Black Feminists announces Rage Against Racism rally (for local & international racial equality, fairness, transparency)
Some people talk about change, others dream about change, but we believe in action, not words. Join the protest
Black Feminists announces Rage Against Racism rally
Rage Against Racism, at the Swedish Embassy in London on Tuesday May 1st at 4pm.
The rally is calling on the Government to commit to ending the racist misrepresentation and stereotyping of Black Women within the political, social and cultural dialogue of the UK. The protest is in part inspired by the racially charged, misogynistic cake created by Swedish artist Makode Aj Linde for World Art Day. The cake, which prompted laughter from spectators, has angered anti-racism campaigners around the world.
Video featuring Naana Otoo-Oyortey of Forward
The rally will feature guest speakers including Saria Khalifa from FORWARD, the African Diaspora women’s charity, Lee Jasper, the activist and former Senior Policy Advisor to the Mayor of London, Michael Doherty and Merlin Emanuel of Campaign for Justice and Aaron Sonson, developer of the Stop and Search App, which provides a forum for people to share their experiences of being stopped by the police.
Sam Asumadu, Organiser, Black Feminists: “Far from challenging racism, the Swedish art installation failed to adequately contextualise a highly sensitive issue. This is just another ripple of racism, just one of the many ripples that hide under the guise of humanitarianism, or art, or advertising or social commentary.”
ñ Female Genital Mutilation offered by UK medics – April 2012
ñ Cadbury compares Naomi Campbell to a chocolate bar – June 2011
ñ LSE claims Black women are less attractive – May 2011
ñ Just 500 people surveyed to represent all British Asians in “honour code” research for Panorama – March 2012
ñ Athlete Tiffany Porter referred to as “plastic” because of her nationality – March 2012
ñ Over representation of Black women’s involvement in UK-wide riots – August 2011
ñ Under representation of African women in Leadership. E.g. In UK parliament, management despite their qualifications and professional experience
Asumadu adds: “Mayor of London Boris Johnson has argued that the way to challenge racism is to ‘axe large chunks of the anti-racism industry’ and instead rely on ‘tolerance and good manners’.
“So in the absence of an effective response from the Mayor or government, we are gathering to protest in the name of all Black women who are being objectified, dehumanised and degraded.”
Lee Jasper, activist and former Senior Policy Advisor to the Mayor of London, said: “Black women in Europe are facing increased rates of racism and sexism. Objectified, stereotyped, denigrated and oppressed they face multiple levels of discrimination.”
Every year more than 22,000 girls in the UK and up to 6,000 in London are at risk of undergoing the surgery. Saria Khalifa from FORWARD said: “We support the ‘Rage Against Racism protest’ at the Swedish Embassy as we campaign to end Female Genital Mutilation. Never should awareness raising insult and degrade the very people who undergo FGM. This is another sad example of offensive misrepresentation of an important issue.”
Rage Against Racism takes place on Tuesday 1st May 2012 at 4pm.
Location: Swedish Embassy, 11 Montague Place, London, W1H 2AL
For further information please contact:
blackfeministsuk@gmail.com
About Black Feminists
Black Feminists is a group for women who are ‘Black’ in the political sense, including all women descended (through one or both parents) from Africa, Asia (i.e. the Middle East to China, including the Pacific nations), Latin America and those descended from the original inhabitants of Australasia, North America, and the islands of the Atlantic and Indian Ocean.
We express strength and solidarity in our shared experience of inequality and power imbalance based on our race and gender.
We are committed to healing and addressing the legacy of oppression past and present including slavery, colonialism, neo-colonialism, imperialism and militarisation.
Black Feminists raises consciousness and socio-political activism by observing, analysing, debating and challenging dominant and oppressive ideologies pervasive in mainstream society.
www.blackfeminists.org
About Campaign4Justice (C4J)
C4J is calling for all communities to come together to express their concerns and call for a full public enquiry into the actions of the IPCC. Ultimately it is demanded that the existing organisation is abolished and replaced with a truly independent, effective and just public system to investigate and hold the police accountable when they have acted in a criminal manner or failed to act according to their duty.
About Forward
Forward (Foundation for Women’s Health Research and Development) is an African Diaspora women led UK-registered campaign and support charity dedicated to advancing and safeguarding the sexual and reproductive health and rights of African girls and women.
About Stop and Search App
“Making stop & searches fair and transparent” Feedback how you feel you were treated by the officers you were stopped and searched by, where and when it happened and their badge numbers. www.stopandsearch.org
The uploaded Experiences of everyone stopped & searched in the UK will be displayed on our website.
