#blacklivesmatter racism is a human problem

Not seen it yet, I posted an interview with the director, 1 page back.

Thanks, will give it a listen

Not surprised they're keyboard warriors. Did anyone watched this
https://youtu.be/gQBuNeFlS7c

We watched it tonight, it’s powerful.

Growing up I remember reading stories about The Mangrove weekly in the Daily Mail.

https://youtu.be/diwfpt_3lfs

If there was a definition of white middle class male privilege the fox person is the poster boy. Is he courting this attention to get his place as a tory mp?

Long read by Gary younge, about the historical fight to suppress the minority vote.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/17/trump-desperate-fight-stop-minority-vote-republicans-racism?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Finished watching Small Axe last night, think it's very well made with some brilliant performances, looking forward to the other films particularly 'lovers rock' the next one.

Good read, thanks.

Article on what being “woke”truly means?

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/nov/21/how-woke-became-the-word-of-our-era?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

I still need to watch “I am not your negro” but this line from james Baldwin always makes me nod my head in agreement/acknowledgement of what it is to be black.
“To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.”

Thought-provoking phrase someone shared on WhatsApp, author unknown:

“If you’ve never had the Supreme Court decide if you have the same rights as other people, you have privilege.”

always loved westerns, nice primer about the role of black cowboys in the creation of the hollywood cowboy myth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkmD-vpQ4Qs&feature=emb_logo

The term cowboys was a term from enslaved cattle ranchers i found out recently

just seen this - closes on Monday in case anyone interested in responding
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/ethnic-disparities-and-inequality-in-the-uk-call-for-evidence

racism is a white issue

anyone been following small axe?

This struck a chord.

4 Attachments

Short film on Rashan Charles who died after being stopped by police in Dalston in 2017.

https://youtu.be/8GwShz0zUlo

Rod Charles who features in the film said after the verdict “Failures by senior police officers to make appropriate decisions after such events, doesn’t damage police and community relations for a few years, it sets it back generations”.

Important to note that the officers involved in the incident were cleared of all blame or misconduct and this is not a critic on the entire police force but a call for openness, transparency and accountability.

In a recent article in the Hackney Gazette that looks at what can be done in the wake of such events. Rod Charles calls for pressure on the home secretary to addressing thousands of existing recommendations from a litany of inspections and reviews that have not yet been implemented.

Not seen ''I'm not your negro'' either but did watch James Balwin with Nikki Giovanni
the other day here's a good youtube playlist of his interviews

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvbZAprCHO2Wf7Hl90O3-4kigGv3Bt6F3
-4kigGv3Bt6F3

yep I knew his mum

So Millwall fans wait for months to see a game, then boo their players for 'taking the knee' Wonderful innit. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/55111474

This doesn't surprise me Millwall fans are known to be the most racist. Even though the based in new Cross their fan base in spread across far south East London and North Kent. That in itself tells you a lot.

Football fan behaviour never surprises me. All clubs have their contingent. Both sickening and saddening.

@cornelius_blackfoot
that point about black culture resonates here. Whilst I don’t have any black heritage, growing up in south London I had two sets of friends back in the mid 80s. Those who’s parents were part of the windrush generation, I loved their parents cooking, hospitality, respected their opinions, hopes and fears. And a contingent of white British, white immigrant and Asian friends who loved black culture, the food, the music, fashion, street styling, talking like they belong to the ends.

Yet had no black friends, and frankly were never immersed or even set foot within the black diaspora.

My true awakening came after I visited the townships and squatter camps on the outskirts of Durban seeing the legacy of apartheid in South Africa in 1995 beginning dismantled. It was an utter privilege and an education in humanity meeting black South Africans with hopes for a better tomorrow. Run by a small young group of black entrepreneurs with combi vans and armed support.

We put a lot of trust in them that day. Sadly 25 years on, I suspect the promises of that better tomorrow, never came :(

Thats a really interesting story @almac68 about cultures immersing themselves and benefiting from black British culture but not respecting us to know and respect our lived experience. I removed myself from these so called friends in Hackney many moons ago. They eventually find themselves at a crossroads and eventually fit back into their culture once the exciting savvy black cultural experience has become less exciting. This appropriation of our culture:music, vanucular, food and fashion really jars me.

@chokalateboywonder
like you, I distanced myself a long time ago, from those white and asian friends.

Two years into a relationship with a black British girl from the ends, has made us ponder what would it have been like if we met 25 years ago in London and created a blended family.

Our boys would have been the Dean’s or Scot’s in today’s generation either electricians, shit hot plasters, plumbers, decorators with their own businesses played footie, cricket and DJing at parties. Daughter would be like her mum, with princess tendencies, career in law or crime investigation.. so perhaps no different from my adult children today, just with more attitude, social awareness, lol

The absolute irony is that I have a Scottish surname.. not through slave history as my missus has, but the foster care system. We would have changed that if we married back then.

@almac68 @chokalateboywonder

I'm from Bath where there are very few black people but I had black friends growing up. At eighteen I moved overseas and made black friends doing what I was doing. I then moved to London in my early 20's and again doing what I was doing made black friends. As I'd left school with no qualifications I went back to school in my late 20's and attended City & Islington college and London Met which were both very mixed environments. I decided to do my degree in Brighton as I couldn't afford to stay in London. I did all the same things I was doing in London but the groups were almost exclusively white.

When I moved back to London in my early 30's i still spent time doing some of the things I did in teens and 20's but much less and less and I started a career in a very white industry. After a long break from fight sports I started going to Brixton ABC to get fit and did the white collar classes with other working professionals. The class was pretty mixed and I had no problems fitting in. I was then asked to move into the amateur classes which given the step up was significantly younger and less mixed (90% black). In terms of race mix this was something I was very comfortable with from doing this when I was young but my age and life circumstances jarred and I couldn't give the commitment the group needed. The gym and people there are amazing but I decided to move on and focus on my career and relationship. That was the last time I had regular interactions with a group of black people that weren't the obvious minority.

I now live in SE London, have no real black friends and work in an industry with a total lack of diversity. I still love Hip Hop and other black music, watch black movies and enjoy many other aspects of black culture in the same way I do with other non white cultures.

If you look at me now am I everything that you find problematic?