BARAC UK Ten Year anniversary zoom event and launch of the film Is Britain Racist, 21st of June

BARAC UK turns ten years old next week. We cannot believe that ten years has passed either. We started as a campaign against the forthcoming disproportionate impact of austerity on black workers, service users and communities in June 2010 and never anticipated that we would still be here ten years later. Hand in Hand with austerity came deepening racism and injustice which has continued to this very day. In the ten years since we were formed we have campaigned against institutional racism, every day racism, racism and injustice at work, in the labour market,  in education, in wider society, in the arts and culture sector, in policing and public institutions, we have co-founded several other groups including Movement Against Xenophobia,  Elbow Out Ebola,  BME Lawyers 4 Grenfell, BAME Lawyers for Justice and we have campaigned against deaths at the hands of the state and human rights abuses globally.  We have campaigned for refugee and migrant rights and for seven years coordinated regular humanitarian aid  and solidarity work, fundraising and raising thousands of pounds and conducting regular aid missions to people who are displaced in France. . Our work has been recognised nationally and internationally and we have worked with our sisters and brothers for global justice.  We have organised numerous marches, protests, lobbies of parliament,  direct actions. Our campaigns have included Windrush Day of Action, MLK50 Equality In Our Lifetime, I am an Immigrant Campaign, Dear White People film campaign, ending with our national chair co-hosting  a Leicester Square premier film screening, we have been joined in the UK and supported by the Reverend Jesse Jackson and Reverend Al Sharpton, we forced the British Olympics Association to do a U-turn and much more. During the past few years we have had a big focus on  Windrush justice and campaigning against the 'hostile environment' more widely.

BARAC UK was co-founded by Zita Holbourne and Lee Jasper who were the co-chairs until Lee stepped down and Zita took up the role of National Chair. 

We want to thank all of the people that kept us going and supported and stood with us,  especially the activists who led the local BARAC structures in different cities, a big shout out goes to Colette Williams and Maurice Shaw   - Manchester BARAC co-chairs,  Maxie Hayles - Birmingham BARAC Chair, Pauline North, Bristol BARAC Chair, Graham Campbell, Scotland BARAC Chair and all the other convenors, activists and members of BARAC.

We thank all those partner orgs and individuals  we have  worked with, those who affiliated with us and worked with us including trade unions with a special thank you to the Public and Commercial Services Union who have supported our journey from the very start and continue to do so.

We thank everyone who has supported our campaigns over the years, attended events and demos, answered our call for action to challenge racism, injustice and cuts and to support our humanitarian aid work.  We see you and appreciate you. 

Sunday 21st June is the 10 year anniversary of BARAC UK & the eve of National Windrush Day . We will be holding a zoom event from 3 to 4.30pm launching the full length documentary Is Britain Racist made by film maker Jean-Marc Aka-Kadjo over a 2 year period charting the Windrush Scandal and BARAC and others campaigning opposing it, on the eve of Windrush Day we want to highlight the ongoing injustice and will be showing segments of the film plus holding a discussion on Windrush, Coronavirus impacts on black communities and Black Lives Matter with co founder and National Chair of BARAC UK , Zita Holbourne  plus National Women's Officer Donna Guthrie and International Officer Hector Wesley with q&a & discussion.  

Jean - Marc Aka-Kadjo says:

This documentary will take you on a journey that shows the hopes, dreams and aspirations of those who came to Britain during the Windrush era from various countries within the Commonwealth. The film is candid and exposes and reveals truth. Individual interviews, news feeds and archive footage have been utilised to show how the lives of individuals from the Windrush era, and the lives of their loved ones, have been affected by the recent changes in British law…and what is being done to help them. 

Zita Holbourne, Chair of BARAC UK says:

We have fought for justice, equality, rights and freedom for many years, way before BARAC UK was formed and will continue to do so. The deepening racism  and injustice our communities face globally demonstrate that our organisation and many others like it are still needed  and will be needed for some time. The impacts of coronavirus on black communities are huge - with black people over 4 times more likely to die, this has a direct link to discrimination and poverty and globally people, predominantly young have take to the streets over the past fortnight crying out that black lives matter, because George Floyd was murdered by police in the USA but also because many more have died because of racism in the USA, in the UK and around the world, because institutional racism and every day racism destroys lives, because we are still far from having race equality. We have supported and campaigned for decolonisation of our towns and cities and universities and curriculums for many years and we are glad that there is now a serious discussion about the glorification of historic statues  of people who enslaved and murdered our ancestors and who endorsed and allowed racism to thrive and who were complicit in enslavement and colonialism.  In 2017 we published our 2025 vision for race equality and it is interesting to see that some institutions and businesses now are only just starting to consider their own part in allowing institutional racism to continue in their own organisations - for those organisations to say black lives matter is all very well but actions speak louder than words.

