Category Archives: news
#TakeTheKnee events from around the UK – pics and reports, Wednesday 21 July
First BLM protest in Wallingford, Oxfordshire.
50 to 60 people took part in Take the Knee event outside Notts County Council offices.
Led by SUTR and supported by the Labour Group with an excellent turnout of Councillors
Wanstead flats Newham, East London
Islington Town Hall, London
Swansea Cwmdonkin Park before an online rally took place
Cambridge
25 NHS staff joined the #TakeTheKnee event at Littlemore hospital, Oxford, to say #BlackLivesMatter
The killing of Elijah McClain
In August 2019 gentle, kind Elijah McClain was killed by US police.
From The Cut:
Last August, police officers in Aurora, Colorado, approached 23-year-old Elijah McClain as he walked home from a convenience store. The Aurora Police Department later said that a 911 caller had reported a “suspicious person” in a ski mask, and that when officers confronted McClain — who was not armed and had not committed any kind of crime — he “resisted arrest.” In the 15 minutes that followed, the officers tackled McClain to the ground, put him in a carotid hold, and called first responders, who injected him with ketamine. He had a heart attack on the way to the hospital, and died days later, after he was declared brain dead.
When violinists played in a park at a vigil to remember Elijah (he taught himself to play the violin), this is what Aurora police did (what is wrong with these warped people?):
Updated Sunday 5th July 2020
BLMUK, Palestine and media anti-Semitism slurs
Black Lives Matter Movement (BLMM) was formed in London in 2016 and is not affiliated to BLMUK.
BLMM does however support the struggle against racism in all its forms, be it against anti-Semitism, Islamophobia or anti-Arab racism.
Criticising the state of Israel is not anti-Semitic and we support BLMUK’s call for solidarity with the Palestinians.
Labour Party racism against black women MPs not addressed
Furthermore, it is shocking that the Labour Party has still not disciplined staff members for their racism towards black women MPs.
The lack of concern in the media concerning this blatant racism by Labour staffers is equally disturbing.
Amnesty International on Israeli training of US police
As Amnesty International has pointed out, Israeli police forces have played a key role in training militarised US police forces. Whether this involves training in the restraint methods used to kill George Floyd is not known but we note that this specific allegation has been denied by the Israeli state.
Here’s an excerpt from the Amnesty report published in 2016:
Baltimore law enforcement officials, along with hundreds of others from Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California, Arizona, Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Georgia, Washington state as well as the DC Capitol police have all traveled to Israel for training. Thousands of others have received training from Israeli officials here in the U.S.
Nevertheless, as Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has documented, Palestinians are routinely killed by Israeli police and occupation forces using live ammunition, ‘non-lethal’ weapons and restraint methods.
An injury to one is an injury to all
This anti-BLMUK witch hunt weakens the fight against all forms of racism.
Of course the focus of the black lives matter movement is on fighting anti-Black racism but we see the connections to other forms of racism.
Attacking BLMUK for standing up for Palestinians is an attempt to weaken the anti-racist movement, and this would appear to be the aim of much of the media and the right in this country.
For those that may have missed – here is the BLMUK tweet in support of the Palestinians:
BLMM’s Rakeem Noble on BBC Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine Show
First broadcast on 1 June 2020 in the week that George Floyd was murdered by US police in Minneapolis.
London BLMM member Rakeem Noble (centre in pic above) talks to Jeremy Vine about the brutal racist murder of George Floyd by US police in Minneapolis.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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Black Lives Matter sculpture proposal by Vincent Gray
Hello BLM London
Reverse profile black bronze relief sculpture describing representation and
ghost face with interlocking registration keys
Proposal by Vincent Gray MAcert MRSS
A letter from an abused former prisoner at Pentonville prison
Good afternoon, my name is John Afeigen, i am of mixed race heritage
and I was recently released from prison. My email is regarding human
rights abuse and racism within prisons across the united kingdom.
While I was a prisoner at Pentonville prison, I believe my human
rights were abused on various occasions. This was procedure throughout
the prison system, I had been transferred to 5 different prisons and
had suffered racial abuse and human rights violation within 3 of the
prison’s.
This problem of abuse and violation, is hidden within the
system and prisoners are losing their lives without anyone being held
responsible. I personally was found dead in a prison cell, the prison
system had blamed me by indicating that I had commit suicide due to
mental health issues and had died but what they failed to mention was
that the prison system has some inhumane living conditions for people
to live in, it also has staff members who do not value human life and
abuse prisoners without being punished. Their is widespread corruption
within the prison and probation systems.
