It’s an incredible resource and must have been a huge amount of work to scan it all and put online (much – if not all – of this work was done by Alan, I think?)
The Rio Tape/Slide Archive was a radical 1980s community photography project based in the basement of the Rio Cinema in Dalston, East London. It taught unemployed local youth photography and sound-recording skills to document Hackney life. Its rediscovery in a filing cabinet 2016, it led to the publication of an excellent book by Isola Press.
The online archive is way more comprehensive than the book and contains 11,276 photos, nicely categorised into subject areas. Below are some of my favourites, with links to more in that category. (There is so much good material I struggled to keep it to six here…)
If you like this site, there is a real chance that you’ll get lost in this archive for a very pleasurable hour or two. Of course, many of the photos lack information or context. So it might be fun to do some future posts about them…
I speculated that it was almost certainly either connected with Hackney NALGO or perhaps its predecessor at 245 Mare Street, Hackney Community Relations Councill.
The post achieved what I hoped it would – the excellently named WokeKaren on Bluesky reached out to her contacts and:
Shared this excellent article with some old Hackney nalgo mates and 1 commented – ‘Actually Hackney NALGO commissioned that sign from the guy who painted the Dalston Peace Mural. The other half was on 247, which we also occupied.’
So! Mystery solved! Nice one!
The peace mural, pictured in 1985. Photograph: Alan Denney
If you didn’t know already, the Peace Mural was by Ray Walker and can be seen on Dalston Lane by the Curve Garden. The artwork was commissioned by the Greater London Council in 1983. But there is a further twist in the tale:
Ray extensively researched and engaged with the community over a period of 18 months prior to beginning work on the mural. Sadly, he died unexpectedly aged 39 in March 1984.
His friend, Mick Jones*, and Ray’s wife, Anna Walker, took on the project as a memorial to him, returning to his extensive reference photos to complete the mural.
Ray’s final design was slightly altered with the additions of Ray (based on his self portrait), Anna and their young son Roland, as well as the miners’ strike.
(*This is a different Mick Jones from the guitarist of the punk group The Clash. This Mick Jones was a muralist and also son of anti-fascist and trade union leader Jack Jones.)
You can see a large selection of his art in pages 404-427, 439-442 and 469-473 of this informative PhD thesis which sets out the context for the creation of a number of public left-wing murals in London in the 1970s and 1980s:
There is also a nice panel discussion about the history of the mural with Laurie Elks, Roland Walker and Alan May here courtesy of the comrades at Hackney History Festival:
I’ll leave you with these stories from Hackney Peoples Press, but when you pass 245-247 Mare Street, spare a thought for Ray Walker and his hidden sign of solidarity…
Hackney Peoples Press #100, April 194Hackney Peoples Press #101, May 1984Hackney Peoples Press #102, June 1984
Building work on a property at 245 Mare Street has uncovered this rather fetching signage from a bygone era. But, what does it mean? ask the collected doom-scrollers of Hackney.
Well, we can see that this vintage sign extends into the adjacent property: number 247. And the late twentieth Century history of 245-247 Mare Street turns out to be extremely my thing.
The “too long; didn’t read” doom-scroller summary
It looks like the building was occupied from at least the early 1970s by Hackney Community Relations Council (CRC) and then its successor organisation Hackney Council for Racial Equality.
But from the mid 1980s onwards 247 Mare Street was the office for Hackney NALGO, the National and Local Government Officers’ Association trade union.
So that’s the answer. Probably. But the official-sounding names of both these organisations do not tell you the full story of the part they played in Hackney’s radical history and social fabric. So keep reading for the longer and rewarding answer!
You will hear tales of confronting the National Front, solidarity with persecuted anarchists, opposition to racist police, riots in Dalston, successful anti-deportartion campaigns. And an outraged Margaret Thatcher and much more…
Hackney Community Relations Council (CRC)
The Community Relations Commission was a national body established by the government following the 1968 Race Relations Act. This was the second significant bit of anti-racist legislation for the UK (following the 1965 act).
