Event type: Festival

The Great War to Race Riots tour explores anti-black race riots that occurred in Liverpool and other seaports across the country in 1919.

This tour covers the area now known as Chinatown and the Baltic Triangle, which at the beginning of the 20th century was a densely populated and multicultural neighbourhood known locally as ‘sailor town.’ The tour follows the last journey of Charles Wotton, a 27 year old Bermudan seafarer who was murdered during the race riots. It finishes at the Queens Dock where Charles was chased into the River Mersey.

During the tour we present press reports from the run up and aftermath of the riots which, although over 100 years old, echo the fear-mongering of today. The tensions around the immediate post WWI economic slump, industrial unrest and mass demobilisation were manipulated so that black people become the scapegoat, culminating in the racial violence on the streets of Liverpool. In August of this year, history was repeated when race rioting broke out, fuelled by the ‘divide and rule’ tactics of the politicians and the mainstream media. The events of 1919 contain important lessons for today.

Starting point: Chinese Arch, Nelson Street,  L1 5DW
End point: Queens Dock, L3 4BX

The George Garrett Walking Tour covers the L1 postcode area, touring a landscape that has changed (and continues to change) dramatically. The tour explores the life, writings and activism of George Garrett a ‘militant advocate of tolerance’ who travelled the world and whose work explored the poverty and struggle of the working class in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Garrett occupied a unique and significant position as the central point of a compass that links Liverpool’s literary, cultural, and maritime history.

George Garrett (1896-1966) was a seafarer, writer, playwright, and leading radical activist and anti-racist, who travelled the world and wrote a series of short stories and plays that led George Orwell, who he met in 1936, to say: ‘I was very greatly impressed by Garrett. Had I known before that it is he who writes under the pseudonym of Matt Low in the Adelphi [a magazine published in the 1920’s and 30’s]…I would have taken steps to meet him earlier’.  Garrett was a founding member of the Merseyside Left Theatre and Unity Theatre.

Following the 1919 race riots, Garrett was one of the few white allies who defended the Black community and pointed out the divide and rule tactics of politicians, the media, and even trade union leaders. His erudite speech, delivered at a public meeting in the aftermath of the violence, still resonates today as we continue to face class and racial inequalities. In 1922 Garrett was one of the leaders of the first National Hunger March from Liverpool to London.

Start Point: The Women’s Organisation, 54 Saint James Street, L1 0AB
End Point: Seaman’s Home Gates at Liverpool One by John Lewis

With its home in Coventry, its roots in reggae and its multiracial bands, 2-Tone was a British musical phenomenon. As part of Black History Month, this Your Local Arena special screens Rudies Come Back, the energetic 1980 BBC Arena film made by Jeff Perks right at the moment that 2-Tone was emerging, capturing its unique blend of 1960s blue beat and ska with 1970s reggae, soul and punk.

The film will be followed by a panel discussion. Guests include: legendary reggae musician and producer Dennis Bovell, drummer June Miles-Kingston from the Mo-dettes and Fun Boy Three, author, artist and music expert Zoë Howe, and filmmaker Jeff Perks. It promises to be an unforgettable evening highlighting the racial unity sparked by the 2-Tone movement, which stood in direct opposition to the Far Right in the late 1970s and early 80s.

Born in Barbados in 1953, Dennis Bovell MBE is an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, sound engineer, composer, band leader and producer. He came to London when he was twelve and has been in bands since his schooldays. He formed Matumbi in 1970, whose songs include the top ten hit ‘Point of View,‘ and produced Janet Kay’s huge single ‘Silly Games.’ He has worked with artists as diverse as I Roy, Steel Pulse, Bananarama, Fela Kuti and Ryuichi Sakamoto. Dennis continues to release his own music.

June Miles-Kingston is a singer and drummer, best known for co-founding the post-punk band The Mo-dettes (1979–1982).Throughout the 1980s, she lent her drumming and vocal talents to an array of notable British artists across genres like post-punk, new wave, and pop, collaborating with acts such as The Communards and Everything but the Girl.

Jeff Perks wears two hats – artist and filmmaker. He graduated from the National Film and Television School in 1978. He has produced and directed films for the BBC’s Omnibus and Arena programmes on artists, cartoonists, punk bands and women comediennes. When Channel Four started, he formed Riverfront Pictures and went on to make over forty films for the new channel. As an artist, his work has appeared at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, Battersea Arts Centre and his first one-man show was at Stockport Art Gallery. His current exhibition John Bull, a collaboration with Michael Rosen, is running at The Green Man Gallery.

Author, visual artist and sometime musician Zoë Howe has produced acclaimed biographies of The Slits, Poly Styrene, the Jesus & Mary Chain, Wilko Johnson, Stevie Nicks, Florence + The Machine, Lee Brilleaux and others. Zoë was part of the founding team behind the award-winning documentary Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché, and she has made radio programmes for Absolute Radio, Resonance FM and Soho Radio amongst others; she currently presents the Rock ’n’ Roll Witch show on Soho Radio. Musically, Zoë has worked with Viv Albertine, Helen McCookery Book, Steve Beresford, Mick Jones & others. Zoë is a Royal Literary Fund writing Fellow at Newnham College, University of Cambridge, and her debut novel Shine On, Marquee Moon was shortlisted for the Virginia Prize for Fiction in 2016. Her next book Witchful Thinking (a handbook for the modern Wise Woman) was published by Llewellyn in 2022.

Your Local Arena is a unique project featuring iconic films from the archives of BBC TV’s Arena, the pioneering cultural documentary series. It includes new poems inspired by the Arena films and panel talks to explore the continuing relevance of the Arena archives today. The Your Local Arena concept was developed by Lucy Hannah and Speaking Volumes, with Arena’s award-winning director/editor Anthony Wall as creative consultant, and funded by Arts Council England.

