Candlelit vigil at the Kiln (Tricycle) Theatre's White Teeth first night

Production photo - White Teeth (Kiln Theatre)

Opponents of the change of name of the Tricycle Theatre, Kilburn are organising a candlelit vigil at Monday's first night of Zadie Smith's White Teeth LINK.

Martin Fisher of the It's our Tricycle Not Your Kiln campaign told Wembley Matters:

Out of respect for our local author, we decided on this rather than a noisy demo. 

To be clear, this campaign has no argument with the artistic direction of the theatre but we - and nearly all of the thousands of people we have encountered over 6 months - strongly object to the change of name. 

The Tricycle was loved locally and hugely admired abroad. The change and the high-handed manner of the Kiln has alienated a significant part of its former supporters and most of the local community.   

The vigil will begin at 6,15pm on Monday.

Zadie Smith speaks our for South Kilburn's Granville and Carlton Centres

Author Zadie Smith, whose novels White Teeth and NW show how well she knows the needs of the local community, spoke in support of the threatened South Kilburn's Granville and Carlton Centres last night.

Smith read extracts from an essay she has written about the defence of local services to an audience of more than 100 people.

Brent Scrutiny Committee has called in the plans for examination at their meeting on Wednesday November 30th, 7pm at Brent Civic Centre. LINK

Gove's action on Mary Seacole goes further than Thatcher

Mary Seacole's gravestone

When I first started teaching at an inner London primary school in Paddington in 1971 one of the first things I noticed was that there were very few books with any black children in them even though the school population was largely black. There were no black staff and so children had the strange experience of attending a school where curriculum and staffing did not reflect the pupils who actually attended. 

Meeting with other teachers I discovered that some schools still had copies of 'Little Black Sambo'  on their shelves amongst the Peter and Jane and Janet and John readers. Teachers, supported by parents, became proactive in trying to correct the situation, aware that if children were 'invisible' in the curriculum and materials, their motivation would be affected.  Black Bookshops began to import multi-ethnic books, mainly from the US,  Sunshine  Readers produced by Ladybird for the West Indies, became common in inner London schools. In the UK the Nippers series reflecting both black and working class life began to be published. Beryl Gilroy, the first black woman headteacher in London (and possibly  the UK) and mother of Paul Gilroy, wrote some of the Nipper series.

At the same time there was an active racist and fascist movement with the National Front targeting schools and recruiting white children at the school gates. Teachers became active in the community campaigning against the NF, particularly when they provocatively hired school halls in multi-racial areas for their meetings or marched through areas of black settlement. All Leader Teachers Against Fascism (ALTARF) and Teachers Against the Nazis (TAN) were formed and autonomous black teachers' organisations became active

However, anti-racist teachers were not in the majority at the time. When I was organising support for an anti-racist meeting.my headteacher, who was a member of the Communist Party, told me, 'This school is neither for nor against racism'    His predecessor had angrily insisted, 'I do not want these black books thrust down our white children's throats'.

A moment which reinforced my determination was when an eight year old  black girl turned to me when reading about Harriet Tubman, with amazed eyes and said, 'I didn't know black people could be famous!' 

In the black community the slogan 'We are here because you were there' was used to combat the racists. Clearly colonial history and the freedom struggle were vital to an understanding of racism and teacher activists and librarians began to write materials for the classroom. Basil Davidson worked with the London Branch of the National Association for Multi-racial Education (NAME) on an exhibition about African History challenging some of the myths of the time that included attributing the Zimbabwe ruins to some ancient non-African civilisation.

When I moved  to a primary school in Fulham, an area where the NF were recruiting, I had a 10 year NF member in the class in  which black children were a minority. It became clear to me that anti-racist education was required - not just multicultural.

In Challenging Racism - ALTARF (1984) I wrote about a black child who was in what we now call Year 5. This is what she said:

Well I think there isn't enough black books in school . They've got Pete and Jane and they're white and they haven't got any books for black kids and if they have they're just silly books - they're not sensible. So what we [she and her friends] tried to do  (which we never finished) we made our own book about jobs and racism. We did a book about jobs and drew pictures and we talked about what black people hadn't been getting jobs. Was it because of their colour or is it just because they're not qualified and we got to the decision that it was because of their colour. So what we did was we got together, we had a discussion before we started making the book, and we just started writing it down and drawing pictures about it.

