Yasmin Alibhai-Brown
A fearless and often controversial columnist who has spent decades dissecting British identity, race, and the complexities of modern multiculturalism.
Born 1949 (age 77)·British journalist and author·Birthday: December 10·Baby Boomers
Biography
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown’s voice is impossible to ignore—a sharp, principled, and sometimes uncomfortable commentary on the Britain she adopted. Born in Uganda to an Indian family, her life was upended by Idi Amin’s expulsion of Asians, forcing her to rebuild in London. This experience of displacement became the bedrock of her writing. She cut her teeth at the BBC and The Independent, developing a style that was both personal and polemical. She refuses to fit neatly into political boxes, critiquing both the racist right and what she sees as the failures of liberal multiculturalism with equal vigor. Her columns in the i newspaper and Evening Standard are provocations, demanding readers examine their own prejudices and the nation's unfinished business with integration. As an author and broadcaster, she has made the immigrant experience central to conversations about what Britain is and what it could become.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Yasmin was born in 1949, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Yasmin Was Born
The biggest hits of 1949
#1 Movie
Samson and Delilah
Best Picture
All the King's Men
#1 TV Show
Texaco Star Theatre
Yasmin's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1949Born
NATO founded; Mao proclaims the People's Republic of China
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Riders in the Sky" — Vaughn MonroeBest Picture: All the King's Men
1954Started school
Brown v. Board of Education desegregates US schools
Gas: $0.29/galHome: $8,925Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Little Things Mean a Lot" — Kitty KallenBest Picture: On the Waterfront
1962Became a teenager
Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,800Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Stranger on the Shore" — Acker BilkBest Picture: Lawrence of Arabia
1965Could drive
US sends combat troops to Vietnam
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,600Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" — The Rolling StonesBest Picture: The Sound of Music
1967Could vote
Summer of Love in San Francisco; first Super Bowl
Gas: $0.33/galHome: $14,250Min wage: $1.40/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"To Sir, with Love" — LuluBest Picture: In the Heat of the Night
1970Turned 21
First Earth Day; The Beatles break up
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $17,000Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Bridge over Troubled Water" — Simon & GarfunkelBest Picture: Patton
1979Turned 30
Iran hostage crisis begins; Three Mile Island accident
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $37,900Min wage: $2.90/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"My Sharona" — The KnackBest Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
1989Turned 40
Berlin Wall falls; Tiananmen Square protests
Gas: $1.00/galHome: $79,100Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"Look Away" — ChicagoBest Picture: Driving Miss Daisy
1999Turned 50
Columbine shooting; Y2K panic builds
Gas: $1.17/galHome: $113,900Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Believe" — CherBest Picture: American Beauty
2009Turned 60
Michael Jackson dies; Bitcoin created
Gas: $2.35/galHome: $148,500Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Boom Boom Pow" — The Black Eyed PeasBest Picture: The Hurt Locker
2019Turned 70
First image of a black hole; Hong Kong protests
Gas: $2.60/galHome: $224,400Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Old Town Road" — Lil Nas XBest Picture: Parasite
2026Age 77 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Authored the influential book 'Who Do We Think We Are?', a critical examination of immigration and identity in Britain.
- Was a founding columnist for The Independent newspaper, helping shape its early voice on social issues.
- Won the Orwell Prize for political journalism in 2001 for her incisive commentary.
- Her memoir, 'No Place Like Home', detailed her experience as a Ugandan Asian refugee and became a key text on displacement.
Did You Know?
She was once a teacher in Uganda before the expulsion of Asians forced her to flee.
She has been a vocal critic of the British honours system and has declined potential awards.
Her daughter, Maddy, is a well-known editor and writer in British media.
She has spoken openly about receiving death threats and abuse due to her columns on race and religion.
“Multiculturalism is not about preserving difference, it is about creating a new common culture.”