Your Local Arena is a Lucy Hannah & Speaking Volumes co-production

featuring BBC Arena’s film archive. Funded by Arts Council England.

The L8 Activism Walking Tour invites you to take a stroll down the beautiful tree-lined Victorian Boulevard and explore the history of Liverpool 8, the traditional home of the black community since the mid 20th century.  This tour charts the area’s development since it’s the origins as a merchant class neighbourhood in the mid-late 19th century, to dilapidation and multiple occupancy and back to one of the most desirable areas to live in 2024.

As the tour progresses, they cover the vibrant nightlife and culture of the 1950s and 60s and the black and anti-racist activism that developed throughout the 1970s and early 1980s and which responded to local and international issues. They consider the discrimination faced by Liverpool’s black community, which Lord Gifford in his enquiry into the causes of the 1981 uprisings, described as ‘uniquely horrific’ which brought worldwide media attention to the area. At the Rialto which, during the uprisings, was set ablaze, they view the area where battle lines were drawn and consider why certain buildings were targeted.

The L8 Activism Walking Tour culminates on the former site of the Liverpool 8 Law Center, an organisation which arose out of the ‘81 Uprisings and which played a key role in the support and empowerment of L8 and the black communities and then onto empty plinth where William Huskinson once stood. Join them to find out what happened to him and much more history that you won’t find in books.

Starting point: Princes Park North Gates, L8 3TA
End point: Former site of Huskinson statue, Princes Road, L8 1TH

The Dorothy Kuya Walking Tour explores the impact of Dorothy Kuya’s anti-racist activism in modern Britain as we explore the Liverpool and the L8 area.

Dorothy Kuya (1933-2013) was one of Liverpool most prolific anti racist campaigners whose activism spanned seven decades. Born in Liverpool to a West African father and white English mother, Dorothy was aware of racial discrimination from a young age. At 13 she began attending Young Communist League meetings and would stay a dedicated and respected member of the CPGB until the 1980s. Inspired by the anticolonial sentiment of her youth and the pan-African radicals living in the North West, Dorothy would also go one to become an important member of the Movement for Colonial Freedom (now Liberation) and the National Assembly of Women. Dorothy had a local, national and international profile. As the first Race Relations advisor for Haringey Council, working closely with former MP Bernie Grant and former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. In Liverpool, Dorothy was a formidable member of the Granby Residents Association and integral to the development of the Atlantic Slave Trade gallery, the International Slavery Museum and Slavery Remembrance Day.

Starting point: Corner of Falkner and Catherine Street, L8 7NE
End point: Jermyn Street, L8 2XA

Babylon’s Burning with Rick Blackman is in partnership with Love Music Hate Racism. Music has always played a vital role in confronting the rise of racist and fascist ideas in Britain.

In Babylon’s Burning author and activist Rick Blackman explores the impact and connections between three musical movements – The Stars Campaign for Interracial Friendship in the 1950s, Rock Against Racism in the late 1970s and Love Music Hate Racism in the first two decades of the 21st century. In the context of the recent race riots that exploded on the streets of Liverpool, this event explores the vital role that arts and culture can play in defeating the far right and uniting communities. Rick will be in conversation with Ameen Hadi.

With DJs playing Soul, Ska, RnB and Reggae

Rick Blackman is a historian, musician and anti-racist activist. He has been a lecturer for over 20 years, specialising in African American and British history and is an expert in music and subcultures. He is also a songwriter/arranger/producer who has been involved in a wide range of musical projects from Atlantic Records to Acid Jazz. He has worked at Abbey Road, Olympic and Air studios. He was an active member of Rock Against Racism as a youth and is currently involved in Love Music Hate Racism today. Rick Blackman is the author of two books on music and anti-racism: Forty Miles of Bad Road & the 1958 Notting Hill Riots and Babylon’s Burning, Music Subcultures and Anti-Fascism 1958-2020.

Ameen Hadi is a dedicated anti-racist and advocate for equality, equity, diversity and inclusion. Working for Unison North West Black Workers, Ameen has been pivotal to the recruitment and organisation of Black members and activists, and integral in building the union’s work in social care and significantly increasing Black member representation at all levels of the branch. Ameen has utilised his role on the North West Black members’ committee to help develop and support Black members and activists, to campaign on a huge variety of issues. Ameen has been active in the Anti-Nazi League and is active in Love Music Hate Racism.

The Liverpool & Slavery Walking Tour was developed and inspired by their Dorothy Kuya Archive Project, in collaboration with National Museums Liverpool.

During the project their team revealed the extent of Dorothy’s involvement in the establishment of the Atlantic Slave Trade Gallery, Slavery Remembrance Day and the International Slavery Museum. Along with Liverpool activist and historian Eric Lynch (1932-2022), Dorothy delivered slavery walking tours in collaboration with NML in the mid 1990s. It is local black activists like Dorothy and Eric that have played an integral role in how Liverpool remembers and commemorates its heavy involvement in the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

On this tour they explore the many sites and streets with direct links to the Transatlantic Slave Trade in Liverpool city centre. They discuss the depth of the city’s connections to the trade of enslaved Africans and the goods they produced long after its abolition in Britain. This tour also considers the legacies of the Atlantic Slave Trade, the origins of anti-black racism and white supremacy, which in the 18th and 19th centuries were seen as justifications for horrific oppression and continue to encourage racial hatred violence in the present day.

Starting at the Merseyside Maritime Museum, the tour will then cover the L1 and L2 districts, ending at Liverpool Town Hall.

Starting point: Merseyside Maritime Museum, Royal Albert Dock, Liverpool, L3 4AQ
End point: Liverpool Town Hall, High St, Liverpool, L2 3SW