Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
Latest editorial
The Battle of Cable Street at 85: march with us this weekend
When thousands of anti-fascist Jews, trade unionists and communists successfully blockaded a major British Union of Fascists march through the East End of London in 1936, they set a legacy of resistance to the far right that continues today, writes DAVID ROSENBERG
Marchers mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street in 2016
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
Special report by PEOPLE’S WORLD
NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
NEXT WEEKEND I will march with other anti-racists through East London and then co-chair a rally with local Bengali activist Julie Begum to mark the 85th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street.
In 1936 fascism was advancing across Europe. Here in Britain, with nearly three million unemployed, mass hunger, hopelessness and a loss of faith in conventional politics, a wannabe aristocratic politician, Oswald Mosley, planned to make a show of strength in East London where his movement — the British Union of Fascists — had its biggest branches.
Those four branches with thousands of members and supporters, formed a horseshoe around an enclave where 60,000 working-class Jews lived in fear of daily violence from Mosley’s Blackshirts.
Similar stories
Through marches, music, schools and political debate, campaigners in Tower Hamlets are using the 90th anniversary of Cable Street to inspire resistance to modern racism. GLYN ROBBINS explains
Once again Tower Hamlets is being targeted by anti-Islam campaigners, this time a revamped and radicalised version of Ukip — the far-right event is now banned by the police, but we’ll be assembling this Saturday to make sure they stay away, says JAYDEE SEAFORTH
KEVIN COURTNEY of Stand Up to Racism and JOHN PAGE of the Ella Baker School of Organising announce a joint project aiming to unite trade unions and social movements in creating new narratives to fight the divisive rhetoric of the far right
PAUL FOLEY picks out an excellent example of theatre devised to start conversations about identity, class and belonging