Blog Archive

Wednesday, 10 July 2024

BARAC UK at Glastonbury 2024 - A Great Time Was Had and Big Thanks to Our Brilliant Team




For several years BARAC UK has been pleased to work with Workers Beer Company to send a team of volunteers to Glastonbury and other festivals to raise funds for our work. Many thanks to our team for 2024 for volunteering this year.We appreciate you. 


Report by Isobel Abatan, first time volunteer on the BARAC UK team for Workers Beer Company at Glastonbury  2024


Isobel Abatan



 I was thrilled to be given the opportunity to volunteer at Glastonbury festival this year but a bit nervous going on my own. I didn’t need to worry, because as soon as I got on the coach at Clapham Junction everyone was very friendly and happy to chat. I was regretting overpacking and it is   definitely a lesson for the future to not overpack but the organisers were very good at making sure that the staff were looked after.


I thought working five shifts at Glastonbury Festival would limit my ability to enjoy the music and events, but the shifts were fun and went by quickly. The other BARAC UK volunteers were extremely welcoming and always happy to help when I was unsure of something. Everyone was so friendly, it hardly felt like work. I was nervous about having to pull pints as my bar experience was limited, but the bars had machines that pulled pints for you. This meant that all I had to do was pour the spirits and place the orders on an easy handheld device. The organisation for workers at the festival  made the whole process very easy and stress free for volunteers.

Being part of the crew at the festival meant that I had access to crew bars dotted around the festival site. The crew bars had toilets for staff to use, our own bar, comfy seating areas, DJs and our own pizza van. This meant that when the acts finished and the queues for the toilets were getting longer, staff had an area they could go to without having to wait. This alone has made me want to pick volunteering over getting a normal ticket as there are  so many perks! Not to mention the two free meals  per day at the campsite, which felt like luxury waking up to a full English breakfast and a cup of tea whilst my friends with normal tickets woke up to stale, squashed chocolate brioches. The campsite also had lots of toilets and hot showers which were frequently cleaned. 

I don’t think anything could have quite prepared me for how big Glastonbury is and the sheer amount of walking. Although my feet are still recovering, the 45 minute walk back from the South East Corner at 5 o’clock in the morning was merely character building. 

When I signed up, I made sure not to get my hopes up about seeing certain acts as I didn’t know what the rota would be. This actually made the experience more carefree and relaxed as I was open to seeing new people and enjoyed wandering around different stages. However, I was very happy that I was able to see Coldplay, as I’ve never been able to secure tickets for their concerts. Their set was amazing and everyone there was enjoying themselves, including Stormzy who passed me in the crowd. 

Thanks to BARAC UK, I got to experience Glastonbury, which is a memory I will cherish. I met amazing people volunteering for BARAC UK and couldn’t have asked for a better group to experience the festival with. Volunteering at Glastonbury Festival allowed me to have fun whilst raising money for a good cause. BARAC UK have been such a valuable support to my family so it was nice to have the opportunity to help them raise money. I would love to volunteer again… once i get the feeling back in my toes.



BARAC UK team, from left to right: Leroy Boateng, Team Leader, with India Smith, Amos Walker, Cameron Brown, Isobel Abatan, Ettie Smith, Natalia Levene



Donna Guthrie, BARAC UK Women's Officer and our Workers Beer Company / Festivals coordinator says:

Teaming up with Workers Beer Company to provide volunteer servers at Glastonbury Festival allows us the opportunity to raise much needed funds for BARAC UK to campaign and challenge racism and injustice.

Our volunteers are able to build relationships with other social campaigns and trade union groups in camp and are very well looked after by the WBC staff and infrastructure at the festival.

It is extremely rewarding to provide this fundraising opportunity to our volunteers, who may not otherwise have experienced one of Europe's largest music festivals, and their feedback is always positive.

It's literally a win win for BARAC and our supporters. 



Thursday, 13 June 2024

Six Steps Towards Migrant Justice by BARAC UK and 44 other organisations

 


The rights of people who move have been under attack for too long. Our media and our politicians want to make us forget one simple truth: that people move. We always have and always will. We should be welcomed and supported when we do.

