A New Awakening
Black Britain social Justice on National Agenda
ChronicleWorld
Forward Together Stronger Thomas L Blair How Black Britain Put Social Justice onBlack Britain, social Justice on National Agenda
Chronicle World
Forward Together Stronger

Thomas L Blair

How Black Britain Put Social Justice on the National Agenda

ACTION GUIDE

British politicians proclaim ‘glory’ to the policy that Britain is “a beacon of good race relations and diversity for western nations”. But post-millennial Black Britons unleashed a firestorm of protest. Gaining allies, they call for the bold changes needed to cure “Pox” Britannia.

A New Awakening is an action guide to how post-millennial Black Britons put Social Justice on the National Agenda. Produced by scholar-journalist Professor Thomas L Blair, it reports the new-found confidence foreshadowing our times today with articles drawn from his online news journal of 26 years, the Chronicleworld weblog 1997-2023.

Digitally born, independent UK- based and well-researched, A New Awakening reports what many thought was impossible. No longer retreating in despair, Black Britons of Caribbean and African heritage are thrusting freedom from inequality and racism into the national conversation.

More than fifty articles showcase the trend setters. Black Britons are advancing up the ranks of the labour markets and higher education. Hip-Hop artists are rapping for justice. Celebrities set fashions. Campaigners celebrate Black arts online and social media, in museums, theatres, exhibitions and children’s books, as never before.

Some beat the drums for collective wealth through investments in innovation. Others, in the wake of escalating mortgages and soaring house prices, fight an uphill battle for home ownership. All demand a racism-free life and livelihood.

Commentaries explore a range of views from Black workers to elites, and professionals and university educators, to multiracial groups. Many are challenging the false narratives of a broken people plagued by poverty, crime, disillusioned youth and ruptured family relations.

Blair asks and answers important crisis management questions. Will Black activists, trailblazers, academics and politicians turn setbacks into success? How to raise racial pride and empowerment? Can they insert the positive Black experience into Britain’s heritage?

This counsel suggests that if the moral compass of the state is attuned to accept inequality, it’s dysfunctional.

OUR MISSION is robust. Report the news foreshadowing our times today. Great digital journalism has the power to enrich and support Black communities in the crucibles of modernism – national and global

Recent editorials cover the struggles to preserve African identity in European, Brazilian and Venezuelan communities. We’ve filed stories on the Black Lives Matter protests. In-depth articles deal with the impact of BREXIT (the UK leaving the European Union) on immigration.

Special studies explore the fight-back against the disastrous effects of the Covid pandemic on Black communities, health professionals and workers in NHS and care homes.

Notably, we have covered the growing support for Black Studies in higher education curricula and community action. Dr Kehinde Andrews of Birmingham City University could offer a step forward. He heads the first Black Studies course at a British university. Author of Resisting Racism in Birmingham, Andrews is keen to engage with the city’s large African-Caribbean population. It is a social dividend for all citizens, Andrews has declared.

Opinion pieces address major reparations issues. One is the pay-back for trans-shipment of Africans to slavery in the colonies. Another is compensating Windrush workers who came to serve Britain‘s health care and transport after World War II.

Why “Black”?

A New Awakening is ‘Black’ because the original articles are drawn from the Chronicleworld digital journal for readers in Black Britain, Europe and the African Diaspora.

Its focus is a Black agenda: strengthening communities, creating healthy environments, furthering equality and equity, exposing deficiencies and seizing opportunities to make a difference.

The Author and His Works Thomas L Blair has 9 books and 50 eBooks in the British Library. Search main catalogue and Social Welfare Portal collections. Using search words by author Thomas L Blair and/or Editions Blair. Library archivists see his works ‘as central to the narrative of Black people in modern Britain.’

Publication Details

A New Awakening

Thomas L Blair

Editions Blair 01-11-23 © All Rights Reserved

ISBN 978- 1–908480-83-5

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both copyright owner and the publisher of this book.

The greatest care has been taken in compiling this book. However, no responsibility can be accepted by the author and publishers or compilers for the accuracy of the information presented. Opinions expressed do not necessarily coincide with the editorial views of author or copyright holder Editions Blair.

Editions Blair has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

Every effort has been made to reach copyright holders. The publishers would be pleased to hear from anyone whose rights have been unwittingly infringed.

Contents: A New Awakening

Thematic Keywords to Look Out For

Black British Advocates for Change

Promoting Slavery Reparations and 1940s Migrant Compensation

BREXIT: Planning Survival in a Hard-Times Era

New Black Advocates

Youth Can Lead Call for Equality and Justice

‘Change the Colour of the News’, Journalists Say

Cyber-action for Social Change

Movements for Unity

Million Black Londoners Demand End of Race-Based Inequalities

Praise for Women Rights

Black Christians Urge Reconciliation

Covid Pandemic Crisis: End Infections, Deaths Among Blacks

Reshaping Black British History Month

Afro-Europe, Diaspora Unity Key To Progress

Black Political Quest for Solidarity

Write On! Thomas L Blair Selected Bibliography

Related Foundational, Classic Texts and Resources

About Chronicle World’s Weblog and Black Britain

“I Am Convinced That, Despite All The Negative Race-Based Marginalisation,

The Ability to Mix, Blend, Change, Radicalise, Reinvent

and Serve Up Something Distinctive In a Hostile Urban Environment

Is At the Core Of “Being Black In Britain”.

Professor Thomas L Blair

Black British Advocates for Change

April 17, 2016

Black Workers Revive Race Equality Goals

By Thomas L Blair 17 April 2016 ©

British unions were once considered too insular, White and damn near apartheid. Times indeed have changed but the equality struggle continues, according to activists at the TUC Black Workers Conference 2016.

The Black struggles of the 1960s and 1970s created a trade union movement less divided by race. However, equal pay on the shop floor is elusive. Black workers have little say in union affairs. Hence, said Wilf Sullivan, TUC Equality Officer, Black workers’ progress requires constant vigilant action to secure it. “Use your collective sway to make working life better,” he said in the “Working for You” supplement, The Voice, Britain’s top Black weekly.

Gloria Mills, the UNISON National Secretary for Equalities, acts for the Black workers in the 1.3 million-member public service union, one of the UK’s and Europe’s largest trade unions.

Mills promotes two crucial causes. “Black and white members are stronger together”. Furthermore, Government needs “A race equality strategy as a matter of political priority, with clear targets and adequate resourcing”.

UNITE the union “leads the way in championing race equality”. Union reps and activists like David Agbley target Black, Asian and minority ethnics in the NHS. There, an estimated 20 per cent of the 1.4 million employees languish in the low ranked non-medical staff.

Race equality features in another sector of Black workers concerns. Activists stand up for the 40,000 BAME members in the 435,000 workers in the Usdaw union. It is the major trade union of shop workers, delivery drivers and warehouse workers across the UK.

Blacks, in the smaller but increasingly digitised 193,500-member Communication Workers Union, are severely threatened. Organisers aim to protect the jobs of manual skilled Black workers in the Post Office, telephone and telecommunications companies.

However, equality activists have signalled the vanguard role of aroused Black workers. Dr Wanda Wyporska, leads the Association of Teachers and Lecturers fight back “against the abhorrent [Government] changes that… affect all our young people and our Black and Asian teachers, lecturers and support staff”.

Senior Black trade union militants emphasise the wider implications. Prejudice is a constant spectre. Wilf Sullivan said Black, Asian and minority ethnic workers bear a special burden, different from their White comrades.

BAME workers are concentrated in poverty line, low-pay casual, temporary, zero hours and agency contract work. But more than this, “They are underpaid, underemployed, underrepresented in boardrooms and elite universities, all the while facing discrimination at the hands of employers, government and wider society”.

Hence, the equality goal must include closing the pay and status gaps. Moreover, increased Black worker representation –on the shop floor, in management, and political priorities – is essential.

However, the political argument for favouring inclusion goes much further. Black workers and their allies must spread fair pay and equality action across the whole TUC membership of 52 unions, representing almost 5.8 million workers.

Therefore, “Black workers have an important role to play in building strong trade unions that not only fight for policies that will revive our economy and the fortunes of workers, but will be in the forefront of the fight against discrimination,” Sullivan concludes.

October 11, 2015

Meet the Black Modernisers

The next step in the transformation of our politics?

By Thomas L Blair © 11 October 2015

Labour’s Black political activists have always had a thorny cotton row to hoe. But a new tendency is garnering a reputation as modernisers of Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn’s “kinder, more inclusive” form of politics.

Lifted by his “soulful” conference quotes — from writers, African American Maya Angelou and Nigerian Ben Okri — the modernisers set out to influence voters and communities, many of whom are Black.

Modest in demeanour. Younger than usual. With impeccable professional and political backgrounds. Black modernisers entered town halls and Parliament despite Labour poor showing in the May 2015 elections.

However, can they close the equality gaps in their favoured party, troubled cities and the nation?

Here are some key names to watch out for.

Get ready for new Councillor Michelline Safi Ngongo whose Liberty International Project campaigns for “fairness” in Islington’s divided race-class borough. The challenge is to satisfy both the demands of the wealthy in Barnsbury and the denizens of the 1960’s estates where blunted aspirations bar civic participation.

Florence Nosugbe has her sights on the Labour London Assembly as candidate for Lambeth and Southwark. Self-confident, she aims to reduce poverty and social exclusion.

‘Florence has the experience, skills and priorities for our community to make real change in Lambeth and Southwark’ said supporter Chuka Umunna MP.

Modernising Marvin Rees

At the city level, Bristol’s Marvin Rees, Labour’s 2016 candidate for mayor, promises “a different style of politics”. The public health professional runs the City Leadership program to upskill youth into the job market. He campaigns for the living wage, affordable housing and increasing democratic accountability. A mighty challenge for a moderniser in a city yet to escape its past as a major slave trading station.

Kate Osamor MP, elected in 2015 for Edmonton, London, is a health professional tutored in grassroots politics by her activist mother. She is a welcome asset in an area woefully short of politicians reflecting the racial mix of their constituencies. Loyalty has earned her a post as shadow Parliamentary Private Secretary for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn MP.

Modern-ising Dawn Butler

Dawn Butler’s motto “Develop-Inspire-Grow” helped her regain the parliamentary seat for Brent Central. Community regeneration is one of the biggest issues Ms Butler faces. That is, how to regenerate problem ridden estates with a balanced mix of good quality housing types and tenure, attractive to families.

