ABSTRACT
As an adolescent I was known as the rebel of my family, having greater concerns than complying at school and following the trajectory of my siblings into higher education – I was going to change the world. My family laughed quite a lot, and it was probably hard not to, considering my penchant for ‘interesting’ punk attire and music. I probably scared more people than I engaged with in those days. The punk movement in Leeds (where I lived from 1976 to 1981) was politically motivated and active, and music was a big part of this. It provided a theatre for me to explore, test and play with my contrariness and interest in the place of oppression in British society. The local branch of the Anti-Nazi League (established in 1977) together with Rock Against Racism (begun in 1976) put on regular punk, reggae and ska gigs, and was active in condemning racist attacks by the National Front (an earlier incarnation of the English Defence League and the British National Party). They gave us places and opportunities to stand up and be counted against far Right ideology. I felt that social change was truly
possible from the grass roots. I also thought that the education system was elitist and I railed against it by refusing to take my O-level examinations in the way we were supposed to. Instead of answering the exam questions, I wrote long and probably rambling letters to the examiners explaining how they were part of an oppressive system that prevented us from raising the issues that were important to us and from realising our potential – what use was physics to one who had the liberation of the oppressed in her heart? It all seemed so simple then.
