Welcome back to the working part of our

Bella, chow, bella, chow, bella, chow, bella, chow, chow, chow, chow, la matina.

Welcome back to the working class history podcast and the concluding part of our double

episode on Asian youth movements in Bradford in conversation with Tariq Mahmoud. If you haven't

listened to Part 1 yet, I'd go back and listen to that first. While based on the self-organisation

of young Asian people, the Asian youth movement, AYM, also trying to build solidarity with the white working class.

The aims and objectives of the Bradford group said that, quote,

The only real force in British society capable of fighting racialism and the growth of organised racism and

fascism is the unity of the workers movement, black and white,

and they encouraged Asian young people to join

workers' organizations like trade unions and oppose racist elements within them.

White, working class whites and trade unions organizations were intricately involved in our,

in working with us. In fact, I think we had, we could even have white people as members.

I don't think that was an issue.

We were, of course, remember, we would have been in the mining communities, in the trades council, in our friends and colleagues would be involved in on the buses.

We would involve in trade union disputes.

And so in a way, we saw that our natural allies were progressive white people, particularly within working class communities,

without which our struggle was doomed. In its early days, AYM was a democratic grassroots organization funded entirely by

its members. But as it grew, they sought out other methods of funding. And what happened as a

result, we think, is a really important lesson for those of us involved in social movements today.

I used to be the only full-time worker for the Bradford Asian youth movement.

And I, the members used to put 25 pence, which is one quarter of a pound, into a pot,

...