''Race Today'' was a monthly (later bimonthly)

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

political magazine. Launched in 1969 by the Institute of Race Relations, it was from 1973 published by the ''Race Today'' Collective, which included figures such as

Darcus Howe Leighton Rhett Radford "Darcus" Howe (26 February 1943 – 1 April 2017)"Civil ...

, Farrukh Dhondy,

Linton Kwesi Johnson Linton Kwesi Johnson Order of Distinction, OD (born 24 August 1952), also known as LKJ, is a Jamaica-born, British-based dub poetry, dub poet and activist. In 2002, he became the second living poet, and the only black one, to be published in th ...

, Leila Hassan and Jean Ambrose. The magazine was a leading organ of

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

politics in 1970s Britain; publication ended in 1988. __TOC__

History

''Race Today'' was established in 1969 by the Institute of Race Relations. From 1973 onward, the monthly magazine was under the direction of a breakaway organisation, the

Brixton Brixton is an area of South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century ...

-based ''Race Today'' Collective. This body aimed for a political rather than scholarly approach, based on a combination of

libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...

and radical anti-racism. The magazine's first editor under the new leadership was journalist and broadcaster

Darcus Howe Leighton Rhett Radford "Darcus" Howe (26 February 1943 – 1 April 2017)"Civil ...

. Howe was much influenced by

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

ian Marxist C. L. R. James, and under his tenure ''Race Today'' became a leading voice of Black political journalism in Britain. (James would later live his final years in the building that housed the office of ''Race Today'', at 165

Railton Road Railton Road runs between Brixton and Herne Hill in the London Borough of Lambeth. The road is designated the B223. At the northern end of Railton Road it becomes Atlantic Road, linking to Brixton Road at a junction where the Brixton tube stat ...

in Brixton, where a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...

was installed by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

in 2004.)Leila Hassan, Robin Bunce and Paul Field
"Books , Here to Stay, Here to Fight: On the history, and legacy, of ‘Race Today’"
''Ceasefire'', 31 October 2019. A compilation of Howe's arguments in ''Race Today'' appeared in a 1978 pamphlet entitled ''The Road Make to Walk on Carnival Day''. Farrukh Dhondy, later the author of a biography of C. L. R. James, began his writing career with ''Race Today'' in 1970. Another notable member of the ''Race Today'' Collective was

, who joined the group in 1974. His first book of poems appeared the same year under the ''Race Today'' imprint, and he later served as the magazine's arts editor. The publication and its editor feature prominently in the song "Man Free (For Darcus Howe)" on Linton Kwesi Johnson's 1978 debut album '' Dread Beat an' Blood'' with his then band Poet and the Roots. In the mid-1970, the ''Race Today'' Collective allied with the Black Panther Movement formed by John La Rose, who had been the chairman of the Institute of Race Relations in 1972 and 1973. In 1978, the magazine's publication frequency changed from monthly to bimonthly. In 1985, Leila Hassan became the journal's editor; both the magazine and the ''Race Today'' Collective were discontinued in 1988. Described as "the most articulate organ of British Black politics in the 1970s", ''Race Today'' maintained close ties to the

Notting Hill Carnival The Notting Hill Carnival is an annual Caribbean Carnival event that has taken place in London since 1966

. Race Today Publications was one of the organisers of the International Book Fair of Radical Black and Third World Books, together with New Beacon Books and

Bogle-L'Ouverture Publications Bogle-L'Ouverture Publications (BLP) is a radical London-based publishing company founded by Guyanese activists Jessica Huntley (23 February 1927 – 13 October 2013) Margaret Busby"Jessica Huntley obituary", ''The Guardian'', 27 October 2013. ...

.Sarah White, Roxy Harris and Sharmilla Beezmohun (eds), ''A Meeting of the Continents: The International Book Fair of Radical Black and Third World Books – Revisited'', London: New Beacon Books/George Padmore Institute, 2005, p. vi. In September 2019, the book ''Here to Stay, Here to Fight: A Race Today Anthology'', edited by Paul Field, Robin Bunce, Leila Hassan and Margaret Peacock, was published by

Pluto Press Pluto Press is a British independent book publisher based in London, founded in 1969. Pluto Press states that it publishes "radical, left‐wing non‐fiction books", and is anti-capitalist and internationalist. It belongs to The Internat ...

. ''Race Today'' (2020), a film documenting the Race Today collective and its influence, was directed by Wayne G. Saunders, with Jean Ambrose as screenwriter and Linton Kwesi Johnson in the cast. In March 2023, to commemorate what would have been the 80th birthday of Darcus Howe, the Race Today Legacy Collective launched the magazine's online digital archive. The launch at

Goldsmiths University of London Goldsmiths, University of London, formerly Goldsmiths College, University of London, is a constituent research university of the University of London. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by ...

coincided with the publication of a commemorative Special Issue, the first publication of ''Race Today'' since 1988, edited by Leila Hassan, Deirdre Osborne and Margaret Peacock. Gary Younge gave the keynote lecture at the event.

References

{{Reflist

External links

''Race Today''
at the Working Class Movement Library
''Race Today''
at the George Padmore Institute
Online archive
Bi-monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom Black British history Black British mass media Defunct political magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines disestablished in 1988 Magazines established in 1969 Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom