The Bonfire Night Uprising in Chapeltown, Leeds, on 5.11.1975
It’s now 50 years since 11 black youths and me were arrested during or after the first uprising by black British youth. Rage against the police erupted in Chapeltown, Leeds, in the north of England, on Bonfire Night in 1975. Youths attacked an unmarked police car as it drove through the crowd on Spencer Place […]
Speaking Truth To Power — The Life and Times of an African Caribbean British Man (Arthur France MBE)
Arthur France MBE is a hero of mine. He is a founder of Black Power in Leeds, of the Leeds West Indian Carnival and the New World Steel Orchestra. I promised Arthur and Tattra France that I’d write his biography, and the only good thing about the Covid Pandemic was that it gave me the […]
On youth in the multi-cultural inner-city in the 1990s
Youth in the multi-cultural inner-city: Learning from experience I learned as much of my sociology from experience as I did from books. Ethnography has always been my preferred method. I learned to write as much from home-made journalism, particularly for Chapeltown News and Big Flame, as I did from the great literature I’ve consumed since […]
‘Leeds – a two speed city.’ A talk in PowerPoint
This is an illustrated talk I do for Ben Carrington’s University of Texas students on their ‘Maymester’ in Leeds each summer. It goes with a walking/talking tour of the city which takes in the highs and lows (including the David Oluwale story) of Leeds. It’s such a pleasure working with these bright young Americans. The […]