Power & Politics

A political history of Britain in the places where it happened: parliament and palace, courts and counting houses, and the streets where people pushed back.

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Altab Ali Park

A churchyard renamed for a young man murdered walking home, and the movement that came after.

Protest & dissentIdeas & memoryFree to enter

Photo by Back_ache, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Altab Ali was a 25-year-old clothing worker, Bangladeshi and living in Whitechapel, killed in a racist attack here on 4 May 1978. Attacks were routine in the area that year and the National Front was trying to establish itself around Brick Lane. Thousands walked behind his coffin to Downing Street; young Bengalis organised street patrols, tenants' groups and political campaigns, and the community now marketed as Banglatown fought its way into the political life of the East End. The park is the churchyard of St Mary Matfelon, the white chapel that gave Whitechapel its name, bombed in the war and never rebuilt. There is a memorial arch at the entrance, and it is very quiet.

Where
Whitechapel Road, E1 1BJ
Nearest station
Aldgate East · 2 min walk

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Data is compiled from public sources including OpenStreetMap, under the ODbL. Hours change often, so check before making a journey.

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