STEVE JOHNSON recommends a protest album with a harder edge than many in the genre
Lives that matter
MIK SABIERS pays homage to a book of urban portraits drawn from 40 years of activism and engagement
The Battle of Lewisham: civil rights activist, Darcus Howe, says from the roof of the toilet block in Clifton Rise, Lewisham on August 13 1977: “The National Front are marching here for one reason and that is to intimidate this multi-cultural community”.
[Syd Shelton] 
DENNIS BROE finds much to praise in the new South African Netflix series, but wonders why it feels forced to sell out its heroine
CARL DEATH introduces a new book which explores how African science fiction is addressing climate change
In his second round-up, EWAN CAMERON picks excellent solo shows that deal with Scottishness, Englishness and race as highlights
Fiery words from the Bard in Blackpool and Edinburgh, and Evidence Based Punk Rock from The Protest Family
MATTHEW HAWKINS is mesmerised by a performance that dissolves the line between audience and performer
MATTHEW SHARPE recommends the essays of a Renaissance politician that instruct and unnerve after 400 years
Stills From Life
Syd Shelton, Unicorn Books, £40
SYD SHELTON’S Stills From Life is a 50-year focus on race and class struggle, taking the reader on a journey from the proud slums of Sydney to Brighton beach. A key activist in the original Rock Against Racism movement, his shots range from the streets to the stage and back again, and almost all with the focus on people.
Shelton’s photographic career starts on the opposite side of the world. Having studied in Wakefied he visited Australia in the early 1970s where he started to document society, taking shots of the inner-city suburb of Redfern, and most notably people of “The Block,” one of the first Aboriginal housing settlements.
This early work is dark, moody, somewhat oppressive, but impressive. A companion piece on Woolloomooloo and the fight against gentrification and the “green ban” that stopped residents being evicted is stark, with the subjects becoming detached, mirroring the gradual erosion of the working class from the docks and surrounding area.
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