Clive Anthony Lewis MP, former BBC journalist and Corbyn ally, won Norwich South promising to defend the vulnerable against the “onslaught of Tory cuts.” A formidable task in a city of hard hit Black people.

We must conclude, however, there is no evidence yet that this modernising trend will end systemic discrimination against Black people, workers, families and communities.

Crucially, Black modernisers must reach out to the young Black millennials of the digital age, and elders, too. Furthermore, they must build alliances with self-led Black organisations and support the Black Arts that are everywhere in need.

_______________________________________

October 10, 2016

Gigabytes of Black Culture Enrich Digital Britain

By Thomas L Blair 10 October 2016 copyright reserved

Black culture is going digital. People are creating a mass of gigabytes of news, opinions and ideas. Commerce rules in the Black History Month 365 listings. The Voice, Black newspaper, aims to inspire youth, parents and teachers with History supplements.

Black political history features in many archives. Patrick Vernon OBE, founder of Every Generation Media, tweets that politics are essential parts of Black British culture. The Hackney Museum’s current exhibit says it all in ‘People Power: Black British Arts + Activism in Hackney 1960s-2000s’.

Furthermore, the digitised Bernie Grant MP archives at Bishopsgate Institute honour the rebel politician. Indeed, “Nobody Benefits from Hidden History, That’s The Beauty of the Black Cultural Archives” said Paul Reid, director of the BCA centre in Brixton, the historic first landing of post-war West Indians.

But information professionals ignore Black digital production. Town and school librarians and researchers for the National Archives are yet to grasp its merit.

Fortunately, digital Black cultures are important representations of British Culture. Embedding them in the treasure troves of knowledge may be difficult but do-able. Here are some thoughts on how and who must do it.

February 25, 2018

Stormzy’s Historic Rap To Prime Minister Boosts Grenfell Justice Campaign

The rapper’s call to fans yields 100,000 signatures needed to trigger parliamentary debate on the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire

By Thomas L Blair 25 February 2018 ©

Stormzy, the grime artist and winner of the Brit Awards has made history with his show-closing plea for the Grenfell people’s petition.

The rapper spat out the lyrics “Like yo Theresa May where’s the money for Grenfell?”

What, you just thought we just forgot about Grenfell?” he angrily shouted.

Then Stormzy, 24, added “You criminals – and you got the cheek to call us savages?

“You should do some jail time you should pay some damages.

“We should burn your house down and see if you can manage this.”

THE LYRICS AND TWITTER EFFECTS

Each line in Stormzy’s litany of blame took you back to the charred wreckage of the Grenfell tower. To the vigils and marches of thousands of protestors. To the bereaved survivors demanding justice. Stormzy’s rap portrayed their angry cries for justice. All the hopes to share in the public inquiry.

Later, the grime and hip-hop star, 24, called on his more than one million Twitter followers to sign the Grenfell petition. It demanded that Mrs May use her powers to appoint additional panel members to the independent public inquiry.

Stormzy tweeted followers to “sign, share, RT(retweet) and spread the word”. Within a few hours of his tweet, the petition registered more than 100,000 signatures – the number required for the petition to be considered for debate by MPs.

STORMZY — SOUTH LONDON BOY DONE GOOD

This is a historic feat of political musicianship by a Black British rap star. It won him praise from a most unlikely source, the conservative-leaning newspaper, The Times.

“Stormzy whips up MPs’ debate on Grenfell Tower inquiry

The Times

The power of one man and his 1.2m-strong army of Twitter followers was proved this weekend when the grime artist Stormzy almost single-handedly helped to trigger a likely parliamentary debate on the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire”.

WHATS IN THE PETITION

The Grenfell people’s petition, which was previously delivered to Downing Street, calls for the Prime Minister to appoint additional panel members. With the same decision-making power they would sit alongside retired judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick, who is the chair of the Grenfell Tower inquiry. This is “fundamental” to “avoid a collapse of confidence in the inquiry’s ability to discover the truth” of the tragedy the petition states.

WHO STARTED THE PLEA FOR DIVERSITY IN THE INQUIRY

Inspired by the results of the grime star’s fierce Grenfell rap, petition organisers Adel Chaoui, Karim Mussilhy and Sandra Ruiz, who were bereaved in the tragedy, praised the move for a more diverse make-up to the inquiry panel.

In a joint statement, they said “This week the public have shown they’ve not forgotten about Grenfell.

“Just as they supported us in the immediate aftermath of the fire, when local and national government response was lacking, they’ve backed us again – and demanded the voices of the survivors and bereaved are heard.”

WHAT ELSE DOES THE PETITION SAY

Panel members “must be appointed with relevant background, expertise, experience and a real understanding of the issues facing those affected”, the petition adds.

The petition also calls for legal representatives of victims’ families to “see all evidence from the start” of the inquiry and be “allowed to question witnesses at the hearings”.

PRIME MINISTER THERESA MAY, CONSERVATIVE PARTY LEADER AND HEAD OF THE GOVERNMENT HIT BACK

A spokesperson for the PM said that £58 million had been committed to the Grenfell community. Reporters were assured that Mrs May was “absolutely committed” to supporting Grenfell victims and set up inquiry not just to look at what happened but why “people were ignored for so many years”.

Furthermore, Theresa May’s spokesperson reportedly said “The PM has been very clear that Grenfell was an unimaginable tragedy that should never have happened and should never be allowed to happen again.

“She’s determined that the public inquiry will discover not just what went wrong but why the voices of the people of Grenfell had been ignored over so many years.”

Nevertheless, Stormzy has made a novel use of the Brit Awards stage and the social media to help shape the Grenfell inquiry. The landmark 100,000 signatures will take the petition to Parliament for debate. The struggle continues. BETTER MUST COME.

NOTES

The BRIT Awards are the British Phonographic Industry’s annual pop music awards

Stormzy, born Michael Ebenazer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr., is an outstanding, prize-winning Ghanaian grime and hip-hop artist of the diaspora. He supports Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who partly credits Stormzy for ensuring a big youth vote for him.

Promoting Slavery Reparations and 1940sMigrant Compensation

June 1, 2022

Slavery’s Legacy Haunts First Black Women Rectors of Scottish Universities

HERE’S HOW THEY CAN MAKE AMENDS

NEWS VIEWS INCLUDE RACIST UK IMMIGRATION LAWS / REPARATIONS DEMAND AFTER ROYAL CARIBBEAN TOUR / MINA’S FILM OF DIGNITY AND DEATH / BLACK WOMEN BUSTING BEAUTY MYTHS

By Thomas L Blair 1 June 2022©

Three Black women achieved historic milestones as rectors of Edinburgh, Aberdeen and St Andrews Scottish universities. But will they – can they — make amends for the slavery business which founded their historic institutions? The answer is they must.

Selected mainly by students, their real-world management experience and a heart for public service proved attractive.

Debora Kayembe, is the Rector of Edinburgh University that dates back to 1495. Congolese-born in Kinshasa, she is a human rights lawyer, linguist and political activist.

Martina Chukwuma-Ezike, of Nigerian heritage, is Rector of Aberdeen. Her managerial skills in the Asthma and Allergy Foundation enable medical students to work directly with asthmatics.

Somali born Dr Leyla Hussein OBE, the appointed rector of St Andrews University, is a psychotherapist, campaigner and global leader on gender rights.

EXPLORING THE UNIVERSITY’S HISTORIC LINKS TO SLAVERY

But in a smouldering political landscape how will they cope with increasing demands to reveal the profits from the business of slavery? Profits based on the violent capture of Africans, transhipped to the colonial Caribbean for harsh plantation labour during the 17th and 18th centuries.

The slaver’s financial gifts shaped the very fabric of the rector’s institutions in ways that can still be seen today. Aberdeen’s benefactor The Reverend Gilbert Ramsay, an Episcopalian minister is one example. Edinburgh’s benefactor anti-abolitionist Henry Dundas is another. In addition, wealthy John Whyte Melville’s physical legacy marks the town’s constructed fountains, landscaped estates, and more in and around St Andrews.

THE EVIDENCE FOR CHANGE

Now, the new rectors must learn to recognise and listen to the soundtrack of concerns.

The Edinburgh Centre for Global History has evidence of the Africa-Caribbean-British connections of the slave trade and its remnants in the university.

Local residents and pupils have exposed the links between their parish of Birse in Aberdeenshire and the Aberdeen slaver Rev Ramsay.

Furthermore, the undergraduate-led Spence Project has uncovered the St Andrews links to the transatlantic slave trade.

The rumbles of concern may sound revolutionary, but Harvard University, America’s oldest institution of higher education, has created a $100mm reparations fund after a report detailed its centuries-old ties to slavery. The Harvard Law School was established in 1817 with a bequest from Isaac Royall Jr., whose family made much of its fortune in the slave trade and from a sugar plantation in Antigua.

Strategies for change

In Scotland, the task ahead for the three Black women rectors is clear. But how can they get ready for it?

They must resist the urge to repress the “mischiefs of faction”. They should open their archives to researchers and public scrutiny. Painstakingly, they must amend their laggard institutional, physical and educational cultures. Moreover, they must lead a drive to create and implement a £multi-mm Legacy of Slavery and its Persistent Effects Fund.

As a result, they will not only boost the forces for change but inscribe their progressive rector ships in Scottish university annals. Success should be closely studied and replicated in the historic slavery and colonial-dependent universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Bristol, and all British degree-granting universities.

NOTES

The Rector is part of the ancient form of Scottish university governance since the 15th century. Elected by the students (and in the case of Edinburgh by the staff as well) their role is to represent the interests of students as chair of the University Courts.

Edinburgh University https:/533533/www.ed.ac.uk/news/2020/historical-figure-s-slavery-links-in-spotlight

Aberdeen University https://www.abdn.ac.uk/students/student-channel/blog/exploring-the-universitys-historic-links-to-slavery/

St Andrews University https://standrewsschoolofhistory.wordpress.com/2020/10/27/the-bubble-st-andrews-fife-and-scottish-links-to-slavery/amp/

Harvard University in the New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/26/us/harvard-slavery-redress-fund.html

Harvard University by Reuters

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/harvard-sets-up-100-million-endowment-fund-slavery-reparations-2022-04-26/

30 years of UK immigration laws curbed citizenship for non-white populations.

