Power in Darkness

Adrian Goldberg reflects on how music can act as a force for unity and resistance – as it did in the 1970s when the National Front was at its height

In troubled times, art – in all its forms – can be the light that guides us to a better future.

I was reminded of this recently when watching the world premiere in Birmingham of Hassan Mahamdallie’s Punk Days, a play-cum-musical-cum-documentary about his own coming of age.

Mahamdallie was a mixed-heritage teenager growing up on the streets of London in the 1970s, when racism was rife and danger lurked on every corner for kids with his skin tone.