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. 

An open letter to the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities on its report of 31 March 2021, signed by victims of the Windrush scandal and their lawyers, campaigners, advocates, activists and allies

Open letter regarding the Race Report from  those directly impacted by the Windrush Scandal and individuals and organisations who have campaigned for justice with them. 

Co-signed by BARAC UK and BAME Lawyers for Justice representatives including National Chair of BARAC UK Zita Holbourne and National Women's Officer of BARAC UK Donna Guthrie

Art by Zita Holbourne,  Poet~Artist~Activist 

Read original here

Letter in the Independent newspaper here

 From the Centre for Migration Advice and Research on behalf of the assigned signatories

                             c/o McKenzie Beute and Pope

       The Woodlawns Centre 16 Leigham Court Road Streatham London SW16 2PJ

                       jacqueline@mckenziebeuteandpope.com

Dr Tony Sewell

Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities

10 Victoria Street

London

SW1A 0NN                                                                      9 April 2021

Dear Dr Tony Sewell,

Re: The 31 March 2021 Report of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities

We have read the report by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, published on 31

March 2021, for which you wrote the foreword as chair of the Commission. We are made up

of, and represent, the victims of the Windrush scandal, as the lead organisations, lawyers,

campaigners, researchers and others supporting those affected by the scandal in a myriad of

ways. We are concerned to find that your report appears to have ignored the Windrush

scandal, exposed in late 2017/early 2018 as one of the most significant instances of group

discrimination of our time. The systematic discrimination of the Black community known as

the Windrush generation demonstrates not only how the acts of institutions and the state

negatively affects the lives of Black people in the UK, but how this has gone onto impact

upon future generations.

The injustices meted out to the Windrush generation are therefore well-known. Why then is

the only reference to the scandal in your report a suggestion that those affected feel let

down? Let down? This is not how we would describe it. Lives have been destroyed. For

example, several claimants to the Windrush compensation scheme, whose stories were

published in the press forcing the government to apologise and take action, died due to

health complications caused in part by the stress of their situation, long before they ever

received any compensation.

In your introduction, you refer to your team having spoken to communities as part of your

engagement. Why then did you not speak to those of us who are directly affected by the

Windrush scandal or who are part of over thirty organisations working to support the

thousands of people directly affected?

There does not appear to be much support for your report and generally we agree with the

criticisms levelled against it. We are at a loss to understand how you arrived at the

conclusions you did with the vast amount of independent data available to you. Intrigue on

your method of scholarship aside, we are stunned and heartbroken at your attempt to defile

the memory of those who were subjected to the brutality of the transatlantic slave trade

and the systematic oppressions that followed it, by recasting their experience, and your

1.

 ignorance  of the impact on subsequent generations. There is no experience of that Maafa1

other than an honest admission of how people were dehumanised and subjugated purely

because of their race.

From the report, we were looking for an appraisal of how the racism that dehumanised

during the slave trade, continues to blight the lives of its descendants, and what you

planned to do to tackle the intergenerational consequences. Instead, your report is a

dreadful attempt to rewrite history and denigrate it to a footnote. You are effectively

denying the true experiences and existences of Black people, so that the annals of history

will once again favour the oppressors.

You say in your report that historic experiences haunt the present and that there is a

reluctance to acknowledge that the UK has become open and fairer. Are you not aware that

despite the aggravating features of the hostile environment, the current injustices are

historic in nature? The origins of these more contemporary injustices are steeped in historic

legislation fuelled by people like Enoch Powell, Oswald Mosely and Margaret Thatcher, the

latter of whom referred to this country as becoming swamped by migrants. Do you think

that these injustices are imagined? Do you think the lived experience of the victims of these

injustices should be ignored?

Some of us and people we know have been denied lifesaving medical treatment, lost jobs

and houses, have been detained, removed and deported from the UK. People we know

have died and large numbers are affected by ongoing trauma – an intergenerational trauma.

Have you noticed that the victims of the Windrush scandal are mostly people of African and

Caribbean descent?