Schools and the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) began to tackle the political issues involved and incurred the wrath of the right-wing of the Conservative Party including Margaret Thatcher, Norman Tebbit and the recently deceased Sir Rhodes Boyson, Conservative MP for Brent North. 

There was little need for the National Front once Thatcher was in power and her government turned on 'left-wing' teachers and on local authorities such as  the ILEA and Brent who had pioneered multi-cultural and anti-racist education. Tebbit eventually abolished the ILEA along with the GLC.  Margaret Thatcher said:

You know about political indoctrination in some of the inner cities, well, I could show you examination papers, I could show you books.....I sometimes look at the Continent, where they have not only a core curriculum but a core syllabus. That would be an enormous leap for us to take, because my generation still recoils from having a system that any government could manipulate...what we are considering is whether we should take that step.

And of course they did take that step and introduced the National Curriculum and subsequent Labour governments tightened central control even more.

The phrase about a system that 'any government could manipulate' is telling because Michael Gove is currently seeking to manipulate the NC history curriculum in the direction that some of the extreme rightwingers wanted to do back in the 80s and goes beyond any manipulation that Margaret Thatcher  or Kenneth Baker attempted. . He is removing certain black historical figures from  the NC but also changing the nature of the historical narrative. It is a political and cultural intervention

Does this statement by the Monday Club (Education and the Multiracial Society) 1985 not remind you of Muchael Gove's stance?

To say that British History, English literature, the civilisation of Western Europe should have pride of place in our schools is not to argue from a sense of superiority. It is to argue for relevance. Black and white children need to learn,and they can, of the nation in which they live and the forces that have shaped it. Britain has a great and inspiring heritage. Our chidlren need to be fed on it, to be encouraged to make it their own. Such an approach in education will unify, not divide, nurture shared pride and common loyalties, not cynicism and racial hatred.

So the removal of Mary Seacole and Oloudah Equiano from the National Curriculum is a political and ideological act with its roots in the Thatcher era. It seeks to push back the gains that have been made in education for a multi-ethnic society and perhaps aims to take us back to that period when that child could look at me with disbelief when she found there were black historical.

That is why Mary Seacole's grave stone, in our backyaed in the Kensal Green Cemetery, Harrow Road is currently my Facebook profile.  It is why I remind schools and teachers that the National Curriculum is not all that can be taught. Schools are free to teach beyond the National Currlcum and if Mary Seacole and Oloudah Equiano  are removed teachers should still carry on teaching about them. That will also be a political  act.

I strongly support the campaign that you can read about below:

Best selling authors such as Zadie Smith, Malorie Blackman and Andrea Levy, playwright Kwame Kwei Armah, Civil Rights icon Rev Jesse Jackson,  Trade Union leaders Christine Blower, Mark Serwotka and politicians including Diane Abbott, David Lammy and Stephen Twigg have all signed an open letter to the Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove, calling upon him to rethink his plans to scrap Mary Seacole and Olaudah Equiano from the National Curriculum.

Gove has stated that he wants children to learn ‘traditional’ figures such as Winston Churchill and Oliver Cromwell, and that Equiano and Seacole can be options.

Simon Woolley stated:

‘Dumping Mary Seacole and Olaudah Equiano, denies children of our rich diversity of key historical figures. It is also seen by some as the whitewashing of British history.’

Civil Rights Campaigner Rev Jesse Jackson stated:

'A nation’s history must be told by all its people for the benefit of everyone. Failure to do so invariably ends up talking about the exploits of white men.’

Zita Holbourne, National Co-Chair BARAC UK stated:

'The achievements of figures such as Mary Seacole and Olaudah Equiano in the face of prejudice are to be celebrated so that they inspire generations to come.  The broad range of people opposing Gove's proposal demonstrate the strength of our multicultural society at its best.

Patrick Vernon stated:

‘After launching the successful campaign in 2003 where Mary Seacole was voted the Greatest Black Briton by the public, Michael Grove, Secretary State for Education now wants to remove her from the National Curriculum along with Olaudah Equiano. This gives a clear message to all children and parents in Britain that we do no have a pluralist or multicultural society and thus equality of opportunity is only the preserved for the rich and privileged. Is this history we want to teach and shape future leaders in 21st century Britain?’

