The Shoulders We Stand On: How Black and Brown people fought for change in the United Kingdom
From the 1960s and for over 40 years, Britain’s Asian and African Caribbean communities came together behind inner-city barricades in their common struggle to fight against state and street racism. In Britain the word ‘Black’ became a catalyst for solidarity and a rallying call for unity between communities at the receiving end of racism. It became a political colour of an anti-racist, and anti-imperialist movement. This term was informed by anti-colonial struggles in Africa, the Caribbean and the Indian subcontinent, and inspired by the civil rights and the Black Power movement in the USA.
During an intense period of political upheaval in Britain and around the world, members of different ethnic and religious communities supported each other through shared campaigns. At times, joint organisations were formed and broader alliances were forged with other working-class and oppressed communities. For both Asian and African Caribbean communities, who faced racist attacks and police violence, self-defence became a necessary backlash. Each city responded in its own way, with Birmingham becoming a beacon of hope and solidarity to others.
When Mukhtar Dar and I set out to research and develop the Blacklash: ‘No Justice No Peace’ exhibition, we asked two questions. What creative approach should be take to make it rise above the usual run of the mill “community” exhibition approach of most museums and why such an exhibition was needed?
There have been many artists, photographers and writers who have covered popular movements of resistance. Mukhtar is quite unique in that he was and remains above all an activist who used his art and craft to record moments and movements of which he was a key part. I was of the view, that the exhibition would work best if it focussed on his experiences as an activist, archivist and artist. That, seeing those times through the lens of his eyes and experience, decision was vindicated as the exhibition went on to win huge critical and popular acclaim at Birmingham museum and art gallery in 2022.
The answer to the second question was that few young people of Asian heritage - the majority of Birmingham’s school intake – have much awareness of about the recent history of migrants from South Asia and the challenges they faced of low paid, dangerous jobs with long hours, exacerbated by poor housing, discrimination and vicious racism as they struggled to put down roots as equal citizens. Basically, this is not a history or heritage that is taught in our schools. There is also the uncomfortable truth that the South Asian experience of and popular resistance to racism and discrimination has not being seen as “sexy” enough to deserve popular media attention.
It is within this context that Preeti Dhillon’s book, The shoulders we stand on: How Black and Brown people fought for change in the United Kingdom: Dialogue books 2023, comes as such a breath of fresh air. Written in a racy, accessible (I write as I speak) accessible style, the books spans a period up to 1981 that covers topics as diverse as the Indian Workers’ Association (IWA) the rise of the Asian Youth Movements (AYMs) and key events such Bristol bus boycott, Grunwicks strike and cases such as the Mangrove 9 and the Bradford 12. There is more, much more, that comes under her scanner.
There are any number of reasons why this book is so important and vital part of the reading of anyone who is interested in the history of racism and resistance of that period of which two stand out. Preeti Dhillon is a young writer who wasn’t born during the times she covers in her book. Her perspective, therefore, is shaped by family history, interviews with veterans of those struggles and personal passion all of which she buttresses with thorough research. She is most certainly not a neutral academic writer. Her commitment to certain values, therefore, elevates the book above much standard academic discourse on that period. Neither does she shy away from shining a light on some of the fault lines, schisms and shortcomings of individuals and within organisations such the IWA and AYMs.
Perhaps the most important contribution that the books makes is to shine a light on the lives and experiences of Black and Brown women activists and the movements they played a key role in during the period that Ms. Dhillon covers. Others have written on that aspect. But to have someone of a younger generation look back from her perspective and not be shy away from drawing lessons from that history to connect it to current resistance to a new climate of vicious racism often fronted by Black and Brown members of the establishment today alone makes this book a vital bridge to younger generations.
BRIG, Kalaboration and the Shaheed Udham Singh Welfare Trust (SUSWT) hosted on 1st October a book signing with the Author, Preeti Dhillion. The event at the SUSWT Centre attracted a diverse audience across communities, gender and age, with many of the City’s veteran activities in attendance. The debate with the ongoing inquiry and thirst for how the lessons of past movements can influence the continued and compounded injustices faced today was inspiring, giving hope for the future.
Hugely recommended.
