13/05/2026
It was a real honour to host an “In Conversation” event as part of the Unite the People series with my brother and comrade Asad Rehman at the BRIG Café. Having first met Asad in the late 1980s during his time with the Newham Monitoring Project, the evening offered a powerful reflection on a lifetime of organising for racial, social and climate justice.
Asad spoke about being born in Pakistan and arriving in the UK at the age of four, growing up in Burnley during the 1970s at a time of rising racism and National Front activity. He described how south Asian children walked to school together for protection from racist attacks and how experiences of violence and exclusion led him to organise a school strike demanding safety and dignity. It was here, he reflected, that he first learned the power of collective action and community organising.
The conversation traced his move to London and his work with the Newham Monitoring Project, supporting communities facing racist violence and police brutality, including campaigns connected to the fight for justice for Stephen Lawrence. These experiences helped shape his understanding of anti-racism as part of a broader struggle for human rights and equality.
At Amnesty International UK, Asad worked with activists from the global south and learned how economic inequality, human rights and international solidarity were deeply connected. It was through these global movements that he began to understand climate change as a justice issue — one that disproportionately impacts the poorest and most marginalised communities.
This political understanding shaped his work at Friends of the Earth, where he became a leading voice in the climate justice movement, connecting environmental breakdown with racism, inequality and economic injustice. He also reflected on his leadership at War on Want and his return to Friends of the Earth as CEO, with a renewed focus on building broad-based movements rooted in communities and solidarity.
As one of the convenors of the Together Alliance, Asad ended with a call to organise against the politics of hate and division, urging people to mobilise for the counter-demonstration to Tommy Robinson’s “Unite the Kingdom” protest on May 16.
It was an inspiring evening that reminded us that the struggles for racial justice, economic justice and climate justice are inseparable — and that real change only happens when people come together collectively.
We look forward to welcoming you to the next Unite the People in-conversation event, featuring another inspiring guest speaker and an important discussion on the issues shaping our communities and movements today.