“The truth is out: ‘Britain’s immigration is racist, and always has been. Now let’s fix it’, says Diane Abbott, Labour MP. She stands for Hackney Borough that has a significant population of people of Caribbean and African heritage. Ms Abbott’s urgent tone came as a leaked report seen by The Guardian revealed that “During the period 1950-1981, every single piece of immigration or citizenship legislation was designed at least in part to reduce the number of people with black or brown skin who were permitted to live and work in the UK”.

Reparations demand after royal Caribbean tour

One thing the disputed Prince William’s tour proved say West Indians. The Monarchy – like the British Commonwealth, born out of bloodshed in the British colonies – is a relic. The prince’s visit triggered the historic call for “reparations” for centuries of wrongdoings.

In the UK the Global Afrika Congress (GAC) led by Glenroy Watson supports this view. The dispute bolstered the reparation claims sworn to at the Afrikans and Afrikan Descendants World Conference Against Racism, 2-6 October 2002 Bridgetown, Barbados.

Moreover, the multi-Caribbean states organisation (CARICOM) has mobilised a Reparations Commission. It urges compensation for the native genocide of the region’s first people, as well as the descendants of chattel slavery Africans and Asian indentured peoples. In their sights are Britain and the European Union (EU) member states that participated in and benefitted from the Slave Trade.

But what to do and how to do reparations? In my view, “Reparations” should mean creating an institution, be it a government commission or a private legacy, tasked to recommend and implement an apology to descendants of enslaved Africans. The debit account must include their plundered kingdoms, stolen resources and artefacts. Moreover, add the horrors of the cruel transshipment of 12 millions over the centuries. Plus the unpaid plantation labour that created the economy and prosperity of their American and European colonial masters.

Reparations in modern times

Though some might say “they don’t like talking about our ancestors in dollars and cents”, nevertheless reparations, sought and awarded, to aggrieved American and German minorities are a major feature of recent history. These include:

US compensation to Japanese-Americans unlawfully interned during World War II

Indian Claims Commission to compensate for land seized by the United States

Black survivors of Chicago police violence and torture abuses to obtain confessions.

Black victims of US eugenics forced sterilization program;

Student action at Georgetown University to benefit descendants of the 272 enslaved Africans sold by the Jesuits to secure its financial future;

Black residents of a Florida town burned by a murderous white mob.19 Jun 2019, and

Germany is still making $multi-mm reparations payments to 400,000 Jews who survived the Holocaust.

Planning Reparations

The Reparations Plan must look to the future. Enhancing social and economic development is most important. This means several things. One, using high-efficiency models to improve educational and technological capability. Two, raising productivity and wages. Three, reducing artificial restrictions to citizenship, land owning, commerce and trade. Thereby instilling a sense of hope and self-reliance. ________________________________________________________________

BREXIT: Planning Survival in a Hard-times era

After Brexit – A Blow To Equality Progress

June 28, 2016

Brexit’s Repercussions Surpass An Earthquake. Bigotry Threatens Progress Towards The Equality Of Opportunity. I Have Witnessed The Downward Spiral Myself, Says Alex Pascall, Our Contributing Opinion Writer When Interviewed

Published by Thomas L Blair June 28 2016 ©

What do you mean by “progress,” Alex?

Diversity was not valued when I arrived from the Caribbean. We gave it value by combatting widespread discrimination and rebuilding post-war London.

Things got better…?

Yes, people from different ethnicities working together became the norm. The politics of unity prevailed by the end of the century. Indeed, by 2016 London elected Sadiq Khan, a Sunni Muslim whose parents came from Pakistan.

What hope for renewed progress post-BREXIT?

The LEAVE victory signals a return to the virulent prejudices we faced in the 1950s and 60s. Thus, the stage is set for us to restore faith in London’s equality in diversity.

Brexit – Umunna’s Vote Leave Watch-Ers Urge New Consensus On Britain’s Future

Thomas L Blair 24 July 2016 ©

BREXIT myths of “greater prosperity” all add up “to lower investment, fewer jobs, and higher prices,” Labour’s Streatham MP Chuka Umunna has warned.

He cites popular distrust of Vote Leave ministers in charge of Britain’s EU exit and key departments like Transport, Environment and International Development.

Mr Umunna said, “senior pro-Brexit politicians had accused Remain campaigners like me of engaging in ‘Project Fear’. But the truth is that they themselves were peddling ‘Project Fantasy’.”

They claimed that leaving the EU would free up £350milllion more every week to spend on the NHS. However, the minute the polls closed on June 23 “the Brexit battlebus went into a screeching u-turn”

Umunna’s Vote Leave Watch campaigners will “hold them to account for their overblown promises”. The goal is to “forge a national consensus on a way forward for our country”, he said.

A worthy cause, perhaps, but he and his Watch-ers will have to broaden their appeal, particularly to younger and BME voters.

BREXIT: MEDIA FIRETRIGGERS OF TOTTENHAM RIOTS “STILL CRACKLING AWAY”

Five tips to improve reporting “the fire next time”

By Thomas L Blair 11 August 2016

The media firetriggers of the Tottenham Aug 2011 riots – slack reporting, prejudice, disinformation and institutional racism – are still crackling away in the wake of the Brexit vote.

Negative press reporting fuelled distrust of Black people, poor people, ethnic minorities and urban youth. Hence, ensuring fair media practice is urgent, and here are 5 tips for fundamental change.

First, private and public media broadcasters must add a pro-Publica logo to their mastheads. This means positive coverage of Black and minority ethnic people, with guidelines ensuring fair practices.

David Lammy’s Out of the Ashes is an exemplary addition to promoting fair media practices. Born and bred locally, the Tottenham MP explores the human stories behind the headlines. Far from a breeding ground of dysfunctional families – of addiction and lawlessness – the causes of the riots are still with us and something must be done to solve them.

Second, journalists must improve their reportage. This largely means getting out of the office, spending time in communities to ferret out issues rather than merely reacting to events. It also means listening to the grievances of the communities directly affected, many of whom are people of colour. They also need to review their contacts list and rosters of quoted experts to include more people of colour, women and others too often overlooked by reporters and politicians.

Evidence shows there is no suffrage in Britain’s media. “Many Black people, particularly young ones, I have spoken with think the “riots” were badly reported”, said Marc Wadsworth, editor of The-Latest, a citizen’s online journal. Youth dispute the “nasty stereotypes about them being used by biased journalists”.

Third, media editors and presenters must reality check their assignments and the stories their staff submit. With news-beat knowledge, they can reframe stories as sound unbiased “news” stories. Furthermore, they have to learn to deal openly and honestly, with issues of media equality. Unreconstructed, they reflect the media’s timeworn practice of “blaming the victim”.

Fourth, academics, professionals and union members must up their game. Academics need to teach from oral texts — with the voices of the unheard at the grass roots – not just the accusative gatekeepers and token spokespersons.

Journalist and Prof Richard Keeble put it succinctly in his The Newspapers Handbook. Teachers of the next generation of professional journalists must “seek to inspire students to be creative and daring in their journalism: to challenge dominant news values, lies, myths and stereotypes”.

Fifth, “riot” journalists and politicians must instil both ethics and ethos in a corrupting media. The unheeded evidence mounts from the experiences of Black journalist authors and members of the National Union of Journalists. Alex Pascall, of the ill-fated, groundbreaking BBC radio programme Black Londoners (1970s-1980s) still challenges the racist elements in broadcasting.

Lionel Morrison, senior journalist and author of A Century of Black Journalism in Britain: A Kaleidoscopic view of Race and the Media (1893-2003), told the Delegates 2011 meeting that the facts limit fair play in the media. “Of approximately 38,000 members of the NUJ, 1,000 are black – about 2.6%. This is a disgrace”, he said. The number of black people in the media, as a proportion of black people in the total British population is “very, very, very low…we need to do something about this” said Morrison.

The veteran reporter and editor of The-Latest.com Marc Wadsworth urged more black participation in the media and wider coverage of community views, in The Riot and the Media report. Clearly, UK news producers must face up to the change challenge: set goals for minority employment that matches minority representation in the population.

Clearly, from this perspective, fair media practices are essential to the search for solutions to urban unrest. Why? Because we need to understand how the media fuel “race riots,” and learn how to respond to it.

The result will be a new more authentic, high quality resource of news production for 21st century journalists. With new commitment, reporters, editors and the news industry as a whole will be better equipped to honestly report the fire next time.

Black Labour Rebel With A Cause Challenges Leadership On Brexit Vote

By Thomas L Blair 11 February 2017 ©

Clive Lewis, shadow business secretary, gave clear warning. He aimed to honour his commitment to his Remain-voting constituency, even if it meant challenging his boss. He did just that with his fightback letter to Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. his close ally on the left of the party.

“When I became the MP for Norwich South I promised my constituents I would be “Norwich’s voice in Westminster, not Westminster’s voice in Norwich”. I therefore cannot, in all good conscience, vote for something that ultimately goes against the wishes and interests of the constituency I have the honour to represent, love and call home.”

Furthermore, “I’m resigning … “because I feel I must vote against the government’s bill as it stands,” Lewis said as he joined around 50 MPs voting against triggering Brexit negotiations in the Commons.

No stranger to world politics of war, and climate change, he spoke out on immigration and nuclear weapons during his campaign. The former BBC political editor and veteran of the Afghanistan war has said it is time to learn from the past and not make the same mistakes over Syria.

A Labour “role model”and Black moderniser, Lewis, like Dawn Butler, defied the party line. Their fellows had argued forcefully that Brexit was disastrous for the nation and hard-pressed communities. Yet, when told to, they backed Article 50; some, no doubt with heavy hearts.

Lewis denies rumours that he plans to be a challenge candidate in a fresh Labour leadership election, particularly because Jeremy Corbyn’s decision to order his MPs to back the bill angered many party activists. “It’s a load of bollocks” he told the Eastern Daily newspaper.

One thing for sure, Lewis and Butler have modeled a new role for Blacks aspiring to high political office. Getting a seat at the Cabinet table, however worthy integration seems, does not mean you have to be a robot.

Scroll to Meet the Black Modernisers or browse https://chronicleworld.co.uk/uncategorized/meet-the-black-modernisers/

BREXIT: Here’s a How-to Article for Wielding Business and Civic Power in the Hard Times Brexit Era

By Thomas L Blair 5 April 2017 ©

Sharon McLean’s dreary law lecture to Black businesses and community professionals needs a hefty dose of BREXIT reality.

Black owners are at the bottom of queue for government’s largesse. Adversity in the economic marketplace abuses their capacity building strengths. The May administration has been slow to condemn it.

Therefore, “Get up, stand up for your rights” should be her message to the Black and Ethnic Minority Business Networking Event in BRIXTON, the traditional heart of Black London and Britain.

BREXIT plans are not inclusive enough. Something important is missing. Small Black businesses, mainly in London, are the job creators the government favours to create sustainable incomes and neighbourhoods. Yet their voices are unheard.

So, how to survive in the hard-times BREXIT era? How to make sure Black business owners get a seat at the table — not under it –to take advantage of new trade agreements with priority markets around the world.

Riding piggyback on the London Assembly’s Economy Committee Report could be a winning strategy. Government must acknowledge “the interdependence between London’s small and large businesses,” and avoid focussing just on the needs of major firms. Failure to do so, the report warns, risks damaging the capital’s “diverse and vibrant economy” which provides almost one quarter of the UK’s overall economic output.

McLean’s independent spirit as teacher turned CEO of Business with Excellence is crucial. She has the experience and expertise to champion a ‘whole London economy’ approach. However, she should forget the schoolmistress lecture style. It is elitist and ill-suited to this kind of scrap.

Keynote speaker McLean and delegates have a golden opportunity to call for a new inclusive agenda. Clearly, to starve Black businesses of funding while increasing it for big business is a false choice. Conservatives have a big reason to respond positively: They’ve been promising BREXIT equality and inclusion ever since taking office.

Crucially, Blacks must unite, know the issues, gather money and allies, and exercise their political muscle. Hand in hand, under-served Black communities and unrewarded small businesses must urge London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan to hold ministers to account on this vital issue.

New Black Advocates

June 21, 2018

Black Britons Outrage at “Truth Decay” Windrush Day Celebration

UK Prime Minister Theresa May under pressure from Black academics and public intellectuals

However, they know that Britain has a long inexcusable history of truth decay. Hence, by projecting ‘The Windrush’ as representing the birth of Black – and multi-cultural –Britain, is not only false but dangerous, says professor John.

“It is dangerous for five main reasons he says:

• “First, it rather suggests that Britain was mono-racial prior to the arrival of the Windrush passengers and those that followed them in the 1950s and 1960s and that until then the nation was at ease with itself and with the foreigners it had magnanimously welcomed from elsewhere.

Second, it erases the struggle of earlier generations of Africans from the Continent and from the West Indies for equal rights and justice and against racism and fascism in Britain, struggles which the Windrush and later generations themselves had to join, or replicate.

• Third, it compounds the divisions, generated and reinforced by the British themselves, between Caribbean people and African people as two separate ethnic groups, rather than as one people, belonging to a Global African Diaspora, with a common heritage and an interrupted history.

Fellow academic Andrews suggests “we should not have been fooled by that tokenism, neither should we be appeased by a national day to celebrate Windrush. On the issue of racism, May is parading before the public in the emperor’s new clothes, and it should be easy for us to see through her naked cynicism and empty gestures”.

John says “I have massive misgivings about the entire Windrush project and I would go so far as to say it is not only completely wrongheaded, it runs the risk of distorting British colonial and post-colonial history and the struggles of former colonial subjects with Britain, both in the former colonies and in Britain itself”. Therefore, he concludes “It would be a shameful betrayal to them all to accept your invitation.

Black public intellectuals take the truth-telling message to the community.

In solidarity, Commentator Alex Pascall, OBE kicks off the launch of the exhibition ‘The Spirit of Windrush’ in the backroom of the Uptown Cuisine Caribbean restaurant, West Green Road in Wood Green.

Stafford Scott, co-founder of the Broadwater Farm Defence Campaign in 1985, and consultant on racial equality and community engagement, tweets:

“Professor Gus John’s rejection letter to the British Prime Minister’s invitation to 10 Downing Street is a must READ and SHARE letter, not simply because of the beautiful way in which it has been drafted, but also to inform and educate those who would be foolish enough to accept such an invitation”.

Whose “Special Relationship”?

By Thomas L Blair 4 February 2017 ©

Dear reader, Just to let you know…

Prof Gus John is back online with a new series of comments and opinions on current affairs. We note his views on “our UK-USA special relationship” proclaimed by Prime Minister Theresa May and President Donald Trump. John writes:

“If either nation places the marginalised, excluded and ‘othered’ on the backburner of their domestic and foreign policy, it is evident that neither will use the ‘special relationship’ to safeguard and advance the rights of those left out of their political agenda. On the contrary, they would be endorsing and reinforcing each other in their ‘othering’ and excluding, while pleading that it is not for them to interfere in each other’s domestic affairs”.

Powerful views from the West Indian scholar with a record of radical thought in Britain, and said to be one of the ‘30 Most Influential Contemporary African Diaspora Leaders’.

Campaigners Power Up The Black And Minority Ethnic Vote

By Thomas L Blair 02 June 2017 copyright

If you want to see the pathologies of contemporary politics and society laid out for you, with some clues to what equality groups are demanding, read on.

“Britain is at a crossroads on race equality, Brexit, immigration and identity say, a coalition of race equality organisations. Their Manifesto for Race Quality aims to ” put fairness and equal life chances for Britain’s Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. So that we can all face future challenges together, equally”.

Moreover, they demand:

A comprehensive government-wide race equality strategy;

Brexit negotiations must be “race equality-proofed” to safeguard rights protecting citizens against discrimination;

A new law prohibiting online hate which forces social media firms to take action.

The online manifesto features a new analysis of the power of the Black and ethnic minority (BME) vote in this snap general election.

A Power of the Black Vote report found that 45 of the top 50 most marginal seats have BME electorates larger than the 2015 majority. See https://goo.gl/6cPA91

Operation Black Vote coordinated the Race Equality 2017 coalition. Simon Woolley, Director of Operation Black Vote, said:

“Britain is at a crossroads on Brexit, immigration, and British identity. How these issues play out in this snap election will determine the country’s direction for a generation. The key question is to what extent will Black and minority ethnic communities (BME) be involved in this debate?

“Persistent race inequalities in employment, education, housing and the criminal justice system has meant and lack of social mobility for BME children growing up to be adults is nothing short of a scandal. Many do succeed despite the barriers but too many fail to have their potential recognised much less fulfilled. That is why we are calling for a government-wide race equality strategy to root out racial inequality wherever it lurks in the system.

Key members of the coalition put their race equality views on record.

Dr Omar Khan, Director of the Runnymede Trust, said:

“Given the persistence and extent of racial inequalities we need the next government to have an actual plan to reduce racial inequalities, not just warm words. With post-Brexit Britain raising existential questions about who we are, we also need the next government to affirm that race equality is a core British value and that minorities won’t see their rights and protections weakened”

Viv Ahmun, from Blacksox, said:

“Unemployment of 30% amongst 16-24 year old Black people in comparison to just 13% amongst white people of the same age is a shocking disparity that feeds into and drives the poverty of opportunity that underpins rises in violence and mental ill health. The next government must do more to increase opportunities for employment and business development within BAME communities.”

Zita Holbourne, National Chair, Black Activists Rising Against Cuts (BARAC) UK and National Vice President, Public and Commercial Services Union, said:

“Austerity combined with institutional racism is impacting disproportionately on BAME workers. Our manifesto seeks to address the adverse impacts of cuts on BAME workers from redundancies in the public sector having a double impact on BAME women to zero hour contracts meaning young BAME workers have no job security, whilst addressing the structural systems of discrimination that already existed before cuts, in appraisal, promotion, progression and recruitment. Race Equality should be a right, not a privilege.”

Patrick Vernon OBE, trustee of Bernie Grant Trust and founder of 100 Great Black Britons, said:

“This is the 30th anniversary of Black History Month and the election of the late Bernie Grant, Diane Abbott, Paul Boateng and Keith Vaz as MPs. Tackling racial inequalities still have not been fully achieved. Our manifesto is a demand for our civil and economics rights to be taken seriously and delivered to all political parties.”

Lee Jasper, Blacksox sponsor, said:

“Black and Asian people in the UK today look with trepidation towards an uncertain future in a Brexit Britain. Racial inequality in the UK is now wider than any other time in our history. Hate crime is rising and Black unemployment is at record levels. This no time abandon hope and refuse to vote. It’s time for UK Civil Rights movement.”

Relevant source is OBV Press release: Monday 22nd May 2017, For Immediate Release. Contact OBV press office: 020 8983 5430 / 020 8983 5444 / 07584 177 529 / 07920 057 237

Notes:

OBV is non-partisan political campaigning organisation https://www.raceequality2017.org.uk/

Organisations supporting the ‘Race Equality 2017’ manifesto include:

Runnymede Trust; Aspire Education Group; Coreplan; Ukren; BTEG; Friends, Families and Travellers; BSWN; Blacksox; Father 2 Father; DWC Global; Reallity; Voyage Youth; Race on the Agenda; Every Generation Media; BARAC; JUST Yorkshire; Society of Black Lawyers; Race Equality Foundation; Bernie Grant Trust.

Youth Can Lead Call for Equality and Justice

The Agony Of Aspiration — Progressive Black Youth Are The Solution Not The Problem

Thomas L Blair July 25, 2010

Headlines damning young Blacks as “neets” – “not in education, employment or training” – heralds a major cultural disaster facing Black Britain this century.

In my opinion youth’s emerging from urban and internet cultures will have benefits not only for themselves but also for Black communities and society. What they need is support for their freedom of expression not benign neglect and judicial, media and statistical lynching.

That Black youth are worthy of inclusion in our search for solutions cannot be denied. Have we forgotten that rebel youth of the 1980s took to the streets and wrote the manifestos for better housing, jobs and education? They forced HRH the Prince of Wales to convene the 1984 Windsor Conference of business leaders, government and community groups to help Black youth into education and employment.

To their credit, radical youth exposed the cultural longings of excluded African and Caribbean peoples. Bernie Grant, the “African Rebel in the Community and Parliament” welcomed youth’s expression of Black Consciousness. He thundered: “For far too long the Black community has had no voice in Britain and we are seeking to redress that.”

Black youth are confident

Surely, the new standard-bearers for the revitalisation of Black culture must be today’s youth. Those who feel it know it, and there are several good reasons for this legitimacy. Youth are fortunate. They do not have their parents’ anglophilic love of Britain and obeisance to the cult of the royal family.

Breaking the shackles

Youth are free of the tyrannies of the past. They have not directly suffered the traumas, emotional imperatives and political failures of their mid-20th century forebears.

They have good reasons to be confident. The best of them have succeeded against almost insurmountable odds. Research shows that despite the heavy burdens of race, class, gender and age:

More Black young people continue further study after compulsory schooling

They are banging on the doors of colleges and employers

Additionally, a higher proportion of Afro-British born young people attend institutions of higher education than white working class youth.

It is easy to notice the change in attitude and potential. The most culturally aware Black youth are finding how liberating Black history can be. They inherit the memories of their long-forgotten rebel ancestors who fought the plantation owners and hastened the abolition of the slave trade.

History records that their grandparents fought valiantly for “Queen and Mother Country” in World War II. They were midwives to the re-birth of badly damaged post-war Britain. However, drudgery, disappointment and discrimination were their bitter reward. (The 12-year colour bar against West Indian workers at all London stations only ended in 1966 after complaints by the social and cultural Standing Conference of West Indian Organisations).

Rebel Black voices

Moreover, youth’s confidence comes from a tradition of weaving artefacts, arts and music into political statements. The annual African-Caribbean Notting Hill festival followed the racist murder of Antiguan immigrant Kelso Cochrane in May 1959. The Rastafarian’s dreadlocks under a black, red, gold and green knitted tam signifies African-Caribbean resistance to oppression in Babylon, as Bob Marley famously sang in Burnin’.

Linton Kwesi Johnson

They ken the new sounds and voices that demanded their parents’ attention. Inglan’ is a bitch as the dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson cried out; and the sociologist Paul Gilroy’s There ain’t no Black in the Union Jack fitted their new mood. From their grandparents they must have heard of Marcus Garvey’s fiery message to millions in the Black World: “Pan African self determination, socio-political freedom, physical health and spiritual wealth.”

Youth today can confidently assert a new set of cultural aspirations forged in their polyglot and poor districts. The ranks of African-Caribbean youth of the post-war Jamaican, Trinidadian and West Indian migrants are swelled by African newcomers – the Nigerians, Ghanaians, Somalis, Zimbabwean, Ivoreans, Ugandan and Congolese – many with a strong mercantile and independent streak.

Together Afro-British youth can mix Rhyme and Rhythm, with Reason and Resistance. They can heat up a spicy jerk sauce of rap, hip-hop, afro-jazz and Dub, Rasta reggae, Jamaican slang and street-cred, with a dash of “I’m Black British and proud”.

dizzee rascal

What’s more, they weave popular arts and street cultures into political

statements. Urban artist Dizzee Rascal, son of Ghanaian parents in poorest East London, is a prime example. After struggling through a rocky childhood, he captured the intense anger of “kids in the ‘hood”. Rapping against the arbitrary controls targeting Black people – expulsion from classrooms for being “cheeky”, police harassment for hanging out and arrest for resisting stop and search orders – he hip-hopped into the charts with youth’s angry anthem: “Respect Me”

“You people gonna respect me if it kills you

I know what your thinkin it’s gone too far now innit

Fuck it

If I dont speak whos gonna speak for me

Stand up for myself in this shit

So fuck you

Unapoligetic.”

The Respect Me lyrics are the property of the respective author, artists and labels, the lyrics are provided for educational purposes only.

Born in the cultural cockpits of urbanism, Black youth’s aspirations have a transformative power. The damned “neets” become the confident, fledging net generation. Armed with the instruments of mobile telephony, they are part of the internet moment in human history. Wired-up youth are the first generation in Black history to have this capacity. Thus, this digital generation of talents will be heard above the storm of racial abuse and harassment. They are Black people’s cyberspace cultural warriors.

What can they do? First, assert their cultural awareness. Their rousing cry should be “A people’s art and cultures are the genesis of freedom and justice”.

They should draw from the two rivers of the African Diaspora that meet in Britain after centuries of brutal separation. African-Caribbean youth and their African mates must act fraternally to assert a new set of cultural aspirations that fit youth’s need in the Information Age.

Bonds of hope connect youth’s past and their digital present and future. Eager young people work on digitising oral histories at the London Metropolitan Archives. Ex-offenders are taking up arts management projects sponsored by charities, the Arts Council and the government.

Talented youth in schools and community groups discover the pleasures of workshops to develop Black cultural arts – in carnival “play mas”, drumming, storytelling and gospel song. Young citizen journalists document community lives, family and oral histories. Fashion and media students scour old steamer trunks for their treasure troves of Black style.

This drives forward youth’s aspirations to engage in the cultural economy, production and business. They are even challenging privileged people for cultural awards and internships. Moreover, Black youth are a common sight in the august chambers of the Grandees of High Culture – in the national museums, symphony, ballet and opera companies.

Second, youth must search for life-affirming opportunities. These include conversations with their elders and community religious leaders. Indeed, more youth are joining Black-led institutions – among them the fast-growing mosques and Pentecostalist congregations.

Mass involvement in cultural activities builds self-confidence. Increasingly, youth are active in libraries, archives and cultural heritage centres. These include the City of London Museum, Liverpool Slavery Museum, Black Cultural Archives, the Bernie Grant Foundation and the Race Relations Centre in Manchester. This makes them better able to access knowledge than any past generation.

In addition, they are galvanised toward community action. They appreciate that cultural reform must be based first on gains won in the socio-political arena. “We must learn to use Black culture as springboards to the future”, to paraphrase Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka, poet, playwright and cultural activist.

A digital borderless transatlantic world is on Black youth’s horizon. From their platforms in cyberspace, they will answer the barrage of racially inspired hateful propaganda with creativity and the challenge: “Black Culture is at war”.

Jail Or A Power-Step Up For Black Youth?

The New Black Alpha-Generation Post-Brexit

Will they lead the call for Equality?

The Chronicle World tells who they are and their importance

By Thomas L Blair 27 June 2019 ©

After the in-or-out Brexit chaos is resolved, there’s one thing for sure. The race question will still remain in a divided nation. And Black Britain’s Alpha Generation, the kids born after 2010, have a chance lead the Call for Equality and Justice.

But it’s feared they’ll fall prey to consumerism. Obsessed with buying things and stuff. Drugged on mindless What’s App-ing. And ignore the unmet demands of the Grenfell Tower survivors and the toilers of the Windrush Generation – their forebears…

Here is a downloadable check list on the origins, challenges and what the Alpha Generation means for the future.

Origins

The Alpha Generation, the distinct offspring of Millennial parents,* were born literally with a smart phone in their hands. They, wake up with a tablet and go to bed with a smartphone on their pillow.

They prefer to communicate via images, texting and voice control. Tablets are their favourites — particularly popular among younger children like them.

A majority of three- to four-year-olds (55 per cent) are reported to use a tablet. And more than 40 per cent among five- to 15-year-olds own a smartphone and tablet, according to official reports on children’s media use.*

Of course, there is a downside.

The naysayers – worried parents, teachers and child psychologists – are up in arms. They understandably worry about children’s smart media use. The dangers of obsessive over use, visual and lessening human interaction are ever present.

No doubt the Alpha kid’s media use makes them prey to false news and child abuse.

Furthermore, they could fall victim to the dulling drugs of mindless chit-chat and the glittering allure of consumerism.

This is not surprising, because even at just five years old generation the Alphas are inundated with compelling digital ads.

81% of parents with children this age say they watch videos or play games on an electronic device on a daily basis. The result is useless “Google brains” that hinder proper schooling, say experts.

Time to think positively about Black Britain’s Alpha Generation

Nevertheless, I sense there is something about the Alpha kids that makes them so important for Black futures in Britain. And, here’s why.

Young Generation Alpha will grow up interacting with AI and robots, as well as humans. They will play with connected games and toys which respond to commands and demonstrate emotional intelligence.

They will be at ease with devices that interact with the World Wide Web and mobile operating systems. This makes them the most technologically Black generation ever.

As they grow older and develop verbal skills, voice communication with devices will become common. By the time they are past their teenage years, their emerging social consciousness will be positive and uplifting.

They’ll trigger social movements with their smartphones, browsing software and mobile operating systems. Handy instruments to gain compensation for their Windrush forebears and aid the justice claims of the Grenfell Tower fire survivors.

New Alpha Generation, New goals, New challenges post-Brexit

The working Black Alpha Generation will take on jobs in the burgeoning IT industries. Chances are that many will eschew formal higher education and opt for cheaper online learning.

New entrepreneurial abilities will take shape. The best minds will add a human dimension to robotics.

Furthermore, activists’ data-crunching algorithms will span the African and Caribbean Diaspora net-ways. To create new digital net-links across inherited divisive colonial, class and island/continental rivalries.

They’ll develop the Instagram, Facebook and SnapChat posts that provoke the best “likes” from their followers.

Going viral with the best ideas and responses they will influence hundreds, maybe thousands – possibly millions — of bloggers and tweeters.

This will add a layer of accessible own-defined, Afro-centric and digitised information about Black culture and identity.

In their maturing years from 2020 to 2030, the Alpha Generation will have the social media savvy, and skills to face up to – and erase — continuing public policy hostility to Black people.

Activists and their social, political and intellectual allies will develop a whole new understanding of what it means to be Black, proud and progressive.

Impossible dream or perfectably doable?

So, will the Alpha Generation make a difference? What will they draw from Black British culture and what will they bequeath to it? Can they be the harbingers of a prosperous and progressive next phase of Black History? And make Britain a fairer place?

They can if they confront race discrimination policy issues in the public realm and:

Focus attention on online activism in areas outside formal political participation;

Promote the new digital technologies that can help information-poor Black communities.

Highlight urban issues, past and present, that impact on Black Britons;

Will Black Futures be brighter or in peril post-Brexit?

No one knows the answers. But I am convinced that, despite all the race-based marginalisation, the Black Alpha Generation can make adifference. They’ll have the ability to radicalise, reinvent and add something distinctive to the core of being Black and leaders in a post-Brexit more democratic Britain.

Black Teenagers and The 2017 Elections — Vote For Greatness In Community And Nation

Your generation has a chance to make its mark

By Thomas L Blair 25 April 2017, copyright

The Disenfranchised Generation can make a difference now. Black teenagers are poised to put their mark on Britain’s most consequential elections in recent history.

The fight is about what vision of Britain will dominate your future. Parties opposing the government’s re-election Brexit strategy have set their eyes on you. They aim to corral 750,000 just-turned 18-year-old voters. Among them, Black novices have a chance to deliver their own top-of-the-list concerns.

So far, the June 8 elections have not attracted much excitement. There is no full-throated rebuke of the Conservative government’s anti-European and restrictive immigration policies. Policies that may set the country on an uncertain path at a critical moment.

Yet, one thing is clear for Black communities and voters. This 2017 election will be won or lost on domestic, not solely on foreign policy issues.

Here are some action-thoughts for Black novices as they head to the polling stations.

Housing, jobs, health and opportunities are still at crisis point, and may get worse. Race and faith attacks are already high over Brexit.

Renewing neighbourhoods and hostile living conditions needs more than talk-talk. Better to light a candle than shout against the spectral darkness.

“Poor-me” moans will not banish two under covered issues — homelessness and human trafficking. And it turns out they go together. The Balm of Gilead won’t protect homeless youth at great risk of being trafficked for sex.

Furthermore, teenagers must vote to curb knife crimes. This scourge of Black families is hovering on the edge of self-genocide. On this issue, voting a politician in or out is more effective than your loved ones tears.

Black teenage voters need to seize this historic opportunity. They can vote for an outreach to immigrants, acceptance of different faiths, as well as ethnic diversity. They can challenge “British first” policies that are dangerous and sectarian.

In London, where Blacks voted overwhelmingly to Remain in the EU, they can target 45 Labour MPs, 26 Conservative MPs, and two Liberal Democrat MPs. The key ideas and strategies are clear:

Organise political self-education

Draft Youth Priorities and write a Social Contract to influence political action

Participate in citizen consultations, human rights clubs and workplace activities

Create online platforms and radio programs to broadcast youth’s concerns

Moreover, there is one over-riding task for new Black teenage voters: that is to support creative action to heal a politically fractured country. Greatness is in your hands.

Why Black Publisher’s Books For Kids Matter

MISEDUCATION LIMITS A CHILD’S IMAGINATION

THEMED BOOKS CREATE EMPLOYABLE, WISER ADULTS

WOMEN PUBLISHERS LEADING THE WAY

ADVOCATES MUST CREATE CHARTER FOR INCLUSION

ROOT RACISM OUT OF CHILDREN’S BOOKS

By Thomas L Blair 31 December 2021 rev 17/01/22©

All children deserve to see themselves in the books they read. However, Black British children hardly ever see positive images of themselves and their Caribbean, African and diaspora communities. With corrosive effects, in the view of Grenada-born Verna Wilkins publisher of children’s books.

THE DIRE FACTS

The enormity of the problem is clear. An estimated 30% of school children in England are from ethnic minority backgrounds. However, the voices and the world portrayed in UK children’s books are largely white. Fuelling concern, too, is the fact that less than 6% of published creators of children’s books are people of colour, according to BookTrust researchers.

THE BIG ISSUE IS HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS DEFICIT

Now, forward-looking Black publishers are filling the gap and creating edu-taining books for kids with stories and images that look them – not Goldilocks. And we have rounded up some of their tales — ranging from brave kids and great friendships to unforgettable true stories told under an ancient Baobab tree.

BLACK PUBLISHERS PRODUCE THEMED BOOKS FOR ALL AGES

Suspense is a winner. Is the distraught child going to find the lost adorable Black baby doll? Can teenagers convince their parents to let them wear Black Lives Matter tee-shirts? Is the Black girl going to realise she’s beautiful and save the world? You are expelled from school at 15: how did you become a world-famous poet?

I Love my Daddy. What’s something nice to give him on Father’s Day?

The letter J: What shall we have for dinner tonight? J for Jollof rice or J for Jamaican Rice and peas?

Why not C for mother’s beautiful Cornrow hair style and her tasty Callaloo soup.

All kids love tales of explorers’ amazing feats against the odds. Polar Preet: Battling the South Pole’s piercing wind and snow, British Asian Captain Preet Chandi became the first woman of colour – and Sikh — to make the 700-mile journey in 40 days. Inspirational picture book.

Adventurer Barbara Hillary 88-year-old was the first African American woman on record to reach both the North Pole and the South Pole. Titled Explorers — Illustrated with maps and scenes of sea and ice, space and land.

“Why Can’t I Be Me?” Themed illustrated books on current issues are increasingly important, too. Race equality and Black Lives Matter, gender identity, sexual orientation and family diversity are prime examples. Suitable for ages 7-11, these guide books make emotion-charged family table and schoolyard topics easier to explain to children.

WHAT BLACK PUBLISHERS SAY AND AIM TO DO

Even at reading age 2-5 years old, being read to by mum and dad or granny and grandpa can be a transformative experience, says former BBC journalist Sonya McGilchrist of Dinosaur Books. Her book-listed Journey to Benin City, set in the medieval Benin Empire, links suitably to the national KS2 curriculum.

Black-owned publisher and bookseller Jacaranda Books publishes award-winning diverse, inclusive literature for young adults. Founder Valerie Brandes aimed to create a platform for under-represented voices from Africa, the Caribbean and the Diaspora.

Formy Books, an independent family-run publisher, creates a diverse range of attractive and inclusive children’s books. Owners are passionate about encouraging Black creative talent.

Black hero books can be a booster for children ages 5 to 11 who often lack confidence and feel voiceless. Sowing self-worth and challenging colourism or shadeism is increasingly important, says Verna Wilkins. She founded Tamarind Books when shocked to find her five-year-old son coloured himself pink in a school booklet.

Suitable for young adults, New Beacon Press features Jamaica Airman: A Black Airman in Britain 1943.

Rosemarie Hudson’s Hope Road Publishers lists writers and stories from Africa, Asia and the Caribbean too often neglected by the mainstream book industry.

MC Grammar (Jacob Mitchell), a schoolteacher, rapper and father of three, believes “interactive learning can change children’s lives”. He is leading the trend in online digital books. Many are song books for four to 11-year-olds to teach them about the English language.

TANGIBLE BENEFITS

Exciting, page-turning adventures can be both educational and entertaining for all ages. Books can be enjoyable as well as teach language and numerical, conceptual or motor skills. Inquisitive students can create their own virtual library of favourites to share ideas through virtual socialising with friends.

These efforts will counter the mainstream publishing industry’s resistance to inclusion and change. Books that are diverse and inclusive in content and production have a positive value. They help young readers reach their full potential. Producing them is not only an ethical imperative but also a sound business model for Black publishers. And here are some reasons why.

KIDS BOOKS CAN LINK GENERATIONS

Black publishers, writers and illustrators are well placed to produce books about the Black freedom struggle. Read to by parents, kids and young adults can take pride in Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman’s stories and poems of anti-slavery Unheard Voices.

Family history and relationships link generations. Cuddled on Granny’s lap, they can marvel at books that tell of the historic first landing of pioneering post-war West Indians. Poet Benjamin Zephaniah brilliantly emphasises this in his Windrush Boy. Writer Ferdinand Dennis eloquently portrays the Black presence in London in his Black and White Museum book. Educator and musician Alex Pascall shares his good vibes with young Teletubbies and schoolchildren.

THEMED BOOKS CREATE EMPLOYABLE, WISER YOUNG ADULTS

Stories of romance, surprise and delight are nice, but publishers should not shy away from being practical. Young adults with social media skills can be the hub of community inter-networks. They can also boost their employability in the info-tech and digital labour markets.

SO, WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?

Black publishers for kids’ books matter. Why? Because major issues must be tackled. One, is the lack of diversity and inclusion in the publishing industry, says Natalie Jerome Literary Agent at Curtis Brown Group. Two, it is necessary to counter the damaging effects of an uncaring school system identified in Bernard Coard’s How the West Indian Child is Made Educationally Sub-normal in the British School System (1971)

BLACK PUBLISHERS OF KID’S BOOKS MUST ACT TO CREATE CHANGE

One way to do this is to link with the British KS2 national curriculum and help create school reading plans. Another is to produce books that give a fascinating insight into the tireless and wide-reaching activism of unique individual, communities and organisations. See The Legacy of John La Rose: The Book of the Exhibition New Beacon Press

Young adults can be introduced to modern Black activists. These might include journalist Claudia Jones of Notting Hill carnival fame, Bernie Grant MP reparations champion, fierce anti-apartheid Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela revered freedom fighter and first president of South Africa.

DEFY THE ODDS: KEEP GROWING

Publishing books for kids is not just something that’s “good” to do. Of course, the goal is more good books featuring characters that are produced by Black authors and illustrators. But edu-taining children of all ages helps grow their self-confidence and positive communication skills.

To do this, Black publishers of kids’ books must open up their own markets for Black readers. These include creating Podcast discussions by child educators, behavioural psychologists, community leaders and librarians about kid’s books.

Admittedly, achieving these goals means taking risks. But it’s worth it. Publishing books that are diverse and inclusive in content and production is not only an ethical imperative but also a sound business model.

CREATE FRESH MARKETING STRATEGIES

The aim is to increase positive Black representation across all genres in children’s literature. For example:

Draw from the pool of prize winners in the prestigious Caine Prize for African Literature

Aim to win The Jhalak Prize for Book of the Year by a Writer of Colour

Enter the Bare Lit Festival an annual event that promotes the writing of people of colour;

DEVELOP PUBLISHING COMPETENCE AND SCOPE

Improve skills in Podcast technology, writer development schemes and publisher’s awareness sessions

Challenge mainstream houses to incorporate inclusion and diversity into their infrastructure and search methods

Monitor impacts and significant improvements.

Keep up with the latest reports laying the foundations for change, such as The Writing the Future report, commissioned by Spread the Word in 2015.

PAY DUE RESPECT TO THE PIONEERS

Caribbean publishers, bookshops and literary movements dominated the 1960s-70s in Britain.

Eric and Jessica Huntley’s Bogle L’Ouverture Publishing house aimed to create children’s literature that educated and rallied youth to the tune of Bob Marley’s strident anthem — Get up. Stand up for your rights.

John La Rose’s New Beacon Press encouraged parent-child schooling and grassroots activism in Britain and the Caribbean.

The Caribbean Artists Movement organised writers, artists and critics from the English-speaking Caribbean.