Juliet Alexander, broadcaster, lecturer and trustee of the Mary Seacole Memorial Statue Appeal, stated:

‘To exclude Mary Seacole from the national curriculum would be to remove a vital and important part of  the UK's rich heritage of Black, female activism and to condemn future generations to a poor and distorted history of the UK. The unprecedented response to the OBV petition and public eagerness to fund a statue for Mary, shows the UK's continuing fascination with the fighting spirit of historical heroines like Mary Seacole.’

Follow this link to sign the Operation Back Vote Petition to Michael Gove LINK

http://www.100greatblackbritions.com/

http://www.maryseacoleappeal.org.uk/

New Kensal Rise campaign video released

See the website HERE

Closed bookshop a reproach as new consultation on Willesden Green is scheduled for Wednesday

The empty shelves and locked doors of the Willesden Bookshop were a sad sight in Willesden today. The threatened old Victorian Library was clearly reflected in the windows on which were posted Zadie Smith's New York Review of Books article about the Willesden Green redevelopment and an article about the bookshop closure from the Brent and Kilburn Times.

In the few minutes I was there several people came up to use the bookshop and were rather bewildered to find it closed. Just as people had been at the closed libraries when they had come to use them and found them shut down.

This is another photograph along with the Wall of Shame at Preston Library which should make any Brent Labour councillor with a millilitre of socialism left in his or her blood tremble with shame. It was their partnerhip with a private developer, sneaked in behind the back of residents, compounded by their subsequent misinformation about alleged subsidies to the bookshop and failure to provide any real help with relocation, which sounded the death knell of this loved and valuable local resource.

Shame.

Meanwhile on Wednesday the Library Lab (an organisation 'supported' by Brent Council) will be holding a consultation about the redevelopment. I was at Willesden Green to find out more. When I asked if Library Lab would be neutral staff member Joanna said  that they aimed to be more thorough and open than the previous consultations with this one spanning two months. Asked if the previous consultation organisers, Remarkable PR, were still involved and if so what was their role, she said she didn't really know but that there was lot of documentation from them to get her head around before Wednesday.

Wednesday's consultation will be at the Library Lab (the old cafe space within the building) between 11am and 8pm with presentations at noon, 2pm, 4pm and 7pm.

Martin Redston of Keep Willesden Green, told the Wembley and Willesden Observer:

The fact is they (Brent Council and Galliford Try) are making this up as they go along. They hoped to get this all through the back door and weren't expecting this level of opposition. They have given 10 days notice for  this meeting. It is in the middle of the Olympics and when everyone who is not watching it is on holiday. If this isn't a case of burying bad news I don't know what is.

Read the comments on Zadie's 'North West London Blues'

The New York Review of Books posting of  Zadie Smith's commentary on the Willesden Green Library issue has generated many interesting comments. See them HERE

Zadie Smith pitches into Willesden Green battle

Zadie Smith campaigning for Kensal Rise Library

As the deadline for responses to the planning application for the Willesden Green Library Centre redevelopment nears, local author Zadie Smith, has written an illuminating article for the Keep Willesden Green blog where she asks, "What kind of problems is a library?" and pays homage to the Willesden Bookshop.

See the article on the Keep Willesden Green blog HERE  It is also available on the New York Review of Books website HERE

Brent Tories and Lib Dems Call for Extraordinary Council Meeting on Library Closures

Fast on the heels of Zadie Smith's denounciation of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition over library closures, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats on Brent Council have have today written to the Mayor of Brent to request an Extraordinary Meeting of the Full Council in order to debate the Library Closures in Brent fully.

The wording of the letter is as follows:

We must note the massive support from local people across Brent for the campaign to save local libraries, as evidenced by local activities and the petitions presented to Brent Council. It is also only fair that the Council debates the alternative proposals made by local groups to save local libraries in response to the limited options agreed by the Executive as part of their ‘Library Transformation’ proposals.

We therefore request an Extraordinary Meeting.

Zadie Smith Attacks Government Over Library Closures

Local author Zadie Smith launched a scathing attack on the Coalition government over library closures this morning in a 'radio essay' on Radio 4's today programme. She describes the importance of books in her childhood home 100 yards yards from Willesden Green library, many of which bore the imprint of the library and were returned in two black bags when the library held an amnesty!  She concludes that perhaps the government is happy to see libraries close because in the future people will be unable to read about their attack on public services.

The essay launches a debate about the issue which will carry on during the week.  To listen to the essay follow this LINK