#blacklivesmatter racism is a human problem

That's a very good question which we can start disect that. Looking at talking the lee vally velodrome to do some outreach with the 4 boroughs on their doorstop

Perhaps we could get this pinned to the homepage @Velocio ?

I basically never look at anything other than subscribed threads but was surprised (well maybe not) there wasn’t one on this given how popular Brexit/coronavirus threads are.

As part of my education I’m making my way through as much reading on the subject as I can, so that I might listen & learn from those who know more and share that with others. Here is a list that was shared with me which I thought might be useful for others too.

Fiction
Black British authors
Girl, Woman, Other - Bernadine Evaristo
That Reminds Me - Derek Owusu
Noughts and Crosses - Malorie Blackman
Ordinary People - Diane Evans
The Confessions of Frannie Langton - Sara Collins
Swing Time - Zadie Smith
White Teeth - Zadie Smith
Small Island - Andrea Levy

African-American authors (Contemporary)
Sing, Unburied Sing - Jesmyn Ward
Homegoing - Yaa Gyasi
The Vanishing Half - Brit Bennet
The Water Dancer - Ta-Nehisi Coates
Such a Fun Age - Kiley Age
Red to the Bone - Jacqueline Woodson
Brown Girl Dreaming - Jacqueline Woodson
We Cast a Shadow - Maurice Carlos Ruffin
Nickel Boys - Colson Whitehead
The Underground Railroad - Colson Whitehead
An American Marriage - Tarayi Jones

African-American authors (20th century)
Kindred - Octavia Butler
The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison
The Colour Purple - Alice Walker
The Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison

African & Carribean authors
August Town - Kei Miller
Americanah - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Half of a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Girl with the Louding Voice - Abi Daré
Stay with me - Ayobami Adebayo
My Sister the Serial Killer - Oyinkan Braithwaite
Nervous Conditions - Tsitsi Dangarembga

Memoirs
Between the World and Me - Ta-Nehisi Coates
Natives: Race & Class in the Ruins of Empire - Akala
How We Fight for our Lives - Saeed Jones
Kill the Black One First - Michael Fuller
When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir - Patrisse Cullors and Asha Bandele
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou
Becoming - Michelle Obama

Short stories / Essays
Heads of Coloured People - Nafissa Thompson-Spires
Race - Toni Morrison
They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us - Hanif Abdurraqib
Feel Free - Zadie Smith
We Were 8 Years in Power - Ta-Nehisi Coates
How to love a Jamican - Alexia Arthurs
What is not Yours is not Yours - Helen Oyeyemi
I shall not be Erased - gal-dem
What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky - Lesley Nneka Arimah

Non fiction
British writers
Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People about Race - Reni Eddo Lodge
Natives - Akala
Brit(ish) - Afua Hirsh
Black and British: A Forgotten History - David Oyewole
There ain’t no Black in the Union Jack - Paul Gilroy
The Good Immigrant - Nikesh Shukla (editor)
Don’t Touch My Hair - Emma Dabiri
How to Argue With a Racist: History, Science, Race and Reality - Adam Rutherford

American writers
White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide - Carol Anderson
Me and White Supremacy - Layla F Saad
Stamped: Racism, Anti Racism, and You - Jason Reynolds and Ibram X Kendi
How to be Anti Racist - Ibram X Kendi
So You Want to Talk About Race - Ijeoma Oluo
White Fragility - Robin DiAngelo
They Can’t Kill Us All - Wesley Lowery

Black Feminists
Eloquent Rage - Brittney Cooper
Hood Feminism - Mikki Kendall
White Tears, Brown Scars - Ruby Hamad
Sister Outsider - Audre Lorde
How We Get Free - Keenaga-Yamahtta Taylor

https://bylinetimes.com/2020/06/05/white-complicity-matters-the-nazis-by-the-lake/

This was an article that I read several times over the weekend and made me question my silence and complicity (?)

Lots more statues coming down. Glad to see the back of a few Leopolds...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-52963352

Perhaps we could get this pinned to the homepage Velocio ?

Good call.