The Commission set up local Community Relations Councils, which appear to have been quite varied in activity, but were broadly aimed at increasing community cohesion and reducing racism. By March 1969 there were 78 CRCs around the country and 42 full time posts attached to them.
By August 1969, Hackney CRC had produced an exhibition to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Gandhi’s birth, which was advertised with envelopes using the nationally produced Gandhi postage stamp and locally produced “post marks”.
(the lower of these images is addressed to the Community Relations Officer at Council offices).
In 1970, newly elected Labour MP for Hackney Central – Stanley Clinton-Davis, gave a shout out to the local CRC and a summary of its work in his maiden speech in the House of Commons:
The Community Relations Council has a magazine entitled Harmony, embodying the task of the programme of reconciliation which it seeks to undertake. It has forged a strong link with the local police force, because there are antagonisms which very often develop between immigrants and the police. In that regard it has had the whole-hearted support of the local commander, Commander Brown.
The Community Relations Council has promoted seminars and meetings on all issues affecting community relations in the broadest sense—immigrants and housing, education in a multi-racial society, and even equality for women—all issues affecting the dignity of all people. Its meetings are very well attended, and they have been provocative meetings. It is all to the good that provocative views should be expressed. The community relations council has promoted play groups and is operating a legal advice service. It has never been afraid of tackling problems wherever they arise and tackling difficulties which exist in a multi-racial community.
In the financial year 1975/6 Hackney CRC received £13,248 from the Community Relations Commission, plus £21,500 from Hackney Council. Its staff were listed as:
Ralph Adolphus Straker (1936 – 2013) was also a union activist, anti-SUS law campaigner and African and African Carribbean arts patron.
Christine Whitehead is possibly the same person who is now Emeritus Professor of Housing Economics at London School of Economics and Chair of Hackney Council’s Intermediate Housing Panel?
Other Hackney CRC workers included Patrick Kodikara (1939 to 2021) – social worker and controversial “firebrand” Hackney Labour councillor.
Hackney CRC seems to have been a great example of a 1970s publicly funded “official” community organisation which straddled mainstream liberal anti-racism and more radical movements (I mean, this is Hackney – so radicals would be difficult to avoid). For example this 1974 concertwas organised by Hackney Libraries “in association with Hackney CRC”:
“…by Hackney people concerned about the local impact of racist statements by Enoch Powell. The group remained active throughout the 1970s against the activities and presence of the National Front.”
You can also see a nicely designed HCAR badge at the museum link above.
Hackney Peoples Press published a nice double page spread on HCAR and its work in July 1976 (see above). The article concludes with this note about HCAR meetings being held at the CRC offices, so there was a physical presence as well as the address simply being used for post:
In 1977 HCAR and Hackney CRC were amongst the organisers of this march and festival along with Hackney Trades Council – an example of the enduring link between these groups and local trade unions:
Hackney CRC’s association with anti-racist movements brought it attention from the far right and also the police. We know this because of useful insights from the Undercover Policiing Inquiry. Inquiry documentation includes a Special Demonstration Squad report [UCPI0000010769] about the first public meeting of Hackney Community Relations Council, which took place at Stoke Newington Town Hall on 22 July 1976. It was attended by 250 people, significantly more than was normal for political meetings at the time.
From this we find that “spycops” saw Hackney CRC as worthy of attention. In his report, the police officer describes a National Front member being “ejected from the assembly room amid a shower of fists and invective”, and that as people left they were taunted by NF members, but did not physically confront them.
Hackney Council for Racial Equality
By 1978 Hackney Community Relations Council seems to have evolved into Hackney Council for Racial Equality, and is still based at 245 Mare Street (see bottom of this notice):
A letter to New Stateman in Feb 1981 reflects the general trend throughout the 1980s of radical groups in Hackney turning their attention to racist policing:
Community tensions led to rioting in Dalston over the weekend of 10-12 July 1981. Over 100 people were arrested and Hackney Legal Defence Committee (HDLC) was set up to assist them. The contact address for HDLC was c/o 247 Mare Street.
