Colin Prescod

A two part documentary that details the contribution of black and Asian people to television history from the birth of television in 1936 to 1992. Interviewees include: Pearl Connor, Thomas Baptiste, Lenny Henry, Norman Beaton, Horace Ové, Carmen Munroe, and Stuart Hall.

A record of the unity and continuity of black struggle in Britain. Underlines the fact that the 'new' black communities consist of workers from different countries in Asia and the Caribbean joined in the same struggles against racism in Britain since World War Two. The film focuses on discrimination in employment against black workers, looking particularly at the 1974 dispute at Imperial Typewriters in Leicester. Here black workers faced opposition not only from the bosses, but from some Trade Unions as well as fellow white workers. And the film demonstrates that the outrage of young black people (many born in Britain) as seen in the dramatic events of Summer 1981, is related to the disappointed hopes of their migrant-worker parents.

About the black community in Ladbroke Grove and Notting Hill which grew up in the 1950s. “No Irish, no coloured, no dogs" read the rooms-to-let signs in what was already a decaying inner area of London. In the Grove black people had to face the brunt of a crude and brutal racism and a grassroots defence was organised against white racist attacks in 1958, to become part of the more general community resistance. And that strength was reflected in the emergence of several major 'Black Power' organisations. Since the 1960s the vital sense of black community which developed in the Grove has resisted attempts to disperse and weaken the community and in particular the attempt to suppress the annual Carnival - the major Afro-Caribbean event in Britain.

Looks at Southall, one of the major Asians centres in Britain, and shows how this community organised to resist fascist attacks from 1976 to 1981. Southall's militancy goes back to the community organisations of the 1950's which were created to help black workers combat racism at the workplace and deal with discrimination in the community. As racism increased, the community has fashioned and forged new weapons of struggle.

Made in Butetown, Cardiff, shows that black communities have been developing since the 1850s. Whereas in the 20th century the 'new' communities are made up of black industrial labour, in the 19th century they began with black colonial seamen. The Tiger Bay community faced official, as well as everyday physical harassment which culminated in the 1919 race riots and a scheme for repatriation. The people of Butetown lived through the Depression in the 1930s and many of them served and died in World War Two. Since the 1950's they have come to share the broader experience of the newer black communities.

A documentary illustrating the black community's understanding of, and response to, racism in Britain. It presents from a black working class perspective, an analysis of racism within the context of British history and the post-war crisis of the British economy. At the same time the film reflects the increasingly militant response within the black community to the continuing attacks upon it, both by organised fascist elements on the streets, and by the state itself.