Black Lives Matter
Statement on George Floyd’s Death and Police Violence
Statement by Coventry Lord Mayor’s Committee for Peace and Reconciliation on George Floyd’s Death and Police Violence Since George Floyd’s death at the hands of a police officer in the US city of Minneapolis there have been protests across the world, including in Coventry. Recent events have shown that there are deep structural fractures in the fabric of our society, no matter where we live or the colour of our skin. Racism shows up in all aspects of our lives and society: in interpersonal communication, through discriminatory policies and practices, in biased language, and in our laws and institutions. We … Continue reading →
Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner Statement on death of George Floyd
Around 1000 people gathered in Broadgate on Sunday, 7 June, in support of a Black Lives Matter protest following the killing of George Floyd by a policeman in Minneapolis, USA [1]. Two days earlier, Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Seccombe had spoken about his horror at the dreadful scenes which lead to the death of George Floyd during a police arrest in the USA, the impact it has on people in Warwickshire and the important questions that it raises about racism and equality. Mr Seccombe said [2]: “I share the shock and anger felt by all right-minded people over the … Continue reading →
Coventry Society Statement on the Murder of George Floyd
Coventry Society issued the following statement on 8 June 2020 Following the recent tragic murder of George Floyd, Vincent Hammersley, Chair of the Coventry Society has issued the following public statement on behalf of the Coventry Society: “One of the stated aims of The Coventry Society is ‘to promote harmonious relations among the community of all races, beliefs and cultures in Coventry.’ Following the recent tragic events regarding George Floyd’s death in the USA we wish to concur with both the Coventry Lord Mayor’s Committee for Peace and Reconciliation and Coventry University’s Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations. “Racism, … Continue reading →
Scientific Evidence on Policing Race and Civil Unrest
The science publishing company Springer has created a website containing lists of books and articles dealing with various issues raised by the Black Lives Matter movement. The issues include Social Inequality & Systemic Racism Policing Race & Civil Unrest Gender Racism & Oppression Health Disparities Stories from Black women in research
Continue reading →Trump Encourages Police Violence
Remarks by President Trump to Law Enforcement Officials July 28, 2017 Ronkonkoma, New York See also Washington Post article
Continue reading →My Name is Tani and I am an inspiration
Tanitoluwa (Tani) Adewumi is a Nigerian-born chess player who lives in New York City, USA. He won the 2019 K-3 New York State chess championship at the age of eight, after playing the game for only a year, while living with his refugee family in a homeless shelter in Manhattan. His teacher Shawn Martinez is a chess enthusiast who introduced him to the game. Tanitoluwa immediately took to it, and wanted to join a club run by Russell Makofsky, another teacher. Membership normally cost $330. Evidently impressed by his ability, Makofsky waived the fee. In early 2018, Adewumi played in … Continue reading →
Black Lives Matter Reading Suggestions
A list of books to read compiled by the Young Employees Group and the LGBT+ Network at Coventry City Council. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge The Good Immigrant edited by Nikesh Shukla White Fragility: Why it’s so hard for white people to talk about racism by Robin DiAngelo People Like Us by Hashi Mohamed All titles apart from Natives: Race and Class (not in stock yet as e-book) are available in e-book format to … Continue reading →
Key Events in US History Leading to Black Lives Matter
The Black Lives Matter movement is not new. It has been going on since before the United States was founded. To understand why it is so hard for attitudes to change in the US, it might help to understand its history. The following is a summary of some of the key events leading up to the current Black Lives Matter campaign. 1526 – 1775: Colonial Period Around 1526 Spanish brought first African slaves to what would later become Georgia. 1606 The founding of the Thirteen British Colonies in America started in 1606. The New England colonies in the north were … Continue reading →
City of Culture and Black Lives Matter
On 8 June 2020, Coventry City of Culture Trust issued the following statement. The team at Coventry City of Culture Trust has been listening to the international, national, and local conversations around the murder of George Floyd and the global protests his death has sparked. As part of our ongoing commitment to supporting our Black colleagues, audiences, and artists, two of the Trust team (Elizabeth Lawal, Producer and Martin Sutherland, Chief Executive) have co-written a response. Elizabeth is a producer, theatre maker, cultural researcher, and activist. She is a firm believer in the power of young people and social change. … Continue reading →
Coventry Biennial and Black Lives Matter
On 10 June 2020, Coventry Biennial issued the following statement and useful links. This post hopes to make our position clear as an organisation that is anti-racist and to highlight some of the ways that we are committed to Black artists and Black people. We stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and are outraged at the inequality and injustice that we have seen. People in our communities, in our team and the artists that we work with are hurting and are angry. Over the past few weeks, as what is just the most recent example of police brutality has … Continue reading →
Modern Racism: A matter of Perspective
This is part of a project created by Miriam Monga, a student at Cardinal Newman Catholic School. BLM Ballerina Here I decided to use the ballerina to put across my message of equality because ballet is such an inherently white dance as such I thought a black ballerina would be very poignant and striking. By Miriam Monga A Portrait of Microagressions My sister and I complied casually racist comments we’d received and I decided to apply them to a self portrait to show what it is like to receive this attention constantly. By Miriam Monga. What Do You See? I … Continue reading →
Mahamed Hashi
Councillor Dr. Mahamed Hashi is the Deputy Cabinet Member (Youth) for the London Borough of Lambeth. Mahamed is extremely well known for his community work and holds a number of prominent positions on community engagement boards across London. In April 2013 the South London Press awarded Mahamed the Our Heroes Award in recognition of his work, and he has also been featured in the Independent on Sunday’s Happy 100 list and in the Evening Standard’s top 1000 influential list 2015. He spoke about “Change Through Engagement” on BBC Radio 4 on 15 July 2020. He drew on his experience as … Continue reading →
Racism in British schools
Intisar Chowdhury became a national figure this year after the death of his father from coronavirus led to him questioning the health secretary, Matt Hancock, on live radio. After the death of George Floyd and the national conversation on racism, Chowdhury began focusing his activism on schools and issued a call on social media for examples of discrimination. The response he received shocked him. The Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty tells Anushka Asthana how he and the producer Mythili Rao went to meet Chowdhury and investigate some of the evidence he had been amassing. They found racist abuse going unpunished, in some instances by teachers. The findings backed … Continue reading →
Peace at last in hearts of Black Americans after Joe Biden wins US Presidential Election – video
CNN’s Van Jones brought to tears as he discusses Joe Biden’s wins US Presidential election and explains the pain of Black Americans during the years of Trump.
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