Today is a celebratory day, and it should be recognised as that. Happy Windrush day! It isn’t something that has been celebrated or acknowledged in recent history. First introduced on the 22nd June 2018 after a successful campaign by Patrick Vernon, it is not a bank holiday but instead an observed day.
Credit: GETTY
Today we celebrate the Caribbean community and the contribution that they made to post World War Two England. The Second World War left a void in many areas of the economy. A call was made to the commonwealth citizens to help rebuild the community and adverts placed around the Caribbean islands was answered by many.
As mentioned before. My mother was a Windrush child. My grandfather came over first, worked hard and eventually sent for my mother and my great-grandmother (his mother).
Grandad and I, Dominica 2004
She came over with her grandmother and some of her cousins. She barely spoke English when she arrived, faced bullying, harassment and extreme racism, something I grew up hearing stories of.
My great-grandmother, my mother (on her lap) and my mothers cousins. Bradford, late 1960s
Mum, Bradford 1960.
My father came over after immigration adjustments were made to curb in the influx of commonwealth citizens to the UK, on a student visa. He studied at University to become a nurse. He was still training when he met my mother, who had not yet embarked on her own NHS career and was working as a clerk typist for a travel agency in London. They met at All Nations nightclub on the 16th April 1977. The rest, as they say, is history.
Post-War Britain found plenty of work within various industries, not just the National Health Service but also British Rail etc.
Like my mother, although encouraged to come to the UK with immigration campaigns by the government, many were subjected to great prejudice and extreme racism. The 1958 attacks in Notting Hill London, led to the first Caribbean Carnival on the 30th January 1959. A celebration of what is it to be Caribbean, and what would later become the Notting Hill Carnival that still carries on today.
Credit: GETTY
So today I would like to show my own gratitude and appreciation for the Windrush generation, the sacrifices they made and the hardships they went through while assisting post-war Britain.
HAPPY WINDRUSH DAY!!!
A ship carrying West Indian people arrives at Southampton docks in 1956 Photograph: Haywood Magee/Getty Images
People carry their belongings as they arrive in Southampton Photograph: Bentley/Popperfoto/Getty Images
A group of women from Jamaica buy train tickets at Gatwick airport in 1962 Photograph: Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images
West Indian people wait in the customs hall at Southampton in June 1956 Photograph: Hulton Deutsch/Corbis via Getty Images
A group of men wait outside the labour exchange in Liverpool in 1949 Photograph: Hulton Deutsch/Corbis via Getty Images
A newly arrived couple travel by train to London Photograph: Haywood Magee/Getty Images
A child takes a nap after a long journey to Victoria station in London Photograph: Daily Herald Archive/SSPL via Getty Images
Firstly, Happy Fathers day! I won’t be speaking on that today as I have previously touched on it in my article ‘A black parents love is tough….’. Following on from yesterday’s question, today I am asking you another one. What did you do? I have asked this question before and I by no means says this to belittle or begrudge anyone for their efforts or lack thereof. I ask, in order that you reflect inward and decide if you are doing everything you can to see positive change in the world. Many people have reached out to me and said they want to help but don’t know how. You can start with this petition and the many others that are out there.
It takes a moment and together we can make a change. Lets make a better present and future. Thank you and once again have a wonderful Father’s day to all the dads out there.
Credit: Metro, My brother and his daughter at a #BlackLivesMatterUK protest. Happy Fathers Day!
‘Why do I care?’ Is a question that I have been asked a lot in the last few weeks. It honestly isn’t one that I was expecting to get asked or have to answer.
SOURCE: Twitter, a tweet sent to me
First and foremost I care because I am HUMAN.
You will have heard me say Black is Black and no man is an island. Those are statements that I stand by and I hope that my actions speak just as loud if not louder than my words. To me, a part of being human means to feel and to care. But I wanted to see what others thought being human meant. I took to google and stumbled across a few different websites that let people state what being human means to them in under 140 characters.
Credit: Human Origins
Whilst some of these answers were great, it left me still with questions. History has show us that at times (and even now) we have viewed many humans as less than. Women were treated as second class citizens for much of history and still fight for equal rights, equal pay etc today. What does it mean to be human? Is a hard question to answer. I am not the first person and wont be the last, people have been asking this for over 300 years. Before I digress any further I will simply note that I always strive to be a contributing member of society and one of the ways I demonstrate this is with my care and concern for those around me.
I care because I have been on the receiving end of prejudice and racism my entire life. I hope that I can help make changes that will benefit this generation and future ones to ensure that they do not have to go through some of the same experiences that I have. This is the main motivation behind my parliament petition:
I hope that you will click the link and help make a difference and be part of the solution.
Parliament petition. Click the link above, sign and share.
I am not new to this, nor do I seek to throw shade on those who are just now taking the time to educate themselves and show support. Divided we fall but united we stand! There is power in unity and unity is necessary to effect change. 10 years ago I asked my friends “If I told you I was in a Newspaper what would you think I was in it for?” And by the second answer you can see I have ALWAYS cared. I have been volunteering and mentoring since I was a teenager, as an adult I have continued with this, including volunteering at the 2012 Olympics. I know I can do more and do better, so I intend to make more time for that. This is just the start.
Source: Facebook
WHY DO I CARE?
I care because it’s my prerogative to do so. I care because I have been given a gift and I don’t want to lose it again by wasting it. I care because I love. You have heard me reflect on the tough love of a Black parent as I also proclaimed that my love is not tough. It isn’t, I am first to admit that I am soft hearted. I want better for everyone and I believe that starts with YOU and I. Be the change that you want to see. So next time you think to ask someone why they care, I ask that you reflect inwards instead and ask yourself, “Why don’t YOU?”
In my article ‘An Activist heart?’, I reflect on a joke I often made in the past that “give me a cause and i’ll fight for it” and I will always stand up and speak out whenever necessary. But I want it noted now, that none of this is a joke to me. I take the mistreatment of Black people very seriously and hope that the words that I publish on my website can help make changes and play a part in making a better future for next generations.
We have all seen in recent news what the power of one voice and the courage of one person can do. Marcus Rashford, a 22 year old Manchester United footballer used the power of his voice to speak up and stand up for children in poverty and got Boris Johnson to u-turn on his decision to all 1.3m children in England to claim free school meal vouchers in the summer holidays. In an open letter to the UK government, Rashford stated “the system isn’t built for families like mine to succeed”. He speaks from the heart and from experience in his quest for food for children from poverty driven backgrounds. Whilst we celebrate this amazing achievement we should also acknowledge the other great work that Rashford is doing for others and his communities. In conjunction with FareShare UK, he has helped raise about £20m to supply three million meals to vulnerable people during the coronavirus lockdown.
Credit: All my sports news
History has provided us with many examples of what the power of one voice and the courage of one person can achieve. It only takes the action of one person to start a movement and effect t change. If we look across the Atlantic at America we can see many examples of key events and leaders which led to big changes. One of the most notable ones, being Rosa Parks who on the 1st December 1955, amidst a society that still enforced segregations laws refused to give her seat up for a white man. We later saw the power that can come from multiple voices speaking up and multiple people standing up with Little Rock Nine and the battle to end public school segregation. There is power in unity and we need to make use of that.
Click the link at the bottom of this article and help me make a better future
Following on from this, I am happy to confirm that my response was well received and the petition is now live. I did it! And whilst this is only one small step in the right direction I feel as if I have won the lottery! This is just the beginning, I am not giving up and I urge you all not to either. Please click the link below and sign my petition, while it may only take one voice to speak up and the courage of one person to stand up, I need all of your support to ensure changes are made.
Being Black is not a contact sport! That statement, along with Black Lives Matter, isn’t one that I should still have to be saying in 2020. However, it is apparent from both past and recent incidents, news and comments that both statements still need to be not only said but shouted. You did not put that life on this Earth, and even if you did, it is not your right or place to take it. The idea that the colour of a person’s skin can determine how they are treated is an abhorrent but harsh reality of today’s society.
Credit: Instagram
The recent increase in Black Lives Matter protests around the world has revealed more of the many racists amongst us. After the tragic murder of George Floyd, people were vocal from both ends of the spectrum. We had many people, rightly disgusted by the actions of the police that led to his murder, many more called out the names of others who had lost their lives as a direct result of racism and this loathsome idea that us being Black gives you permission to use undue violence and force against us. At the other end, we have the misguided who have an unshakeable talent of being able to justify all of the murders we have seen with blanket statements like “Has anyone mentioned that the police will leave you alone if you don’t do illegal stuff?”
Credit: Twitter
It is from statements such as this that it is clear to see being Black makes normal everyday activities illegal. Lets take a look back at some of the “illegal stuff” that black people have been doing that caused the police or others to murder them:
“Unarmed. And dead.
TRAYVON MARTIN (Walking home with iced tea and Skittles. Shot by George Zinneman, who was found not guilty.)
KEITH SCOTT (Sitting in car, reading. Shot by police officer, who was not charged.)
ATATIANA JEFFERSON (Looking out her window, shot by police officer, who is still under indictment for murder.)
JONATHAN FERRELL (Asking for help after auto accident. Shot twelve times by police, case ended in mistrial.)
JORDAN EDWARDS (Riding in a car. Shot in the back of the head by police officer, who was found guilty of murder.)
STEPHON CLARK (Holdng a cel phone. Shot 8 times, 6 in the back. Officers not charged.)
AMADOU DIALLO (While taking out wallet, officers fired 41 shots by four officers, who were all acquitted.)
RENISHA MCBRIDE (Auto accident, knocked on door for help. Homeowner was found guilty of second-degree murder.)
TAMIR RICE (Playing with toy gun, shot by police officer arriving on scene. Officer was not charged.
SEAN BELL (Hosting a bachelor party, 50 rounds fired by police officers, who were found not guilty of charges.)
WALTER SCOTT (Pulled over for brake light, shot in the back by police officer, who pleaded guilty to civil rights violations.)
PHILANDO CASTILE (Pulled over in car, told officer he had a legally registered weapon in car. Officer acquitted of all charges.)
AIYANA JONES (Sleeping, accidentally shot by officer in a raid on wrong apartment. Officer cleared of all charges.)
TERRENCE CRUTCHER (Disabled vehicle, shot by police officer, who was found not guilty of manslaughter.)
ALTON STERLING (Selling CDs, shot at close range while being arrested. No charges filed.)
FREDDIE GRAY (Beaten to death by officers while being transported in police van. All officers involved were acquitted.)
JOHN CRAWFORD (Shopping at WalMart, holding a BB gun on sale, police officer was not charged.)
MICHAEL BROWN (Shot by twelve times by officer, including in the back. No charges filed.)
JORDAN DAVIS (Killed because he was playing loud music. Shooter found guilty of first-degree murder.)
SANDRA BLAND (Pulled over for traffic ticket, tasered and arrested. Suspicious “suicide” while in jail. No charges.)
BOTHAM JEAN (Shot at home, which police officer mistook for her own. Officer found guilty of murder.)
OSCAR GRANT (Handcuffed and face-down, officer shot him in the back. Officer found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.)
COREY JONES (Waiting by his disabled vehicle, was shot three times by police officer, who was found guilty of murder.)
AHMAUD AUBREY (Jogging, shot by two men who claimed they suspected him of burglaries. Both men charged with murder and aggravated assault- Chyna Smith #unarmedanddead #BLM
Credit: Chyna Smith #unarmedanddead #BLM
Sadly this is only a small sample of some of the lives lost. Many of the murderers are still free and have never been charged. The seems to be a gross insensitivity to these cases, cases that are coming through at a greater frequency by the day. The police, its systemic and institutional racisms, are a part of the problem but not the sum of it. Until everyone is held accountable for their actions, and lack of action nothing will change. Black people are being targeted and killed by a racist cross platform of society. We should be equally outraged by every case that we see and not allow the amount of incidents to weigh us down and push us towards becoming desensitised (easier said then done in many a case).
Credit: Black News
In another display of the lack of value placed on Black lives we have seen the rise in a spate of lynchings across America, with police forces and medical examiners in the states where they have happened classifying them as suspected suicides.
Credit: Twitter
Credit: Revolt
The Cambridge dictionary defines lynching as ‘the act of killing someone without a legaltrial, usually by hanging (= killing using a rope around the neck)’. Lynchings were prevalent in pre and post American civil war, with the first recorded lynching being that of McIntosh, a black man in St. Louis in 1835, who was hung by a deputy sheriff in front of a crowd of over 1,000 people. It is not a coincidence that we are seeing this happen now and we must speak up, refuse the verdicts of suicide and demand answers and justice.
Credit: Atlanta BlackStar
Closer to home, we are dealing with similar issues. The argument that our police don’t have guns like in America (some do) has not stopped Black British people from being killed by the police. The Guardian published an article earlier this month called A black man’s life is not valued’: attack on year-long delay of UK police death inquiry which took a look into the deaths of black people in police custody. In the UK black people account for 3% of the population but 8% of deaths in custody. We are being disproportionately targeted. I have seen many comments on social media where black people are being told to stop with our “victim mentalities”, I myself have been the target of such comments. This gross ignorance that it is only our ancestors that dealt with racism, prejudice and discrimination is what will allow the same system to continue.
As we look at those accountable in the actions that led to the riots, we must also hold the UK press accountable too. As reported but the society pages, “A Google search for [Mark’s] name offers a glimpse into the many faces of Duggan, as uploaded by the media.” We saw first hand the bias of the press and the effects that the choice of image they picked to print had.
Credit: Google
The cropping of pictures of him paying respects at a gravesite commemorating his deceased daughter was not without intention and often accompanied articles that vilified him.
Credit: Google
The killing of black people at the hands of police or in police custody is not new. Smiley Culture died on the 15th March 2011, during a police raid at his home. His murder, was ruled as a suicide following an inquest. The investigation of his death by the IPCC was not made public nor made available to his family, something that smacks of cover up and needs to change. This was nearly 5 months before the killing of Mark Duggan and the riots we saw as a consequence. But the black community has a history of discontent with the UK police. The 1981 Brixton riots, was the result of a confrontation between the Metropolitan Police and protesters in Brixton, South London, England, from the 10th – 12th April 1981. The peak of which, the 11th April, saw 279 injuries to the police and 45 injuries to members of public and was later dubbed “Bloody Saturday” by Time magazine and labelling it as “The country’s worst race riot”.
Credit: BT
The BBC took a look back at the riots and asked Brixton riots 30 years on: What has changed? Noting ‘Three decades, one inquiry and the Stephen Lawrence scandal separate us from the Brixton riots and asking “Where are we now?”’ During a Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) meeting, there was calls for more engagement with IPCC investigations. Peter Bleksley, a young Met officer at the times of the riots recalled in a BBC Radio 4 interview that “Young black men in Brixton were routinely fitted up, beaten up, tortured” and worse “I was turned from a pretty decent 18-year-old into a violent, racist thug.”
Policemen are pictured arresting a young protestor during the Brixton Riots of July 1981. Credit: Google
Mr. Butts who was 9 years old at the time of the riots notes “I was already aware of the way police treated the black community. I was brought up to know it was my responsibility to watch interaction between police and a black person – so I could be a pair of eyes and recount what happened as a witness.” Recent years have seen Brixton become a victim of gentrification, much like many other minority ethnic areas of London so I am skeptical as I read that. “much has changed” merely because data and statistics still show that between April 2018 and March 2019, there were 4 stop and searches for every 1,000 White people, compared with 38 for every 1,000 Black people. And that the Black African, Black Caribbean and Other Black groups consistently had the highest rates. We are also still seeing cases of Black people being killed while in police custody, with Simeon Francis, 35, ‘found’ unresponsive in his cell at Torquay police station and later pronounced dead on the 20th May 2020, 17 hours and 15 minutes after police had arrested him in Exeter. He died in police custody and this is not something that can be swept under the rug, we demand answers and justice for Simeon!
Credit: BBC News
I don’t have the answers of how to solve this multi-faceted issue, nor do I claim to. I simply ask that you do not treat us being black as an excuse to use undue violence against us. BLACK IS NOT A CONTACT SPORT. We are not here for you to treat this way. BLACK LIVES MATTER!
But it was not until Boris Johnson became prime minister that someone shouted at me to ‘go back to where I came from’ in addition to various other racial slurs and profanities. I didn’t know them, had never seen them before and was totally perplexed by someone being that angry at me merely because they disliked the colour of my skin. It was a vile and stupid statement to make given that I, as I headed to my daily spin class was less then 200 yards from the hospital I was born in. Far closer to where ‘I came from’ in the literal sense then the racist who shouted that command.
A racist country.
I don’t need to see any figures or statistics to know that racism in the UK, while always present and prevalent has become more pronounced in recent years. The conservatives have repeatedly demonstrated through their choice of policies and actions and further lack of other policies and action that they do not value black or even many ethnic lives in the UK. Before, you jump in uproar at my confidently spoken statement, I will be providing you with examples in a series of articles called: A racist country, led by a racist prime minister.
Firstly, lets look at the Windrush scandal. The very fact that I was born in England and am a British Citizen is due to the post World War II practice, known as the Windrush, of recruiting people from the Caribbean by offering cheap transport via ship for anybody who wanted to come and work in the United Kingdom. The ship HMT Empire Windrush brought a group of 802 migrants to the port of Tilbury, near London, on 22 June 1948.
Credit: Theweek.co.uk
And there was plenty of opportunity for them to do so, both British rail and the National Health Service (NHS). Many others came after with Ceri Peach, a social geographer estimating that the number of West Indian born people in the UK grew from 15,000 in 1951 to 172,000 in 1961. My mother was one of the Windrush, coming over to England as a baby in 1958 with her grandmother and on her passport.
My mother, the baby on her grandmothers lap surrounded by her cousins
I’m sure you’re now think ‘how fantastic’ and ‘what a wonderful opportunity the UK government gave these people’. You should note that it was not a one way favour, the war left gaping holes in many industries and this was one solution that the government at the time had. However, as said before the UK is a racist country. Its no surprise that bringing people from the Caribbean to work was a solution the UK ran with, it is after all built on the backs of slavery, the commonwealth and the British empire. And the moment Britain started to look ‘too Black’ we saw the enactment of the Commonwealth Immigrants act in 1962 which restricted the entry of immigrants. We the saw the introduction of further restrictions in 1972 whereby only holders of work permits, or people with parents or grandparents born in the United Kingdom, could gain entry. This effectively drastically slowly the deluge of immigrants from the commonwealth. My father came over to the UK in 1973 on one of those work permits to work for the NHS.
Credit: Wallpaper.com
Fast forward to 2018 and the Windrush generation, one which should have been celebrated for the assistance that they gave the UK post World War II was instead embroiled in a scandal. Newspapers and television broadcasts across the UK and the world were reporting on British political scandal concerning people who were wrongly detained, denied legal rights, threatened with deportation, and, in at least 83 cases,wrongly deported from the UK by the Home Office. Many of these had come over as young children on their parents or grandparents passports and had never lived anywhere but the UK. Much of this was attributed back to the then Prime Minister, another alleged racist and Conservative party member who had fostered a ‘hostile environment policy’ during her tenure as Home secretary. Consequences of the scandal led to the resignation of then 2018 Home secretary Amber Rudd and the appointment of Sajid Javid as her successor.
But the scandal goes much deeper then anyone could imagine. The 1948, British Nationality Act, gave citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies status and the right of settlement in the UK to everyone who was at that time a British subject by virtue of having been born in a British colony. This act, combined with the advertisements and encouragements of the UK government and the subsequent Windrush drive saw a spike in immigration from the Caribbean. Teresa May, while Home Secretary, was found by the March 2020 independent ‘Windrush Lessons Learned Review’ to have acted with ‘ignorance and thoughtlessness’ and that the Windrush Scandal had been both ‘foreseeable and avoidable’. It further found that immigration regulations were tightened “with complete disregard for the Windrush generation”, and that officials had made “irrational” demands for multiple documents to establish residency rights.
Credit: Guardian Newspaper
The Windrush scandal wasn’t a rash instant issue, but rather a slow burning one that had seen the home office receive warnings as far back as 2013 after their contractor Capita was reported to sending correspondence to many older Caribbean born citizens informing them incorrectly that they had no right to be in the UK and treating the as illegal immigrants.
Furthermore the Home Affairs Select Committee issued a report in January 2018, with findings that the hostile environment policies were unclear, and threatened and practised deportations happening as a result of “inaccurate and untested” information. The Independent newspaper in its article Britain’s immigration system ‘too open to error’, MPs warn further examined the failings of the Home Office and also reported that more than 60 MPs, academics and campaign groups wrote an open letter to Amber Rudd urging the Government to halt the “inhumane” policy, citing the Home Office’s “poor track record” of dealing with complaints and appeals in a timely manner. The scandal drew mass press coverage with the Home Office agencies being accused of operating a “guilty until proven innocent” and “deport first, appeal later” regime; of targeting the weakest groups, particularly those from the Caribbean.
Credit: Purple Hued Views
Many papers like the guardian in their article, ‘It’s inhumane’: the Windrush victims who have lost jobs, homes and loved ones put faces to the many names of those victimised under the policy. The public saw many more accusations against the government arise including accusations that they knew about the negative impacts that their ‘hostile environment policy’ was having on the Windrush immigrants and they chose to wilfully ignore it. On 16 April 2018, whilst in the House of Commons David Lammy MP challenged Amber Rudd to provide data on how many had lost their jobs or homes, been denied medical care, or been detained or deported wrongly. In May of the same year a motion was introduced by the opposition Labour Party to force the government to release documents to the Home Affairs Select Committee concerning its handling of cases involving people who came to the UK from Commonwealth countries between 1948 and the 1970s. Unfortunately but not surprisingly this motion was defeated by 316 votes to 221.
Credit: Europe world news
As is common practise in the UK when it comes to its institutional racism, we saw the release of more reports, with the Human Rights Select Committee publishing a ‘damning; report in June 2018, on the exercise of powers by immigration officials. Harriet Harman MP and chair of the committee accused immigration officials of being “out of control”, and the Home Office of being a “law unto itself”. The Home Affairs Select Committee also published a rather critical report in July 2018, noted that without radical reform, the Windrush Scandal will be seen again and called for many recommendations.
Credit: Europe world news
However, like prior reports this one left many gaps and unanswered questions and Shadow Home SecretaryDiane Abbott said it was a “disgrace” that the government had not yet published “a clear plan for compensation” for Windrush cases and that it had refused to institute a hardship fund, “even for people who have been made homeless or unemployed by their policies”.
Credit: Europe world news
Despite all the reports, recommendations, negative press and spotlight on the scandal, it emerged in February 2019 that the Home Office fully intended to continue with its deportations and Javid, attempting to justify said deportations as being people guilty of “very serious crimes … like rape and murder, firearms offences and drug-trafficking”, but the claim was rebutted by the Home Office and was criticised by commentators as inaccurate and potentially detrimental to the futures of the deportees. In response, Jamaica’s high commission called for a halt of all deportations until the Home Office published all its investigations into the Windrush scandal. On 23 April 2018, Rudd announced that compensation would be given to those affected and, in future, fees and language tests for citizenship applicants would be waived for this group.Theresa May also apologised for the “anxiety caused” at a meeting with twelve Caribbean leaders, though she was unable to tell them “definitively” whether anyone had been wrongly deported.
Credit: Europe world news
At present, the Guardian Newspaper reports Windrush scandal: only 60 victims given compensation so far. I helped my mother a member of the Windrush generation, apply for compensation, only for the Home Office to write to her requesting a long list of evidence, much of which they know will be difficult to provide and that she report to them to provide biometrics. As a now British Citizen, she did not need to do any of what they were unfairly requesting leading me to have the belief that the compensation scheme is no more then another avenue that the Home Office intends to use to target remaining Windrush immigrants.
There are no levels to racism as far as i am concerned, you can’t justify any of it with the excuse that’s there’s worse out there. You are either racist or you are not. The policies enacted by the Home Office, and its practices of destroying paper work actively led to the unfair and prejudicial treatment if Windrush Immigrants. A scandal that received more recent publicity with the BBC docu-drama Sitting in Limbo, which not only reaffirmed the unfair suffering of many of the Windrush generation and put a face to it all.
As a young child I was often told do as I say and not as I do, by my parents whenever I pointed out inaccuracies of hypocrisies on their part. The UKs choice of words towards the protestors when many defended Dominic Cummings and the sunbathers is the epitome of this.
Source: Getty images
I have watched the stories unfold in the press over the past weekend. I have seen the press sensationalise the one officer that got injured and thrown from his horse during the protest (I hope they are well).
Priti Patel quotes a newspaper known for its consistent racial bullying of Meghan Markle. Source: Twitter
I have had to listen to the hypocritical advice given by Priti Patel to avoid the protest and stay home. Her words are why I would like to see the phrase BAME abolished but thats a discussion for another day. It seems that the Conservative government has fallen onto ‘thuggery’ as the buzz word of the moment, smacks of Donald Trump, right?!
I watched the London Black Lives Matter protest from overseas, acutely aware that I am getting to witness living history. I am proud to be British, Black British AND West Indian, these are not incongruent to each other. But that pride does not allow me to be ignorant to the fact that even in the year 2020 black people are not treated as equal. I also watched Boris Johnson (the UK prime Minister) boast about shaking the hands of COVID positive patients whilst using no PPE. I had to witness him double down on strong and wrong with regards to the actions of Dominic Cummings. Boris, according to Michael Gove, missed five coronavirus meetings, causing the UK to lose “a crucial five weeks in the fight to tackle the dangerous threat of coronavirus’. Is such a morally corrupt individual that he cheated on his wife Marina Wheeler, whom according to the guardian ‘its one affair to many.
Boris finally breaks his silence. Source: Twitter
But his party doesn’t care’. In fact, its very apparent that Boris himself doesn’t even care, his actions shout that. He not only impregnated the latest woman he used to besmirch his marriage vows, but then moved said side chick into 10 Downing Street when he became Prime Minister. He has been the most absentee Prime Minister that the UK has ever had, and at a time when one is needed to be active and present his actions speak far louder than any of his words.
My parents were nurses who gave over 70 years combined to the NHS. The systemic racism in the UK is causing Black people to die from COVID-19 at a disproportionate rate than any other race. I know they would not be dishonoured by people marching and would in fact appreciate that people are taking action through protest to make others lives better. It’s ignorant, prejudiced and I would go as far as saying racist to post about the protest in a manner that suggests we are selfish when no one spoke about the droves of a certain demographic who broke lockdown rules just so they could get a tan. The very same people who now want to look down on people campaigning for rights for those with coloured skin, who are only asking for equality!
If you are going to jump in the bandwagon of copying and pasting that racist Facebook status, please let me know. Id rather not have any racists on my facebook page or hiding amongst my friends.
So i’m going to drop some statistics for you:
LOCKDOWN
Black people make up 12% of London’s population but made up 31% of arrests during lockdown
as at March 2019, over 1.2 million people were employed by the NHS
of NHS staff whose ethnicity was known, 4 out of 5 (79.2%) were White (including White ethnic minorities), and 1 in 5 (20.7%) were from all other ethnic groups
there was a higher percentage of staff in medical roles (working as doctors in hospitals and community health services) from the Asian, Chinese, Mixed and Other ethnic groups than in non-medical roles
among the non-medical workforce, staff from the Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic groups made up a smaller number of those at senior grades (bands 8a to 9) and the ‘very senior manager’ grade than at the support (bands 1 to 4) and middle grades (bands 5 to 7)
a higher percentage of junior doctors were from the Black, Chinese, Mixed and Other groups than senior doctors
there were 675,461 arrests in 2017/18, a fall of 9% on the previous year
Black people were over 3 times as likely to be arrested as White people – there were 35 arrests for every 1,000 Black people, and 10 arrests for every 1,000 White people
overall, men were 6 times as likely to be arrested as women – there were 22 arrests for every 1,000 men, and 4 arrests for every 1,000 women
Black women were more than twice as likely to be arrested as White women – there were 7 arrests for every 1,000 Black women, and 3 arrests for every 1,000 White women
figures for 2017/18 exclude Lancashire Police as they were unable to provide data on arrests
on average in the 3 years from 2015/16 to 2017/18, just under a third of households in the UK had a weekly income below £400, and just over a third had a weekly income over £800 (before tax)
Black households were most likely out of all ethnic groups to have a weekly income of less than £400, and Indian households most likely to have a weekly income of £1000 or more
Black Caribbean pupils were twice as likely to be temporarily excluded from school as White British pupils. 10.2% were temporarily excluded, compared with 5.2% of White British pupils. (England, 2016/17)
Black Caribbean pupils are almost three times as likely to be permanently excluded as White British pupils. 0.28% were permanently excluded, compared with 0.10% of White British pupils. (England, 2016/17)
Black Caribbean people had the highest rate of detention under the Mental Health Act out of all ethnic groups, at 254 detentions per 100,000 people. This was 3.7 times as high as the rate for White British people (69 per 100,000 people). (England, 2017/18)
Black Caribbean adults were the most likely to use mental health and learning disability services out of all ethnic groups where the data was reliable. Nearly 4,800 adults per 100,000 of the Black Caribbean population did so, compared with just over 3,600 per 100,000 White British people. (England, 2014/15)
So when you look for someone to hold blame for the over 40,000 who have died from COVID-19, don’t look to black people asking for equality. Look to your government and their failings first. Your choice of words shouts “Do as I say and not as I do”…we are too far past that sentiment
I recently started a petition with the intention of getting a high level debate from Parliament on Black history lessons in the UK. You can read about my reasons in my earlier article – PSA – IN THE WORDS OF JAY Z, ALLOW ME TO REINTRODUCE MYSELF!
Today I learned that they had rejected my petition because they felt it was not unique enough. Please read my response.
Thank you for getting back to me and I appreciate your sympathy in what I went through as a child. I would like for you to note that my petition does not make the same request as previous ones and I checked this before first launching it. It is disheartening that you would think this and is again another major reason why my petition is needed and a discussion on the matter take place at the highest level. Lets look at the options that you have suggested were alternatives to me.
This topic does not fall into History lessons. Whilst I believe that it is important that diversity and Racism is addressed in schools, it can happen with social studies or even P.S.H.E. lessons. So it isn’t a repetition of what I am asking for but merely another avenue from which Racism can be addressed and tackled in the education system.
This topic is definitely closer to the mark but it still misses it by a lot. It is a generalisation on the education system being more inclusive of BAME history. That can fall into a plethora of subjects such as including BAME authors in English Lit classes to looking at inventions by Black people in science classes. It also makes the sweeping generalisation that all ethnic minorities have the same history and should be treated the same. We are not and should not be, but that is a topic for another day and a feature of a different petition that I have launched – Ban the use of BAME as a collective term for minority ethnic groups (I avidly await feedback from standards on it)
It is insulting to imply that Britains colonial past is the sum of Black history. To quote the words of Lavinya Stennett, founder of The Black Curriculum –
“We have existed in Britain and been pioneers, inventors, icons. And then colonialism happened, and that has shaped the experiences of black people – but that is not all we are.”
A discussion needs to be had at a higher level so that what Black history means is fully addressed. It is abhorrent and not going to help with stigmas and racism to insinuate that Britains colonial past is the sum of all we are as Black people. Whilst I think it is important to teach the entirety of Black history and as such include this, it is dangerous and damaging to box Black History as solely being about the British Empire and Colonialism. We are taught a white washed version of the history of the World Wars in school and it is never mentioned that many Black soldiers helped fight for freedom while not fully experiencing it for themselves. A comprehensive look at Black history needs to be had by Black historians and scholars to ensure we are not pigeon holing what is means to teach Black history. I am not asking for a rose tinted glasses look at Black History, it is unfortunate that Slavery and the transatlantic slave trade is a massive part of that. It saddens me further to look at the active role the UK held within that and the history of the British Colonialism, the British Empire and the Commonwealth. Instead I am asking that while you teach that, you also teach about Mary Seacole alongside teaching about Florence Nightingale. That when you teach about the Romans, you also take the time to mention the Black people that were also on British shores at that time like the The Ivory Bangle Lady, whose remains were discovered in York in 1901. That when we look at Henry VIII and about the fate of all his wives and his tumultuous reign that time is taken to learn about John Blanke, an African trumpeter who is documented as having asked Henry VIII for a pay rise. Or any of the other hundreds of Black migrants living in Britain during 1500s Tudor England.
I hope that you read my words and understand all that I hoped to achieve with my petition and why it is not a repetition of anything that is out there. Should you still feel that it is, I welcome feedback on how the title can be adjusted to better reflect my intentions.
There is nothing new under the sun, is an idiom I heard often growing up, and something I still agree with to a certain extent. Life is cyclical. It can be used to describe cycles within all areas of life, in nature and fashion amongst others. And in this case it also applies to the treatment of Black men at the hands of the police.
On 17th July, 2014, Eric Garner died in New York after being put into a chokehold while being arrested by Daniel Pantaleo. He was murdered. What happened to his killers? Nothing. Eric Garner lost his life and we saw no indictments. In fact his killer remained a cop and was only fired and stripped of his pension benefits in August 2019. Five whole years after Erics death but no justice.
However, there is nothing new under the sun. So lets fast forward nearly six years.
On 25th May 2020, George Floyd died in Minnesota after Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck, subsequently killing him whilst arresting him with three other police officers. He was murdered. His killers were caught in action on film, from multiple view points. Yet despite this, the initial decision was to simply fire all four police officers and no arrests were made.
‘I cant breathe’ were some of the final words issued by both Eric and George. Both of these instances triggered mass outrage, anger and despair amongst both the black community and throughout the world. Both of these events triggered Black Lives Matter protests.
I have seen many people ask what is different now? What has changed? We are no less outraged today than we have been in the past, witnessing the murders of our people at the hands of the police. We are no less angry, nor is the despair we feel any less then before. So let me connect the dots for you.
On the 1st December 2019, the world witnessed the first outbreak of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) with the index case being recorded as coming from Wuhan in the Hubei province, China. COVID-19 is thought to be primarily spread from person to person during close contact ‘most often via small droplets produced by coughing, sneezing and talking’. According to WHO, some of the common symptoms include fever, cough, fatigue, shortness of breath, and loss of sense of smell. With complications such as pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome, COVID-19 was declared a pandemic on the 11th March 2020 by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
As this virus swept across nations, crossed borders and navigated seas, suddenly the world found out that WE CAN’T BREATHE. COVID-19 didn’t care if you were White or if you were Black. It didn’t care if you were Chinese or if you were Italian, it didn’t care if you were American or if you were English. It didn’t care if you had just been born or if you were celebrating your 90th trip around the sun. We got to see that unlike humans, the virus did not discriminate. And while this was happening, we were losing black people in equally high numbers due to racism.
But there is nothing new under the sun. The world has witnessed two black daughters publicly lose their black fathers due to racism.
On the 4th April, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr , an African American, clergyman, civil rights leader and FATHER was assassinated. He was survived by his four children Yolanda, Martin, Dexter and Bernice. On the 25th May, 2020, when police murdered George Floyd, they too made his daughter, Gianna Floyd, FATHERless. In both instances the world was watching, and even as we see the footage with our own eyes, we are still expected to believe all the cover-ups and lies. 20 years from now when the children of all the black people killed as a direct result of racism are all grown up, society will play ignorant and pretend not to understand why issues still exist. They will cry victim, all while knowing that in standing aside, they are continuing this vicious cycle of racism and oppression. Just know we have seen you plant the seeds, and we know you have generously watered them too.
On 28th May 2020, I saw a picture going viral on the internet and across social media apps. It features Don Lemon and the headline “TWO DEADLY VIRUSES ARE KILLING AMERICANS COVID-19 AND RACISM”. So when you consider whats changed, well not much has. We have had pandemics before and we have had racism before. There is nothing new under the sun, after all. But you should also have considered that you couldn’t keep murdering and killing black people as we were being attacked on all fronts. Eric Garner couldn’t breathe, George Floyd couldn’t breathe, I CAN’T BREATHE but thanks to COVID-19 now neither can you!
One of the most positive things to come out of the tragic murder of George Floyd is the mobilisation and unification of black people internationally across the world. It is encouraging to see others join us as we stand, march, kneel and lie down in peaceful protest against racism and the mistreatment of black people everywhere.
Only good can come from people speaking up, speaking out and effecting change so that we can break the cycle and see a different world for future generations. I too have been using my gift and voice in an attempt to assist with this. But there is a darker side to everything that is happening.
Firstly, I would like to touch upon the frequent volleying of the phrase “All lives matter’, whenever anyone says ‘Black Lives Matter. To be frank, it is equal measures of ignorance and arrogance that has people spouting that phrase. They know full well that there is no correlation between the two phrases because that would require you to say that we are all equal. In reality, given the choice to spend just one day of your life having to live how a black person lives, you wouldn’t take it. This is not a competition, this is our lives. We do not get the choice in not spending a second of any day being black. I am black, black before I am anything else. It is the first thing that someone notices upon meeting me. So please, kindly shut up, if when you hear someone say Black Lives Matter, your tongue itches for you to say All lives matter. DON’T.
Secondly, this is not a fad or a phase for us. When a couple years have passed and this is no longer a little pet project for you; It is still going to be the reality for us. This is neither a nightmare or dream that any black person on earth can wake up from. Do not trivialise how any black person feels about any of this. We do not need you speaking over us, ridiculing, sidelining or excusing away anything that we have experienced as a direct result of racism.
Thirdly, do not use our agenda for your own gain. Hijacking a cause which is trying to prevent the future murders of a historically oppressed and disproportionately prosecuted group of people is extremely repugnant. I am seeing industries, corporations and people who are known to have been anti black, anti black lives matter or covertly/overtly racist in the past try to ride the PR wave of what is happening. We are not blind. We see you and we also see what you are trying to do. So to the NFL that blacklisted and actively pushed Colin Kaepernick from the league for merely taking a knee in peaceful protest we do swallow your lies anymore then you do. You fool no one when you say you are ‘committed to continuing the important work to address these systemic issues together with our players, clubs, and partners’. I would in fact go one step further, and call for the immediate resignation of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. If we were talking loss of funds and not active systemic racism, the board and shareholders would have already made you step down. Poor management should have the same consequence. And to Ryan Michaels, the paper that your apology is written on isn’t even worth using to wipe my arse. Please read the room and take a seat. We do not need your disingenuous platitudes and excuses as to why you treated ‘Kaep’ the way that you did. Familiarity with his name does not make you more endearing to us, in fact it disgusts me further that you could treat someone like you did. Especially when you know them well enough to give and use a nickname like that. You are tone-deaf! I should say tone death, as your claim that you were defending those that died for the flag is bullshit. Black people died for your flag, your country was built on the backs of slavery, and oppression.This country that you claim to be so proud of isn’t even yours and its always seemed very cheeky for me to hear white Americans label everyone else when they themselves are the intruders in this story. So as I call for the NFL to assist in permanently shutting you up by removing your platform I say this. You have the blood of #GeorgeFloyd and countless others on your hands. If not for YOU and others like you we may have seen changes and a movement into the right direction. You are part of the PROBLEM and consciously chose to be so! You want to apologise now? It is up to ‘Kaep’ as you affectionately call him whether he accepts this poor excuse of an apology, but for me? I say 4 years too late!
Do not think they are the only brand that has tried to pull the PR stunt. L’Oreal, talk to us because something is not quite adding up. You might have the memory of Dory from Finding Nemo, but I can tell you now that we don’t. For you to post onto your socials that ‘Speaking out is worth it’ when you are the very same company that fired trans-model Munroe Bergdorf as a direct consequence to her speaking out about racism, is audacious to the nth degree. So to all the brands trying to spin PR out of this, we see you. YOU fool no one but yourselves, and when I get a bit more time I am coming to call out each and every one of you.
Fourthly, you may have noticed my posting yesterday where I asked black people now speaking up about racist treatment that they had in the workforce what is different for them now. I didn’t get a response from anyone, and to be honest I wasn’t expecting to. I think that it is fantastic that people are speaking up now, that they feel comfortable enough to speak up now. However, I would like to know if anything has changed for them now. For me, I have always been quite vocal on things that displease me. Suffering with both social anxiety/ general anxiety and panic attacks, I am the first to admit that speaking up and speaking out is not easy. Despite that, the experiences of my youth and childhood have left me unable to accept being a victim or allowing someone else to treat me as such. If one thing doesn’t change, nothing will. Speaking out was never a bed of roses for me, it was never without repercussions. Every action has a reaction, mine non withstanding. So as I commend each and everyone of you who has bravely chosen to speak out now, I also query what you did. We are seeing you list how you were treated and I want to know what, if any action you took after.
Lastly, I would like to touch upon a group of issues that fall within this.
To the people that look to black people for entertainment, we are not your entertainment. If we choose to enter those fields that is our choice, do not look to us during this time to put a smile on your face.
To the people that are using some of the confusion right now to cause chaos. Stop it. I am happy to see so many of you get the recognition you deserve as social media and the internet leads to consequences and the law catching up with you.
To the propagators behind the racist hashtag #WhiteOutWednesday, we choose not to see you and I will acknowledge you no further.
To those that have reached out to me asking for my take on this, or wanting me to check their work or help them write something. I have no answers and can only tell my point of view. I will end by saying that some people should be interviewed to tell their stories and others should tell them themselves. So as I watch this unfold with the rest if the world, know that we see it all and we wait for the real slim shady’s to stand up!
KRIS_TNA 