Film Number

7527

Title

BLACK HISTORY AND ACTIVISM - MEETING

Producer

WFA

Date

1982

Gauge

U-matic LB

Colour

colour

Sound

sound

Running Time

45 mins 00 secs

Description

A meeting at the Asian Community Centre or Tipil Sultan Centre in Longsight, Manchester, chaired by Mohsin Zulfiqar and a black woman speaker, Leia Hassan, from Race Today in London. She is a member of the 'Black Parents and Black Youth Movement,' which has supported the Bradford 12 (the Bradford 12 were members and supporters of the Asian Youth Movement, who were arrested in July 1981 on charges of conspiracy), and describes Race Today as a black revolutionary movement against agencies of control. To a mixed audience she gives the historical context to the black movement in the UK, including the Imperial Typewriters Strike in 1974, Grunwick, Southhall in 1978, uprisings in the 1980s, Black Unity and Freedom Party, the first Black Youth and Community Workers, Self Defence Movements by Asian youth against racist attacks and the New Cross Massacre. She speaks about the Bradford 12 with reference to the Conspiracy Laws and their intention to defeat young Asians. She speaks against state funding and promotion of black middle classes as a means of control against militancy. There are many contributions from the floor including comments by Kabir Sheikh, Gus John and Josna Pankhania.

[Catalogued as part of 'Revitalising the Regions' a Screen Heritage UK project, 2011]