As the stop and search outrages mount, Black Lives Matter activists in Brixton have called a demonstration in the heart of Brixton this Saturday 25th July at 12 noon.
The latest videoed violent stop and search took place in Mitcham two days a go – this time of 464 year old man on his way home from work. Enough!
Scrap section 60
Ban stop and search
Saturday 25th July, 12 noon
Windrush Square, Brixton
Called by Stand Up To Racism
Manisola Abiodun sent BLMM this appeal to raise funds to fight a civil case against her employer. She is not able to name the employer, but suffice to say it is a major general hospital in north London. Please give generously.
I am a qualified nurse with 22 years of experience. My passion has always been in cancer nursing (Haematology) I have been subjected to many forms of discrimination. In fact, I don’t remember not ever been treated as ‘less than’ my white colleagues . Like many black nurses I got used to it (a way of protecting my feelings and to ensure that I am focused on what was important: Patients’ care).
In the last year, my current NHS hospital employer have subjected me to unimaginableunfair treatment and this has continued. I have chosen to take the matter up legally. In all honesty, my case is not unique, but I have chosen to stand against a huge institution like my place of employment because I am just sick of it.
I will gratefully appreciate your financial support to fight this case. I have both a civil case and employment law case. Your financial assistance to fight these cases is most appreciated and I thank you in advance.
As a BAME nurses in the NHS, significant numbers of us have been fighting the pandemic of discrimination, racism and all forms of unfair treatment and injustices for as long as we can remember. It is a virus that many of us have developed our own vaccination to combat.
Many of us have settled for unimaginable unfairness yet the entrenchment of discrimination within the NHS does not know when to stop. The Covid-19 pandemic has shed some light on some of the discrimination and racism in the NHS yet it appears that hospital Trusts are not taking note of this.
I am a senior nurse. Like many, I devote my time, love, energy and passion into nursing. I have been subjected to unfair treatment at my place of work. I have been at this for a year now. It is costing me a significant amount in legal fees.
I am seeking financial assistance for legal fees in order to be able to fight the injustices that I have been subjected to. No amount is too small. I thank you for your assistance in advance for supporting me to fight the discrimination and oppression that I have been subjected to.
Michael Wilson was walking home from work in Mitcham yesterday (Wednesday 22 July) when he and a colleague, Lloyd, were stopped by police.
An altercation ensued when they tried to handcuff Michael, who was then forced to the ground by police officers and his head repeatedly forced into the ground.
Michael was splitting blood from the injuries caused by the police. At one stage eight officers were involved in the incident.
Mr Wilson is 64-years-old.
The pair had been clearing a garden and were on their home. Michael had a bag with his tools in with may have been why the police picked on him.
A witness to the police assualt send this video to BLMM.
Michael was taken to Wimbledon police station.
Thanks to onlooker Janet Oliver for arranging for this video to be sent to BLMM and for her action in witnessing and holding to account the officers involved.
The officer at the centre of the violent arrest claims that Michael bit him, which the man denies.
Witnesses to the incident say that there was no sign of Michael biting and that he had no time to do so, between the initial conversation with the officer and being taken to the ground.
Janet Oliver commented: “The officer lied, the man never bit him.”
Lloyd concurs. “I didn’t see no biting,” he insists. “I told him not to resist and to give his name but the police just jumped on him and tried to handcuff him.”
This latest incident of police brutality follows the emergence of a video a few days ago of a teenager in Hertfordshire being stopped and assaulted by police.
Latest – live feed from Courier Journal 25th July 2020:
NFAC – the Not Fucking Around Coalition – which came to prominence after an armed march and rally at Stone Mountain Park, Georgia, on 4 July, says it will be marching in Louisville, Kentucky this Saturday (25th July) as part of the fight for justice for Breonna Taylor.
Breonna Taylor was murdered in her own home by Louisville police serving a so-called “no-knock” warrant in a raid supposedly looking for drugs.