ROOT OUT RACISM IN KIDS BOOKS

Black advocacy and literary movements against racism in children’s books have a long history — well worth reflecting on today. The Golliwog stories created in 1895 were seen by many white British and American parents as innocuous cuddle-up tales associated with childhood. But Caribbean and African Americans considered Golly as an anti-Black caricature associated with pickaninnies, minstrels and mammy figures.

In response a century ago Professor W E B Du Bois — the ‘Father of Sociology’ — created The Brownies’ Book that helped 1920s kids navigate racism. When the mainstream publishing culture denied Black children their humanity — he urged his readers to see “Beauty in Black”.

Du Bois set the standards and the platform of excellence so necessary today. He said this book “aims to be a thing of Joy and Beauty, dealing in Happiness, Laughter and Emulation. Designed especially for Kiddies from Six to Sixteen it will seek to teach Universal Love and Brotherhood for all little folk, he pledged.

BLACK WOMEN LEADING THE WAY

Black women are and have always been leaders in publishing in Britain. Some included in this article have challenged, shaped and changed the UK publishing industry. Prominent others include Margaret Busby of Ghanaian heritage, current Chair of the Booker Prize, and the first Black woman publisher in Britain. Of Sierra Leonean descent, Kadija George is a co-director of Peepal Tree Press’s writer development programme, and researcher on the work of Independent Black Publishing within the creative industries.

CREATE A CHARTER FOR CARIBBEAN AND AFRICAN VOICES IN CHILDREN’S BOOKS

The lack of true images of Black characters reveals the fatal flaws in the British publishing industry. Black staff are few in number and you are probably more likely to see an animal as the lead character in a children’s book than a person of colour, it is reported.

Therefore the tasks ahead for Black publishers are clear. Create a charter of principles and obligations.

One, Black publishers should aim to break down employment barriers.

Two, they should challenge stereotypes that linger long after Agatha Christie’s offensive children’s rhymes “Ten Little Niggers” and “Ten Little Indians”.

Three, they should encourage children’s communication and thinking skills and abilities to counter social media disinformation.

Four, they should seek to ensure that every child can access and enjoy great books that portray a culturally diverse society.

Five, they must encourage pupils, parents and communities to explore their roots in Africa, the Caribbean and links with kith and kin in the global diaspora.

Planting the seed of self-worth is essential for Black children in a hostile society. In the harvest, they will prove worthy of the sacrifices their forebears made to gain racial justice — and know why the struggle continues and they must carry on.

‘Change the Colour of the News’, Journalists Say

Heads-Up Blinkered Black Scribes — Write The Wrongs Of Media Prejudice

Yet another pleading Letter to Media Editors won’t change the “Colour of the News”.

But here are the issues to challenge, overcome and the opportunities to create

By Thomas L Blair, rev. 05 March 2019 ©

The pathway to media equality and equity for Black scribes is littered with hate-bombs: Low status. Less esteem, Wage gaps. No job mobility. Uncaring editors and media barons. But the so-called “diversity manifesto” of the newly-created 100 member Black Journalists Collective UK (BJCUK) fails on several counts. Failure to recognise the roots of media prejudices. Neglect to appreciate the history of Black protest against media excesses. Failure to target the media’s unmet commitments.

Let’s recap the manifesto. Introduced by Marverine Cole, Journalist, Broadcast & Academic at Birmingham City University, an unsigned Letter to Editors claims that Black journalists are not treated equally. They remain dramatically underrepresented and undervalued in all the medias. Their absence leads to “the poor and misleading quality of reporting related to people of colour in the UK”.

The Black Journalists Collective’s letter urges editors to improve recruitment and close the ethnicity pay gap. [Only 0.2% of working journalists are black and only 0.4% are Muslim]. The result could be “newsrooms that reflect the society they serve”. Otherwise, “the poor and misleading quality of reporting related to people of colour in the UK” will persist.

Sounds great, right? It would be if it reflected reality. But the letter-writing Black journalists failed to draw on the decades-old issues in Britain’s race and the media history. Issues that are relevant for everyone involved in journalism, both professionals and trainees, whether working in print, broadcast or the new media.

On employment: Decades ago, Dr. Beulah Ainley, author of Black Journalists, White Media, noted that Black and Asian faces were rare among Britain’s journalists who gather and process the nation’s news. Twelve to 20 Black journalists were employed during the mid-1990s in national newspapers, out of a workforce of 3000. Furthermore, a 1998 study of sixty newspapers exposed a wall of silence, according to a diversity research project by The Chronicle Internet magazine and The Freedom Forum European Centre.

On the shortage of Black applications: We know that editors falsely disputed these figures. They claimed the cause is a shortage of suitable applicants from minorities and not a shortage of institutional will. Yet, “Not only did Black people apply for journalism training and jobs but they did so for months and sometimes years”, said the NUJ Journalist, December 1998.

On the history of newsrooms negative attitudes: Six decades ago in 1958, rabble-rousing white youths attacked Notting Hill Blacks screaming “niggers out”. Then the Daily Mail published an incendiary piece headlined ‘Should We Let Them Keep Coming In?’, and called for tighter immigration controls. Seems like little has changed in these strife-torn Brexit days.

On Black media workers protest: Protesting media inequality is not new – it was pioneered in the 1970s by the Black Media Workers Association led by Dianne Abbott, now Labour MP, and the NUJ-backed Race Relations Working Party. Editors and owners resisted them every time.

On the Media’s response: Positive race-centred social policy interventions have failed. Now famous inquiries damned the appalling media responses to “race disorders”. Most important indictments came from the Brixton Inquiry and Scarman Report in 1982 and the Lawrence Inquiry and Macpherson Report that appeared eighteen years later in 1999.

On failed commitments: Journalist and Professor Richard Keeble said “Clearly there is evidence that managers fail to keep up the momentum of their commitments to race equality practices”, in his Ethics for Journalists book

On dumbing down Black and foreign news: The marginalisation of African and Asian news is part of the general failure of the media’s presentation of foreign news. Journalist Martyn Lewis noted in 1993 that TV correspondents writing success stories were side-lined by the stereotyped newsroom view of Africa “racked by war, famine, corruption and Aids”.

Critics argue that such attitudes still prevail. Recently, the fund raising Comic Relief halted its use of white celebrities for appeals in Africa. Described by an aid watchdog as “poverty tourism” that reinforce white saviour stereotypes”, reports The Guardian.

On race bias in reporting: Down the production line, racial prejudice impedes accurate reports. Twenty thousand protestors challenged “racist reporting” of the New Cross fire on Black People’s Day of Action, 2 March 1981.

Protests followed the Guardian’s discredited Broadwater Farm story. They reported that “In 1985, the Broadwater Farm estate in Tottenham erupted. Fuelled by racism, social exclusion, police brutality, poverty and the like, youths took to the streets”.

The MP for Tottenham, David Lammy, provides an excellent explanation of the inflammatory media coverage of the 2011 London and national riots in his book Out of the Ashes.

Young Black men were systematically portrayed negatively as crime-prone in the mainstream media, according to the REACH study of 2011.

In sum, The Collective’s letter did not report the perils of British race-media history: media prejudices, Black protest, and unmet commitments to equality and equity.

The new Black journalist –Press for Progress and a FAIR MEDIA

Newsrooms need history-smart, socially conscious Black journalists to change the colour of the news. The challenge is to construct a FAIR MEDIA and more accurate presentations of Black people. The best and most competent adversaries will recall that the abolitionist Frederick Douglass’s North Star spoke to and for Black people out of a history of anti-slavery protest in London and the colonies.

Of course invigorated Black scribes will ply their trade [they are paid to do it]. But the prize-winners will write newsworthy stories that reveal something new, surprising, creative and significant about Black and minority ethnic communities.

Furthermore, a hardy band of comrades will mark the critical issues involved in journalism, for students, trainees and professionals. They’ll challenge British newsrooms run as private and racially exclusive clubs.

Advocates know that occasionally liberally minded media barons can and do offer Black journalists outstanding prospects and salaries. But what the Collective fails to understand is that media restrictive practices are unfair. Concessions to them won’t change things – or save their jobs.

However,the prototypes for success are at hand. Staples are special training programmes and strategies to recruit, promote and retain minority staff. Black journalists should require no less than zero tolerance of discrimination. And urge close monitoring of the performance and attitudes of senior managers.

In truth, Black journalists can be strongly on the side of Black people and still pitch themselves to insist on a FAIR MEDIA FOR ALL. But it will take more than pleading to uncaring editors and media barons who influence public opinion. And here are the pillars of change.

Create human resource managers and race equality employment practices in newsgathering and publishers organisations

Affirm that discriminatory restrictive practices break acknowledged fair employment practices

Improve race relations and pay standards throughout the media industry

Warn media regulatory bodies and trade associations that persistent race-media delinquents must not be tolerated

Encourage unbiased policies and actions from the professional organisations — the Newspaper Publishers Association, the Society of Editors and the Society of Newspaper Editors

Write the Every Teacher’s Manual for the journalism schools that feed graduates into the industry’s newsrooms.

Enhance opportunities to influence debate on press and broadcasting freedom, ethics and the culture and business of news media.

Challenge diversity fatigue in the media industry and the BBC

Organise a National Association of Black Journalists

Establish fraternal alliances with African, Caribbean and diaspora news outlets and forge trans-Atlantic alliances with the US National Associations of Black, Asian and Latino journalists

Moreover, new-style Black journalists must tell media owners, advertisers and marketers that the media public is growing more diverse in interests and demands. Blacks and Asians are now significant part the media public: therefore, they are readers and consumers to be catered for.

Call for Action for Black Journalists and the media

Clearly, Black journalists have a harder row to hoe than whites do. Crucially, they must cast off the blinkers — and halters, too. Black scribes, the past is not past. The present is not post-racial. And you are free to progress new ideas that wash away the stale old ones clogging up the newsrooms.

Think about a future in mainstream media industries. Create the hotbed of new ideas inside the newsrooms. You’ll know you’ve built a future when history-armed Black journalists report the wellsprings of creativity in predominantly Black neighbourhoods and social housing. You’ll feel it when you “write the wrongs of media prejudice”. And you’ll know it when you get your awards for accurately depicting and engaging with Black public intellectuals, innovative activists, ethnic migrants, students, workers and artists, and Asian and white allies.

