0ur Publication

Made in London
Photo: Police confrontation at National Front Rally. Lewisham 1977. Copyright Homer Sykes

 

Background

In the 1970s the ‘sus law’ (section 4 of the Vagrancy Act 1824) allowed police officers to stop and potentially convict individuals as ‘suspected persons.’ Why was a Victorian vagrancy act, intended to prevent ‘begging, showing wounds’ and ‘telling fortunes’, used to criminalise minority groups in the 1970s and 1980s? Who brought a stop to it? Who is under suspicion today?

Fighting SUS is a poetry and oral history collection, produced by young people in East London galvanised by their own experiences of exclusion from public spaces and awareness of racism to preserve and explore the events, effects and significance of the SUS laws. Risograph printed, stylishly designed and packed with archive material and original illustrations.

Limited edition, order your copy £6.50 inc p&p, free to community groups, young people, schools, libraries etc.
Email to order