of</strong> IRR’s<br />
transforma- tion see Bourne, ‘Cheerleaders <strong>and</strong> ombudsmen’; Sivan<strong>and</strong>an, ‘Race <strong>and</strong><br />
resistance: <strong>the</strong> IRR s<strong>to</strong>ry’; <strong>and</strong> Robin Jenkins, ‘The production <strong>of</strong> knowledge in <strong>the</strong> IRR’<br />
(London: ILP, 1971).<br />
9. Copies <strong>of</strong> many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se are in <strong>the</strong> IRR’s Black His<strong>to</strong>ry Collection.<br />
10. There have recently been a series <strong>of</strong> books on Claudia Jones herself, including ‘I Think <strong>of</strong><br />
My Mo<strong>the</strong>r’: notes on <strong>the</strong> life <strong>and</strong> times <strong>of</strong> Claudia Jones by Buzz Johnson (1985), Claudia<br />
Jones: a life in exile by Marika Sherwood (1999), Left <strong>of</strong> Karl Marx: <strong>the</strong> political life <strong>of</strong><br />
Black Communist Claudia Jones by Carole Boyce Davies (2008) <strong>and</strong> Claudia Jones: beyond<br />
containment au<strong>to</strong>biographical reflections, essays <strong>and</strong> poems, edited by Carole Boyce Davies<br />
(2011).<br />
11. The term credited <strong>to</strong> US activist S<strong>to</strong>kely Carmichael was first used by him in a 1966 speech<br />
against racism in Mississippi. He wrote, with Charles Hamil<strong>to</strong>n, Black Power: <strong>the</strong> politics<br />
<strong>of</strong> lib- eration (1967) <strong>and</strong> also in 1967 addressed <strong>the</strong> Dialectics <strong>of</strong> Liberation Conference in<br />
London.<br />
12. Quoted in A. Sivan<strong>and</strong>an, ‘From resistance <strong>to</strong> rebellion: Asian <strong>and</strong> Afro-Caribbean struggles in<br />
Britain’, Race & Class 23 (oc<strong>to</strong>ber 1981), pp. 111–152.<br />
13. For a fuller account see Asher Hoyles <strong>and</strong> Martin Hoyles, Caribbean Publishing in Britain:<br />
a tribute <strong>to</strong> Arif Ali (Hansib, 1970) <strong>and</strong> Marika Sherwood’s review at www.his<strong>to</strong>ry.ac.uk/<br />
review/1106.<br />
14. There was also <strong>the</strong> Black People’s Freedom Movement which produced a regular newspaper<br />
in Nottingham.<br />
15. As Sivan<strong>and</strong>an conceptualised it: ‘Black’, he wrote, ‘is <strong>the</strong> colour <strong>of</strong> our politics, not <strong>the</strong> colour<br />
<strong>of</strong> our skins.’<br />
16. It should also be noted that Abhimanyu Manch<strong>and</strong>a (from India) was highly influential on The<br />
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West Indian Gazette.<br />
17. It was later that <strong>the</strong> concept <strong>of</strong> Black began <strong>to</strong> break down. on <strong>the</strong> one h<strong>and</strong>, Pan-Africanists<br />
began <strong>to</strong> exclude East African Asians from <strong>the</strong>ir deliberations, Asians <strong>to</strong> carp against <strong>the</strong><br />
descrip<strong>to</strong>r Black as a denial <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir identity. on <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r h<strong>and</strong>, local <strong>and</strong> national governments<br />
began after <strong>the</strong> 1981 ‘riots’ <strong>and</strong> Lord Scarman’s recommendations, <strong>to</strong> funnel monies <strong>to</strong><br />
community groups on <strong>the</strong> basis <strong>of</strong> ethnic, cultural <strong>and</strong> religious identification. In <strong>the</strong> event, by <strong>the</strong><br />
mid-1980s Black became a highly contested term <strong>and</strong> inevitably most people began <strong>to</strong> use <strong>the</strong><br />
initials BME <strong>and</strong> later BAMER (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic <strong>and</strong> Refugee) as descrip<strong>to</strong>rs.<br />
18. It was considerably later that books appeared marking <strong>the</strong> importance <strong>of</strong> Malcolm X’s visits <strong>to</strong><br />
<strong>and</strong> influence on <strong>the</strong> black movement in <strong>the</strong> UK: Jan Carew’s Ghosts in Our Blood: with Malcolm<br />
