Emily Johns
A myth is being created. The myth of William Wilberforce, the great white liberator, as perpetuated by Amazing Grace, the Hollywood version of the abolition of the slave trade.
The reality is captured in Adam Hochschild's magisterial study, Bury the chains: the British struggle to abolish slavery, which brings to life “a pioneering mobilisation of public opinion, via boycotts, petitions, and great popular campaigns, all powerfully reinforced by the armed slave…
Yes, we are facing daunting threats (as Noam Chomsky points out in his interview). At the same time, on an international scale there are social movements of a size and sophistication which have never been seen before, and in Britain there is a tangible restlessness and dissatisfaction with things as they are, and enormous opportunities for education and organising towards radical social change.
One part of making a better, stronger movement (along the lines sketched out in the last…