The death of Colin Roach by gunshot in Stoke Newington Police Station on 12 January 1983 led to demands from a range of groups to “break links” with the police. See: When Hackney (almost) defunded the Police for more on this. During this time HCRE wrote a formal letter to the new Police Commander requesting that police ceased visiting their offices.
By 1986, HCRE had relocated 1 Crossway, N16 8LA. Last time I checked you could still see their sign on the wall above the excellent Somine restaurant:
So what was happening at 245-247 Mare Street in the mid-1980s? Well that would be:
Hackney NALGO
Image courtesy of Hackney Archives on Twitter
The National Association of Local Government Officers was founded in 1905 and became the UK’s largest white-collar trade union by the late 1970s. It is now part of UNISON (as, for my sins, am I).
I think it’s fair to say that local government trade unionism is slightly less sexy than the mighty transport workers, factory workers, miners etc. But Hackney NALGO was involved with a tonne of surprising and inspiring campaigns.
Like Hackney CRC, our local NALGO branch also organised some belting gigs:
Image courtesy of Hackney Archives on Twitter
But the problems of racism require more than some excellent pop concerts. In February 1983 Hackney NALGO passed a resolution calling on members to join the movement to “break links” with the police following pressure from social services workers concerned about police violence and racism.
Union support for migrants shock horror!
In the 1980s Hackney Council was one of the biggest employers in the borough, and given our cosmopolitan population, it was inevitable that some council staff would face repressive attention from the state, including calls for their deportation. This feels sadly all-too relevant today and there is probably a lot more to be written on the subject. Here are two examples for now:
Marion Gaima
Marion Gaima worked in the council’s Environmental Health team in the 1980s. She was born in Sierra Leone and had arrived in the UK in 1973 as a child. Her “leave to remain” was granted until 1977 and then supposedly withdrawn (but she seems not to have been notified of this). A deportation order was served in 1981 but nothing happened until 1984 when she was arrested without warning by three male immigration officers and detained for 10 days in Holloway Prison before being released pending appeals, further arrests and several very stressful years.
Hackney NALGO and other local people and groups supported Marion throughout this terrible situation. Marion had spent most of her childhood and all of her adult life in the UK. Because she had not been given an opportunity to state her own case, she was eventually awarded £30,000 compensation and the case made legal history and created a precedent for the future. And – she won!
Hackney Museum also has a 1989 leaflet produced by NALGO campaigning against the deportation of Hackney social worker and disability assistant Georgina Addai. I have not been able to find out much about this, so drop a comment below if you know more.
Union support for poll tax rioters shock horror!
In the run-up to the 1990 anti-poll tax protest outside the town hall, Hackney Community Defence Association left 500 bust cards at the NALGO office. This showed characteristic HCDA foresight – 5000 pissed off people showed up and the demo turned into Hackney’s own poll tax riot. 57 people were arrested and HCDA offered legal assistance.
Hackney NALGO’s solidarity with poll tax protestors did not end there. Hackney Museum has a great leaflet from April 1990 proposing a strike in support of Hackney Council housing officer Andy Murphy, who had been suspended “for his political views”.
So, er… what “views” were those then? Well…
Murphy was a member of anarchist group Class War, who were very active in Hackney in the 1980s and 1990s. He represented the group on a BBC news programme following the intense Trafalgar Square poll tax riot of 31 March 1990.
This is the specific exchange which got him suspended from work:
What is your view of those who were carrying out the violence on Saturday, do you regard them as heroes?
Given the level of weaponry available to the police – riot shields, trunchoens, vans, horses – the people who fought back with sticks, bits of cardboard and whatever bottles were available – as far as we’re concerned were working class heroes.
