Category Archives: UK

Another big turnout on Brighton BLM protest following “I can’t breathe” outrage

Another big turnout in Brighton today for BLM march. As many as 5,000 took part in the protest.

The march comes on the back of an “I can’t breathe” incident in the city involving a black man and police. Thanks to Chris Middleton for the video below.

And if you missed the video of the latest brutal police attack, here it is:

Brighton & Hove News:

Leader of Brighton and Hove City Council Nancy Platts is to meet the city’s policing commander, Nick May, over her concerns about the footage, which has been circling on social media.

In the film, a suspect loudly objects to an officer putting his elbow on his neck, and then tells him he can’t breathe. At the end of the footage, the officer takes his arm away.

Chief Superintendent Nick May said police are reviewing the officer’s body worn footage and would take appropriate action, but cautioned that the clip only featured a snapshot of a much longer operation in Montpelier Road on Tuesday, 7 July in which the 28-year-old man was arrested during a search for a missing 17-year-old girl.

More at the Guardian.

“I can’t breathe” pleads black man attacked by Brighton police

Brighton police racist violence on display in yet another shocking video.

From the Independent

Video footage showing officers restraining a man as he repeatedly shouts “I can’t breathe” has been referred to the police watchdog. 

A man can be seen lying on the ground as he is restrained by three officers near a police car in a recording captured in Brighton on Tuesday.

A witness to the incident said: “I have seen people be arrested before, I have never seen anything like that. 

“It was really, really shocking. I do not understand why there were three policemen sat on him.”

Join the Brighton BLM protest

Details here.

Quarter of young black people in London stopped by cops during lockdown

Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee has got hold of damning evidence of the extent of the oppressive nature of the policing of black (and white) youth in the big cities of the UK, especially London.

Lots of anecdotal evidence has been cited about the increase in stops of young people and now we have the proof.

For black youth the level of harassment has gone way off the scale, with a quarter of all the young black people having been stopped during the lockdown.

This comes after the overpolicing of block parties on working class housing estates.

From the Guardian:

Young black men were stopped and searched by police more than 20,000 times in London during the coronavirus lockdown – the equivalent more than a quarter of all black 15- to 24-year-olds in the capital.

More than 80% of the 21,950 searches between March and May resulted in no further action, according to analysis by the office of the home affairs select committee chair, Yvette Cooper.

The figures equate to 30% of all young black males in London, though some individuals may have been searched more than once.

The Met increased its use of stop and search during the lockdown, compared with a year ago. The force carried out 43,000 stops in May, compared to 21,000 a year earlier, and 30,608 in April, up from 20,981.

Katrina Ffrench, chief executive of Stopwatch, a charity that campaigns against the disproportionate use of stop and search, said: “The number is shocking and saddening. How do those young people feel when this is their city, they’re going about their daily business, could be caring for parents, all sorts of reasons as to why they’re out?” more

Parliament Home Affairs Select Committee hears evidence on stop and search. Hearing evidence this week.

https://www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/cd010bb3-558c-4575-9a23-ec4a5070a3cb

3 cops share racist material on WhatsApp of Kayode Ewumi meme

More disturbing news emerged today from inside the police – this time the Cambridgeshire Constabulary.

One officer has been suspended and two others placed on restricted duties after sharing racist material on WhatsApp.

An image of actor Kayode Ewumi that had previously gone viral was reposted but with the word “monkey” added underneath.

Kayode Ewumi meme

That was followed up with another officer posting a photo of a monkey hanging from a tree.

One of the officers in the officers’ unit is from a black and minority ethnic background and the vile messages found their way to his phone.

His 17-year-old son saw the images when using his parent’s phone and contacted the media.

“I felt it was my duty to speak out about this. It has really upset my family. I’m speechless and shocked. I think we should expect more from police officers.

Yes we should expect more but sadly the evidence – if further evidence were needed – is piling up about the institutional racism that plagues the police force.

It is past time that officers who have committed racist offensive be sacked from their jobs forthwith, but here we again have suspension on full pay and so called “restricted duties”.

Enough!

Michael Holding and Ebony Rainford-Brent – our latest BLM stars

Michael Holding and Ebony Rainford-Brent’s hard-hitting and moving speech on the striving for racial justice stirred sports fan and others. Thank you.

