Marx Memorial Library/ Marion Macalpine
Sixteen letters between Claudia Jones and Abhimanyu (Manu) Manchanda are to be deposited in the Marx Memorial Library, along with Manchanda’s other papers. They are also published in a website commemorating Manu’s life.
These letters are evidence of an intense, complex and passionate partnership. They reveal the political and personal bond the two activists shared, the unbearable strain on their relationship due to poor health and financial worries, and the tenacity with which they have always supported each other in pursuing their struggle. Along the way, they were able to enjoy life and look ahead with confidence to a socialist future. At the time they were writing, a large, socialist bloc of countries existed, with China and Cuba having recently achieved hard-won-apparently irreversible-people’s revolutions. The spirit of Bandung prevailed elsewhere, with many non-aligned countries taking progressive anti-colonial positions, refusing to be bullied by the super-powers. National liberation movements were rocking the world; the civil rights movement in the USA was gathering momentum.