The whole interview is well worth a look [see 1:04-4:31]:
NALGO’s threat of strike action worked and Murphy was reinstated. This led to an amusing condemnation from Margaret Thatcher herself during Prime Minster’s question time on May Day 1990:
Does my right hon. Friend agree that it would be wrong for a local authority to cave in to threats of a politically motivated strike, particularly to secure the reinstatement of a leading member of Class War who hailed the Trafalgar square rioters as heroes?
The Prime Minister:
Yes, I agree with my hon. Friend. I understand that Hackney suspended a person who hailed the Trafalgar square rioters as heroes, that the National and Local Government Officers Association threatened to go on strike and that Hackney then caved in. That tells us a lot about the people whom Hackney employs, a lot about NALGO and a lot about what life would be like under Labour.
I’m not sure that people would be able to be so forthright in the media now, or that they would get back up from their union.
The recently revealed sign looks more like a crowd behind a trade union banner, so my guess is that it probably relates more to the Hackney NALGO era of the building than its Hackney CRC days.
The ground floor of 245-249 Mare is currently registered to the Tre Viet Restaurant. The loathesome Giles Coren reviewed it in 2013. He rated the food highly, but unsurprisingly chose to be weirdly bigoted and borderline racist about the people and the surrounding area. As you can see from the photo above it may have had a name change or new ownership and is trading as Sen Viet. It’s worth mentioning that Hackney Archives is currently undertaking a project on the history of Vietnamese communities in Hackney.
As the restaurant and its hidden sign are so close to Hackney Museum, I hope some arrangement can be made to retrieve it for posterity before it is covered up again…
Campaign Against Police Surveillance: Celia Stubbs – information on undercover policing and Hackney CRC. (Celia is a longstanding anti-racist and is also the widow of Blair Peach, who was killed by a police officer during an anti-NF demonstration in Southall on 23 April 1979)
The comrades at Hackney Museum have a good run of FREE events coming up:
Thursday, March 27 · 6:30 – 7:45pm
Samplers and Schoolgirls: Hackney’s Female Academies in the 17th Century
In the 17th century, Hackney was the centre of education for middle and upper class girls from the City of London and beyond. Referred to as ‘The Ladies’ University,’ it was here that girls were taught a variety of practical skills and artistic accomplishments.
This talk by Dr Isabella Rosner will explore the surprising number of surviving objects made in those early modern Hackney schoolrooms, and look ahead to the 18th century to explore Hackney Museum’s collection of samplers.
Dr Isabella Rosner is the curator of the Royal School of Needlework and research associate at Witney Antiques. A 2023 BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker, Isabella hosts the successful Sew What? podcast about historic needlework and those who stitched it. A former Hackney resident, Isabella wrote her PhD on early Quaker women’s waxwork, shellwork, and needlework, much of which was made in 17th- and 18th-century Hackney.
Step back in time to explore the educational experiences of young women in 17th century Hackney. Discover the role of samplers and paper-based art in their education and the challenges they faced in pursuing knowledge. Come and learn about the history of female academies in Hackney and the impact they had on the lives of young girls. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to delve into the past and uncover the stories of these pioneering schoolgirls.
Summer of protest: Bengali anti-racist movement in 1978
Discover the turning points that mobilised an anti-racist movement in Hackney and the East End.
It is said that the brutal murder of Altab Ali on 4 May 1978 was a turning point that led to the mobilisation of an anti-racist movement by the Bengali community in the East End. This period marked a political awakening amongst Bengalis who had been long suffering violent racist attacks and housing discrimination in the locality.
Join Ansar Ahmed Ullah as he explores what led to the summer of protests in East London, how the Bengali community in Hackney and Tower Hamlets forged alliances with other community and political groups, and how the movement developed in the following decade.
Ansar Ahmed Ullah is a post-doctoral student at Queen Mary University London. His research is titled The Bengali Anti-Racist Movement: Explaining Mobilisation in East London, which is a collaborative study with the Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives and the Bishopsgate Institute. He also worked with Paul Trevor on Brick Lane 1978: The Turning Point project.