Michael Holding in his prime was a magnificent fast bowler in the all-conquering West Indies cricket teams sides of the 1970s.

Both the England and West Indies team and all the officials took part in the Take The Knee event at the beginning of the first test match of the series.

Holding on white power…

“Everybody has heard about this lady in a park in America who was asked by a black man to put her dog on a leash, which is the law,” Holding said.

“She threatened this black man with her whiteness, saying that she was going to call the police and tell them there was a black man threatening her.

“If the society in which she was living did not empower her or get her to think that she had that power of being white and being able to call the police on a black man, she would not have done it.

“It was an automatic reaction because of the society in which she lives. If you don’t educate people they will keep growing up in that sort of society and you will not get meaningful change.”

Ebony Rainford-Brent

One-time international cricketer Ebony Rainford-Brent said her piece, and she didn’t hold back either.

“I’ve been in team environments, dealing constantly with people referring to ‘your lot,’” she said with tears in her eyes.

“I questioned myself why I stayed sometimes so long, I love the game, I think it has so much more to offer.

Former English cricketer Ebony Rainford-Brent broke down when speaking about the impact racism had on her during her time playing cricket. (Image: Sky Sports)
Former English cricketer Ebony Rainford-Brent broke down talking about the impact of racism

“But it can be really difficult dealing with that day in day out.”

Ebony said education needs to change:

“It can’t be a ‘black person’s problem’, it has got to be everyone’s problem. We have got to want a society that is representative and supports people from different backgrounds,” she said.

“That’s what it is for me. We need honest conversations, opportunities and people in positions of power. And then we can change the landscape.”

Invention of the filament light bulb

Say his name: Lewis Howard Latimer – inventor of the light bulb, as we were reminded in the history lesson from Michael Holding. Thank you again.

Lewis Howard Latimer – inventor of the light bulb
Lewis Howard Latimer – inventor of the light bulb

Covid victim George Ziwa needs your support for African funeral

My name is Stephen Smith and sadly we lost our best friend Mr George Ziwa who was found totally decomposed in his flat in March.

Because of the Covid restrictions his body has only just been released by the coroner in High Wycombe, so we have only just set up his GoFundMe page so that his family in Uganda can give him the traditional African burial they have requested.

George Ziwa was a well known member of the Buckingham and Aylesbury community, he lived on the streets from 2012 until January 2019 when he moved into his flat.

Although George was responsible for the renovation of the local Red Cross Centre’s garden during 2017-2018 his lifestyle led to serious health complications.

George died on the 1 March 2020 and he was found at his home some weeks later.

I am appealing to everybody to help send George’s body home so his 80 year old mother can put him to rest under traditional African ceremony. 

Please donate generously to the repatriation fund. Thank you:

Go fund Me

More about George

George Ziwa was born on 28th June 1973 in Kampala, Uganda to Mrs Emma Namuli and the late George William Ziwa. He enjoyed a very close and dear relationship with his mother especially as he was her last born child. George went to school in Uganda and Kenya. He studied from S1 to S6 at Namilyango College, Uganda and he was a very active member of the Ngonian and the Namilyango College Old Boys Association (NACOBA). He later went to England where he studied Nursing at Luton and Dunstable Hospital with a specialisation in mental health. Upon qualifying, George worked at the Whiteleaf Mental Health Centre in Aylesbury as a State Registered Nurse. George lived in Buckinghamshire, England until his death.

George was a loving, caring and generous person and he was always eager to help. Whenever he went to Uganda on vacation, he often met the young homeless street-children to whom he bought food and drinks. George always carried his pink Bible which his sister Linda had offered to him and he fondly referred to himself as a soldier of Christ. He was part of the congregation at Buckingham Evangelical Church. In his youth, George had joined the Boys Scouts and he took great joy in all their activities while also treasuring the strong friendships that he built with his fellow scouts.

George passed away suddenly at the beginning of March 2020. He is survived by his two children, his mother and his siblings and he will be sadly missed by his family and numerous friends.

May his soul rest in peace.

