News

The family of Sean Rigg is a step closer to finding some truth in regard to Sean’s death in police custody back in 2008.

On New Years Eve I was called by BBC's Radio 4 news programme to comment on the Government's plans to drop the great Black Victorian Mary Seacole from the National Curriculum. The Jamaican Mary Seacole became an heroine when she travelled over 4,000 miles to nurse and attend sick British soldiers in the Crimea during the Crimean War. During her life her exploits were revered, by royalty, the military elite and thousands of ordinary citizens. More than 100 years later, tens of thousands of school children view Seacole as a wonderful role model.

An independent report has found that the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) must improve its response to mental health to reduce the likelihood of deaths or serious injury occurring. The report highlights issues of severe discrimination towards those with mental health issues. Worst still the levels of discrimination increases when the victim is from an ethnic minority background.

Nine councillors, mostly Asian abandoned the local Labour party in Harrow, North-West London claiming ‘racial elements’ forced the group to split.

Thaya Idaikkadar who was the Leader of the Council said he was not given a reason for the challenge to his Leadership stating,

there were racial elements at play with this challenge."

Mr Thaya Idaikkadar laid claim to be the first Council Leader from Sri Lankan origin in British history.

What do Rosa Parks, Angela Davis, Mary Seacole, Shaka Zulu, Malcolm X, Michelle Obama, Jay-Z (and others) all have in common? They marched through Clapham Common Park in a bid to raise awareness on health and wellbeing issues in the black community.

Last Sunday’s match between Milan and Roma at the San Siro in Milan had to be halted because of repeated racial abuse towards Milan’s Black players including Mario Balotelli, and Kevin-Prince Boateng. The referee took the players off the field whilst an announcement was made to those fans who were chanting racial abuse.

Thanks to you we’ve reached another milestone with the Walter Tull petition: 10k individuals throughout the country have now asked the Prime Minister David Cameron to consider posthumously awarding Walter Tull the Military Cross for which he was recommended.

A few weeks ago, I met with Tull’s biographer Phil Vasili, who both applauded the efforts of our petition and pledged to work together to ensure the legacy of this most extraordinary man is duly honoured.

British Sikhs are a “model” community, Premier David Cameron told guests at a reception he hosted to mark Vaisakhi, the annual Sikh harvest festival. Held at Number Ten, the two-hour event brought together around 200 guests, each eminent in their respective fields of work.

Traditionally Vaisakhi in Punjab had been a time for farmers to reap the fruits of their toil and a time for joy after the long-awaited harvest.