Most Reform Members Believe Non-White UK Citizens Born Abroad Should Be Forced or Encouraged to Leave, Poll Finds

More than half of Reform UK members believe non-white British citizens born abroad should be deported or encouraged to leave, according to the first publicly available poll of those in Nigel Farage’s party.  

Okay, it's not exactly news, but it's there in black and white.  Go here to read more from the Guardian.  

I think this demonstrates the failure of multiculturalism.  Too bad.  I thought Britain had been multicultural since the 1970s at least.  I guess the broadcasting of the N-word by the BBC put paid to that.  And then there was the Windrush scandal.  See also:  Exiled to Poland for 28 Years.  

And then there's the police racism and deaths in police custody.  Yeah, still.   Go here for my interview with Ken Fero, Director of the film Injustice.  20 years after Injustice, the problems still persist.  

Meanwhile, this report on Black British Voices from Cambridge University reveals high levels of discrimination against Black people and high levels of distrust among Black people in Britain, and 95% of those surveyed belived the curriculum neglects Black people's experience.  

What are your thoughts?  Please let us know - post your thoughts below, especially if you are a British or UK citizen and were born abroad or your parents were born abroad and became UK citizens.  

 

 

Some Recent Anniversaries

Olaseni Lewis

Recently, we have reached some crucial and tragic anniversaries:  

100 Years Since the Destruction of Black Wall Street.  

66 Years Since the Murder of Emmett Till.  July would have marked his 80th birthday.  

Meanwhile, this horrific roll call continues:  

 

Deaths of Olaseni Lewis and Sean Rigg.  Olaseni died in the UK in 2010, the same way as George Floyd, begging police officers to let him breathe.  Sean Rigg also died in London, in 2008.  

Go here for my show in which we asked:  Do Black Lives Really Matter? 

28 years since the death of Joy Gardner in London, UK.  

And these deaths keeps rolling on, on both sides of the Atlantic. 

Cressida Dick, Commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police, states that "no one is above the law".  Really?  Really, Cressida? 

According to Wikipedia, Cressida Dick held senior roles in the force's diversity directorate, in anti-gang and anti-gun crime operations, and in counterterrorism operations before becoming Commissioner.  She was a Met Police officer at the time of the death of Joy Gardner.  The documentary-maker Ken Fero called for her resignation with regard to the death of Joy Gardner. 

We live in a world in which MP Dawn Butler was racially profiled and stopped by the police because they thought her car was registered outside London (which has yet to be made a criminal offence).   

We live in a world in which a Black mother states that it is "not hunting season" on Black people (again - really?).  

Last year (2020), a Metropolitan Police Officer was the subject of a criminal investigation after kneeling on Marcus Coutain's neck during a stop-and-search operation.  The officer will not face charges, nor will he face disciplinary action.  

Yet, as reported in the Guardian,  Cressida Dick has said that the Met has transformed and is no longer institutionally racist.  (Say it with me:  really, Cressida?  Really????)

We need to realise and understand that this is not just a problem in the U.S.  This is not just an American problem.  Black deaths in police custody are happening all over the world.  Black men, women and children are dying in police custody and those responsible are not facing justice.  

We MUST find solutions.  Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is one such solution.  

I have blogged about this issue many times, and I shall continue to do so.  Our communities need to be armed with the skills of NVC, which can help to PREVENT these types of crimes.  

Go her for more Black history blogs.  

Go here for Zhana's conversation with Ken Fero, the director of Injustice. 

Go here for Nonviolence and NVC Resources.  

What do you think is a possible solution?  Please comment below and please share.  Thanks.  

Go here for my show in which we asked:  Do Black Lives Really Matter?  

 

Success Strategies with Zhana: Do Black Lives Really Matter?

Joy Gardner

On my most recent show (see link below), we discussed the fact that Sarah Everard, a young white woman, was murdered by a serving police officer, a member of the Metropolitan Police.  His killer was recently sentenced to life imprisonment, which is an increase of his original 20-year sentence.  

Earlier this year, a vigil for Sarah was broken up by the police in a very heavy-handed way.  People, particularly women, are justifiably angered and appalled and Harriet Harmon MP has called for Cressida Dick's resignation. 

It's 28 years since Joy Gardner died in the custody of police and immigration officers.  But those involved in her death have never been prosecuted.  And nobody has held a vigil for Joy.  The documentary-maker Ken Fero called for Cressida Dick's resignation over the death of Joy Gardner.  Go here for my conversation with Ken. 

One rule for us, another rule for them. We discussed this on my recent show, Success Strategies with Zhana:  Do Black Lives Really Matter?  

PLUS:  

Go here for Black history blogs.  

Go here for African history blogs.  

This month marks the 10th anniversary of Black Cinema Club and they are showing loads of films to celebrate.  Go here for a list of the  film screenings this month.  

Do you believe Black lives really matter?  Please comment below and please share this blog with your networks.  Thanks.  

Injustice: The Film the Police Tried to Ban

My guest on the most recent edition of my Success Strategies online radio show was Ken Fero, the director of Injustice.   You have probably heard of, or seen, Injustice, Fero's film about seven UK families that are still fighting for justice after a family member died in police custody.  The police tried to ban this film - every time a cinema was scheduled to screen it, the police would phone them 15 minutes beforehand and tell them not to show it. 

Go here to listen.  

Ken Fero spoke to me about the fact that the police are, in his words, "killing Black people", and that this must stop.  

Some people believe the "Black Lives Matter" movement only pertains to the U.S.  Ken Fero talked with me about filming the experience of Black people and other migrant communities in many places, including the UK, Germany and France.  Go here to listen. 

He also spoke about his new film, Ultraviolence, and the fact that deaths in police custody are just "the tip of the iceberg".  

For more about Ken Fero and Injustice, see Ken Fero on Deaths in Police Custody.  

Go here to listen to our conversation.  

See also:  Protecting Our Communities.  

As I am sure you know, October is Black History Month/African Heritage Month here in the UK.  

And, of course, every month is Black History Month/African Heritage Month.  

Go here for my recent conversation with Brother Tony Warner of London Black History Walks:  Does Black History Really Matter?  As usual, he offered us loads of information about Black British history. 

Go here for more of my Black history blogs.  

Please leave your comments below and please share.  Thanks!  

Go here for more from the Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence 2020.  

Filmmaker Ken Fero on Deaths in Police Custody

Joy Gardner

There's a reason why everyone in my neighbourhood in South London knows who Trayvon Martin was.

A few months ago, a local public meeting was held. The posters all featured a photo of Trayvon. No caption, no explanation. But everyone in this area knows that similar things happen here.

I know Trayvon was not killed by the police, but his killing was sanctioned by the courts.

BFI London South Bank recently held a day on deaths in police custody, as part of the African Odysseys ongoing film series.

Filmmaker Ken Fero, director of numerous documentaries including the multi-award-winning Injustice, spoke in the morning and screened clips from his films. In the afternoon, two of those films were screened.

Injustice chronicles the fight for justice of seven families whose members died in police custody. None of the police officers involved in these killings have been prosecuted or disciplined. Six of the families are Black (African Caribbean), the seventh is Irish. An Irishman was gunned down as he walked through Brixton carrying a wooden table leg. The police stated they thought he was armed with a gun.

All of these families are still continuing to fight for justice.

Injustice has never been shown on UK television. When it was first released in 2001, every time it was due to be shown in cinemas, the police would phone the cinema about 15 minutes before the screening was due to start, threatening legal action. They claimed the film “might be libellous”.

Ken Fero, filmmaker

However, as Fero explained at the BFI, the audience inevitably contained someone who owned a business or ran a community centre or another venue. So the audience would decamp down the street, and the film would be screened.

Like a lot of people, I was very keen to see the film, and I saw it in a barbershop in South London. All I can say is, if you haven't seen Injustice, you need to see it.

Fero has made many other films about human rights abuses committed in Britain and other European countries, notably Germany and France. It was, frankly, disturbing to hear him say how many times he has filmed some of the same families. For example, the family of Joy Gardner, a Jamaican citizen who died in police custody in 1993.

Joy Gardner suffocated whilst in police restraints. The press labelled her an illegal immigrant and, as Fero pointed out, ignored the fact that other labels could equally be applied to her. Like “student” and “mother”.

He also said that, between 2001 and 2011, another 1,000 people died in police custody. This is an escalation, as more than 1,000 deaths in police custody had occurred in the previous 30 years.

Fero said he makes these films in order to inspire people and educate them about how to take action. He told me that he doesn't want to continue to make these films but, as I am sure he would agree, it is vital that he does.

And while we are collectively mourning Michael Brown, Eric Garner and all the others, we are aware that these things also happen here.

Please join us for the International Summit on Nonviolence today.

See also: Deaths in Police Custody.