Video & Audio

To mark the 70th anniversary of VE Day much has been made of the ‘liberation’ won by the allies, the so-called ‘freedom loving democracies’ against evil Germany. In this lecture arranged and filmed as part of WORLDwrite’s multi-media project on the life and works of C.L.R. James we learn this simple moral tale of good versus evil is not true. Despite the horrific loss of millions of lives in the war sacrificed ‘for freedom’ millions of people were not liberated but subject to the British colonial jackboot and in the USA brutal repression and racial segregation. Lecturer and author James Heartfield explains C.L.R James’ love of American civilisation yet opposition to the war and why he was not alone. C.L.R James provides a lesson for us all he suggests, that is we should not believe the official view or the radical view, just because it is often repeated doesn’t mean it’s true.