'Blacks Brittanica' in New Cross

This Thursday 30th October, 7pm in the Cinema (room RHB 185) at Goldsmiths, University of London, SE14 6NW:

'South London Anti-Fascists are proud to host a screening of David Koff's 1978 documentary 'Blacks Britannica'.

Blacks Britannica shows the realities of race and class in 1970s Britain with rare honesty and is a powerful base for thinking about racism and the state today. The film charts the history of black people and black struggle in Britain from colonialism and migration to the Notting Hill Carnival and the Spaghetti House siege. The film has been described as "a harsh, relentless and passionate indictment of the British ruling class for manipulating and exploiting British blacks in the interest of profit". Originally produced for US public television, the film was re-edited and censored by TV station management who then tried to sue the director to prevent him distributing his version of the film (we are showing the original cut).

There will be a chance to discuss the film after the screening with Colin Prescod, one of the writers and activists who features in the film. Colin himself made the acclaimed series 'Struggles for Black Community'. The evening is free and all are welcome. If you have any specific requirements please message us on facebook or email hello@slaf.org.uk.Director David Koff passed away earlier this year and we would like to extend our thoughts to his friends and family'.

Blacks Britannica in 'seedy' New Cross, 1980

Blacks Britannica was seemingly shown locally not long after it was released. A dubious article in the right wing Spectator magazine, 'The Black Spokesman Industry' by Roy Kerridge (2 August 1980), mentions a poster for the film in 'seedy' New Cross where the writer was checking out what the local 'negro youth' were up to:

'Buying a return Tube ticket to New Cross Gate with reckless abandon, I set out to see for myself if negro youth were being 'got at'. New Cross, in south-east London, is a rather seedy area, varying from outright shabby to shabby-genteel, with some pleasant tree-lined streets off Lewisham Way. It is full of West Indian immigrants and their English children. The first thing I saw as I stepped into the street was a poster which read 'Revolution Youth! Free film - Blacks Britannica. Presented by the National Union of School Students. Speaker: local black activist, Fitzroy Maclean.'

A few steps down the road took me to a shop called 'Babaji', which was closed. However the entire window was filled with apparatus used in marijuana-smoking: pipes, scales for weighing the stuff when selling it, and a product lalled 'Maggie -  the only way to clean your grass'. There were also several books on growing  the weed and on Rastafarianism.'Legalise Cannabis' posters and a sign reading 'Member of the Chamber of Commerce and Trade, Borough of Lewisham'. I do not suppose that the shopkeeper was a negro. Nevertheless, his customers must have been local youths.The effects of long-term weed-smoking seem to me to be spiritual rather than physical, resulting in change of character. Dark thoughts, arrogance and cynicism soon go hand in hand with stupidity and forgetfulness... [I] wandered back to New Cross and a pub called The Star and Garter. No longer was I in search of self-conscious 'blackness', and despite all the propaganda, the coloured youths I passed did not seem unduly revolutionary'.

(can't believe that in 1980 some thought it was still OK to refer to 'negroes' and 'coloureds', but there you have it)

South London Anti-Fascists AGM

The past year has seen South London Anti Fascists grow from a largely dormant email list to a significant force in London anti-racist politics. When racist groups like the BNP and EDL tried to exploit the killing of Lee Rigby in Woolwich earlier this year, South London Anti Fascists stepped up with similar groups elsewhere (now organised as the Anti Fascist Network) to mobilise opposition. In some cases the numbers they have mobilised have exceeded those pulled out by more established groups like Unite Against Fascism.

They have paid a heavy price, as the police have met this new generation of militant anti-fascists head on with mass arrests in Whitehall (58 arrests on 1 June anti-BNP protest) and again in Tower Hamlets on September 7th when 286 people were arrested for demonstrating against the English Defence League.

South London Anti-Fascists banner in Tower Hamlets on September 7th 2013

Within South London, they have helped ensure that small demonstrations in Croydon by the 'English Volunteer Force' on 27 July and by Croydon & Sutton British National Party on 5 October have been countered and well-outnumbered. Both demonstrations were at Lunar House incidentally, the Immigration Enforcement (formerly named UK Border Agency) processing centre in Croydon. I've never quite understood why fascists want to protest there, I would have thought they'd be queuing up to work for an Agency that goes around locking up and deporting migrants in a way the BNP and co. can only dream of.

Arguably South London Anti Fascists' most significant intervention was in mobilising for something that never happened - the BNP's planned march from Woolwich to Lewisham Islamic Centre on 1 June 2013. Their mobilising (along with others) built up a huge momentum in the week leading up to the demonstration, and it is plain that the fear of where this might lead prompted the banning of the BNP march in this area.

South London Anti Fascists will face the same arguments that many of us had throughout the 1990s - should the priority be organising amongst the communities threatened by the far right, or amongst the people the fascists are trying to recuit from? How much effort should be expended in countering tiny groups of racists compared with countering racist official immigration powers? How can you combine a broad, inclusive approach with being prepared to sometimes physically stand up to fascists? While it was and is important to discuss these, my experience is that bitter tactical disagreements between competing groups tend to be fruitless - at the end of the day there is no single correct approach, and any and all of the above will be required.

So far, South London Anti Fascists seem to have avoided this trap, recognising the need for a diversity of tactics and combining a militant street presence with some genuine community outreach (e.g. at the only meeting I have been to of their's, they had representatives from Lewisham Islamic Centre and the Nigerian Mosque on the Old Kent Road along to discuss the situation in the context of recent attacks on such places)

South London Anti Fascists have been meeting regularly in New Cross and tomorrow afternoon (Sunday 13 October, 2:15 pm) they will be holding their Annual General Meeting locally - for details of venue please email hello@slaf.org.uk

Anti-fascists in the pub? - spotted at the Amersham Arms