Roberts brothers Darren and Darrell and Osime Brown – 3 steps for justice

Table of contents
Roberts brothers and Brown casesStop these deportations
Step 1: Read more about itStep 1: links to background
Step 2: Find your MPStep 2: MP lookup
Step 3: Write a letter templateStep 3: letter template
The Windrush BetrayalGet the book, watch video

The Home Office plan to deport UK-born Darrell and Darren Roberts to countries they have NEVER been to. Due to failures of social services they have never received UK citizenship. Despite serving their time, they face deportation due to short prison sentences.

Darrell and Darren “were taken into the care of social services when they were 13 after the deaths from cancer in quick succession of their mother and later of the uncle who looked after them when she died. Their father had moved abroad before their mother’s death and they have had no contact with him for decades.” (The Guardian) 

The Home Office similarly plans to deport Osime Brown, a 21 year old autistic man, to Jamaica (a country he left when he was 4 and has no current family connections with). He has been in the UK for 17 years. He was wrongfully incarcerated and has been sent a deportation notice.

These injustices demonstrate failures of social services and the Home Office, underscoring the evident systemic racism that lies within.

The following link is a call to action, urging people to educate themselves on these stories and write to their MP (including an email template). Unfortunately, the official UK parliament petition website does not allow petitions about individuals, and Parliament does not acknowledge or recognise petitions from other websites.

 shorturl.at/fsFJ9 

Step 1: Read more about it

Darrell and Darren Roberts’ case

Osime Brown’s case

The National Autistic Society’s response to Osime Brown’s case 

Background on deportation and Windrush Scandal 


Step 2: Find your MP’s contact details

Click here!


Step 3: Write to your MP

Feel free to write your own words or use the following template:

Dear _____________ MP,

My name is ______, I am ______ years old and have been constituent of ______ for _____ years. I am writing as I’ve recently read of a few similar stories that have completely angered me (though not completely shocked). 

Today I read the news that London-born twins Darrell Roberts and Darren Roberts are facing deportation to countries they have never been to. Due to indisputable failures of Ealing social services, these London-born young adults, never received UK citizenship. 

Similarly, an autistic 21-year old man named Osime Brown faces deportation to Jamaica, which he left when he was 4 years old – he has no family connections there. He too was terribly failed by the social care and education system. Here is a link to the National Autistic Society’s response to this injustice, as well as their letter to the Home Secretary.

As your constituent, I am urging you to take action, revoke these deportation notices and stop these deportations. These stories demonstrate failures of social services and the Home Office, underscoring the evident system racism that lies within. 

Please use your position of power and influence to stop these deportations, along with the many others I have not mentioned today, and push conversation and action in parliament to address the Home Office’s horrible history of deportation of Black UK-born or raised residents

I look forward to hearing back.


The Windrush betrayal

The Roberts brothers and Osime Brown are just the latest victims of the WIndrush scandal.

When former prime minister Theresa May introduced her infamous ‘hostile environment’ regime it led to many people from the Windrush generation and their descendants being caught in the Home Office’s unfair and draconian measures to hunt down ‘illegal immigrants’, even though these people were originally invited to the UK by the British government.

Many who came to the ‘Mother Country’ did not regularise their status by seeking British citizenship or a passport.

Then when they accessed public services under the new regime, they were unable to produce documents proving citizenship and one thing led to another.

People lost their jobs, were billed massive amounts for health care services, were deported and some went on holiday and were then refused re-entry to the country.

Tragically others committed suicide or were drive to despair and mental illness by the constant worry of the knock on the door from immigration authorities.

Journalist Amelia Gentleman has written the definitive investigation of this continuing scandal and you can order your copy here:

The Windrush Betrayal by Amelia Gentleman

Watch her recent talk at the Bookmarks bookshop:

Bianca Williams police say sorry but accused of lying to excuse racial profiling

London police have finally apologised to British sprint star Bianca Williams after the racial profiling outrage perpetrated on her and her husband Ricardo dos Santos – and their baby three-month old baby – at the weekend.

The pair were stopped and handcuffed for the ‘crime’ of being black while driving a luxury vehicle – a Mercedes.

Sorry is definitely the hardest word for the Metropolitan Police Service. Getting the apology out of them was like pulling teeth.

The cops apologised yesterday – apparently after pressure form the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

And their boss, Commissioner Dame Cressida,  apologised again today in parliament before the Home Affairs Select Committee.

