The Asian Youth Movement

In the mid 1970s, a new generation of South Asian youth were growing up in Britain. They emerged less prepared to tolerate the racism in British society, which their parents had had to suffer. This period also saw heightened fascist and racist activity, increasing police violence and the institutionalisation of racism through discriminatory immigration laws.

A racist murder in Southall was the spark for the formation of a new organisation: the Southall Youth Movement. This organisation made up of mostly young Asian but including some African-Caribbean men, took it upon themselves to defend their community against fascist and racist attacks. Using the film Kala Tala Anandi Ramamurthy charts the rise of the SYM and how it helped to create the countrywide Asian Youth Movement.

Anandi Ramamurthy is Senior Lecturer in Film and Media Studies at the University of Central Lancashire.

Unfortunately Anandi could not make it to this event.