 You are invited to a Zoom meeting.

When: Jun 21, 2020 15:00 London

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0pd-yurDgrHd1php1RBAFKCbzLjm73priw

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. from baracwomens@gmail.com.

Please see attached flyer.

There is also a facebook link below to share on social media.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1722934767871969/ 

A selection of photos from recent years follows: 

Press Release: Failures of Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry consultation and lack of diversity

PRESS RELEASE       PRESS RELEASE     PRESS RELEASE      PRESS RELEASE         PRESS RELEASE

************************FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE************************

BMELAWYERS4GREENFELL & OTHERS TO CONSIDER JUDICIAL REVIEW (JR) AS A RESPONSE TO LACK OF CONSULTATION RE INQUIRY CHAIR & PANEL, LACK OF DIVERSITY OF BOTH & THEIR CHAOTIC & INSENSITIVE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT MEETINGS ON TERMS OF REFERENCE

BMELAWYERS4GRENFELL, survivors, residents, community members and other groups remain extremely concerned about the lack of the promised consultation on the appointment of the Inquiry Chair, Sir Martin Moore-Bick.  This has been compounded by the complete lack of openness surrounding the appointment of his Inquiry Team. It has been further compounded by the lack of diversity – until last Thursday, the Team was all white with one female, when an Asian female barrister appeared to have been appointed. We do not challenge the ability of the Inquiry Team and Chair.  We do challenge their appropriateness for this phenomenally important Inquiry. This, and other concerns, have been repeatedly raised since 19 June 2017, via written communications and broadcast and print media but continues to be ignored. 

This is further compounded by the Team’s attempts at ‘community engagement’ designed to involve the community in the Terms of Reference and take note of community concerns.

Community consultation should be an effective mechanism for the survivors, their families, local residents and the community, to ensure that the Public Inquiry is both credible and that it inspires confidence. The huge loss of life means that a whole community has been devastated and traumatised. This process ought to have begun the process of healing and recovery for the community. Instead, they are being re-traumatised. 

3 meetings: 19 July, 20 July and 25 July 2017.  The first two held outside of the community. None properly advertised. Community members and groups had to fill this void to ensure that people attended. The meetings were extremely poorly designed and managed and without any agenda, resulting in chaos - which will no doubt be blamed on those attending. No interpreters were provided for survivors and their families and no counsellors arranged to support them during and after the meeting. 

A more disorganised and incompetent consultation process could not have been devised if they had planned to do so and further shines a light on the need for diversity. At each of the meetings, one attendee after another expressed their distress about this and their lack of confidence, calling for the Chair and Team to resign or, at the very least, appoint, on their merits, a panel of suitably qualified BME professionals, of whom there are many.

At the final meeting, 25 July 2017, approximately 150 people were forced to share one microphone. The panel did not introduce themselves properly or explain the format of the meeting. Those who shouted the loudest were heard, more than once. No consideration was given to the survivors and survivor’s families in attendance, some of whom were clearly traumatised and crying during the meeting. They and the vast majority of attendees left traumatised and distressed. They felt patronised. They felt they were not listened to.  The little confidence they had was shattered. They were left deeply concerned that justice would not be seen to be done. Again, it was left to the community to support the survivors.

BMELAWYERS4GRENFELL have attended all the meetings. Its members have significant experience of community engagement and Inquiries. The Public Inquiry consultation process is fundamentally flawed for the following reasons:-

1. It has failed to properly advertise meetings, despite ample contact sources, including the “Gold” group command;
2. There has been complete disregard as to how people will attend these meetings and failure to provide any transport from hotels for survivors and families to attend. In contrast, this group provided transport 29 June 2017 for the local community to attend the meeting at the House of Commons, Chaired by Diane Abbott MP;
3. It has failed to provide any mental health trauma counsellors to prepare survivors and families for the meetings or to be on standby during and after the meetings to cope with the extremely distressing and triggering content of these meetings. The impact on mental illness and exacerbation of trauma has been negligently ignored;
4. It has failed to provide for any silence for reflection or spiritual space at the start of the meeting given the significant proportion of survivors who hold to a religious faith;
5. It has failed to provide any leaflets, or agendas for the meetings to enable a structured approach to be followed;
6. It has failed to provide any leaflets or website in any language but English despite being aware of the diversity of the community; Farsi, Arabic, Pashtu, and Amharic are the first languages of some 50% of survivors. It had failed to offer or provide interpreters to make meetings more inclusive.
7. It has failed to provide any questionnaires available on line in a multi lingual format for people who could not access the meetings to comment on the Terms of Reference, composition of the panel and the format of the Inquiry;
8. The Chair and Inquiry team have repeatedly refused to answer key questions asked by the community, including how they were appointed and what qualifications they possess to justify their appointments;
9. The Chair and Inquiry team have failed to conduct the meetings with any apparent sense of empathy for the survivors and local community, or their cultural needs. This has been noted and commented upon by attendees who were visibly distressed by this.

D Peter Herbert O.B.E., barrister and Chair of the Society of Black Lawyers commented:

“AS BME Lawyers and community engagement experts we were appalled at the amateurish approach of the Inquiry team and Chair who did not appear to have a clue as to how to engage with such a diverse multi faith community. The audience were in turn patronised, and treated with thinly disguised disdain or pity that did little to engender any trust & confidence. The failure to reach out in a meaningful manner undermines the Inquiry from the outset, as many voices were simply not heard in the chaos that ensued. The responsibility for this mess lies with the Public Inquiry team and not with this traumatised community which deserves far better than this after such a horrific event.”

Ismet Rawat, barrister & President of the Association of Muslim Lawyers commented:

“Anyone who still questions the need for diversity should take a long hard look at how this process has been conducted to date and the repeated failures to acknowledge or respond to the concerns that have been very clearly conveyed. The survivors, their families and the community are being repeatedly re-victimised and re-traumatised.  The negligence in the handling of this process and abrogation of any duty of care is deeply worrying. Furthermore, the cries for the Chair and the Inquiry Team to stand down are a direct consequence of their continuing failure to inspire trust and confidence in the local community due to their insensitive handling of this key process. A real opportunity has been lost by the Chair and the Inquiry team to show that they can deliver justice for the people of Grenfell. Judicial Review was always going to be the last step.  It may now be the only step which will be listened to.”

Zita Holbourne,Chair BARAC UK commented: 

"There were many people attending who were visibly traumatised but there was nothing put in place to help people through the meeting, as has become a pattern it was left to the community to support each other. The panel did not set out clearly the remit or format for the meeting & it became evident during the course of it that this was much needed. The panel were reluctant to answer questions with Sir Martin Moore-Bick stating that they were only prepared to listen not respond, within minutes of him saying this, appallingly another panel member ordered the attendees to be quiet. There was a complete lack of sympathy, empathy or humanity demonstrated by the Inquiry panel which is quite unacceptable given what survivors, families, residents and the community and going through. It's no wonder that there is zero confidence."

Lee Jasper, former Race Adviser to the Mayor of London commented:

“This chaotic and mismanaged community consultation led by the Chair & his Team makes a mockery of the good practice developed over the last thirty years and is an insult to those that have died and suffered so much in this atrocity. A consultation that makes no attempt to communicate with the survivors, in a manner that is sensitive to their religious, language and cultural needs, with no logistical assistance to attend meetings or a questionnaire only permits for the loudest voices to be heard. That is a fundamentally flawed consultation that flies in the face of the lessons learnt from the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry. These failures are all the more astonishing as they have occurred with the close involvement of the Prime Ministers Cabinet office at the highest levels of the civil service.”

For further information please contact:

Info@societyofblacklawyers.co.uk

Ismet.rawat@gmail.com

Info@blaksox.com;

Barac.info@gmail.com

ashlee@.bpa@outlook.com

D Peter Herbert – SBL: 07973 794 946;

Ismet Rawat - A.M.L: 07852 146 056;

Zita Holbourne – BARAC UK: 07711 861660

Viv Ahmun - Blaksox: 07985 395 166;

Grenfell Tower: Press Release by Leading Black Race Equality Orgs

PRESS RELEASE                   PRESS RELEASE                         PRESS RELEASE

EMBARGO: FRIDAY, 16TH JUNE 11.00 PM

Leading Black and minority organisations express their sorrow, shock, horror and outrage at the appalling tragedy of the wholly unnecessary loss of life and suffering at Grenfell Tower.

