Race Today

Race Today
Title	Race Today
Editor	Darcus Howe
Editor title	Editor
Category	Political magazine
Frequency	Monthly
Publisher	Race Today Collective
Firstdate	1973
Finaldate	1988
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Race Today was a monthly political magazine and journal of radical Black British thought that emerged from activist networks in the United Kingdom during the 1970s and 1980s. It served as a nexus for debates linking diasporic communities, trade union struggles, and anti-imperialist movements drawn from the Caribbean, Africa, and South Asia. The publication functioned both as a reporting organ and as an organizing tool, connecting London-based collectives with broader transnational currents such as Pan-Africanism, Black Power, and anti-racist campaigning.

History

Race Today originated in activist circles associated with the Institute of Race Relations, the Notting Hill Carnival, and the British Black Panther Movement milieu. Early iterations developed out of the critical journalism practiced at the Community Relations Commission and in response to events like the Mangrove Nine trial and the Brixton riots. The founding period saw engagement with figures connected to the National Front opposition and alliances with groups responding to the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968 and the Race Relations Act 1976. During the 1970s the magazine became institutionalized through the Race Today Collective, which combined editorial activity with community organizing in venues such as the Rochester Square Community Centre and the Tricycle Theatre network. Its lifecycle intersected with moments including the Greenwich March and the rise of the New Cross Fire inquiry, and the title ceased regular publication toward the end of the 1980s amid shifts in leftist media ecosystems.

Editorial Content and Themes

The magazine foregrounded investigations into policing practices epitomized by controversies around the Metropolitan Police Service and inquiries such as the Scarman Report. Contributors scrutinized immigration policy debates tied to the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 and critiqued conservative legal instruments including the Public Order Act 1986. Cultural criticism engaged with literary networks exemplified by the Black Arts Movement (UK), reviews of work by writers like Sam Selvon, C.L.R. James, and Rudolph Fisher, and commentary on music scenes linked to reggae artists such as Bob Marley and the rise of punk rock intersections. The magazine ran columns on labor struggles involving unions like the Transport and General Workers' Union and industrial disputes such as the Grunwick dispute, while also covering international liberation struggles including the Anti-Apartheid Movement, solidarity with Palestine Liberation Organization, and reporting from events like the Angolan Civil War and the Grenada Revolution.

Key Contributors and Personnel

Leadership included editors and organizers who maintained links to activist networks: prominent names associated with the journal also worked with institutions such as the Institute of Caribbean Studies, the Black Cultural Archives, and community projects like the Notting Hill Carnival Arts Committee. Regular bylines featured writers and activists who were contemporaries of figures in the New Left and the Socialist Workers Party (UK), and collaborators included journalists connected to outlets such as The Voice (UK newspaper), The Guardian, and New Statesman. Photographers and artists contributing photojournalism had links to galleries like the Whitechapel Gallery and cultural initiatives associated with the Greater London Council. Editorial meetings drew participants from networks tied to the British Museum oral history projects and to academic departments at institutions including University of London colleges.

Political Influence and Activism

As both periodical and collective, the magazine played a role in campaigns against racist policing, exemplified in mobilizations surrounding deaths in custody and in organizing support for defendants in high-profile trials like the Murder of Cynthia Jarrett related cases. Its activists built coalitions with local Labour Party branches, rank-and-file union organizers, and community defense networks paralleling campaigns by the National Council for Civil Liberties and the Campaign Against Racial Discrimination. The collective supported cultural boycotts and solidarity actions aligned with the Anti-Apartheid Movement (UK), and it participated in demonstrations coordinated with groups such as London Black Women's Workshop and international networks linked to the Organisation of African Unity.

Publication and Distribution

Printed on a modest budget, the magazine relied on distribution through radical bookshops like Centreprise Bookshop and street sales at markets and events including the Notting Hill Carnival and community centers across areas such as Brixton, Hackney, and Lewisham. Subscriptions circulated among trade union branches, student unions at universities such as the School of Oriental and African Studies, and community libraries maintained by organizations like the Race Relations Board. Funding and printing arrangements were occasionally mediated by sympathetic printers associated with left-wing collectives and cooperative ventures connected to the Co-operative Press tradition.

Legacy and Cultural Impact

The journal's archive influenced subsequent scholarship in Black British history preserved in repositories such as the British Library, the Trove-linked collections, and the Black Cultural Archives holdings. Its reportage and analysis informed cultural productions including documentaries screened at festivals like the BBC Black Film Festival and theatrical works staged at venues like the Royal Court Theatre. Former contributors went on to shape academic programs at institutions such as Goldsmiths, University of London and community initiatives modeled on its organizing techniques in cities across the United Kingdom and the Caribbean. The magazine's model of combined journalism and activism resonates in contemporary outlets and platforms that address issues raised by movements including Black Lives Matter and campaigns against stop-and-search practices in metropolitan contexts.

Category:Political magazines published in the United Kingdom Category:Black British culture