This has stuck in my mind since forever:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yrg7vV4a5o

I want every white person in this room who would be happy to be treated as this society in general treats our black citizens — if you as a white person would be happy to receive the same treatment that our black citizens do in this society, please stand.

[Nobody stands.]

You didn’t understand the directions. If you white folks want to be treated the way blacks are in this society, stand. Nobody’s standing here. That says very plainly that you know what’s happening, you know you don’t want it for you. I want to know why you’re so willing to accept it or to allow it to happen for others.

Thanks for the comprehensive list. I'm a very poor reader, are there any you'd recommend as easier reads (length not content!).

If no one else has seen it, I urge everyone to watch the last episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver... the writing is always amazing and this one really got to me... the way they ended the program really brought it home about what’s happening in the US at the moment.

This one right:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf4cea5oObY

Which needs a VPN due to rights licensing... so VPN to the USA to view.

How about a run off forum T-shirts tied in with the charities that are promoting equality and diversity in cycling? Charge £10 more to cover costs and send what we can.

Jono84 - 5 shirts

@dangeek - stickers?

Thank you for starting this thread.

I'm originally from Poland and if you've ever been, you might have noticed that there isn't many black people. Nowadays, in the bigger cities maybe some, but still, not many overall.
I have never ''understood'' racism, can't even start imagining how can one be racist. I guess, to me, it sort of doesn't exist, but recent events have proven otherwise... You'd think that in the XXI century we've got all the stupid sh*t sorted out, but clearly not. And this is a big one.

Difficult to articulate my thoughts In a way that won't come across as naive/ignorant (perhaps I'm both), perhaps even offensive to some but essentially I think there's a disproportionate amount of information/statistics relating to the treatment/outcomes of BAME population compared to true investigation and conversation around the "Why?" Why are BAME citizens 3.5 times more likely to be 'stopped and searched'? Is it because the police force are inherently racist? Why are they inherently racist? What can be done be done about this 'root and branch'? What proportion of BAME and non-BAME stop and search subjects are arrested/cautioned? Surely that's a much better indicator of criminality, no? Are there links between race and levels/types of crime? If so, let's investigate what and why and do something about it. What about Social Media influences - who is saying what, what is the racial profile of their 'subscriber-ship' and what, in turn is the impact on their outcomes and behaviours? Why, and how can it be challenged?
Levels of racial inequality and inequality of all types are clear and shameful but making noise about it is only a tiny part of the solution to this terrible unfairness - change has to be developed inclusively and holistically as what is really changing of we force a non-BAME figurehead to act however the lack of diversity among the decision makers remains? Look at the influence of sports people; what are their backgrounds? Is there a disproportionate number of black footballers/sportspersons for example, answering "what would life be like if you weren't a sports-star?" with "I'd be dead or in prison" Is this representative of UK society and is there clear divisions based on race? If so, why? Should there be legislation that forces proportional representation of all protected characteristics across all areas such as political powers, sporting bodies etc? In isolation, did the South African Rugby Union protocol to force teams to have X number of black players lead to a greater number of black players and coaches, beyond the 'at least' number to be represented within the sport both as players and coaches? If so, was the initial controversy linked to positive discrimination deemed worth it as it's led to much greater genuine inclusivity?

I take it you are on the Isle of Wight.

Sounds like you must have led a very blinkered life if you "can't even start imagining how one can be racist" and it "sort of doesn't exist".
Maybe though that's because Poland is very much a "white country?"

Maybe.
Maybe I've failed to express myself properly.
What I meant is, I can't imagine how someone can be racist. It just seems so pointless...

Just found out about these guys, I sincerely apologise for the E-bike advert at the start

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3jgbmRYZ9M&feature=youtu.be

Thank you for starting this thread. Everything that has happened in the recent weeks, and threads like these have really made me think. I was always of the belief that as long as I was not was not racist, this was enough. However, it has become apparent that this was me being ignorant and scared. My goal now is, as has been stated by others, to read and talk to people to try understand the problem at more than a surficial level and find what I can actively do to make a change.

I wanted to find a quote which summed up my realisation, and, surprisingly, found a very fitting one from the film ' The aeronauts' - "you don't change the world simply by looking at it ".

