Coming of Age : 1976 and the Road to Anti-Racism

continuum and all have the issue of ‘blasphemy’ at their core.
Against that background of solidarity with and active support for struggles and
movements across the world, the book fair organisers could be confident, therefore,
that when the Call went out for the first and every other book fair, there
would be an enthusiastic response from political and cultural activists, including
publishers, abroad and at home.
The name John La Rose is synonymous with New Beacon Books and with the
Despite that
history I have
charted thus far
and the
incontrovertible
impact New
Beacon and its
satellites have
had on political
life in post-war
Britain, the sad
fact is that a
large
percentage of
people born in
1980 and after
have not even
heard of New
Beacon Books
or John La
Rose.
movement of which New Beacon Books itself has been a part since its birth in
1966, including CAM, the book fair and the George Padmore Institute.
As evidenced above, New Beacon has never been just about publishing, marketing
and selling books. Indeed, its practice these last 50 years has been consonant
with the 10 objectives listed at the top of this paper.
It has undergirded a political movement and inspired many generations to find
and use their voice and to connect with current and past struggles and learn from
our advances as well as our defeats.
Despite that history I have charted thus far and the incontrovertible impact New
Beacon and its satellites have had on political life in post-war Britain, the sad fact
is that a large percentage of people born in 1980 and after have not even heard
of New Beacon Books or John La Rose.
Maybe that’s not so surprising when one considers that most people in the media
would also have heard of neither.
A quick anecdote in this regard. When John died in February 2006, Ngugi wa
Thongo and I were invited to appear on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme to talk
about his life and work. We were interviewed by John Humphreys and Edward
Stourton. At the end of the interview, Edward Stourton accompanied us out of
the studio and said: ‘I cannot believe that this man has done so much and been
such a huge cultural figure right here in London and I have not even heard of him.
I really must find out some more about him and the work that you all do’.
Such is the reality of marginalisation of our contribution to Changing Britannia and
our efforts to get this nation to wake up to the fact that we are not on the margins
looking in but very much part of the process of transforming the society and
helping it to understand its internal contradictions and to be at ease with itself.
So, where now for New Beacon Books?
As you gathered for this lecture you will have been handed a statement indicat-
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