Moreover, why not launch the first Black British E-zine to inform, educate and entertain subscribers. Why not develop your skills in immersive journalism, producing news that gives people the chance to gain first-person experiences of events and situations described in news stories. Delivered via the internet, smart media and email you can reach thousands of Millennials and Alpha generation youth. Launched a Not-for-Profit enterprise that’s independent and low-cost, you will be your own writers, editors and cooperative proprietors in charge. WHY NOT???

Black scribes, by your actions three things will surely happen. Old race-biased habits and barriers in the mainstream newsrooms will crumble. Media bosses wil value innovative news gatherers and commentators. And 21st century Black communities will benefit.

CAVEAT CANEM – Letter to the spokesperson. Why the anonymity?

Dear Ms Marverine Cole

Director of the BA (Hons) Journalism course

Birmingham City University

Your Letter to Editors claims the 100-member Black Journalists Collective (BJCUK) “work across the industry at organisations including The Guardian, the Daily Mirror, Sky News, BBC News and ITN, the home of ITV News, Channel 4 News and 5 News”. https://twitter.com/BJCUK1 However, critics raise some important concerns.

Unnamed journalists –Why haven’t “the 100” signed the Letter to Editors?

What are their professional credentials?

What posts do they hold — trainee, fulltime, freelance, reporters, broadcasters, editorial, management — or other including college and journalism school lecturers/professors?

How did you recruit them?

Are they members of the National Union of Journalists and Black Members Council?

How many and what proportion are Black British of African, Afro-Caribbean and Diaspora roots — and how many are white, Asian and “other”?

Have fellow non-Collective Black journalists and community leaders read and confirmed your Letter?

What is the Collective’s stand in the bruising battle of race-media issues the Chronicleworld describes.

Indeed, what prompted the Letter? Why the anonymity? And how many editors have replied in support since your launch, asks the veteran newsman Alex Pascall OBE. He is the former chair of the NUJ Black Members Council and member of the NUJ National Executive Council and main speaker for the 2019 Claudia Jones Lecture Series named after the founder of the first modern Black newspaper, the West Indian Gazette and Afro-Asian Caribbean News.

I’m sure you will agree that in these troubled times – of the Grenfell tower fire tragedy and the Windrush Generation debacle and deportations — Black journalists have a crucial role to play in constructing a FAIR MEDIA for the 21st century.

Aroused Black Journalists Blast British Media on Racism

BUT MUST DRAW STRENGTH FROM THEIR ROOTS AND CITIZENS JOURNALISTS

By Thomas L Blair, 18 March 2021 © member National Union of Journalists

Campaigning with a conscience, hundreds of leading mainstream Black journalists and freelancers have posted an open letter to the whites-mainly, “we are not racists” Society of Editors, once again. This time in the aftermath of the Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, bombshell claim of UK media abuse and bigotry in their interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Admittedly the letter writers aim at persuasion and put their position on public record. But it will take more than periodic and decades of damning letters to influence uncaring, news profiteers – the editors and media barons.

Take heed: Rehabilitating the media is a sham if only the powerful and majority culture is given the means to voice their reality and experiences

So, what to do? Now is the time to gain strength from their proud history, recognise the value of the new social media innovators and organise for a stronger collective future.

REMEMBER YOUR ROOTS IN THE UNIVERSITY OF ADVERSITY

First, gain strength of purpose from the iconic forebears — the graduates of the University of Adversity. Honour the earliest Black American abolitionists and suffragettes writing and lecturing in Great Britain and Ireland circa 1845-1894. Frederick Douglass, editor of the North Star, famously said “If there is no struggle, there is no progress… Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.” Ida B Wells exploited as many connections to Victorian print culture as she could to maximize her message: “to tell the black people’s side of the story”.

Dig deep in Amy Ashwood Garvey’s Caribbean News and Claudia Jones’ West Indian Gazette who trumpeted the Black British perspective in the mid-20th century: Jobs, Self-development and Trade Union Solidarity. Be heartened by Aubrey Baynes who’s West Indian World countered media prejudice “to illuminate the dark corners by printing the truth’.

APPEAL TO SOCIAL MEDIA INNOVATORS

Second, diversity and Inclusion are essential elements of a functioning, free and equal media and society. Supplement traditional news reporting on Black communities with informative content from blogs, websites and Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Scroll through Black Cyberspace for headline stories. Straight from the unfiltered, real-time conversations, opinions, activities, between consumers and influencers, often across racial and faith lines.

Click on the Black Journalists’ Collective UK, a support network seeking to embrace and elevate Black journalists and entrants to news work.

Visit the Black Cultural Archives to discover how Black people have strived to record their histories, while speaking for and representing themselves.

Browse Gal-Dem to gain the perspectives of people of colour from marginalised genders. Tweet Black Ballad a lifestyle platform telling the human experience through eyes of black British women.

Monitor the advocacy campaigners The Institute of Race Relations and The Ubele Initiative.

Blog with The Muslim News and Keep the Faith on equality issues facing ethnic and faith communities. Try messaging with Marcus Ryder MBE, media diversity academic at Birmingham City University.

CHARTING THE FUTURE

The unrepresentative nature of the media is rightly a concern. Black journalists of the past never pretended to maintain news balance. Nor did they believe that it was a necessary element of good journalism. They recognised that “neutral coverage” in the mainstream media reinforces white supremacy. So they eschewed “objectivity” and focused on portraying the truth of racial injustice.

Therefore, Black journalists have more to do than write polemic letters to media hypocrites. It’s time to associate together – cementing bonds and gaining the strength of solidarity.

Time to learn from their own history and the social media innovators.

Time to reject the bosses and algorithms in charge of what the Black audience reads and thinks.

Time to organise and act with communities to shape British Black journalism in the future, without fear or favour.

Cyber-action for Social Change

March 16, 2008

Afro-Blogosphere – New Frontier For Black Advancement

Sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith. After a decade of reporting on the Black Experience, I’ve given our Internet news magazine a reality check.

For more than a decade, The Chronicleworld.org website has proved to be an effective commentary on social prejudices that malign people of colour.

Now, with the new Chronicleworld’s Weblog, I’ll be blogging to help information-poor communities create a strong base in cyberspace for their aims and demands.

This is no misty-eyed dream. People’s wants and needs are terrestrial, and real world solutions to social problems must be found. Political leaders and information power brokers must be challenged to supply them.

But the crucial point is that communities using the Internet and new technologies gain an advantage. They can increase the pressure for pay-offs in economic, cultural, political and democratic dividends.

Eminent Black scientists – such as mathematician-engineer Philip Emeagwali, “a father of the Internet” and Cheikh Modibo Diarra, astro-physicist and head of Bill Gates’ Microsoft Africa – have given us the info-tech tools. And, in my view, political blogging and cyberaction can help information-poor communities begin to shape equitable societies and nations.

Future occasional postings will explore key issues about the Afro-Blogosphere and political blogging for advancement. Among them: Is blogging a toy or a tool? What are the benefits and disadvantages? Who gains and who loses?

April 26, 2008

Cyberaction For Social Change

Citizen journals are a mighty force for Info-freedom

“Honest and unfiltered”. That’s the future of online journalism. Ordinary citizens will publish top quality articles, blogs and reports in “citizen journals”.

Some bloggers will watch-dog the work of conventional journalists, public relations agents, thought-controllers and spin-doctors.Others will challenge media chiefs, bosses and elected officials to monitor biases, inaccuracies and racial stereotypes in the mainstream press in print broadcasting and online.

That’s why I was so delighted to win this year’s highly-prized blogging competition sponsored by The-Latest, the citizen journal on the Internet.

The judging panel saluted my journal article, “Deaths expose France’s hidden racism”, as “A gripping and vivid blog”. It opened a new chapter in the debate “on what it means to be Black and French in the Land of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity”. A challenge that is not without significance in all western nations.

Fierce competition

Speaking at the award luncheon in a London restaurant, Marc Wadsworth, editor of the popular UK-based citizen journal, said: “The competition was fierce. There was some excellent writing on issues ranging from improving London’s public transport to reporting on market life in China”.

Deborah Hobson, contributing editor, presented the journal’s award and said “the judges’ decision was unanimous”. She hoped to continue to attract innovative bloggers and make The-Latest “a real contender to mainstream media”. Furthermore, citizen journalism is part of her winning strategy for the future. She wants to give bloggers more space for their reports and images. And, Hobson and her colleagues, hope that “getting more readers from overseas will put our journal on the international radar with some scoops in words and images”

Innovative blogging sought

Speaking of which, promoting blogging is close to the horizon of my own interests. But, as I insisted in my after-lunch remarks, blogging and citizen journalism, however well-intentioned, without firm editorial direction will run the risk of being merely a fringe element of how politics is done and communicated.

Warming up to the subject, I said that the rush for headline grabbin headlines and “breaking news” reported by bloggers hardly ever leads to beneficial social change. Moreover, much of what is offered in citizen journals is a crude mix of personality cult-ism, ad-hoc opinions, frivolous comment, unsavoury gossip and downright nonsense masquerading as journalism.

One popular complaint is that it is difficult for concerned individuals to find practical, concise, balanced information written in a user-friendly style about relevant issues. What is sorely needed, it seems to me, is a structured guide to promoting information freedom, especially to raise up the voices of the public, consumers, low-income workers and racially oppressed sections of society.

Emerging social movement

Therefore, I welcomed the award not only for myself but as one of a growing number of bloggers for information freedom. Political blogging and citizen journals can be powerful antidotes to media misinformation and political manipulation. Everywhere, they add to an informed, democratic political dialogue.

In this regard, we in western nations have a lot to learn from bloggers and citizen reporters in developing countries. Surfprisingly, in the vanguard are Black cyber-organisers, journalists, and Internet community leaders in sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, Britain, Europe and America. They aim to end the digital divide between the information-haves and the powerless have-nots (http://www.citizenjournalismafrica.org). They affirm that the way forward is using the tools of modern technology “to create, augment or fact-check media on their own or in collaboration with others”.

The way forward

With this in mind, I welcomed The-Latest award as a tribute to the pioneers of a new Internet social movement. Partisans of the fledging movement are battling from a central premise: people talking to people, and sharing diverse perspectives, can propose honest answers to troubling questions using the new technologies.

Whenever and wherever they come together with a collective voice, striking a blow for information freedom, then that’s what citizen journalism in a digital world should be all about.

Copyright and author Thomas L Blair 2008

For further of exploration of these ideas, see http://www.chronicleworld.org, Archive 06, 10/12/05 “Taming the Internet. Excluded 