London Against Racism is an oral history project about the women and men who have been fighting racist attitudes and behaviour in London. From battling the National Front to dealing with police harassment, these activists help to build the capital’s rich and
continuing heritage of social justice.
With its history of immigration, deprivation and world-famous resilience, London has been home to some of the most intense racist and anti-racist action in the country. In
December 2012 Eastside Community Heritage held a reminiscence session with the
migrants forum RAMFEL, inviting recollections of battling racism in East London. The
response was so positive that we launched a full oral history project, London Against Racism. Over four months we have recorded interviews with activists from all kinds of anti-racist groups and campaigns, to celebrate and preserve this history.
For Women’s History Month 2013, we delivered a touring presentation on women’s
experiences of anti-racism. The event, called Half the Battle, toured four East London
boroughs and helped to shed light on the area’s recent history through the unique stories of our interviewees.
Praise for Half the Battle:
“Fantastic…moving and informative.”
“An amazing presentation with extensive knowledge.”
“Inspiring, funny…great to hear women’s voices.”
“Powerful and moving.”
The stories from Half the Battle are a part of the wider project presented on this site,
particularly in one of our audio documentaries.
Explore this site to hear the activists’ stories and uncover London’s legacy of opposing racism. You can:
- meet the interviewees
- use an interactive timeline of London’s race history
- watch short films made for the project
- look through some original campaign material
- listen to a series of audio documentaries
- find out how this website can be used in educational activities and workshops
The interviews can be accessed in their entirety at Eastside’s public archive.
Email office@ech.org.uk for more information.
Eastside Community Heritage is an oral history centre with a public
archive of over 1700 interviews. London Against Racism is just one of many projects collected by talking to Londoners. Learn more at
www.hidden-histories.org.uk
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London Against Racism 