Ah, glad to see that BCN has been posted--- they have been doing much good work over the last 2 years.

Re LV Velopark and Velodrome- Yes, they should and could do more but my experience of both them and Full Gas , who run most of the events in the Velodrome, is that they don't get involved in sport or community development. Full Gas also has , in my view, a questionable record on diversity.

I wonder if in East and NE London it might be better to work with the local clubs ie Islington, Hackney, Hubvelo, LVCC , & LVCC youth to develop a local approach. I wouldn't wait for BC to do anything.

Some ideas that come to mind are subsidized sessions at the park or on the circuit, confidence building club nights at circuit, accessible club runs and TTs, and , of course , first of all listening .

I have contacts with the East and NE London clubs, I used to be the LVCC chair, so would be happy to work with people on this.

Thank you @chokalateboywonder for starting this thread. I hate labels but I am considered BAME I am actually half Turkish, half Sri Lankan, 100% Londoner. Fostered by a white working class family in North London. My girlfriend is black British born Essex girl. I believe that we all carry subconscious and unconscious bias. This is an area I want to explore among my peers and management groups. My girlfriend’s son is only 7, as a black child already lives in fear of the Police, that if approached to raise his hands, say his name and state that he is unarmed :(((

You'd need to add James Baldwin as a major American writer to the above list of writings and likewise the autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Hailey

One thing that i've always never really understood..
What is the definition of "Black" - in it's most basic form i suppose you could argue it's colour - as in Black / White - Ebony / Ivory

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZtiJN6yiik

However my experience through life living in many different multi-cultural areas of London and Sheffield has been that it's lot more than that.
My understanding is that there's is a huge cultural component of being "Black" too - by that i mean how communities and family units function, language, music , food, cultural norms, history etc - all of these and more play a part in being black in my head.
I remember living just off Ridley Road market and that was a cultural and ethnic mix that on the surface seemed to function well - an interesting few conversations i had were with british born friends whose parents were from the Caribbean who found the culture of some people from Nigeria / africa was poles apart from their culture and experience.
So a black british person was able to express this opinion without fear of being called racist but i found it uncomfortable expressing this opinion being white....
Living round Hackney also highlighted the fact that the local kids seemed to all morph into each other no matter what cultural / ethnic background. They all spoke the same mix of jamaican patois, east end landan slang which was how i suppose culture changes and so does language

reminds me of this - Rodney P / Bionic MC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ahFJmFcY98

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE2VpSPSNVk

Another anecdote that made me think was at a house party in Hackney in the early 90s just off Mare Street - i was invited by work friends and i think everyone was from a British carribean background apart from me and the girlfriend of one of the people at the party. She told me she was black - to my eyes she was white (skin colour) she was from argentina i think but i ended up in a heated discussion as to how she wasn't black ... her boyfriend said she was , others said she wasn't.
Another discussion i had with my wife who said one of her best friends who had a libyan parent and a white british parent called herself black too - i just didn't understand this...
I've also been told by an African colleague who subscribed to the "one drop theory" which again i found hard to understand as i've also met many people who describe themselves as mixed race not black...

I suppose my point is: What is black? Is it a colour , is it a culture, is it self defined or do others decide if someone is black or not?

Getting back to my original thought - is this "colour" then looking at how police target and profile people to stop and search, beat up , hassle and even in this case kill it looks like exactly that - a colour prejudice.

Thanks for the link, first time I've heard of BCN, some good content there.

Are we touching on the protests in here? I have been wondering a few things in the last days: will the protests grow/last from this point? Why has attacking/removing historical statues become a focal point in this country versus a very current-focus of what has happened in the States? Why has that particular action struck a nerve in the way it appears to? What political change do you think/hope will result from BLM in general? There are talks of disbanding/refunding police in some areas of the USA, how do you think that will go? Have lots of questions really, maybe someone wants to respond to any!

This is just my understanding, that the statues that have been attacked recently represent a different history for black people in this country.

Jane Elliott is an astonishing woman.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HsXAIzYklk&feature=youtu.be

I don't really have anything to add, just to acknowledge that I have much to learn.