Battlefield Hackney: The 43 Group & Their Fight Against Britain’s Fascists
The 43 Group was an anti-fascist organisation formed in the wake of WWII by Jewish ex-servicemen and women, in response to the return of the fascist followers of Oswald Mosley to the streets of Britain. Between 1946-50 the 43 Group waged a direct and often violent street campaign against the fascists, with Ridley Road, Dalston as the most prominent and violent battleground.
In his talk Daniel Sonabend, author of [the highly recommended by me] We Fight Fascists: The 43 Group and the Forgotten Battle for Post-War Britain will tell the story of the 43 Group and their fight against fascism, with particular focus on the central importance of Hackney within the conflict.
Daniel Sonabend is a writer and a historian who spent ten years researching and writing on the 43 Group, conducting many interviews with its last remaining members. Daniel is now retraining as a psychotherapist. He is a resident of Finsbury Park but has strong family ties to Hackney as his grandmother grew-up in Dalston, above the grocery shop that her family owned for many decades on Ridley Road.
Hackney History Festival is back after its debut last year. 2025 dates are 10, 11, 17 & 18 May.
It features wide range of talks (and some walks) stretching from the French revolution, the Angry Brigade, bent coppers in Stoke Newington, radical women and a couple of sessions on gentrification – and a lot more.
If you prefer to experience radical history amongst the dead, Abney Park’s Radical Wrtiers festival might be more up your street.
This is a less condensed affair, with dates beginning March 2025 and stretching throughout the year.
There is an understandable focus on radicals buried in Abney Park Cemetary including Isaac Watts, Margaret Graham and James ‘Bronterre’ O’Brien. But also appearances from yer Iain Sinclairs and Diane Abbotts and events themed around living through the apocalypse and gentrification once again.
Finally there is a series of workshops at the Old Fire Station Community Centre – a venue so radical that it was visited by several spycops in the 1980s and 1990s.
An anti-fascist heckler is arrested on Ridley Road, 1947
Below is an intriguing eyewitness account of an anti-fascist protest in Dalston, from Direct Action (the organ of the Anarchist Federation of Britain) volume 2 issue 8 November 1947.
It caught my eye for two reasons. Firstly, histories of anti-fascism tend to focus on dramatic events. This can make for exciting reading, but it obscures the more mundane times when serious engagement with fascists was not possible – sometimes this can be quite boring waiting around with not much going on. The Direct Action piece covers an afternoon when the fascists did turn up, but the confrontration remained purely on the terrain of verbals. It is also mentions that large crowds of people were present – seemingly just to watch the spectacle rather than take part on either side.
The second aspect worth of mentioning is that it is quite a cynical and sectarian article. The Anarchist Federation of Britain had significant political differences with the Communist Party (CP) over a wide range of issues, including the Soviet Union and the Spanish Civil War (not to mention more basic issues of hierarchy and organisation). Indeed, a few weeks previously some anarchists had been arrested by the police whilst intervening at a CP rally about Spain in Trafalgar Square.
The article decries the absence of physical confrontation on this occasion, but fails to mention that the summer of 1947 saw some incredibly violent clashes in Ridley Road and surrounding areas between fascists and anti-fascists, including the legendary 43 Group (see especially Daniel Sonabend’s We Fight Fascists, chapter 6). According to 43 Group member Morris Beckman:
In October 1947 the Group was attacking an average of fifteen outdoor [fascist] meetings every week, and by whatever means causing more than half to close down prematurely.
Direct Action also downplays the risk of street fascists seizing power compared to the threat posed by the ruling class. Which might be true, but curernt events demonstrate that far right groups can be very influential on the political mainstream.