I am currently under supervision of a probation officer who consistently violates my rights by interfering with any medical support I currently am in need of by stopping me from receiving medical help and support from my GP.
I am being left to suffer with severe health problems and the prison system
is using my medical problems against me, by stating I am high risk and
a danger to the public and the government. They are also stating that
I am faking my health issues and are using fabricated and false
information to try and take my children away from myself and my
partner. They have stated in documents that I am paranoid and will not
allow me to be around my children.
I am not sure who else I can contact about what has happened to me while I was in prison and about what is going on at this moment? While I was in prison, a lot of people died including myself and nothing seems to be done about what is going on within the prison system as they seem to be covering up the deaths of inmates on a regular basis, a lot of the inmates that
die are black or of ethnic backgrounds.
I am lucky to be alive and feel the need to report my personal experience and also the going on’s within the prison walls, now that I have been released as the prison system had stopped me from reaching out and getting help by intercepting my mail including rule 39 documents to solicitors and also to family members. I understand that when you are in prison, a persons liberty is taken away, however we should still be entitled to our human rights?
I am sending you this email in hope that someone will respond and help
me to get some form of justice for all of the things I went through
and for all of the prisoners who are still going through it.
Kind regards
Mr John Afeigen
Windrush Day is a testament to the struggles of past generations
Windrush Day 22 June.
The Empire Windrush brought Jamaican migrants to the UK in June 1948.
Windrush Day is a celebration of the staying power of that generation.
Much has changed in the intervening years but there are still many obstacles to overcome, as the Black Lives Matter movement shows.
Open national BLM activists meeting – Monday 15th June 6pm – register now
Please see if you can attend the national open meeting for BLM activists being hosted by Stand Up To Racism today at 6pm
Stand Up To Racism is hosting a meeting to discuss the issues confronting the #BlackLivesMatter movement, and the demands coming out of it.
To join this discussion please register in advance.
REGISTER HERE: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/black-lives-matter-we-demand-change-standuptoracism-activists-meeting-tickets-109174770678?ref=estw
The inspiring Black Lives Matter anti-racist movement that has taken to the streets in the US, Britain and across the world, ignited by the police killing of George Floyd in the US, has exposed the racism at the heart of the system.
This movement has also shone a light on Britain’s imperialist and colonial past following the removal of Edward Colston’s statue in Bristol by protesters and the decision by the Museum of London to remove the Robert Milligan statue in West India Quay in east London. There is now a debate about removing other statues such as Cecil Rhodes at Oriel College, University of Oxford.
Meanwhile, the Covid19 crisis continues to disproportionately blight the lives of black communities with figures showing that 34 per cent of deaths were those from BAME communities. Black Caribbean communities are four times as likely to die and BAME communities overall twice as likely to die than their white counterparts. The rapid economic contraction that follows a decade of austerity is also disproportionately impacting on BAME communities.
Hundreds of thousands of new activists have organised the most incredible movement. We want to start a discussion on what demands we raise, change we want to see and how to organise. We want to continue to organise and to make sure that anti-racist organisation is built in every town and city, every workplace and every community.
Some of the demands already raised include:
1. POLICING: Suspend and charge police officers involved in deaths in police custody; end stop and search; racist attacks and murders must be investigated and charges brought.
2. COVID-19: A public inquiry like the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, into the disproportionate deaths in BAME communities.
3. NHS: resources and support for BAME workers to ensure health and safety; an examination of the disproportionate GMC referrals for BAME doctors; BAME workers to be able to report incidents anonymously.
4. EDUCATION: decolonise and depoliticise – the curriculum to must include Britain’s imperialist, colonialist history and enslavement of Africans; decision making on the curriculum needs to lie with teachers not politicians; action on racist bullying in schools.
5. IMMIGRATION: Full citizenship rights for all, end detentions and deportations. Justice for Windrush, refugees welcome.
6. HOUSING: Justice for Grenfell, social housing.
7. ECONOMIC: Investment not cuts. Reparations for slavery for Caribbean families, slavers got reparations, it’s time the descendants of slaves got reparations too.
Tell us your views. Stand Up To Racism is hosting an open #BlackLivesMatter activists meeting on Monday 15 June at 6pm.
Please join us to talk about how can all play a part in taking the movement forward. To join this discussion please register in advance.