We all need rights. We all need safety. We all need dignity. We all need justice. We all need privacy. We all need community.







These are the six steps towards achieving justice for people who move, and a fairer society for us all. These basic principles have been jointly drafted by 45 organisations, including BARAC UK that work with people who move on a daily basis, and with allied organisations. We see how deeply the hostile policies and statements targeting migrants impact people and their communities. We’re proud to stand behind these six steps towards migrant justice, and a fairer society for all of us.   

 

 


Make Equality Real Campaign





 BARAC UK is part of Make Equality Real campaign, coordinated by the General Federation of Trade Unions which we are pleased to announce are affiliated to BARAC UK.


Please join the campaign and sign up to support here:


Join the Make Equality Real Campaign

Raise funds for BARAC UK to fight racism and injustice by playing union lotto


It costs just £1 per week to play union lotto, win money and prizes and raise funds for BARAC UK at the same time. Click on the link to sign up. 

Play Union Lotto and raise funds for BARAC UK  





Open Letter on the UK's transition to e-visas

 


Open Letter on the UK's transition to e-visas co-signed by Chair of BARAC UK Zita Holbourne.




















Thursday, 14 March 2024

Press Release: In support of Diane Abbott

 




International Organisations condemn the incitement to racial hatred by the largest Tory party donor, Frank Hester, and the racist and Islamophobic comments by the former Tory Vice Chairman and M.P., Lee Anderson.

 

PRESS RELEASE            PRESS RELEASE                 PRESS RELEASE

Press release embargoed: Thursday, March 14th, 2024 @ 9.01 am GMT

 

An international alliance of civil society organisations, and human rights activists have come together to condemn the actions of the Tory Donor, Frank Hester in the deliberate racist abuse of Diane Abbott M.P. This latest scandal comes in the wake of the equally racist and Islamophobic comments by Lee Anderson, the former Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party, who has now defected to the extremist Reform Party with comments directed at the Mayor of London, Saddique Khan.  The Conservative Party is itself guilty of fostering and promoting the same extremism it now seeks to condemn

 

The Governments definition of extremism that is exemplified by that words of both Hester and Anderson is now,

“vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs.

 

SBL will be reporting both individuals to the Metropolitan Police and Mr Hester to Yorkshire Police to endorse the action by Ms Abbott.

 

Zita Holbourne of BARAC UK  commented

 

“Two Members of Parliament have been killed in recent years due to the corrosive effects of hate speech on political life, with none in more danger than Diane Abbott M.P. who has been threatened regularly on social media. The statements by Frank Hester are an absolute disgrace, with the dreadful silence from Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak and Government Ministers failure to condemn the racist abuse is a further level of abuse. One could only imagine the clamour for a prosecution if this had been a statement by a black member of Parliament against any white person in power and authority.”

 

 

Judge D Peter Herbert O.B.E. (Retired), Chair of the Society of Black Lawyers,

 

“The failure of the Prime Minister to condemn the words of the largest Tory donor was unacceptable. Either this is because he was sending out Ministers to minimise the seriousness of what had occurred. or alternatively he was more concerned to protect the perpetrator of this incitement to racial hatred to safeguard the £10 million contribution made by Hester to the Tory party. His silence makes him complicit to this appallingly dangerous abuse. If the word “Jewish women” had been substituted for the word “black women”, imagine the international calls for the Tory party to disown and prosecute Frank Hester. Sunak suggesting this can be ignored is complete hypocrisy from a Prime Minister who has no appreciation of the effects of racism on society.

 

Lee Jasper, former adviser to the Mayor of London commented,

 

“The targeting of Islamists and Saddique Khan by Lee Anderson and the venomous and racist attack on our longest serving Black Member of Parliament, Diane Abbott all come from the same racist Tory play book. Even the late recognition by Minister Kemi Badenoch sought to protect the Masters house by suggesting that threats to kill could be ignored as she suggested, “there needs to be space for forgiveness where there is contrition”. This must be the type of forgiveness that requires her to put out the racist fire in the Masters house where she and the Prime Minister underplay the seriousness of the threat to the life of a sitting M.P. who is already the most targeted for abuse and threats in Parliament. The Tory party has no moral qualms it seems from accepting funds from a known racist who has still denies the blatant racism of what he said.”

 

Mrs Yetunde Asika, Co-Chair of Bandung Africa, commented,

 

“We will not stand idly by and allow this blatant victimisation of Diane Abbott MP by the by Tory donor Frank Hester. She has been a fighter for justice and equality in our community, showing huge leadership qualities in the aftermath of  the Grenfell fire, and many other community injustices over the years. She has shown her commitment to racial justice both on the African Continent and in the diaspora. It should come as no surprise that this far right Tory donor links his abuse to her ethnicity, extends it to all black women and then pretends he is not a racist. He is happy to call for our longest serving black female member of Parliament to be shot and lie others assumes some half-hearted apology would suffice. This is the sort of donor the Tory party is happy to be funded by, not even Donald Trump is publicly funded directly by the KKK.

 

Lee Anderson’s racist xenophobic comments that,

 

“I want my country back…we are allowing people into our country that will never intergrate and adopt out British values” and alleging that Saddique Khan and London was controlled by “Islamists” has been roundly condemned as deeply offensive, and playing into some far right conspiracy playbook that echoes the way in which Jews were targeted in the 1930’s by alleging some sort of state control based on racial origin and religious faith. This racist politician conveniently forgets the hundreds of thousands who came to fight for the U.K. in two world wars, and gave their lives to up hold so called “British values”. In elevating “British Values” to some form of higher moral status he omits any reference to the exploitation, murder, torture, and oppression that constituted British actions and deplorable “values” regularly applied in the former British colonies from India to Kenya and the Caribbean.

 

We, the undersigned condemn the incitement to racial hatred against black women targeting a sitting Member of Parliament, and the gratuitous and extremist language deployed by the former Tory MP, Lee Anderson, who failed to offer any apology for his offensive and ridiculous assertion that London and its Mayor is controlled by Islamist extremists. The racist targeting of MP Diane Abbott is not capable of being met with any form of apology and we, the undersigned call upon the MPS and Yorkshire Police to take action in this case.

 

Rtd Judge D Peter Herbert O.B.E. , Chair SBL and Bandung Africa

 

PH signature

Mrs Yetunde Asika, Co-Chair Bandung Africa

 

  Co-Chair Bandung Africa

 

 

Bell Ribeiro-Addy, U.K. Member of Parliament

Claudia Webbe, U.K. Member of Parliament

Lee Jasper, Former Adviser on Policing to the Mayor of London,

Zita Holbourne, BARAC U.K.

Viv Ahmun, Director Blaksox,

Professor P.L.O. Lumumba, Kenya

Donald Deya, CEO of the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU)

Tim Okuwa, CEO, The Black Equity Organisation (U.K.)

 

 

For further information please contact:

Pherb5law@aol.com

ya@bandungafrica.com

info@blaksox.com

 

Judge D Peter Herbert O.B.E. (Retired) +254 (0) 742 101 877

Viv Ahmun +44 (0)7985 395 166

Lee Jasper +44 (0)7984181797

 

 

Wednesday, 31 January 2024

After the 25th Anniversary of the racist murder of Jay Abatan – the campaign going forward. Justice must be served!

 



Press Statement: Justice for Jay Campaign
 Immediate Release,  31st January 2024
 

After the 25th Anniversary of the racist murder of Jay Abatan – the campaign going forward. Justice must be served!
 


 

 Background

Jay Abatan, a black man of mixed Nigerian and British heritage, died on 29th January 1999, following an unprovoked attack by a gang of white men, in the early hours of the 24th of January in Morley Street, Brighton. He was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital with significant head injuries and never regained consciousness. He was placed on life support which was switched off five days later.