The organisations are deeply concerned with the failure of the Prime Minister to meet residents or victims and the position of the former Housing Minister, Gavin Barwell that is now untenable. We also call for the urgent assessment of all 4,000 tower blocks in the UK that are in a similar state of design and age as a matter of urgency.

The bravery of fire-fighters and local residents is to be applauded and stands in stark contrast to the failure of leadership in central and local Government who are more concerned with damage limitation with their lawyers.

We urgently make the following demands: -

1. An apology by the Prime Minister, whose Government bears the full responsibility of failing to act since 2013 and the failure to implement the Coroner’s report of 2013 on the Lakanal fire in the London Borough of Southwark;
2. The resignation of the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff, Gavin Barwell, the former Minister of Housing who on 16th October 2016, said, “we have not set out any formal plans to review the buildings regulations as a whole”;
3. The immediate fire safety assessment of all 4,000 similar tower blocks in the UK;
4. An urgent corporate manslaughter investigation by the Metropolitan Police into Kensington and Chelsea Management Organisation (KCTMO); Harley Facades, Rydon and all other contractors that bear responsibility for the renovation work;
5. An Independent  Public Inquiry called by the Prime Minister, to be  chaired by a High Court Judge and address how poverty, austerity, cuts, local private property interests and unlawful discrimination affected the delivery of housing services and safety of people in  Grenfell Tower;
6. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, one of the UK’s wealthiest, be directed to rehouse all the affected families and provide emergency disaster relief to those directly affected, including trauma counselling.
7. There be immediate special measures imposed on KCTMO who have had two enforcement notices served on them in recent years, following a fire in a 14 storey block of 78 flats they own in October 2015;
8. The implementation of the Hillsborough Rule (proposed by Andy Burnham, Mayor of Manchester), where families receive legal aid to be represented after such a tragedy in any Inquest or Public Inquiry.

This tragedy appears to be the perfect storm of poor housing, cuts in local authority spending and a complete failure by the Government to implement any of the Coroners recommendations in the tragic case of the blaze in Southwark that resulted in the loss of six lives in 2011. The history of fires in UK tower blocks is nothing new with Ronan Point in May 1968, where four died; Lakanal House, July 2009 where six people died; Shirley Towers, April 2010, where two people died, with other major fires of tower blocks, as recently as last December 2016 in Dubai.

Questions must be asked as to;

1. Why the Government failed to implement the Housing safety review recommended in 2013;
2. Why the former Housing Minister, Gavin Barwell failed again to commence the fire safety review in October 2016;
3. Why RBKC failed to heed the warnings issued by Grenfell Action Group which highlighted the dangers as recently as November 2016 in reviewing the 10.8 million refurbishments to Grenfell Tower;
4. Why the RBKC failed to coordinate the volunteers and charities in the aftermath of the tragedy and solely concentrated on re-housing given their significant resources;
5. Why a disproportionate number of children and babies were allocated the top floors together with BME tenants;
6. Why Coroners Courts do not have the power to bring expedited Judicial Review proceedings to enforce compliance with their recommendations that are not carried out by Government or local authorities and others within 12 months.
These and many other questions need to be answered. Public inquiries often take years to be set up and hear evidence during which time the truth can be obscured and disappear, whilst memories can fade.
Successive Housing Ministers from 2011 onwards failed to prioritise the needs of the poor and needy who occupy social housing. The responsibility for this tragedy lies at the heart of Government in Downing Street, due to the neglect and austerity of successive Housing Ministers.

Lee Jasper, former Race Equality adviser to the Mayor of London commented,
“Whilst we grieve for the families and those missing and injured, we urge the Metropolitan Police to urgently arrest those responsible at the Kensington and Chelsea Management Organisation (KCTMO) and the relevant contractors for possible manslaughter charges and to seize all available evidence before it is destroyed. This is not only a continuing danger to the public but a crime scene. We remember all too well that when the victims are poor, black and minority people, money is saved, corners cut and investigations fail, as with the Deptford Fire.”