In London we live under a Mayor, Boris Johnson who dismissed the Macpherson report (released after Stephen Lawrence’s racially motivated murder) with these comments:
‘As for his [Macpherson’s] suggestions that there should be more race awareness sessions for the police, and possible adjustments to the national curriculum to stamp out racist attitudes, he [Macpherson] is vehement that this should not be exaggerated.’ (Lend me your ears p217)
‘we could probably achieve the same results, if not better, if we axed large chunks of the anti-racism industry, stopping taxing so many people with the threat of legal action, and left a bit more of the struggle against racism to tolerance and good manners.’ (Lend me your ears p212)
On Africa:
‘The problem is not that we were once in charge, but that we are not in charge any more… If left to their own devices, the natives would rely on nothing but the instant carbohydrate gratification of the plantain… The best fate for Africa would be if the old colonial powers, or their citizens, scrambled once again in her direction; on the understanding that this time they will not be asked to feel guilty.”
(Spectator 2002)
Boris Johnson who
• has no African or Muslim political advisers representing a City that is 40% non white
• has not had a single public meeting on the issue of race equality policy in the GLA in 4 yrs
• turned Operation Trident gun crime squad into anti gangs unit designating London’s gang problem as exclusively black issue
• ended the hugely popular schools Black History Month Scholar competition funded by Accenture not the taxpayer
• cut funding, forcing closure of critically important local borough based police consultative groups
• cut funding to Africa Day, the anti racist Rise festival and St Patricks day celebrating London’s diversity
• transport policies fail to address the fact Black & ethnic minority children are over represented in road fatalities
• on taking over control of the MPS abolished all MPA race equality policy and consultative forums
• has seen the number of black youth going to jail in London increase by 100% during his term
• stopped publishing detailed race equality workforce figures to hide reduced number of black people employed
• concluded that ethnic representation in the police force was not necessary to achieve good community relations
• in 2008 promised 1000 black mentors to combat youth violence and in 2012 had delivered just 56
![If Labels are for Clothes then Boxes are just for Gifts ~ Najma Hush
I think most people are more susceptible to prejudice than to reason. Roger EbertAny deviation is looked upon as a perversion, is feared, and is usually a target of hatred and prejudice. Joey SkaggsBecause it equates tradition with prejudice, the left finds itself increasingly unable to converse with ordinary people in their common language. Christopher Lasch
Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood. Coretta Scott KingPeople must realize that a crime motivated by racial or ethnic prejudice against one group is a crime against all of us. Jose SerranoBigotry or prejudice in any form is more than a problem; it is a deep-seated evil within our society. Judith LightEverybody’s scared for their ass. There aren’t too many people ready to die for racism. They’ll kill for racism but they won’t die for racism. Florynce R. KennedyDemocratic forms of government are vulnerable to mass prejudice, the so-called tyranny of the majority. Maggie GallagherI believe all Americans who believe in freedom, tolerance and human rights have a responsibility to oppose bigotry and prejudice based on sexual orientation. Coretta Scott KingI try to support groups that are about educating people about different races, different religions, different cultures and different situations so that we can break down the barriers of prejudice and bigotry. Loretta SanchezI was discriminated against because I was Jewish, Italian, black and Puerto Rican. But maybe the worst prejudice I experienced was against the poor. I grew up on welfare and often had to move in the middle of the night because we couldn’t pay the rent. Philip ZimbardoIf we were to wake up some morning and find that everyone was the same race, creed and color, we would find some other causes for prejudice by noon. George AikenNow spot who is prejudiced?“We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.”Ann Coulter“It is the black heart of Islam, not the black face, to which millions object.” Will Cummins“It [Islam] is a menace to all we in the West hold dear, and the time when anyone can pretend otherwise is almost at an end.” Nick Griffin
“These elements have a negative effect on all of public security. They are strengthened demographically both by natural reproduction and by immigration, which reinforces their stubborn ethnic segregation, their domineering nature. This is the world of Islam in all its aberrations.”Jean-Marie Le Pen“Most of the Muslims reaching the U.S. refuse to learn our language and take over our neighborhoods with their codes of dress and education. Then, they pressure the residents, as they did in Dearborn, Michigan, to leave by razing the churches and putting mosques in their places, displacing the local delis with Middle Eastern food. The Arabic signs go up and another neighborhood bites the dust. Now, everyone can be serenaded five times a day with loudspeakers calling them to prayer. Fast learners, they are now armed with the knowledge of how to beat us with bullets and ballots.”Arlene Peck
This piechart is from the article ‘All Terrorists are Muslims…except the 94% who are not’](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3r9f8VQgY1rse1s9o1_500.jpg)
