Steven Abdal Hadi-Smith
Liverpool
The Black-E provided me with the
opportunity to develop my education.
Bill and Wendy were my mentors and
tutors in English and Social studies. I
enrolled in Central College. It was a
giant step for someone who was an
under-achiever in school. It was also a
period when Black youth were under-reported
in further education.
Black Power Film Shows were held at
the Blackie. I co-ordinated the shows
with my mate Stephen Knox. We went
to London to meet Oscar Abrams, who
ran the Keskidee Centre. We hired
numerous ”lsims”, including Strange
Fruit, The Murder of Fred Hampton,
The Soledad Brothers and The
Panthers.
The Black-E funded me to go on an
Educational Cultural trip to Africa. It
was there that I really saw poverty and
realised the value of education. We
take a lot of things for granted in
England. I visited Nigeria, Kenya and
The Gambia.
Visiting London was an eye-opener to
me as I was amazed to see Black
people working visibly in most
professions. At the time this was
not the case in Liverpool.
I had always felt that I wanted to
articulate the needs of working
people, in particular the Liverpool
Black community. This was due to my
early awareness of racism. I had also
gained confidence in public speaking
from my Blackie days; this was a vital
tool for a community practitioner in
the Liverpool 8 area.
I undertook a role in the
democratically-elected Black Caucus
Group. I had activists around me; Dave
Clay and the Half Penny Protest with
the Liverpool Black Organisation, the
booming voice of Dave Smith on
marches, the increasing community
resistance to racism.