Bob Moloney has been politically active for over fifty years as a socialist, trade unionist, and anti-racist campaigner. His political awareness was shaped in his late teens and early twenties by the anti-colonial struggles in Africa, the movement against the Vietnam War, and the US Civil Rights Movement. Although not active at that time, he immersed himself in the writings of Franz Fanon, James Baldwin, George Jackson, and Eldridge Cleaver, while Angela Davis became an early role model.
In 1973, Bob joined the International Socialists (IS), now the Socialist Workers Party, and immediately found his political home. Marxism gave him a coherent framework to understand a chaotic world and a drive to help change it. He soon became active as a trade union rep in the Leicester hospital where he worked, and by 1974 he was helping organise against the growing threat of the fascist National Front. Anti-racist activity quickly became central to his political life, and he was involved in major mobilisations across the country—most memorably the victory over the NF at Lewisham in 1977, and the mass pickets at Grunwicks.
With the founding of the Anti-Nazi League in 1978, alongside Rock Against Racism, Bob threw himself into a mass movement that combined exhausting activism with joyful carnivals and local gigs. After moving to Birmingham, he continued to organise against the BNP, the EDL, the FLA, and the other far-right groups that emerged in subsequent years.
During the years of raising his children, Bob was less active but remained engaged through his role as a trade union rep and by joining protests organised by the Stop the War Coalition. Since retiring, he has returned to frontline activism with the SWP and has taken a key role with Stand Up to Racism Birmingham. For him, the challenge is clear: to beat back the rise of the far right and the global re-emergence of fascism. He insists that the task of the socialist and anti-racist movements is to build a much larger mass movement, because while the majority of people oppose racism, they need to become the organised majority.
Alongside his activism, Bob has led a busy professional life, working as a hospital pharmacist, children’s nurse, and university lecturer, while raising five children. He describes the people he has worked and campaigned alongside as his greatest inspiration—those who continue to motivate him in the fight for a socially just world.
When asked about the origins of his activism, Bob says:
“My interest was sparked by the emergence of the Black Panthers and Angela Davis — an incredibly inspirational figure and a very strong, hugely radical activist.”
