Leila Hassan Explained

Leila Hassan
Other Names:Leila Howe,
Leila Hassan Howe
Birth Name:Leila Ramadhan Hassan
Birth Date:13 June 1948
Birth Place:British protectorate of Zanzibar
(now in Tanzania)
Citizenship:British
Spouse:Darcus Howe
Occupation:Editor and activist
Known For:Editor of Race Today

Leila Hassan Howe (born 13 June 1948) is a British editor and activist, who was a founding member of the Race Today Collective in 1973, having previously worked for the Institute of Race Relations. She became editor of the Race Today journal in 1986. Hassan was also a member of the Black Unity and Freedom Party. She is co-editor of a collection of writings from Race Today published in 2019.

Career

Hassan was a member of the Race Today Collective from its inception in 1973,[1] [2] and eventually became editor of its journal, Race Today, in 1986.[3] [4] She was deputy editor of the journal from 1973, with Darcus Howe as editor.[5] She was a frequent writer for the journal, examining topics ranging from the Black Power movement in the USA to the lives of black women in the UK.[6]

In the 1970s, with the Race Today Collective she campaigned on behalf of the Asian factory workers' struggles in the Midlands, when a strike at Leicester's Imperial Typewriters factory in 1974 – characterised by Hassan Howe as "one of the most powerful strikes of the time" – received no union support.[7] [8]

During the 1980s, she worked alongside Olive Morris running Race Today's "Basement Sessions" at Railton Road, where art, culture and politics were discussed.[9] [10] The Race Today Collective was led and organised by a number of women, including Hassan, whose influence on its direction needs further recognition (according to Robin Bunce and Paul Field, biographers of her husband).[11] Women involved in the organisation included Altheia Jones-LeCointe, Barbara Beese and Mala Dhondy.[12] In 1984, Hassan organised for the wives of striking coal miners to come to London to tell their stories to the journal. Hassan also campaigned for Arts Council England to recognise the Notting Hill Carnival as an art form.[13] Following the New Cross Fire in January 1981, in which 13 young Black people died, Hassan was co-organiser of the 20,000-person Black People's Day of Action march[14] through London that took place on 2 March and is now described as "a turning point in black British identity".[15]

Hassan became involved in the Black Power movement in the late 1960s. She worked for the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) from 1970, as Information Officer.[16] During her time there she helped to overthrow the IRR's paternalistic organisation, moving it from a conservative to a more radical political stance. This change in the IRR came about through a membership vote, in which Hassan had been instrumental in recruiting more members who sympathised with the proposed new direction of the organisation.[17] She was a member of the Black Unity and Freedom Party before she became involved in the collective.

A 2013 exhibition about the British Black Panthers at the Photofusion Gallery in Brixton featured an interview with Hassan Howe.[18] Alongside other former Panthers, she acted as a script advisor for John Ridley's 2017 television series Guerrilla, which examines the movement.[19] [20]

In 2019, Hassan Howe co-edited Here to Stay, Here to Fight, a collection of writings from Race Today, published by Pluto Press, which aimed to introduce new audiences to Britain's black radical politics.[21]

In 2023, she was announced as the recipient of an honorary fellowship from Goldsmiths, University of London, conferred in January 2024.[22] [23] [24]

Personal life

Leila Ramadhan Hassan was born on 13 June 1948 in Zanzibar;[25] her family were Muslim and she grew up as a devout member of the faith.[26] [27]

Hassan was married to the civil rights activist Darcus Howe, who was her predecessor as editor of Race Today.[28] [29]

