Departure Point: political blackness and solidarity between people of colour in the UK

Suhail Ilyas, Adam Elliot-Cooper, Shanice McBean, and Kevin Bismark Cobham

During the 1970s and 80s, post-colonial migrants of Asian, African, and Caribbean descent collaborated to confront the discrimination and exclusion they were facing in Britain. Through these struggles, they collectively adopted the term ‘black’ as a political ideology to challenge British racism. However, since the 1990s, there have been considerable changes in how these communities relate to and work with each other, and solidarity has broken down. At the same time, due to the focus on identity politics, the concept ‘political blackness’ has become highly contentious.

This seminar intends to explore the dynamic and complex relationship between the British Asian, African, and Caribbean communities. Interrogating the notion of ‘political blackness’ and its relevance to contemporary struggles, this discussion will also address issues such as anti-blackness, shadeism, Islamophobia and solidarity in new times.

Suhail Ilyas, Adam Elliot-Cooper, Shanice McBean, and Kevin Bismark Cobham Departure Point: political blackness and solidarity between people of colour in the UK

About the Speakers

Suhail Ilyas is a filmmaker, anti-racist activist and member of rs21.

Adam Elliot-Cooper has a BA in Politics from the University of Nottingham, an MSc in Globalisation & Development at the London School of Oriental & African Studies and is currently undertaking a PhD at University of Oxford's School of Geography and the Environment. Adam has worked as a research assistant at University of Nottingham and Goldsmith's, University of London. He has also worked as a writer/researcher at Race on the Agenda, Voice of Africa Radio, the Institute of Race Relations, Runnymede, The Voice, Open Democracy and others.

Shanice McBean is an activist, campaigner and graduated with a BA in Philosophy from King's College London. She will be taking up an MA in Gender Studies at the London School of Oriental & African Studies this September. She was involved in organising the Ferguson solidarity tour that saw speakers from Ferguson tour the UK and has written on issues such as the legacy of the Black Panther Party, the politics of #BlackLivesMatter protests and intersectionality.

Kevin Bismark Cobham is a Cambridge educated criminal defence lawyer who also defines himself as a movement lawyer, pan-Africanist and community activist and is from London.

Organiser: Centre for Migration and Diaspora Studies

Contact email: cb92@soas.ac.uk