You find that an unexplained approach to closing disparity gaps is the extent to which

individuals and their communities ought to help themselves through their own agency,

rather than waiting for “invisible external forces” to assemble to do the job. Are you saying

then that those affected by the Windrush scandal brought the problems upon themselves?

Do you think that there is something that could have been done to have stopped the state

from destroying landing cards and records of those who arrived from Commonwealth

countries in the Caribbean? Or from demanding that people pay thousands of pounds that

they did not have to obtain a status that they already held?

Do you know how hard this community has worked to support itself? Though you allude to

knowledge of the role of supplementary schools as a positive force, you appear to have

failed to understand that the need to establish these schools was because of structural,

systemic and institutional racism in the mainstream education sector.

You ascribe a new era to the presence of the Windrush generation in the UK. The historical

one has gone apparently, and you define an era of rebellion which you say has also passed.

According to you, we are now in an era of participation. We are having to second guess

what you might mean by this, but in terms of the Windrush scandal, the one initiative set up

by the Home Office which was meant to involve the meaningful participation of those

affected – a stakeholder group - was dismantled by the Secretary of State just last month,

1Maafa is a term derived from Kiswahili meaning ‘a great disaster or tragedy’ or ‘terrible occurrence’. It is

used to describe the Transatlantic slave trade and its lingering effects.

                                                                                                                2

on the basis that a new Cross-Government Working Group chosen by her would assume the

role.

You say further that you want the children of the Windrush generation to discover their

British heritage. What do you mean precisely? That they are ill informed about their

history? Why do you think that might be? Which child in the UK, of any background, knows

less about the true and complex British history and heritage than any other? Have you read

Wendy William’s Windrush Lessons Learned Review? As you do not appear to have referred

to it in your report. She found that the history of the Windrush generation was

institutionally forgotten and specifically recommended that:

 “6 a) The Home Office should devise, implement and review a comprehensive learning and

 development programme which makes sure all its existing and new staff learn about the

 history of the UK and its relationship with the rest of the world, including Britain’s colonial

 history, the history of inward and outward migration and the history of black Britons. This

 programme should be developed in partnership with academic experts in historical

 migration and should include the findings of this review, and its ethnographic research, to

 understand the impact of the department’s decisions.”

The mistreatment of the Windrush generation started on 22 June 1948, when HMT

Windrush anchored off Tilbury Docks, and several MPs at the time sought to turn away free

women and men who had been invited to the UK, sending them to work on a peanut

plantation in Africa instead. Though people thereafter could stay in the UK to work

predominantly in the public sector, they were also subject to everyday racism and

discrimination. Can you not see that their experiences and subsequently those of their

descendants, have been plagued with inequalities and subsequent disparities of

achievement? Despite all the hard work of the Windrush generation to better themselves,

their families and support British society, the evidence shows that the systemic inequality

that plagued the first generation and their descendants continue to suffer worsening

outcomes in almost every area of life including education, health, mental wellbeing,

housing, business ownership, employment and criminal justice.

And how dare you start pitting different nationalities of Black people against another

without doing the necessary work to understand how different histories – histories of

enslavement, for example, and complex migration patterns across different eras – have

impacted on outcomes? Had you spoken to us, or to any academics working in these fields,

we might have been able to tell you this.

You find that Britain is no longer a country with a system rigged against ethnic minorities.

Several reports before yours have concluded that it is. How did you arrive at such a vastly

different conclusion? What do you think accounts for the conclusions you have reached,

when the same data has elsewhere produced vastly different outcomes? What of the

findings of universities, the civil service, the NHS and the FTSE 100 corporations which

confound yours?

We do not think that the UK is a beacon for any other country. It is steeped in a systemic

and structural racism that extends far beyond the Windrush generation. As direct and

indirect victims of the Windrush scandal and supporters of their cause, we stand in solidarity

with those seeking asylum; those whose families are being torn apart by draconian polices

                                                                                               3

and extortionate fees; those women and men who are held in immigration detention

centres deemed unfit for human inhabitation; those who have made the UK their home and

face deportation to countries they do not know; those foreign students falsely accused and

disbelieved, like many of our number; and the holiday makers from many non-visa

Caribbean countries who end up in immigration detention centres because an immigration

officer has decided that their reasons for visiting the UK are not legitimate, to name just a

few. We are astonished that your report is silent on these matters, which form part of the

complex combination of factors that affect how and which communities advance in society.