Furthermore, Sonabend and Beckman make it clear that the fascist rallies throughout Hackney in the 1940s were also accompanied by everyday racist violence against Jewish residents. Anti-fascism includes community defence – and, to be fair, there is a fine record of anarchists confronting fascism whenever it raises its head…
The Sunday peace of Dalston (East London) has been broken for many weekends. At Ridley Road, and some street corners, three crowds have collected, Communists, Fascists and, by far the larger, amused onlookers of a weekly political row. The National Press, with its keen nose for a dog fight, has given the weekly show free advertisement and swelled the Fascist meeting by several thousand of its readers. The “Daily Worker” too, has done its wee best to make the fascist meeting a success by free advertisement.
Reading press reports one might think that a pitched battle was fought every weekend, with the police acting as a sort of U.N.O. [United Nations], keeping the ring and carrying out the bodies. The truth is, one could see more scrapping at one “Housewives’ League” meeting than in a month of Dalston Sundays.
I attended the beano a couple of weeks ago and found myself In the midst of a crowd who, not having the inclination for picture-going [cinema] and finding the beer too weak, apparently turned up every weekend for a free entertainment. It was very much like the story of the man who went up to a London copper and asked. “Is this Oxford Circus?” On being told ” Yes,” he enquired, “Well, what does if begin?”
A crowd of several thousand gathered, awaiting the Fascist speakers, about 150 to 200 policemen, including a mobile unit and a cavalry section attended. The meeting began, the communists shouted “Fascist ” and other insults and the Fascists shouted back anti-semitic jeers; the Communists made a very feeble attempt to rush the meeting, each keeping as far as possible beside or behind a policeman, the police closed the meeting and the insults and retorts, all verbal, continued in smaller groups.
It reminded me of a small row I once witnessed near Commercial Road. Two antagonists challenged one another, carefully undressed, uttered blood curdling threats, began dangerous looking spars, circled each other and continued the threats. After about twenty-five minutes of this without a blow being struck, a bystander shouted to one of the gladiators, ‘Don’t hit him Bill. Spit on his bleeding boots!”
How It Began
The weekly event began when the British League or Ex-Servicemen and Women began holding meetings in the East End. The League is fictitious name to cover the Fascist remnants of Mosley’s B.U.F [British Union of Fascists]. You don’t have to he an ex-serviceman to join it, but if you’re a Jewish ex-soldier you can’t join – not that you’d want to.
For a year, at least, the League made no progress, no one took any notice of it. Then the League remembered the “Goebbels technic.” The Nazi Party in Germany made little progress, its meetings were ignored, until Goebbels hit on the idea of deliberately provoking opposition and interruption at his party’s meetings.. The Jews were insulted and, and the Jews came and shouted back. In the Socialist districts, Socialists were libelled, and Socialists answered back. In Communist districts Communism was denounced in the most insulting words available, and the Communists, by the thousand, swarmed to the Nazi meetings. With the opponents came tens of thousands of spectators, a dog fight will always draw a bigger crowd than will a political philosopher.
When the modern fascists of London adopted Goebbels method they began their meetings in East London and, true to form, the Communist Party kindly volunteered to get them the crowd. Exactly the same thing occurred during the days of Mosley’s British Union of Fascists. It was Communist organised heckling and sham fighting which built up Mosley’s Blackshirt outfit and it was sham “anti-Fascism” which built up the British Communist Party, by shameless exploitation of a justifiable racial fear, by the creation of a threat and the promise to defend against it in return for “bumper collections.”
The B.U.F and the C.P. developed together. They are as necessary to one another as Punch is to Judy.
If there was no Fascist menace the C.P. would have to create one.
Not that the C.P. means any serious anti-Fascism. The official C.P. policy is to shout at Fascist meetings, members are instructed not to fight. Further. the C.P. policy is to ask the police to fight Fascism. The whole business is a political racket fought out by rival gangsters who use their big mouths as weapons.
The danger of Fascism in Britain is real, but it is unlikely to come by the will of these street rowdies. It will come from much higher-up. We are anti-Fascist and when the day comes we will prove as skilful and valiant as our Spanish brothers in fighting Fascism, by deed and social principle.