      Zita Holbourne, National Chair of BARAC UK stated,

     “My thoughts are with all the tenants impacted, particularly those who have lost loved ones, those who have been injured and those who have lost their homes. The effects of austerity and cuts have impacted adversely on the poorest communities, disproportionately black and minority ethnic, with those local authorities officially declared deprived facing the deepest cuts.  There also needs to be proper investment in affordable and social housing.”

D Peter Herbert O.B.E., Chair of the SBL, and former Vice Chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority commented,
“Our thoughts and prayers are for the victims, and their families of this dreadful tragedy which is down not to terrorism but to the negligence and lack of care by those in power and authority. It is not the families, friends or relatives of Government Ministers who are forced to live in such dangerous property that is generally only found in social housing or the private rented sector. It is remarkable that the Prime Minister hides away from the public in Notting Hill, as she did during the election in a private visit. The SBL & AML will be conducting a series of meetings in the community and interviews with witnesses in the coming months to gather first hand testimony of what occurred”.

Rita  Patel commented,
“There are horrific accounts of whole families that have perished, with children separated and lost, parents and the elderly who have tragically disappeared with the old and the vulnerable the least likely to survive. We know that this type of property is simply not tolerated in the private sector, so why should it be acceptable in public housing? This Government has increasingly run down, privatised and neglected public housing over the years with the consequences visited on the poorest and most vulnerable in our society.”
Ismet Rahat stated,
“We are proud of our Islamic youth and our Mosques who have demonstrated their community support.  There has been an abandonment of safety standards for the poor who are forced to occupy the least popular highest floors of properties all over the UK. These are disproportionally families with young children, minorities and those suffering with a disability. No private sector tenant in a buy to let property would tolerate such safety standards, the lack of functioning fire alarms and safety systems. All faith communities have shown the type of commitment not shown by RBKC. No offer of housing has come from any member of the Royal family despite their abundance of accommodation in London.”

For further information please contact:
 Info@societyofblacklawyers.co.uk
 Info@blaksox.com


Viv Ahmun - Blaksox: 07985 395 166
D Peter Herbert OBE – SBL 07973 794 946
Zita Holbourne – BARAC UK 07711 861660
Ismet Rahat- AML -07852 146 056

BARAC UK: Use Your Vote for Race Equality on June 8th, Vote Labour

BARAC was established as an anti-cuts organisation, 7 years ago this month, to respond to and campaign against the disproportionate impact of cuts on black workers, communities and service users. Over the past 7 years we have campaigned not just against cuts but the deepening race discrimination and injustice faced by black communities. 

Throughout these seven years, Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour Party  and John McDonnell, Shadow Chancellor have supported our campaigns, joined our rallies and events and brought out campaigns and concerns to Parliament, chairing a range of parliamentary meetings, discussions and  campaign launches,  including our Equality in Our Lifetime campaign marking the 50th anniversary of the march on Washington, Jobs and Justice, Olympic Fair Play and our 2025 vision for race equality parliamentary launch to mention just a few.

We have therefore seen first hand their commitment to race equality.

Many of the concerns that BARAC has been campaigning on, the adverse and disproportionate impact of cuts to local authorities, the NHS , public sector job cuts and pay freeze, zero hour contracts, university tuition fees, deepening poverty, insitutional racism, discrimination in the labour market and in service provision,  inadequate social housing, disproportionate stop and search are issues that Jeremy, John and the Labour Party say they will address if elected.

You can read here a statement from Jeremy Corbyn, responding to a race equality manifesto published by 20 race equality orgs including BARAC UK here: https://www.raceequality2017.org.uk/jeremy-corbyn/

If you haven't already, we would encourage you to read the Labour Party manifesto here:

http://www.labour.org.uk/page/-/Images/manifesto-2017/LabourManifestoEASYREAD.pdf

For an alternative to reading, here's a spoken word video setting out reasons to vote  and to vote Labour, If All the People Voted for the Many Not The Few:

Watch: If All the People Voted for the Many Not the Few

We've also produced some Vote Labour BARAC stickers.

Every vote counts on the day and failure to vote / low turnout can assign us to another 4 years of misery, more cuts, deeper racism and injustice and poverty so please speak with family, friends and networks to encourage them to use their vote on June 8th.

 "If you elect me as your Prime Minister I promise you our Government will tear down the barriers that restrict fair access to jobs, housing, homes and health care.

Under a Labour Government those hard fought race equality rights and institutions that have been weakened and undermined in the last eight years will be strengthened." Jeremy Corbyn.