Leila Hassan

Leila Hassan Howe is an editor and activist, who was a founding member of the Race Today Collective.

Leila Hassan
Born13 June 1948
Zanzibar
CitizenshipBritish
Known forEditor of Race Today

Career

Hassan was a member of the Race Today collective from its beginning,[1] and eventually became editor of its journal, Race Today, in 1986.[2][3] She was deputy editor of the journal from 1973, with Darcus Howe as editor.[4] She was a frequent writer for the journal, examining topics ranging from the Black Power movement in the USA to the lives of black women in the UK.[5]

During the 1980s she worked alongside Olive Morris running Race Today's 'Basement Sessions' at Railton Road, where art, culture and politics were discussed.[2][6][7] The Race Today Collective was led and organised by a number of women, including Hassan, whose influence on its direction needs further recognition.[8] Women involved in the organisation included Alethea Jones-Lecointe, Barbara Beese and Mala Dhondy.[9] In 1984 Hassan organised for the wives of striking coal miners to come to London to tell their stories to the journal.[4] Hassan also campaigned for Arts Council England to recognise the Notting Hill Carnival as an art form.[10] She was also a co-organiser of the New Cross Fire March in 1981.[11]

Hassan became involved in the Black Power movement in the late 1960s.[2] She worked for the Institute of Race Relations from 1970,[5] as Information Officer.[12] During her time there she helped to overthrow the IRR's paternalistic organisation, turning it into a more radical organisation.[4] This change in the IRR came about through a membership vote, in which Hassan had been instrumental in recruiting more members who sympathised with the proposed new direction of the organisation.[13] She was a member of the Black Unity & Freedom Party before she became involved in the collective.[12]

In 2019, Hassan Howe co-edited a collection of writings from Race Today, published by Pluto Press, which aimed to introduce new audiences to Britain's black radical politics.[14]

Publications
  • Here to Stay, Here to Fight: A Race Today Anthology - Paul Field, Robin Bunce, Leila Hassan, Margaret Peacock (2019)[15]
  • The Black Explosion in British Schools - Farrukh Dhondy, Barbara Beese, Leila Hassan (1986)[16]

Personal life

Leila Ramadhan Hassan was born on 13 June 1948 in Zanzibar.[17] She grew up a devout practitioner of Islam.[2][18][19]

Hassan was married to the civil rights activist Darcus Howe, who was her predecessor as editor of Race Today.[20][21]

References
  1. Jones, Feminista, 1979-. Reclaiming our space : how Black feminists are changing the world from the tweets to the streets. Boston, Massachusetts. p. 161. ISBN 978-0-8070-5537-3. OCLC 1035440566.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. "5 British Black Panther women whose names you should know". gal-dem. 2017-04-21. Retrieved 2020-06-06.
  3. "Social activist and broadcaster who stood up for black Britain". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2020-06-06.
  4. "Here to Stay, Here to Fight: On the history, and legacy, of 'Race Today' | Ceasefire Magazine". ceasefiremagazine.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-06-06.
  5. "Leila Hassan". Pluto Press. Retrieved 2020-06-06.
  6. "Stories from Railton Road". Brixton Advice Centre. 2015-07-05. Retrieved 2020-06-06.
  7. W, Perri (2019-03-09). "A tribute to Olive Morris". Brits + Pieces. Retrieved 2020-06-06.
  8. Austin, David (2015). "Review of Darcus Howe: A Political Biography". Labour / Le Travail. 76: 278–280. ISSN 0700-3862.
  9. The Race Today Review. RT Publications. 1987.
  10. "Revolutionary Black British Women - London Architecture Diary". :city Architecture Diary. Retrieved 2020-06-06.
  11. "Black People's Day Of Action: Inside The 1981 New Cross Fire March That Brought Britain To A Standstill". consent.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2020-06-06.
  12. Labour and the left in the 1980s. Davis, Jonathan Shaw,, McWilliam, Rohan,. Manchester. ISBN 978-1-5261-0645-2. OCLC 1021146767.CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  13. Bunce, R. E. R. (Robin E. R.),. Darcus Howe : a political biography. Field, Paul, 1971-. London. p. 143. ISBN 978-1-4742-1845-0. OCLC 897447030.CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. "Book Review: Here to Stay, Here to Fight: A 'Race Today' Anthology edited by Paul Field, Robin Bunce, Leila Hassan and Margaret Peacock". LSE Review of Books. 2019-12-12. Retrieved 2020-06-06.
  15. Field, Paul; Bunce, Robin; Hassan, Leila; Peacock, Margaret, eds. (2019-09-20). Here to Stay, Here to Fight: A Race Today Anthology. Pluto Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctvpbnn5q. ISBN 978-1-78680-483-9.
  16. Dhondy, Farrukh, 1944- (1982). The black explosion in British schools. Beese, Barbara., Hassan, Leila. London: Race Today. ISBN 0-9503498-6-0. OCLC 12696281.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. "Leila Hassan". IMDb. Retrieved 2020-06-06.
  18. "Darcus Howe papers, 1965-2008". www.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2020-06-06.
  19. "Darcus Howe finds frenzy at the mosque". www.newstatesman.com. Retrieved 2020-06-06.
  20. "Civil rights activist Darcus Howe dies". BBC News. 2017-04-02. Retrieved 2020-06-06.
  21. Bunce, Robin; Field, Paul (2017-04-03). "Darcus Howe obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-06-06.
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