 

Twenty Fifth Anniversary events

 

29th of January 2024 was the 25th anniversary of the death of Jay and still no justice has been served despite the killers being known to the police. This, combined with a catalogue of failures by Sussex Police and failures in the judicial system, mean that twenty-five years on, nobody has been convicted for Jay’s murder.

 

New evidence that police officers that bungled the case holidayed abroad with suspects has come to light yet Sussex police have failed to act upon this.

 

To mark the 25th anniversary, a  well-attended vigil was held  outside Brighton Police station the day before, on Sunday 28th of January and a meeting in the Houses of Parliament took place on the anniversary, Monday 29th of January, launching a pamphlet about the campaign, attended by the Abatan family,  members of Parliament, representatives from BARAC UK, the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) and Brighton and Hove Stand Up to Racism,  who are part of the Justice 4 Jay Campaign, plus representatives from various campaign groups and journalists.

 

Sir Peter Bottomley MP chaired the meeting.

 

Other MPs in attendance included Bell Ribero-Addy, Claudia Webbe, Jeremy Corbyn, Kim Johnson, Richard Burgon and Annelise Dodd. Messages of solidarity were received from MPs who wished to attend but were unable to, due to other business and these included Caroline Lucas who has agreed to table an Early Day Motion, John McDonnell, Beth Winter, Barry Gardiner, Peter Kyle and Sam Tarry.

 

Speakers at the meeting included brother of Jay, who was also attacked at the same time as Jay, Michael Abatan, Zita Holbourne, Chair of BARAC UK and Hector Wesley, PCS NEC.

 

Over the 48 hours, the campaign garnered mainstream national, local and international news coverage.

 

Taking the campaign for justice forward

 

Going forward, Justice for Jay will be stepping up the campaign to ensure that justice is served.

 

There will be an Early Day Motion and a series of parliamentary questions tabled in parliament and MPs will be writing to Sussex Police.

 

There will be formal complaints lodged with the Independent Office for Police Conduct and the campaign will be pursuing a public inquiry and an investigative inquiry as well as legal action regarding the criminal aspects of the case which include the killing of Jay Abatan but also the physical assault on Michael Abatan.

 

The Alliance for Police Accountability are supporting the Justice for Jay campaign. A fundraiser has been launched, administered by BARAC UK, to raise money towards legal fees.

 

To support the campaign:

 

      Messages of solidarity and information relating to the case, can be sent to:

justiceforjayabatan@outlook.com and barac.info@gmail.com

      Join the Justice for Jay Facebook page   https://www.facebook.com/JusticeForJayAbatan

      Donate towards the legal fundraiser - https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/justice-for-jay-abatan

      Write to the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner, calling for a new public inquiry into the killing of Jay Abatan - pcc@sussex-pcc.gov.uk

      Download the pamphlet in electronic form here; https://blackactivistsrisingagainstcuts.blogspot.com/2024/01/justice

-4-jay-25th-anniversary-event-in.html

      Write to your MP asking them to sign the EDM 349, tabled by Caroline Lucas MP on 1st February 2024

      Invite a speaker from the campaign to your trade union / organisation AGMs, branch meetings and conferences

 

Michael Abatan, brother of Jay Abatan, Justice for Jay campaign said:

 

 “The new witness coming forward shows that it is not too late to get justice for my brother.  I have been humbled by all the support I have received and thank everyone mentioned in this statement. It has been a long fight for the truth which is yet to come out. I will continue to keep a clear and open mind and let the evidence speak for itself. I urge anyone with any information to come forward and do the right thing. Injustice for one is injustice for all”

 

Zita Holbourne, National Chair BARAC UK, Justice for Jay Campaign said:

 

“Twenty-five years is too long for any family to have to dedicate lives fighting for justice, it is too long to wait to grieve. The Abatan family need and deserve answers, they need justice, and we need to see the killers and those who helped cover up their crime, punished. Justice must be served and we will be working as a community to support the family in ensuring that it is.” 

 

Ends

 

Contact: justiceforjayabatan@outlook.com or barac.info@gmail.com

 

#Justice4Jay  #JayAbatan #SussexPoliceAreNotInnocent