X in Engl<strong>and</strong>, Africa <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Caribbean (1994), Marika Sherwood’s Malcolm X: visits abroad April<br />
1964–February 1965 (2011) <strong>and</strong> Saladin Ambar’s Malcolm X at Oxford Union (2014).<br />
19. Derek Humphry’s exposé False Messiah: <strong>the</strong> s<strong>to</strong>ry <strong>of</strong> Michael X was published in 1977 after<br />
Michael X had been hanged for murder in Trinidad.<br />
20. Speeches from <strong>the</strong> acknowledged Black Power ora<strong>to</strong>r Roy Sawh at Speakers Corner, Hyde Park<br />
in <strong>the</strong> 1960s, are available on <strong>the</strong> web. A book <strong>of</strong> his speeches <strong>and</strong> reflections was published in<br />
1987: From Where I St<strong>and</strong>: black people want <strong>to</strong> hear <strong>and</strong> white people fear (Hansib, 1987).<br />
21. See, for example, Susan Craig, ‘Black Power groups in London 1967–1969’, BSc <strong>the</strong>sis, university<br />
<strong>of</strong> Edinburgh, 1970; G. Llewellyn-Watson, ‘The sociology <strong>of</strong> black nationalism: identity, protest<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> concept <strong>of</strong> “Black Power” among West Indian immigrants in Britain’, PhD <strong>the</strong>sis,<br />
university <strong>of</strong> york, 1972; Kalbir Shukra, ‘The changing patterns <strong>of</strong> Black Politics in Britain’,<br />
university <strong>of</strong> Canterbury, 1995. More recently Rosalind Wild, basing her PhD <strong>the</strong>sis for <strong>the</strong><br />
university <strong>of</strong> Sheffield on retrospective interviews with activists <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> time, wrote ‘Black was<br />
<strong>the</strong> colour <strong>of</strong> our fight: Black Power in Britain 1955–<strong>1976</strong>’ (2008); Robert Waters, ‘Imagining<br />
Britain through radical blackness: race, America <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> Empire’ (PhD <strong>the</strong>sis Queen Mary<br />
university <strong>of</strong> London, 2014).<br />
22. A. Sivan<strong>and</strong>an had already written ‘Black Power: <strong>the</strong> politics <strong>of</strong> existence’, in Politics <strong>and</strong> Society<br />
1, no. 2 (1971) republished in A Different Hunger (Plu<strong>to</strong> Press, 1982) <strong>and</strong> ‘Culture <strong>and</strong> Identity’ in<br />
Libera<strong>to</strong>r 10, no. 6 (June 1970).<br />
23. Two o<strong>the</strong>r films are worth noting here: Blacks Britannica (1978) dir. David K<strong>of</strong>f <strong>and</strong> Mangrove<br />
Nine (1973) dir. Franco Rosso.<br />
24. The book came out <strong>of</strong> a series <strong>of</strong> talks <strong>and</strong> conversations in 1997 organised by <strong>the</strong> George<br />
Padmore Institute on ‘Life Experience with Britain’.<br />
25. A pho<strong>to</strong>graphic book which says much about such agency, <strong>and</strong> significantly includes Asians,<br />
unfortunately now out <strong>of</strong> print is The Arrivants: a pic<strong>to</strong>rial essay on Blacks in Britain (1987).<br />
26. Wins<strong>to</strong>n James, ‘Migration, racism <strong>and</strong> identity: <strong>the</strong> Caribbean experience in Britain’, New Left<br />
Review (May–June 1992).<br />
27. There was, as he spent more time on his television career from 1985, a rift between him <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
erstwhile Black ‘comrades’ with whom he had worked on community initiatives such as <strong>the</strong> Black<br />
<strong>and</strong> Third World Book Fair.<br />
28. It should be noted, though, that in <strong>the</strong> UK in August 1967 C. L. R. James gave an important<br />
speech ‘Black Power, its past, <strong>to</strong>day, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> way ahead’ which can be accessed at: http://<br />
www.freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/Black%20Liberation%20Disk/Black%20 Power!/<br />
SugahData/Books/James.S.pdf.<br />
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