Who is it that creates the policies, rules and legislation that disproportionately impacts upon

Black people? Who created a right-to-rent scheme, which was found to influence landlords

on whether they choose to rent to people of different backgrounds? Who came up with a

system that required employers, schools, nurseries and doctors to start checking

immigration statuses, and which caused so many to wrongly lose their jobs, livelihoods and

in some cases their will to live?

You state that those from the Black Caribbean ethnic group, which includes the first

generation of Windrush victims, makes up one of the longer-standing migrant groups in the

UK. You then conclude that minorities who have long been established in the country, in a

context of persistent racial and socio-economic disadvantage, may be the least likely to be

optimistic about the potential for social mobility and education to transform their lives.

Again, not only do you ignore your own evidence, especially in relation to the historical and

current role of supplementary schools as one example, but you ignorantly neglect to

consider the aspirations of that first generation. That generation hoped that their children

would have opportunities that they did not, only to discover that the system sent their

children to approved schools, or told their children that they could not aspire to certain

exams, universities or career choices. This broke their hearts.

We were also puzzled by this statement:

   “The Commission further recognises the wisdom and lived experience of the Windrush

   generation that has seen the changing shape of race relations in the UK, from which

   the young can learn. This knowledge needs to be framed into a message that speaks

   more about responsibilities, conflict resolution, and the building of bridges.”

Do you think that members of the Windrush generation have burnt bridges, inspired conflict

and/or are being irresponsible?

Though Wendy Williams did not make a definitive finding of institutional racism in the Home

Office, following her review into the Windrush scandal, she did express serious concern that

the department’s failings demonstrated an institutional ignorance and thoughtlessness

towards race and history, which were consistent with some elements of the definition of

institutional racism.

If you have some of the elements of racism, there is racism. If it comes from an institution,

it is institutional. If there is evidence that a racial group is disproportionately disadvantaged

in and by bodies such as courts and tribunals, schools and universities, hospitals and the

police and in private and social organisations across sectors, then that racism might well be

structural.

                                                                                                4

We ask that you listen to the many experts in race, culture and society who have spoken out

this past week and for many years on these issues. We have listened to them too. You

should look particularly closely at the work of Tendayi Achiume, the UN Special Rapporteur

on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance,

who found in June 2019 that the UK Government’s policies exacerbate discrimination, stoke

xenophobic sentiment and further entrench racial inequality. She cited persistent racial

disparities in, among others, education, employment, housing, health, surveillance,

interactions with police, prosecutions, and incarceration. She found:

  “Notwithstanding the existence of a legal framework devoted to combating racial

  discrimination, the harsh reality is that race, ethnicity, religion, gender, disability status

  and related categories all continue to determine the life chances and well-being of people

  in Britain in ways that are unacceptable and, in many cases, unlawful;” and

 "Undoubtedly, the UK’s attempts to collect disaggregated data, review discriminatory

 outcomes, and draft action plans are vital to the realization of the human right to racial

 equality. "However, the Government must not confuse data collection and piecemeal

 reviews for the action it obliged to take under international human rights law. The

 Government has a duty to undertake comprehensive reviews and implement without

 delay concrete steps targeted to ending racial discrimination and ensuring racial equality."

We believe that you must now revisit your work and examine the data more closely, seek

evidence from a wider variety of sources, consult experts in a credible way and start to draw

conclusions based on the facts. If you cannot do that, then you should stand down from a

commission that is meant to be investigating race and disparity to understand the current

issues and how government and society can work together to address them. We look

forward to hearing from you and in the interim, we would be grateful if you could use your

position to ensure that the 30 recommendations of Wendy Williams are implemented in a

timely manner because the issues raised by the Windrush scandal, are ongoing.