All conscious Black people and other progressive peoples are welcome to attend
Colin Roach, the police, Black people and the state
Abstract
“The experience of the Black masses during the decade of the seventies has alerted us to what underlies the superficial appearence of the British State: Namely that normal processes of political authority, when they cannot proceed by co-operation proceed through confrontation and, at a higher level, through the states orchestration and legitimation of repression.”
‘The Empire Strikes Back — Race and Racism in 70’s Britain’
When we begin to describe the 1980’s in Britain as the decade of increasing State authoritarianism, it is the deveiopments indicated above that we are referring to and elaborating upon. These developments certainly pre-date the 1970’s and show every sign of entrenchment and deterioration throughout tne 1980’s unless outbreaks of resistance condense into movements of permanent opposition.
By now we should realise that State oppression has assumed a permanent feature of Black peioples lives.
Throughout the 1980’s State oppression wh increasingly conditon and regulate the lives and experiences of other larger sections of working class people.
The major question of the 1980’s particularty for conscious Black people and other progressive peopies. is ‘How are we to campaign against State oppression and injustice in the midst of the State failing to manage the economic crisis and attempting to institute coercive political measures?’
We make these necessarily pohtical remarks because this !S the basic context in which the campaign for an independent public inquiry into the death of Colin Roach and all the surrounding circumstances is taking place.
Colin Roach’s death remains an unqualified mystery. So far the Home Secretary’s (the State) has refused to authorize an inquiry. These are the basic facts which must be challenged – they have not changed.
The Home Secretary’s (the State) opposition to an inquiry was based on the State’s commitment to establish (and therefore not bring into question) its policing strategy for the 1980’s: the intrusive surveillance tactics contained in the possbilities of neighbourhood watch and neighbourhood policing and the authoritarian license inscribed in the excessive powers provided for in the Police Bill.
it is in the face of this that the campaign must be continued.
This public meeting has been called discuss the ways in which campaigns must be prepared to campaign in more concentrated and ionger term efforts than we have previously been prepared to do. We must in other words have the commitment to campaign in a systematic drawn-out fashion since this is how the State cppresses us. In our view there is no other way. This is why in 1984 we shall be saying:
NO COVER-UP BREAK LINKS
Published by RFSC c/o 50 Rectory Road, Londen N16 Te! 254 7480
NOTES
‘The Empire Strikes Back — Race and Racism in 70’s Britain’ was a book authored by the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies and published in 1982. The quote used is from a chapter entitled “The organic crisis of British capitalism and race: the experience of the seventies” by John Solomos, Bob Findlay, Simon Jones and Paul Gilroy and can be found on page 36 of the book.
This leaflet was collected by an Undercover Police Officer and sent to Special Branch. It forms part of the documents released by the Undercover Policing Inquiry. Which is why the scan isn’t of a particularly good quality. The relevant Undercover Policing Inquiries are:
The page collects a number of archival resources about Roach’s death and the community’s reponse to it:
The death was followed by several protests by the local community, organised by the Roach Family Support Committee (RFSC). This page includes links to scans of newsletters by RFSC.
Eighty people in were arrested outside Stoke Newington police station during the protests, including an elected councillor and Colin’s father, James. The Hackney and Stoke Newington Defence Committee was set up to assit them. Links to their publications are included.
In May 1983, the inquest jury found 8-2 that Colin Roach had committed suicide. RFSC and the community were not satisfied with this and commissioned their own Independent Commission of Inquiry. This inquiry published its findings in 1988 as the 313-page book, Policing in Hackney 1945-1984. The page includes a link to a scanned PDF of the book.
During the Undercover Police Inquiry it emerged that several spycops had infiltrated and monitored both the Roach Family Support Committee and Stoke Newington and Hackney Defence Committe as well as the protests. The page includes details of what has been revealed about these spycops and links to their published reports from the time – as well as more recent witness statements and testimony.
There are links to other resources too (let me know if there are more that can be added) and details of the Colin Roach case in popular culture.
The Radical History of Hackney 