Selected works

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Race Today. Working Class Movement Library. 7 February 2024.
  2. Book: Jones, Feminista, 1979–. Reclaiming our space : how Black feminists are changing the world from the tweets to the streets. 2019. 978-0-8070-5537-3. Boston, Massachusetts. 161. 1035440566.
  3. Web site: 21 April 2017. 5 British Black Panther women whose names you should know. Zahra . Dalilah. 6 June 2020. gal-dem. en-GB. https://web.archive.org/web/20200606200939/https://gal-dem.com/5-female-british-black-panthers-whose-names-know/. 6 June 2020. live.
  4. News: Social activist and broadcaster who stood up for black Britain – Obituary: Darcus Howe. 6 June 2020. The Irish Times. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20171108043125/https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/social-activist-and-broadcaster-who-stood-up-for-black-britain-1.3037761. 8 November 2017. live.
  5. Web site: Leila. Hassan. Robin Bunce. Paul Field. Here to Stay, Here to Fight: On the history, and legacy, of 'Race Today' Ceasefire Magazine. 31 October 2019. 6 June 2020. ceasefiremagazine.co.uk. https://web.archive.org/web/20200611183158/https://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/stay-fight-celebrating-race-today/. 11 June 2020. live.
  6. Web site: Leila Hassan. 6 June 2020. Pluto Press. en-US. https://web.archive.org/web/20200516143524/https://www.plutobooks.com/author/. 16 May 2020. live.
  7. The Radicalism of 'Race Today'. Tribune. Tabatha. Vaughan. 28 August 2021. 7 February 2021.
  8. Leila Hassan Howe—race, class and struggle. Socialist Worker. 2779. 17 December 2021. 7 February 2024.
  9. Web site: 5 July 2015. Stories from Railton Road. 6 June 2020. Brixton Advice Centre. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20200606200948/https://brixtonadvice.org.uk/stories-from-railton-road/. 6 June 2020. live.
  10. Web site: W. Perri. 9 March 2019. A tribute to Olive Morris. 6 June 2020. Brits + Pieces. en-US. https://web.archive.org/web/20200606210148/https://britsandpcs.com/a-tribute-to-olive-morris/. 6 June 2020. live.
  11. Austin. David. 2015. Review of Darcus Howe: A Political Biography. Labour / Le Travail. 76. 278–280. 44123114. 0700-3862. 6 June 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200608194835/https://www.jstor.org/stable/44123114. 8 June 2020. live.
  12. Book: The Race Today Review. 1987. RT Publications. en. 6 June 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200606210221/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=6SjkAAAAMAAJ&q=leila+hassan&dq=leila+hassan&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjL6Zfqg-7pAhUymVwKHWdxAjgQ6AEIZjAH. 6 June 2020. live.
  13. Web site: Revolutionary Black British Women – London Architecture Diary. 6 June 2020. London Architecture Diary. New London Architecture. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20200606200951/http://architecturediary.org/london/events/12994. 6 June 2020. live.
  14. Web site: Black People's Day Of Action: Inside The 1981 New Cross Fire March That Brought Britain To A Standstill. Nadine. White. 2 March 2020. 6 June 2020. Huff Post.
  15. Web site: Leila Hassan Howe: 'My life was made hell. You'd just hear a tirade against immigrants'. The Guardian. Kehinde. Andrews. Kehinde Andrews. 8 October 2020.
  16. Book: Labour and the left in the 1980s. Davis. Jonathan Shaw. Rohan McWilliam. 11 December 2017. 978-1-5261-0645-2. Manchester. 1021146767.
  17. Book: Bunce, R. E. R. (Robin E. R.). Darcus Howe : a political biography. Field, Paul, 1971–. 26 March 2015 . 978-1-4742-1845-0. London. 143. 897447030. 6 June 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200615083640/https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/897447030. 15 June 2020. live.
  18. News: Chan . Bart . Exhibition to tell story of British Black Panthers . 30 June 2020 . The Voice Online . 11 October 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200630135634/https://archive.voice-online.co.uk/article/exhibition-tell-story-british-black-panthers . 30 June 2020 . live .
  19. News: London lends its authenticity to Guerrilla – the capital's overlooked tale of the Black Panthers . 30 June 2020 . FilmFixer . 11 April 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200701080518/https://filmfixer.co.uk/2017/04/11/london-lends-its-authenticity-to-guerrilla-the-capitals-overlooked-tale-of-the-black-panthers/ . 1 July 2020 . live .
  20. News: Hughes. Sarah. 9 April 2017. The story of the British Black Panthers through race, politics, love and power. en-GB. The Observer. 15 July 2020. 0029-7712. https://web.archive.org/web/20200630142559/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/09/british-black-panthers-drama-photography-exhibition. 30 June 2020. live.
  21. Web site: 12 December 2019. Book Review: Here to Stay, Here to Fight: A 'Race Today' Anthology edited by Paul Field, Robin Bunce, Leila Hassan and Margaret Peacock. Helen. Mackreath. 6 June 2020. LSE Review of Books. https://web.archive.org/web/20200606200946/https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2019/12/12/book-review-here-to-stay-here-to-fight-a-race-today-anthology-edited-by-paul-field-robin-bunce-leila-hassan-and-margaret-peacock/. 6 June 2020. live.
  22. Web site: Leila Hassan Howe. Goldsmiths University of London. 6 February 2024.
  23. Web site: Goldsmiths, University of London Honorary Fellows Announced. FE News. 15 January 2024. 6 February 2024.
  24. Web site: Goldsmiths graduation Leila Hassan Howe on the origins and importance of the Black Power movement in Britain. Goldsmiths University of London. TikTok. January 2024. 6 February 2024.
  25. Web site: Leila Hassan. 6 June 2020. IMDb.
  26. Web site: Darcus Howe papers, 1965–2008. Columbia University Libraries. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170405052546/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/archival/collections/ldpd_7089617/. 5 April 2017. 6 June 2020. www.columbia.edu.
  27. Web site: Darcus Howe finds frenzy at the mosque. Darcus. Howe. 1 August 2005. 6 June 2020. New Statesman. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20200606201000/https://www.newstatesman.com/node/162589. 6 June 2020. live.
  28. News: 2 April 2017. Civil rights activist Darcus Howe dies. en-GB. BBC News. 6 June 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200610090616/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-39473698. 10 June 2020. live.
  29. News: Bunce. Robin. Field. Paul. 3 April 2017. Darcus Howe obituary. en-GB. The Guardian. 6 June 2020. 0261-3077. https://web.archive.org/web/20170404043802/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/03/darcus-howe-obituary. 4 April 2017. live.

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