Yours sincerely,

[See overleaf for signatories]

CC:

The Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP Prime Minister

The Rt Hon Priti Patel MP Secretary of State for the Home Department

                                                                                               5

The people signing this letter all have a connection with Windrush injustice. Some are direct

victims and some are from organisations working with those directly affected. We have split

the list into organisational representatives and individuals signing in their own right.

Organisations:

Jacqueline McKenzie: McKenzie Beute and Pope & Centre for Migration Advice and

Research’s Windrush Justice Project

Michele Beute: McKenzie Beute and Pope

Anthony Hillary: McKenzie Beute and Pope

Jerome Bond: McKenzie Beute and Pope

Arthur Torrington CBE: Windrush Foundation

Professor Gus John: Communities Empowerment Network.

Windrush Lives: advocacy and support group for Windrush victims

Windrush Compensation Project: University of Leicester

Dawn Hill: Windrush National Organisation and Black Cultural Archives

Cllr Sonia Winifred: Cabinet Member Equalities and Culture London Borough of Lambeth

Councillor Patsy Cummings: Race Equality Champion London Borough of Croydon

Councillor Carole Williams: Cabinet member for employment and skills and HR London

Borough of Hackney

Councillor Callton Young OBE, Chair of Croydon African Caribbean Family Organisation, and

Cabinet Member and Windrush Champion London Borough of Croydon

Dr Suzella Palmer: Applied Social Studies University of Bedfordshire

Judge D Peter Herbert O.B.E: Chair BAME Lawyers for Justice & retired Chair of the Society

of Black Lawyers)

Lee Jasper: Vice Chair BAME Lawyers for Justice

Miranda Grell: BAME Lawyers for Justice

Zita Holbourne: National Chair and Founder of BARAC UK and BAME Lawyers for Justice

Donna Guthrie: BARAC UK and BAME Lawyers for Justice

Bishop Dr Desmond Jaddoo: Chair Windrush National Organisation and Windrush

Birmingham

Reverend Clive Foster: Vice Chair Windrush National Organisation and Windrush

Nottingham

Councillor Jacqueline Burnett: Windrush National Organisation and Windrush Luton

Anthony Brown: Windrush National Organisation and WD Legal Manchester

Claude Hendrickson: Windrush National Organisation and Race Card Leeds Project

Glenda Caesar: Windrush National Organisation and Windrush Lives

Jean Prescod: Windrush National Organisation and Septimus Severus Coventry

Glenda Andrew: Windrush National Organisation and Preston Windrush Generation

Descendants

Charlie Williams Windrush National Organisation and Windrush Birmingham

Neil Mukherjee: Windrush National Organisation and Windrush Legacy Oxon

Sibon Phiri: United Legal Access

Melanie Clarke: United Legal Access

Samantha Young: Windrush Legal Angels

Tarjee Clarke: Windrush Legal Angels

Dr Gifty Edila: Windrush Justice Clinic

Anna Steiner: University of Westminster and Windrush Justice Clinic

                                                                                             6

Sally Causer: Southwark Law Centre and Windrush Justice Clinic

Holly Stow: Windrush Justice Clinic

Bella Sankey: Detention Action

Dianne Greyson: Equilibrium Mediation Consulting and Ethnicity Pay Gap Campaign

Carol Cooper: Global Talent Compass

Luke Daniels: Caribbean Labour Solidarity

Kingsley Abrams: Momentum Black Caucus (MBC)

Yvette Williams: Justice 4 Grenfell

Clive Phillip: Mangrove Community Association

Ngoma Silver: Leopold School (Harlesden) Renaming Group

Bob Foster: Windrush Nurses and Beyond Foundation

Nana Asante: IPAD Coalition UK

Nana Haja Salifu: European Network of People of African Descent

Olalekan Odedeyi: Save the Woman

Naglaa Sadik Mustafa: Abdul Mageed Educational Trust

Mojisola Sorunke: The African Sang

Ishmahil Blagrove JR: Rice and Peas

Joan Hall: Just Education Matters

Shaun Pascal: Black Wall Street Media

Esther Armah: The Armah Institute of Emotional Justice

Glen Watson: RMTs Black Solidarity Committee

Individuals:

Anna Rothery: Lord Mayor of Liverpool

Lord Simon Woolley

Professor Sir Geoff Palmer OBE CD

Professor Leslie Thomas QC: Barrister

Martin Forde QC: Barrister

Marcia Willis Stewart QC (hon): Solicitor

Professor Sara Chandler QC (hon)

Leroy Logan MBE

Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu

Dr Sandra Richards

Charles Crichlow: former president of the National Black Police Association

Lewitt Nurse: Barrister

Grace Brown: Barrister

David Neita: Barrister

Akima Paul Lambert: Solicitor Advocate

Evelyn Ofori-Koree: Solicitor Advocate

Frances Swaine: Solicitor

Pamela Robotham: Solicitor

Catherine Evans: Solicitor

Sally Gill: Solicitor

Paul McFarlane: Solicitor

Donna Samuels: Solicitor

Pamela Dosu: Solicitor

Darlene Waithe: Solicitor

Tinu Adeshile: Solicitor

                                                                                  7

Sharon Thomas: Solicitor

Ama Ocansey: Solicitor

Joy Van-Cooten: Solicitor

Geraldine Cumberbatch: Solicitor

Sally- Ann Meade: Solicitor

Alex Pascall OBE

Patrick Vernon OBE

Rev Fujo Malaika

Alexandra Ankrah

Yvonne Witter

Natasha Dyer-Williams

Dennot Nyack

David Weaver

Kadi Wilson

Tonika Stephenson

Kimberly McIntosh

Sentina Bristol

Gertrude Ngozi Chinegwundoh

Roy Lee

Adebowale Adelodun

Lebert McLeod

Teresa W. Joseph-Loewenthal

Lorna Downer

Sara Louise-Burke

Bobby Holder

Louis Smart

Vonfil Johnson

Joycelyn John

Ros Griffiths

Barbara Lindsay

Elizabeth Madden

Annemarie Madden

Luigi Madden

Andrew Madden

Shaa Madden

Sherry Ann Desmangles

Danny Hippolyte

Dexter Hippolyte

Christopher Oliver

Veronique Belinga

Vernon Vanriel

Louis Smart

Yvonne Mark

Annie Campbell Viswanathan

Sulekha Hassan

Sophia Mangera

Margaret Greer

                                   8

Alexandra Braithwaite

Angie Le Mar

Chardine Taylor-Stone

Marlene Clarke

                        9

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Jamaica 50 campaign - opposing the hostile environment : by Donna Guthrie, BARAC Women's Officer

 Thank you for your solidarity in opposing the government's Hostile environment and the mass deportations taking place.

This Wednesday 2 December, in the middle of a worldwide Covid 19 pandemic, the Tory government carried out a racist inhumane deportation of 13 black men to Jamaica, a country they had not seen in some cases since childhood and ripping them apart from their families here in the UK. 

From the lives they have built, their loved ones and children just days before Christmas  despite huge opposition.

The same racist system that targets black people disproportionately with stop and search, delivers injustice in terms of harsher sentencing now under the hostile environment immigration controls revisits these black men to deport them. This is unjust, inhumane and racist and punishes them again due to the papers they hold. 

Men, who in most cases committed minor offenses have served their sentences and been rehabilitated and are living their lives only to be ripped away from their families and the only home that they know in the UK.

BARAC UK along with  BAME Lawyers for Justice, Detention Action and other race equality and migrant rights groups have worked tirelessly to build the campaign to #StopThePlane and highlight the plight of the #Jamaica50.

 
Black Activists have lead this campaign involving students, anti-racist activists, black celebrities and public figures, lawyers and barristers  and MPs to demand the cancellation of the deportation flight on 2 December.

Over 185000 people  signed the BARAC UK  petition online and wrote to their MPs. Many more put pressure on major airlines and the pilot union BALPA to refuse to fly the deportation flight.

