Legacies and Lessons Of Anti-racism and Community Building

A national convention for activists, thinkers, community builders, and artists.

In February 1965, after visiting Selma, Alabama, Malcolm X went to Smethwick, Birmingham, to experience the colour bars and racial prejudice in the Midlands. Smethwick was a town torn apart, its community divided by a recent election where candidate Peter Griffin had exploited anti-immigrant sentiment. Nearly sixty years on, in 2024, racist violence erupted across Britain. Whilst false narratives about immigration continued to divide the nation, a powerful counter-movement emerged. People of different races, classes, and faiths came together in solidarity to tackle racial violence with widespread help and support.

This national convention marks the 60th anniversary of Malcolm X's visit to Smethwick, Birmingham, and it will reflect on vital lessons for today. We will help create tools and cross-city collaborations with local groups working in communities after recent racist riots. We are bringing together confirmed speakers from Yorkshire, Liverpool, Leicester, Birmingham, and Nottingham.

Others will join them, including Chetan Bhatt (London School of Economics), Professor Gus John, Liz Fekete (Institute of Race Relations), Shabna Begum (Runnymede Trust), Suresh Grover (The Monitoring Group), Paul Gilroy (University College London), and Taj Ali (Journalist).

This event is part of the MX60 commemoration events. It has been organised with Shaheed Udham Singh Welfare Centre, Birmingham Race Impact Group, The Monitoring Group, Himmah, and is hosted by Nottingham Contemporary.

This event coincides with Donald Rodney: Visceral Canker, a major retrospective of the artist’s work at Nottingham Contemporary. The exhibition readdresses themes of racial identity, chronic illness, Black masculinity and Britain’s colonial past.

For further information about the event, don't hesitate to get in touch with Jagdish Patel at Himmah on 0115 837 6116 or jagdish@himmah.org.

Access

This event will be held in The Space.

Speakers will use microphones.

This event is wheelchair accessible.

If you have any questions around access or have specific access requirements we can accommodate, please get in touch with us by emailing info@nottinghamcontemporary.org or phoning 0115 948 9750.