Meeting of Minds

Item set

Title: Meeting of Minds
Description: Concise, portable and simply bound, pamphlets enable groups and individuals to seek like-minded readers. In the past, many articulated ideas that were not accepted in the mainstream or were deemed subversive. 'Homogenic Love', a late 19th-century appeal for gay and lesbian equality, was published for
private circulation only.

Pamphlets have challenged dominant narratives, such as on race and gender. The 'Black Power in Britain' pamphlet is an articulation of intentions, beginning with the words ‘Our Manifesto’. Anti-colonialist thought and the voices of Indigenous communities attained wider, often international, audiences when shared in pamphlets. Feminist magazine 'Spare Rib' published a guide on locating anti-sexist children’s books. When fascist politician Oswald Mosley stood for election in Kensington North, a Communist Party anti-fascist pamphlet provided a riposte.

Items

Advanced search

Africa, Europe, Caribbean: Political Commentaries
Trinidad and Tobago’s Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) was led during the 1980s by George Weekes, who had been involved in Black Power activism. This pamphlet contains the text of talks given at an OWTU forum by Jeyifo Biodun, Darcus Howe, and Tim Hector. Internationalism and anticolonialism were at the heart of the talks, which were published as a pamphlet to reach a wider audience.
Africa, Europe, Caribbean: Political Commentaries
This flyer advertises the sale of the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (Trinidad and Tobago) pamphlet 'Africa, Europe, Caribbean: Political Commentaries'. The pamphlet was available for sale directly from the Union in San Fernando, Trinidad, and also in London at New Beacon Books. Co-founded by John La Rose, New Beacon Books was the UK’s first Black publisher and bookshop, and is still running today.
Black Power in Britain: A Special Statement
Written and published by the newly founded Universal Coloured People’s Association, this pamphlet is an articulation of intentions, beginning with the words ‘Our Manifesto’. The manifesto aims to develop an international Black consciousness empowering identity and community self-determination. Examples of the often brutal experience of being Black in Britain, including restriction of access to work and housing, sit alongside plans for grassroots organising, including nurseries and study groups.
Fascism and How to Defeat It
In 1959, fascist Oswald Mosley stood for election in Kensington North. Communist Party of Great Britain member and 'Daily Worker' writer Kathleen Mary ‘Kay’ Beauchamp wrote this rapid response. Beauchamp informs a post-war generation about Mosley’s history of fascist organising and suggests means of countering it through communism. The pamphlet’s simple design of loose pages stapled together reflects the urgency of the situation.
Homogenic Love, and Its Place in a Free Society
Socialist Edward Carpenter used his writing to advocate for new ways of living. This appeal for gay and lesbian equality was published in 1894, only the year before Oscar Wilde was imprisoned for his homosexuality. Carpenter had hoped this essay would be published as part of a collection but the text was deemed dangerous and was published as a pamphlet for private circulation only.
List of Non-sexist Children's Books
A bibliography of books which fight gender stereotypes, this pamphlet is divided into four age categories from ‘under-sixes’ to ‘13 years and upwards’. The authors founded the Children’s Rights Workshop to analyse and share findings on sexist, racist and classist children’s books, and the Other Awards, to celebrate books that countered these prejudices. The pamphlet was published by feminist magazine 'Spare Rib' and distributed by the socialist Publications Distribution Cooperative.
We Continue Forever: Sorrow and Strength of Guatemalan Women
International exchange is at the heart of this pamphlet, which was published in New York City but contains the voices of Guatemalan women. The Women’s International Resource Exchange Service (WIRE) was founded by US feminists to publish global writing. A detailed consideration of this pamphlet and its role as a tool for resilience, written by Senate House Library librarian Julio Cazzasa, is available to read online.
White Man's Duty
This 1942 pamphlet is a discussion between publisher and anti-racist activist Nancy Cunard and writer and Pan-Africanist George Padmore about the Atlantic Charter. The Charter outlined the USA and UK’s plans for post-war “common principles”, including the right of all people to choose how they are governed. The pamphlet questions the Charter as an act of mere symbolism rather than substance, describing the gulf between promises and reality.