BARAC UK and more than 90 high-profile figures, campaigners and activists urged airline companies to decline to operate the plane. Model Naomi Campbell, actress Thandie Newton, author Bernardine Evaristo, and historian David Olusoga and a host of prominent Black figures signed an open letter, addressed to airlines including Hi Fly, Titan Airways and TUI, also calling for they to stop the operation of future deportation flights to Commonwealth countries.

Lawyers worked tirelessly to gather details of cases and assist with urgent legal challenges brought right up until the plane left Stanstead  in the early hours on Wed morning.

Zita Holbourne BARAC UK co founder and national chair spoke throughout the campaign to those families affected, providing support and advice and shared reports and did numerous press interviews to get their voices out.

The Home Office has confirmed that 13 people were on board its chartered plane. This is far fewer than the 50 they had hoped.

Together we stopped 37 people being deported but the children of the 13 taken are heartbroken.

Thank you to everyone who took part in these actions. Your solidarity has made a real difference.

Deportation is a part of the hostile environment responsible for the Windrush Scandal and continues to impact on windrush descendants and wider.

With further deportation flights planned its clear that the racist backlash to our campaign has begun with the right wing media joining Priti Patel to target immigration lawyers and leading activist. Pushing out racist troupes  such as those from Nick Ferrari on LBC and from the Daily mail.
 
It's clear we must redouble our efforts to push back against racism. 
We must demand justice, reforms in the law and an end to detention and deportation.

We must demand that the Home Office implement the recommendations of the Windrush Lessons Learned review, that they compensate Windrush victims and that they cease with their racist agenda.

I urge you all to support BARAC UK. Please follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and sign up to our mailing list for campaign updates and together let's build the campaign to #StopThePlane and oppose racism.

Donna Guthrie National Women's Officer BARAC UK. 

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· I enclose a cheque for a total of £ ..........

 

made out to BARAC UK or Black Activists Rising Against Cuts

 · I have paid the following amount £……….. into the BARAC Bank Account:

 

BARAC UK Bank details:

Black Activists Rising Against Cuts (BARAC) UK

Barclays Bank

Sort Code 20 67 90

Account No. 53317803

 

 

Signature:

 

 Date:

 

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Please return affiliation form (and cheque) to:

 

 BARAC UK C/O Zita Holbourne, National Co-Chair BARAC UK PCS HQ 160 Falcon Road, London, SW11 2LN

 

 Alternatively email to: barac.info@gmail.com

https://uk.gofundme.com/f/BARACHumanitarian

 

Black Activists Rising Against Cuts (BARAC) UK Web: www.blackactivistsrisingagainstcuts.blogspot.com

 Twitter: @baracuk

Facebook: BARAC UK

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 Thank you for your support

Press Announcement: Zita Holbourne, Chair of BARAC UK to give the Slavery Remembrance Dorothy Kuya Memorial Lecture 2020

Zita Holbourne, Chair of BARAC to give the  Dorothy Kuya Memorial Lecture as part of the International Slavery Museum; Slavery Memorial Weekend of online events. 

BARAC UK is delighted that our National Chair; Zita Holbourne has been asked to give a lecture for Slavery Memorial Day 2020 . The lecture has previously been delivered by Diane Nash, Selma Voting Rights Campaign, Ndaba Mandela, son of Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King III, son of civil rights leader Martin Luther King. 

Zita Holbourne said:

"It is an honour and privilege to be asked to deliver this important lecture to mark Slavery Remembrance Day and in memory of the phenomenal campaigner for race equality and justice, Dorothy Kuya. At this time where there is a growing black lives matter movement globally, after over a decade of austerity impacting adversely and disproportionately on black communities  and in the midst of the coronavirus crisis which is also impacting disproportionately it is crucial that the legacies of enslavement and colonialism which contribute to systemic racism today are addressed as a matter of urgency. The themes for this year's UNESCO Slavery Remembrance Day are healing and remembrance. We remember the plight of our ancestors and the brutality they faced but we live with racism every day - for healing to happen there must be reparations and there must be race equality in our lifetime."

