FREE SPEECH: A RADICAL HISTORY 

TICKETS:  https://freespeechunion.org/events/#calendar-da4b66f4-0708-4f80-a917-cd773569e496-event-lix2clbu 

Historically, from communists to slavery abolitionists, suffragettes to religious minorities, freedom of speech was considered an indispensable value for radical movements, and indeed democracy more generally. Yet today, free speech is more likely to be considered a potential problem than a core value, and concerns about free speech are often dismissed as a right-wing talking point.  

Freedom of speech is, and has been throughout history, used to challenge injustice, overturn tyrannical regimes, expose crimes and corruption, challenge orthodoxies, and drive scientific debate and progress. At its broadest, free speech implies the right to decide for yourself what is right and wrong, true or nonsense, beautiful or ugly, good or evil.  

Manchester's history provides plenty of examples of how the struggle for free speech is always at the heart of political struggles against injustice and oppression.  

If you are interested to learn about Manchester's radical past and would like to discuss how we can re-state the case for freedom of speech in the twenty-first century, then book your place at FREE SPEECH: A Radical History. This public meeting is organised by the Free Speech Union, a non-partisan, mass-membership public interest body that stands up for the speech rights of its members and campaigns for free speech more widely. 

An expert panel of speakers will explore the lessons that can be learned from the bravery of our forebears: local historian Michael Herbert of Red Flag Walks, Dr Cheryl Hudson of University of Liverpool and Jonathan Schofield, writer, Manchester tour guide and editor of Manchester Confidential. 

Thursday 20th July at the Friends Meeting House, 6 Mount St, Manchester M2 5NS,  

Speakers and discussion 7pm until 8.30pm. 

Michael Herbert is a freelance historian who first came to Manchester in 1973 to study history at the University of Manchester. His published work includes Never Counted Out!, a biography of Len Johnson, the Manchester boxer and Communist; The Wearing of the Green, a political history of the Irish in Manchester; "Up Then Brave Women": Manchester's Radical Women 1819-1918 and "For the sake of the women who are to come after" Manchester's radical women 1914-1945. He is compiling an anthology of the journalism of Madeline Linford (1895-1975), the first woman on the editorial board of the Manchester Guardian. He writes about radical history on his blog Red Flag Walks and about science fiction on his blog "Fantasies of Possibility".  

Dr Cheryl Hudson is a lecturer in US Political History at the University of Liverpool, and is former director of the academic programme at the Rothermere American Institute, University of Oxford. Her research focuses on the histories of citizenship and political culture in the US and on the philosophy of history. She is co-editor of Ronald Reagan and the 1980s (Palgrave MacMillan, 2008) and Why Academic Freedom Matters (Civitas, 2016). Her forthcoming book is titled Citizenship in Chicago: Race, Culture and the Remaking of America Identity.  

Jonathan Schofield is a Manchester tour guide, writer, broadcaster and public speaker. In 2021 he was awarded the Medal of Honour by the University of Manchester for services to the city and region. There have been fewer than fifty recipients of this medal. Jonathan has been a registered Blue Badge Guide since 1996 and is the Editor-at-Large of Manchester Confidential the city's largest independent magazine. He is also the Editor of Manchester Books Limited and has written several books on the North West. He is a regular broadcaster on local and national radio.  

Tickets are £5. 

FSU Members receive free speech support and discounts for live events as well as exclusive access to online content, so do consider joining the Free Speech Union. Membership starts from as little as £2.49 per month.