No drugs were found but none of the officers have been charged with any wrongdoing.
Daily protests have taken place in the city since Breonna’s killing on 13 March.
Leader of the black militia, Grandmaster Jay, real name John Fitzgerald Johnson, says the militia will be forming up this Saturday 25th July in Louisville when the exercise their constitutional right to bear arms.
Attendees have been instructed to dress in “black boots, black button down shirts, black mask, shotgun, semi-automatic or rifle, pistols… thigh holsters or under your arm”.
The self-styled leader of the group said: “If you are not in that uniform, you won’t be in the formation.”
“No fake guns this time. I’m not playing with you all, I’m trying to keep you safe.”
At the Stone Mountain gathering early this month, the NFAC threw down the gauntlet to white supremacist groups who had threatened to attack Black Lives Matter protesters.
The KKK terror group was “reformed” at the park in the early 20th century.
There was no confrontation at that time, but on Saturday there are noises indicating that far-right groups may mobilise to confront the NFAC.
Louisville’s mayor, Greg Fischer, says the city is ready “to make sure everybody is safe”.
In a surprising development, the NFAC leader is reported to have had a phone conversation with the attorney general in which he criticised the lack of action to date regarding the police who killed Breonna.
In a statement, shown in the second video below, Jay shares some more information:
“12 pm we are meeting at central high school – the school that the great Mohammed Ali came from.
“Show up at 12pm. Get everyone set in the stadium. Then we go see some people…
“Bring body armour, if you have it, make sure you have plates. In this situation get your hands on some, get some level-three body armour…
Don’t bring a weapon you have never fired before…
“I have had some conversations with the attorney general of Louisville. The state does not want any trouble. I have been made privy to some information. They are not going to try and antagonise the NFAC.
As can be seen in the videos below, the NFAC has certainly captured the public imagination, with reports of people organising car pools for the formation.
Statement from Jay at 2:20 in the video below:
While nothing has happened to the cops who killed Breonna, the city police force has managed to rake in $3 million in overtime payments from local taxpayers for the policing of protests.
Tribe Named Athari (formerly LDNBLM) invite you to link up.
Windrush Square, Brixton, London
Friday, 24th July 5pm
A rally happening in the heart of Brixton. Less of a demonstration and more of a conversation.
A platform for discussion and expression!
We want to bring further understanding to who we are and what we stand for.
Tribe Named Athari (TNA) was formerly LDNBLM and were keyfacilitators in some of the major London protests.
‘Athari’ is Swahili (we think) for impact.
From All Black Lives UK
When we shout Black Lives Matter, we never said other lives don’t matter…
…we said WE MATTER TOO.
We can go on for days explaining to you why we have to still scream Black Lives Matter, but let’s let the ‘Facts + Stats’ do the talking!
Creds to our Co-Founder @n0tasha_ and our graphic designer Tom for creating these ✊?✨
Black women are five times more likely to die during pregnancy.
Black people are 10 times more likely to be stopped and searched.
Black people are 3.5 times more likely to be arrested.
Black people serve prison sentences that are 50% longer for the same crimes.
Black Caribbean children are 2.5x more likely to be temporarily excluded from school and 3x more likely to be permanently excluded.
White households on average earn 18% more than Black Caribbean households.
Only 37% of Black Caribbean people own their own homes compared to 68% for White British people
For every one white person, 3.7 black people are detained under Mental Health Act.
More ‘Facts + Stats’ to come…
“Let go of my hand or I will f**king smash your face in, do you understand” screams a Hertfordshire police officer as he arrests mixed race 16-year-old youth in Hatfield.
The police chased the youth, took him to the ground. He was detained and arrested for suspicion of possession of drugs, strip searched and found to be carrying nothing and subsequently released.
The teenager pleaded with a passerby not to leave as he feared even more violent assault or worse at the hands of the police.
The violence of the arrest included another clearly documented use of the infamous knee on neck restraint technique.
