BILLY BRAGG RETURNS TO HIS OLD SCHOOL IN BARKING WITH LMHR
- When: Tuesday, October 9th, 2007
- Barking Abbey School, Barking
- Open to Barking Abbey students & staff only
Billy Bragg today (Tues 9th Oct) kicked off a series of LMHR events in schools, linked to the LMHR/NME schools compilation CD, with a visit to his old school Barking Abbey. The school is in the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham where the fascist British National Party have 12 councillors. Barking Abbey was the venue last year for the first LMHR event in the borough following the election of the BNP councillors, when Ms Dynamite spoke there. Many of its students have since got involved in the local LMHR group. The latest LMHR visit to the school is one of five such events that have taken place in the borough in the last fews months, organised with the help of Barking & Dagenham National Union of Teachers.
300 pupils - the whole of Year 11 - took part in the visit, and were treated to an exclusive preview of the video of Roll Deep’s LMHR/NME CD track ‘Racist People’, with the nme.tv video from the NME/LMHR CD covershoot also going down well. Billy talked about the link between music and politics, and how his biggest inspiration The Clash - at the famous 1978 Rock Against Racism carnival - led to him being a politically-committed artist. He stressed the importance of the new generation of bands and artists now taking up the torch for LMHR against today’s fascists - the BNP, and urged students to get involved, to put on their own LMHR gigs and to stand up against racism wherever it arises. “No-one can tell me what music I can listen to, and who should and shouldnt be able to get up on stage and sing, rap or play guitar. Today’s fascists are still peddling their big lie about immigration and playing on people’s fears”. Billy & LMHR campaigners then did a Q&A with pupils that touched on everything from The Small Faces to a proposed collaboration with Roll Deep, Fords Dagenham car plant to Billy’s mum driving him to his first band practice. The session finished with a LMHR music quiz with the music of the likes of Woody Guthrie, Nina Simone, Ms Dynamite and Lethal Bizzle played and pupils asked to name the artist and discuss their contribution to fighting racism and fascism. Scores of pupils signed up to get involved in LMHR to challenge the BNP’s presence in their borough, and now plan to put on their own event at the school early next year.
