Shafaqna English- SICM Mahfil Ali had a conversation with Taj Ali as he talks about his book “Come What may, we’re here to stay“ on Friday 2 October 2026
His book will be available to purchase at half price!
Book description:
As British South Asians reel from the riots of summer 2024, this book tells the inspirational story of how the community organised against racism in the past and how it continues to fight in the present.
British South Asians have a long tradition of radical political activism. The 1970s and 1980s saw the community grappling with prejudice in the workplace and violence in the streets. But this history is deeper than you might think, from students agitating for independence at the heart of the British Empire to seafarers organising global strikes on the eve of the Second World War.
In Come what may, we’re here to stay, Taj Ali reveals how successive generations fought for rights, dignity and a sense of belonging while actively shaping the country they now call home. He shows that British South Asian political life has often been defined less by religious difference than by shared commitments to anti-imperialism and anti-racism. In pursuit of these goals, alliances have been forged with other movements, from Irish republicanism to Black Power.
As racism rears its ugly head again, Come what may, we’re here to stay asks: are we doomed to repeat the past or will we learn from our mistakes and build a better world together?
Speaker:
Taj Ali is an award-winning British journalist, historian, and author who writes extensively on class, inequality, and anti-racism for outlets like Tribune, the BBC, and The Guardian. He is the author of Come What May, We’re Here to Stay: The Story of South Asian Resistance in Britain, a critically acclaimed book that won the RSL Giles St Aubyn Award for its archival and oral history mapping of South Asian trade unionism, solidarity movements, and community defense. A prominent commentator on civil rights, Ali is a 2026 Orwell Prize finalist for his investigative work on hate crimes and the founder of Anti-Racist Radar, an organization tracking racist incidents across the United Kingdom.