This follows an incident in Islington last week and another in Brighton.
These are of course just the incidents we know about because they were caught on video by alert members of the public.
His mother, Lisa, has accused the police of carrying out a racist attack in the way he was singled out and subsequently assaulted.
“I do believe this was a racist attack,” she said.
“He is covered in bruises. We are very frightened that this officer is still serving although the incident has been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, the body for monitoring misconduct.”
Of the three friends only the white girl was allowed to leave the police officers’ presence unmolested.
The family have seen the racist officer three times outside their home since the violent attack.
Why has this violent racist policeman faced no discipline. Indeed, why does he still have a job?
When asked why the teenager was stopped, the police says he looked “suspicious”, by which they presumably mean he looked a bit black.
More details at The Hertfordshire Advertiser
Thousands of workers all over the US are walking out to show their support for the Strike For Black Lives. Read more about the background here.
From the Washington Post:
Tens of thousands of workers nationwide have or are planning to walk off the job Monday in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, hoping to draw closer scrutiny to the income inequality and systemic racism that organizers say have become more entrenched during the pandemic.
The “Strike for Black Lives,” as leaders have dubbed the campaign in more than two dozen cities, includes workers from a broad range of industries. Service Employees International Union, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, American Federation of Teachers and members of dozens of other labor and political groups plan to take part.
Participants are pushing for “an unequivocal declaration that Black Lives Matter” from business and political leaders; action from government officials to “reimagine our economy and democracy” with civil rights in mind; businesses to “dismantle racism, white supremacy, and economic exploitation”; and access to union organizing, according to a list of demands posted on the strike’s website…
…In New York, Antoine Andrews, a UPS driver in Long Island City and member of the Teamsters Local 804, helped lead more than 100 employees in a demonstration in front of their workplace early Monday morning. Andrews and co-workers did not strike, but wanted to express solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and send a message to their employer to take issues of inequality seriously. more
In Durham North Carolina:
From the Florida Poor People’s Campaign:
“One of the things we have to understand about a capitalistic system that began with slavery, is what the ultimate goal always is, and that’s to get wages as close to zero as possible, because the nation’s wealth was built on paying nothing.” @RevDrBarber
Racial injustice and Covid-19 have collided for many essential workers. Today they’re on strike.
Fast food workers like Edie will be joined by an enormous swath of the workforce: other low-wage workers like airport employees, ride-hail drivers, nursing home caregivers, and domestic workers alongside middle-class teachers and nurses and even high-paid Google engineers. Those who can’t strike the whole day will walk off the job for eight minutes and 46 seconds, the amount of time a white police officer kept his knee on Black Minneapolis resident George Floyd’s neck before he died.
It’s a massive action that will bring together major unions as well as grassroots organizers. The Service Employees International Union, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and American Federation of Teachers will join forces with the Fight for 15, United Farm Workers, and the National Domestic Workers Alliance. Social justice organizations, such as the Movement for Black Lives, Poor People’s Campaign, and youth climate organizers will also participate. It represents a unique partnership: Labor unions don’t always act in concert, let alone partner with grassroots and social justice groups. more
US civil rights giant of the movement John Lewis died at the weekend.
John suffered violence and beatings at the hands of the racist Jim Crow governments of the South, most famously at Edmund Pettus Bridge Selma Alabama on 7 March 1965 in what became known as Bloody Sunday.
BLM protests took place all over the UK last weekend, as they have for the past two months. Below we report on just some of them.
Around 50 people gathered outside Islington police station on Saturday after an officer was filmed kneeling on Marcus Coutain’s neck as was being detained.
Above: BLM protest in Lewisham, south east London
Around 60 people gathered in Smethwick to take the knee for racial equality.
Above: Leamington Spa
A socially distanced demonstration calling for the removal of the Picton Memorial in Carmarthen and its replacement with a fitting memorial to the victims of Thomas Picton and slavery.
