He’s panicking: so, he sits. He drums his fingers to some unidentifiable beat on the waxy leather arm of the sofa, his left foot taps sporadically on the wooden floor. It seems to be listening to a completely different tune.
Do I look relaxed? He remembers reading something once, about how acting in a certain way means you become the thing you are pretending to be. He continues to tap. The sound is unnerving.
She should be here soon. Would she have made it alright in the rain? She’d be in the red jacket he got her. The ends of…
Those with the power to make change have not cared enough about the lives of Black and minoritised people to make them
It might come as a surpise to you to know that, the UK, being a global leader in human rights, is actually guilty of violating several of the essential rights we are all entitled to. Primarily, our Right to Life and Right to Liberty.
Realising that the UK, which historically holds an image as a very powerful country, fails to protect the basic human rights of its citizens came as a horrific reality check for me. A lot of the issues that breach The Human Rights Act I was already aware of, but to understand them within the context of…
I promise I’m not being overdramatic.
Just this week, the *only* senior Black official in the UK Home Office’s Windrush compensation scheme resigned. Alexandra Ankrah described the scheme as ‘systemically racist and unfit for purpose.’
The compensation scheme, which was launched in March 2019 , was set up to aid the thousands of victims of the Windrush scandal. So far, the scheme has only provided sums to 196 people — even though over 1,200 people have applied. It is known that nine people, if not more, have died before they have received compensation.
If you don’t know, the Windrush scandal came to media attention in 2018…
Osaka brings the reality of racism to those that might have an easy time avoiding it, she sets us all an example
Osaka, the champion of the 2020 US Open has continued to highlight the harsh reality of racism in the United States. At her matches, Osaka has donned seven face masks that bear the names of African-Americans George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin, Ahmaud Arbery, Elijah McClain, Philando Castile, and Tamir Rice: all of whom were murdered by police officers in the US.
As well as this, the Japanese-Haitian star took the decision not to play her semi-final match in reaction to the shooting of an African-American man, Jacob Blake, by a white police officer. …
Have we learned anything from the Windrush Review?
March 2020 was a hectic time in the UK: Brexit was dominating media outlets and we were getting to grips with a new pandemic. Another attention-worthy event — the publishing of the Windrush Lessons Learned Review — also occurred in March. Sadly, despite being of crucial importance, this review was met with a deafening silence (bar The Guardian, The Independent, and The Voice Online) and was lost amidst the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Windrush Lessons Learned Review was commissioned to understand how the 2018 Windrush scandal happened. More than this, it was commissioned to ensure that the mistreatment (including the loss…
Removing a statue is one thing, but what happens next?
Recently, the British Museum removed the bust of its founder, Sir Hans Sloane, from a prominent display to a secure cabinet. In its new location, the bust will be accompanied by information that describes Sloane and the artefacts he acquired within the context of the British Empire.
Sloane’s extensive collection of artefacts had partially been purchased with finances made from enslaved labour on Jamaican sugar plantations. Removing the bust from a location where it receives veneration, to one where the harrowing reality of Sloane’s wealth and the exploitative origins of…
All 50 states in the US, and other countries worldwide — including the UK — have seen demonstrations in solidarity with those protesting in the US, and with the Black Lives Matter Movement. In my lifetime, (I am twenty-two), I have never seen anything quite like it. Some people are calling this monumental moment in time an ‘awakening’ — a deeper awareness of race issues— and I agree.
Despite having been articulate and confident in my knowledge of racial issues for the best part of three years now (I know, not that long) I have never felt comfortable to question…
On a sunny Saturday afternoon, in the sea-side city of Brighton and Hove, I held an impromptu small physically distanced peaceful protest/moment to show solidarity with the protesters in the U.S. The current protests in the U.S. were sparked after George Floyd, an African American man, was murdered by white police officer, Derek Chauvin, in the city of Minneapolis.
Unfortunately, the murder of Floyd is not an anomaly. Police brutality against black people in America is an all too common occurrence.
The protest consisted of myself and fellow protesters proudly holding posters marked in thick black paint which read ‘Black…
Last week, social media platforms came alive with footage of right-wing politicians and activists being met with hostility in the form of milkshakes. Indeed, videos of Nigel Farage and Steven Yaxley-Lennon (widely known as Tommy Robinson) being drenched in various flavours of sticky-sweet milkshakes (the latest being a banana and salted caramel thrown on Farage) have taken Twitter by storm.
The videos are met with thousands of responses, many revelling in the hilarity of straight-faced political figures adorning pink splurges of sticky colour on their ‘I-mean-business’ suits.
However, can the kind of hostility which Farage and Robinson preach – the…
