Dear IRR News subscriber,

This week, Jenny Bourne reports on a forthcoming book launch being hosted by Race & Class. Eslanda: the large and unconventional life of Mrs. Paul Robeson is written by Race & Class editorial working committee member and leading black feminist historian Barbara Ransby. Please note the event, which takes place on Tuesday 16 April, is free but booking is essential.

We also carry a report on a new oral history project, London Against Racism, which is seeking to record the recollections of those involved in key anti-racist events such as the Battle of Lewisham and Rock Against Racism.

And in news from across the UK, thousands of children from BME communities were strip-searched in custody over a 21-month period in a practice which has been called ‘institutionalised child abuse’. And the English Defence League (EDL) plans to open an office in Luton at the tanning shop owned by Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, the leader of the EDL who was recently released from prison.

Harmit Athwal

Editor, IRR News