Activists Commemorate Ahmed Iqbal Ullah 40 Years After Murder

Activists and family members held a memorial event titled "The Legacy of Ahmed: 40 years on" to commemorate the 1986 murder of Ahmed Iqbal Ullah, a 13-year-old British Bengali schoolboy killed in a racist attack at Burnage High School in south Manchester.

Speakers at the event, including members of the original Macdonald inquiry into racial violence in Manchester schools, called for a return to grassroots organizing. They emphasized the responsibility of educational institutions to teach children how racism operates in society. The gathering highlighted the ongoing relevance of "political Blackness," described as a strategic multiracial alliance against racism, in response to a resurgent far right and record-high hate crimes across the United Kingdom.

The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre, founded in 1987 by Lou Kushnick, continues to provide archives and resources to document under-recorded Black and migration histories to fight social injustice. The event also featured contributions from the Rekindle Collective and Kids of Colour, organizations focused on youth empowerment and antiracism in Greater Manchester.