But the apologies are hardly just recompense for the vicious racial profiling, which is why the Met is facing the prospect of being sued by Williams.

Police accused of lying to excuse actions against Bianca Williams

In an attempt to defend their actions, the police appear to have made up a story about Bianca Williams driving at speed on the wrong side of the road. Here’s what they said, in part, in their statement:

Officers witnessed a vehicle that was being driven in a manner that raised suspicion, heavily braking and accelerating which included driving on the wrong side of the road. They indicated for it to stop but it failed to do so and accelerated off. The officers caught up with the vehicle when it stopped on Lanhill Road. The driver initially refused to get out of the car.

“That is false, we were never on the wrong side of the road. We were driving down through single-width roads,” insists Williams.

“We only found out about us driving on the wrong side of the road once they tweeted.

“This isn’t the first or fourth or fifth time, it must be about the 10th. It’s getting ridiculous.

“We are planning on taking it down the legal route. I feel very hurt by their actions, and to witness my partner being taken away and for me to be taken away from my son, my heart hurts .”

Police racial profiling on the rise?

This is just the latest in an avalanche of such encounters. Whether it is the heightened awareness following the BLM protests or the police actually becoming more racist in their practice is hard to say, but either way it is pouring fuel on the fire.

The police have now also been forced to refer themselves to the Independent Office for Policing Conduct. (IOPC)

The IOPC was set up to replace the discredited Independent Police Complaints Commission. However, nothing has changed at the new rebranded institution apart from the name.

The IOPC is still very much a case of the police investigating the police, so don’t expect any relief to come via that route.

Ban Section 60 stop and searches

Bianca Williams’s trauma resulted from a police search in Maida Vale west London that seems to have been carried out under Section 60.

This law, in which the stop and search powers were reinstated in August last year, now allows police, from the rank of inspector upwards, to put in place powers over large areas to stop and search without providing a reason.

Section 60 powers can be enforced borough-wide, and even on a number of adjacent boroughs, on the flimsiest of pretexts, such as the suspicion that a knife was about to be used to commit a crime or such a weapon was seen in the hands of someone on the streets.

Campaigners are gearing up to ban the use of Section 60 searches.

The prevalence of stop and search has no proven effect on either deterring the commission of a crime or detection.

BLM protests continue to take place around the country, with two planned for London this weekend – on Saturday and Sunday.

Hands off Sistah Space – defend services for women survivors of abuse

Protest to support black women’s organisation in Hackney at 5pm on Friday 10 July.

Sistah Space is threatened with closure by Hackney Council.

Violence against women has increased markedly during the pandemic.

This is already a vastly under resourced sector, so it is outrageous that the local government cannot at the least dip into its reserves to keep Sistah Space operating.

Please give your support to the black survivors of domestic and sexual abuse.

Donate to the gofundme and join the protest.

@sistahspace_ 

Picket Labour Party NEC over anti-black racism and in solidarity with BLM – Tuesday 7th July

*Reminder: Raise *your* voices*!

Labour Black Socialist & Allies

‘Black Members Matter!’
In Solidarity & Unity with BLM

Come and join our Labour NEC Picket against Institutional & Systematic Racism in the Labour Party

ARE YOU:
ANGRY about the Lack of Opposition to Anti Black Racism (BAME) in Labour Party & Treatment of Black Members?
FRUSTRATED about the Labour Party’s SILENCE on All forms of Racism including Afriphobia, Islamaphobia?
OUTRAGED about Racism in the leaked Labour Report?
WORRIED about a Whitewash Leaked Report Inquiry?
FURIOUS at Starmer’s Dismissal of the BLM Uprising, their demands and Global Historical Importance.

Root out anti-Black racism in Labour

This is OUR MOMENT to Make Our Voices Heard

AT: LABOUR PARTY NEC EQUALITIES MEETING
Labour HQ 105 Victoria St, Westminster, London SW1E 6QT
ON: Tuesday 7th July 2020
AT: 10 am

#BlackLabourMatterMatter #BlackLivesMatter #RootOutRacismInLabour

In Solidarity & Unity with BLM,
Sophia, Liz and Joyce.

If you are interested:

  • Join our Socially Distanced Picket
  • Wear Masks
  • Bring Banners, Flags.

For more info contact Joyce Reid: [email protected]