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
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‘Connect those inspiring dots, so we begin to surge’
Ben Chacko talks to TYEHIMBA NOSAKHERE, co-author of a new GMB-produced book about the incredible stories of trailblazers for racial equality
Tyehimba Nosakhere
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
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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
UPRISING tells the stories of black pioneers — the people of “global majority heritage” who have helped shape Britain’s labour movement from its infancy.
This first-of-its-kind book produced by the GMB, edited by the union’s first national race organiser Tyehimba Nosakhere and John Callow, brings together chapter-length biographies and autobiographies of these trailblazers — from the cabinet-maker and revolutionary William Davidson, executed and buried in an unmarked grave in 1820, to activists at the forefront of organising workers today like Elaine Daley and Robbie Scott.
It’s an accessible and fascinating read, but what does Nosakhere hope people will get out of it?
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