The natives are revolting Carruthers old boy

14th June 2020 Janet Powe

I am a 72 year old white man. I cannot go out to join a protest as I am currently in self-isolation so my protest is in the poem below.

The natives are revolting Carruthers old boy wind blows, rain falls but the blood spilt on the land
is never blown or washed away.
Cherokee, Apache, Arapaho and Sioux…..
Hey Joe where you going with that gun in your hand,
to wipe those painted savages clean off this land.

The natives are revolting Carruthers,
well Fortesque you know what to do,
just pop out and shoot a few,
put the rest in chains and throw them on the boats
and make sure you beat a Zulu or two

I gotta chop down cane or pick a bale o’ cotton.
The money lust English are on tour again.
The sun beats down but there’s no bright new day
At night the cross is lit for the murdering KKK.

Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the waves.
The stately homes of England were built on the bones of slaves.
Colonialism, Empire and Commonwealth to boot
The great English history of pillage, slaughter , loot.

Michael McCormack

news

Eyewitness to far-right racist violence at London demo and lack of police response

14th June 2020 Janet Powe

BLMM received the following eyewitness statement from a member of the public who was near the racist and fascist riot at Parliament Square on Saturday

To whom it may concern,

Today I was walking through Westminster and encountered a racist attack, which I wanted to report to you so that you had the information and were aware.

At about 2.55pm on storeys gate in Westminster I saw three BAME men turn to a large group of white (clearly racist protesters) and peacefully ask the protesters why they were there.

They asked again in a confrontational but peaceful manner. Then the protesters charged at the three men. Around 60-100 protesters charged while shouting ‘England’ and attacked the men.

I could not see what was happening in the middle of the scrum. I got on my bike and cycled to the corner of little sanctuary and broad sanctuary to tell the police. They said they were trying to get people to deal with it, but I did not see any action or rush from the police.

Please let me know if you would like to discuss further.

I am fully in support of your cause and was horrified by what I saw today.

Kitty Eyre

news

St Albans BLM organiser reports from historic 1,000-strong protest

14th June 2020 Andrene McDonald

Black Lives Matter Protests 12 June 2020

“George Floyd can’t just be another name. The knee has always been on our neck and we can’t breathe.”

A mixed crowd of people came by foot, car, and wheelchair or with crutches from all over St Albans to gather at Verulamium Park on Friday evening waving banners and chanting Black Lives Matter!

St Albans in Hertfordshire a predominately white area has never seen the like when around a 1,000 strong mixed ethnicity, children, and youth, elderly, able bodied and disabled came together in solidarity to fight for racial equality.\

Hosted by Shelley Hayes a number of people spoke and called for all races to come together to fight racial inequality and systemic racism. To seek changes in the education system and teach a decolonised history, to seek changes with policing and its targeted violence, and change societies perspective to make a balanced prospect for all.

St Albans MP Daisy Cooper spoke and promised to take the concerns raised to parliament.

The gathering ended with the crowd kneeling for 8 minutes and 46 seconds the amount of time that George Floyd had to endure the knee on his neck.

The peaceful gathering dispersed from the park to the sound of reggae music.

Andrene McDonald

action, events

Grenfell third anniversary 14 June – silent walk

13th June 2020 Janet Powe

72 dead and still no justice.

Solidarity with all the victims and their families.

The Grenfell tragedy was ‘social murder’ by a government that gutted building regulations in the name of profits and deliberately weakened fire regulations and inspection resources.

And the companies responsible for wrapping the tower in flammable cladding have still not been charged with corporate manslaughter.

No justice, no peace!