Birmingham Archives - Black Lives Matter

Kill the bill protests will taking place all over the country on Friday and Saturday, when there is a day of action.

The Tory Police and Crime Bill would give police the powers to shut down protests for making too much noise or causing ‘disruption’ – but all protests make noise and cause at least some disruption, after all that’s the whole point of protests.

In reality the Tories fear a long hot summer and so are getting tooled up, legally speaking, although they already have enough laws to orchestrate a clampdown on our democratic rights.

The BLM movement last summer and the Extinction Rebellion actions earlier really upset the Tories and this is the backlash from the right.

Fortunately for democracy in the UK, people have no intention of taking the imposition of this draconian legislation lying down and have been taking to the streets, from Newcastle to Bristol to Manchester.

It is not illegal to hold protests providing they are Covid safe, which means maintaining social distancing and mask wearing and use of sanitiser on hands and for wiping down equipment.

Jeremy Corbyn MP is slated to speak at the London protests according to information on social media.

**Update: Saturday’s London protest details latest – Meet 1pm** Speakers Corner Hyde Park – Jeremy Corbyn is now speaking

Kill the bill protests – check social media for details:

Tweets by Killthebill_UK

Tweets by killthebillLDN

blm_cardiff 🚨 PROTEST ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨

Nation Day of Action – defend your right to protest ✊🏿✊🏾✊🏽

📍Bute Park, Cardiff
🗓Saturday 3rd April
⏰2PM

#killthebill #justiceformohamud #justiceformouayed

sub-buzz-6683-1469405773-1

From Buzzfeed, by Fiona Rutherford

As the police watchdog releases its annual deaths in custody statistics, activists in solidarity with campaigners in the US tell BuzzFeed News why the movement is also relevant in the UK.

It took just two days for 20-year-old poet Aliyah Hasinah and her friend Olivia Brown to organise a Black Lives Matter demonstration in their hometown, Birmingham. More than 1,000 people showed up and the event was so successful it was trending on Twitter.

At midday the crowd sat in silence for two hours with tape over their mouths, holding placards with messages demanding justice and raising awareness of the trend of black people dying at the hands of police officers in America.

“It became even more powerful when at 2pm, after sitting in silence for two hours, we ripped off the tape on our mouths and started to march, chanting ‘Black Lives Matter,’” Hasinah told BuzzFeed News.

The 9 July demonstration was held in response to the death of Alton Sterling, 37, who wastackled to the ground before being shot dead by two officers during an incident in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A day later, Philando Castile was shot dead by police in Minnesota as he reached for his driving licence while sitting in a car with his 4-year-old daughter and girlfriend, whose live stream of the aftermath helped push the killing into the public eye.

But the demonstration in Birmingham was about more than showing solidarity with black people in America. Hasinah said it was also about recognising the people of colour who have died in police custody in the UK. “Solidarity with the US is of course paramount,” she said. “[But it’s] in addition to understanding what we face on our own shores.” more