Robinson successfully defended his school from closure, fought for the unification of the teaching unions, mentored future trade union leaders and transformed teaching at the Marx Memorial Library, writes JOHN FOSTER
Who was Dorothy Kuya?
DAVID HORSLEY pays tribute to a remarkable anti-racist communist campaigner, born 91 years ago this month
Dorothy Kuya (right) with US activist Angela Davis
A judge in a German court ruled that the ban activity imposed on renowned Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah was unlawful, reports LEON WYSTRYCHOWSKI
At the very moment Britain faces poverty, housing and climate crises requiring radical solutions, the liberal press promotes ideologically narrow books while marginalising authors who offer the most accurate understanding of change, writes IAN SINCLAIR
From Gaza protest bans to proscribing Palestine Action, political elites are showing a crisis of confidence as they abandon Roy Jenkins’s apologetic approach for Suella Braverman’s aggressive ‘hate march’ rhetoric, writes PAUL DONOVAN
ANSELM ELDERGILL examines the legal case behind this weekend’s Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival and the lessons for today
Ben Chacko talks to RMT leader EDDIE DEMPSEY about how the key to fixing broken Britain lies in collective sectoral bargaining, restoring unions’ ability to take solidarity strike action and bringing about the much-vaunted ‘wave of insourcing’
The summer of 1950 saw Labour abandon further nationalisation while escalating Korean War spending from £2.3m to £4.7m, as the government meekly accepted capitalism’s licence and became Washington’s yes-man, writes JOHN ELLISON
IN 2021, students at the University of Liverpool voted by a huge majority to rename Gladstone Hall, one of the halls of residence, Dorothy Kuya Hall. The wonderful irony of choosing a black Liverpudlian communist to replace the several-times prime minister of Britain speaks volumes. But who was Dorothy Kuya?
She was born on March 16 1933 in Liverpool, her mother a local woman and her father from Sierra Leone. The latter soon disappeared from their lives but her mother married a Nigerian seafarer, so young Dorothy took his name and he proved to be a loving father to her and her siblings. His influence alongside others like Ludwig Hesse, a communist seafarer from the Gold Coast, now Ghana, had a positive influence on her life.
The Kuya family lived in Liverpool 8, virtually a ghetto at that time with mainly black and mixed-heritage people suffering poor housing and constant unemployment.
More from this author
DAVID HORSLEY points to the continued relevance of an inspirational black communist whose 110th birthday anniversary will be celebrated on Sunday
DAVID HORSLEY recalls the dedication and activism of dedicated communist militant Win Langton
DAVID HORSLEY honours the black British communist who fought the fascists from Cable Street, to Spain, to the concentration camps of Nazi Germany
DAVID HORSLEY recalls the militant origins of the Notting Hill Carnival which takes place this weekend