"Striving for Race Equality, Justice and Freedom. Zita Holbourne is a lifelong community and human rights campaigner and activist, as well as an artist, curator, poet and writer. She avidly campaigns for equality, freedom, justice and human rights and will delve into these topics as part of her keynote speech, discussing reparations for past atrocities, healing our collective trauma and equal rights for the future generations. From Windrush to the disproportionate impacts of Covid-19, systemic discrimination and State brutality to everyday racism and micro aggressions, we are living with the legacies of enslavement and colonialism. Zita will explore this difficult but much needed narrative."  International Slavery Museum

"Zita Holbourne is a tireless national campaigner fighting for equality, freedom and racial justice. A lifelong trade union and community activist she has lead the campaign against racism and austerity for over ten years as co-founder and National Chair of Black Activist Rising Against Cuts ( BARAC UK).

Zita is a beacon of resistance amongst the black community both in the UK and internationally. 

It has been inspiring to work alongside her in BARAC UK and I am so pleased that she has received this recognition. 

Her grassroots work in fighting for the rights of others and to demand social justice are to be commended. It is a fitting achievement that Zita is to give the International Slavery Museum Slavery Remembrance Lecture 2020."

Donna Guthrie BARAC UK Women's Officer

"Zita Holbourne is a long standing campaigner, trade unionist and internationalist who has inspired me and many others over many years. She is a firm believer in the principle of self-organisation and the empowerment of oppressed people.

It's been a privilege to have worked alongside her within our trade union (PCS) as well as BARAC UK. I have always admired her tenacity, particularly in difficult situations.

I am so pleased that Zita has been invited to give the Dorothy Kuya Slavery Remembrance Memorial Lecture this year. Noting the eminence of previous recipients of this honour it is well deserved recognition of her efforts."

Hector Wesley

BARAC UK Officer at Large

The lecture will be available online via the International Slavery Museum website and social media platforms. There will be two lectures on the weekend of 21st to 23rd of August by Race Equality, Human Rights Campaigner, author and artist Zita Holbourne and by Professor Stephen Small of the University of California together with a libations ceremony and other events.

More information can be accessed here

For press enquiries contact: BARAC.info@gmail.com or  info@zitaholbourne.com 

Zita Holbourne is an award winning human rights campaigner, community and trade union activist, a poet, writer, visual artist, curator and vocalist. She  campaigns for equality, freedom, justice and rights through activism and arts. She is the co-founder and National Chair of BARAC UK,  the National Vice President of the PCS Union and the Joint National Chair of Artists' Union England, part of the UNESCO Coalition of Artists for the General History of Africa, author of the book Striving for Equality Freedom and Justice. She is the winner of the National Diversity Awards Positive Role Model for Race and the Legacy Awards Life Time Achievement Award for Equality Champion. 

Watch BARAC Ten Year Anniversary event and full version of the film Is Britain Racist about Windrush and related injustice

Thank you to everyone who came to our virtual ten years anniversary event.

We held zoom event where we looked back at the past ten years and current racism and injustice including the murder of George Floyd,  Black Lives Matter movement, disproportionate impact of coronavirus on black communities.

We also launched a new film by documentary film maker, Jean-Marc Aka-Kadjo - is Britain Racist. Jean Marc spent over two years documenting the campaigning against the hostile environment, injustice faced by the Windrush Generation and their descendants in order to make the film.

Speakers at the event included Jean- Marc together with Chair of BARAC UK who chaired the event, Zita Holbourne,  Donna Guthrie, National Women's Officer  and Hector Wesley, Global Justice officer for BARAC UK.

Click play to watch - there are two 13 minute segments of the film in this video.

Watch the full film here

You can also access the film  on our Black Activists Rising Against Cuts Facebook Group - it is pinned to the top as an announcment.

BARAC UK on facebook

Thank you for being part of our journey

BARAC UK Team 

Artwork by Zita Holbourne copyright June 2020

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: