Category Archives: Black Lives Matter

As we draw near to the end of a year once again characterised by COVID-19, in this Decembers highlights, iwonder pulls together a selection of documentaries that delve deeper into some of 2021s other most defining world events.

Despite news emanating from all corners of the globe, its once again hard to look past the US for issues that have dominated the past 12 months, with the Capitol riots, Black Lives Matter and the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, all leaving an indelible mark on our view of the year gone by. This month, iwonder takes a closer look at each of these themes, starting with the HBO Documentary Films production, Yusuf Hawkins: Storm over Brooklyn, new to iwonder from December 1st.

Then in this months iwonder What Top Five, we cast our reflective net further afield, with a closer look at everything from COVID & cruise ships, through to the new era of space exploration and the pressing issues addressed at COP26.

See you in 2022.

New to iwonder this December, Yusuf Hawkins: Storm Over Brooklyn tells the story of a black American teenager who was shot and murdered after being trapped by a group of white youths in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, in 1989. The incident shocked New York and the country, resulting in long-simmering racial tensions finally reaching a boiling point, as protestors and counter-protestors took to the streets where the crime occurred.

With the conviction and sentencing of former police officer, Derek Chauvin, in June this year for the murder of George Floyd, which lit the fuse on the Black Lives Matter movement that continued to make headlines for much of this year, the story of Yusuf Hawkins is a reminder of the progress that still needs to be made globally when it comes to stamping out racism and addressing racial inequality.

On August 30th, 2021, the US officially completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan, bringing an end to a 20-year military presence, which had already ended effectively ended two weeks earlier on August 15th when the Taliban reasserted their control over the nation.

As the world looked on with fear as many questioned the fate of Afghans, particularly women, under the harsh rule of the Taliban, one American woman who knew well what it was like to fight for freedom and justice in the troubled nation was Kimberley Motley, the subject of Motleys Law.

Kimberly left her husband and three kids in the US to work as a defence lawyer in Kabul in 2008, becoming the first foreign lawyer to litigate in Afghanistans courts. Human rights cases and troubled expats motivated her to stay, but personal threats, including grenades thrown into the front of her offices, and general conditions in the country, made it harder and harder for Kimberly to continue her work.

On January 6th, 2021, the US experienced one of its darkest days in living memory, as a group of Trump supporters, spurred on by the tirades of the former President, stormed the Capitol building, wreaking mayhem which lead to the deaths of four people. It marked the last frenzied days of a turbulent Presidency that exposed some of the ugliest fissures in American society and the deepening divides between the political left and right.

Pardoned by Donald Trump in one of his last acts as President, alt-right figurehead, Steve Bannon, was hugely influential in setting the former President on his path to the White House, having served as Chief Strategist for the 2016 campaign. Interviewed by Academy Award winning documentary legend Errol Morris (The Fog of War, The Thin Blue Line) for the documentary American Dharma, Morris presses Bannon on his controversial views, exposing the inner workings and beliefs of a man with a dark and disturbing view of American politics and society.

Democracy itself came under attack just days into the new year, when a rally in support of President Donald Trump turned deadly, as thousands of protestors stormed the U.S. Capitol building. The unprecedented chaos in the nations capital began midday Wednesday at a Save America rally where Trump incited his supporters to march to Capitol Hill, where Congress was meeting to certify Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States. From there, rioters overpowered security and stormed the building, looting offices and forcing lawmakers to flee in panic. While the chaos resulted in the sad deaths of four people, the day will long be remembered as a dark episode in Americas proud history.

Yusef Kirriem Hawkins was a 16-year-old black teenager from East New York who was shot to death on August 23, 1989, in Bensonhurst, a predominantly Italian-American working-class neighbourhood of Brooklyn. After Hawkins, his younger brother, and two friends were attacked by a crowd of 10 to 30 white youths, one, armed with a handgun, shot Hawkins twice in the chest, killing him. Hawkins death was the third killing of a black male by white mobs in New York City during the 1980s. The incident led to a torrent of racial tension in New York City in the ensuing days and weeks, culminating in a series of protest marches through the neighbourhood.

COVID-19, the Israel-Palestinian conflict, space exploration, climate change and tensions with China, all get the iwonder up-close treatment with this months Top Five selection of documentaries, addressing some of the most prevalent themes and events of 2021 around the world.

This documentary tells the story of how the biggest global crisis in living memory brought the multibillion-dollar lucrative cruise industry to its knees and hundreds of ships around the world to a standstill across six extraordinary weeks. It also explores the role of cruise ships and the spread of the virus, and asks if the wellbeing of passengers and crew was always put first.

Trapped in the worlds largest open-air prison and ruled by war, a new generation is drawn to the beaches. Sick of occupation and political gridlock, they find their own personal freedom in the waves of the Mediterranean they are the surfers of Gaza.

In the short span of just 3 decades, China has seen the largest lifting of people out of poverty that has ever taken place in human history. How China Got Rich looks at the astonishing story of how an impoverished and backward communist country became the engine of global capitalism that it is today.

A field currently dominated by men, the private industry space race reached new heights in 2021 with a slew of spaceflight companies launching their billionaire owners into orbit. From a Lego-loving young girl who includes female pilots in her toy airplanes, to a courageous woman who helped lead shuttle missions to space, Fly Like a Girl tells the stories of girls and women who also dared to aim higher.

The Pacific Island of Kiribati is a beautiful, tranquil place, seemingly far removed from the pressures of modern life, yet it is one of the first countries to face one of the most perilous side-effects of industrialisation: sea-level rise. With the promise and frustrations of COP26 still fresh in the worlds minds as we rush to avoid climate catastrophe, Anotes Ark serves as a poignant warning to the world of the cost of failure.

Note: All content highlights are based on availability in Australia. Variations will apply across New Zealand, South East Asia and the Middle East.

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The Capitol riots, Black Lives Matter and troop withdrawals in Afghanistan the focus this December on iwonder - TV Blackbox

In the year since the death of George Floyd triggered a wave of Black Lives Matter protests, societies across the world, including here in Britain have reckoned with racial disparities.

These include the lack of representation in boardrooms, to biases in the criminal justice system. Another area being examined is mental health.

Campaigners have highlighted the lack of counsellors and therapists from ethnic minority backgrounds as well as the mental impact of dealing with racism in day-to-day life.

Research by the Health & Social Care Information Centre in 2013 showed that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) individuals make up only 9.6 per cent of qualified clinical psychologists in England and Wales, in contrast to 14 percent of the population.

Speaking on The Daily Podcast with Dermot Murnaghan, Eugene Ellis a practicing psychotherapist and the chair and founder of The Black, African and Asian Therapy Network, said that group has grown in the last year, but the wider industry needs to get better at having conversations around race.

"I think it's a skill set that people learn," he said. "The problem is that racism is a taboo area we are not supposed to talk about."

"It's a big problem," he added, "people might be in distress and turn up wanting help, but the therapists don't know how to work with it, especially if you're abiding experiences are of being seen in a particular way through racism."

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Another issue addressed our podcast was the fact Black people were more than four times as likely as White people to be detained under the Mental Health Act - 321.7 detentions per 100,000 people, compared with 73.4 per 100,000 people.

One person who has experienced this first hand is Eche Egbuonu, who has bipolar disorder. After being sectioned, he checked himself out of a hospital and returned home where he had an altercation with his family, leading to his parents calling the police.

A struggle ensued, before they used a taser to restrain him and put him in handcuffs.

"I do remember the sensation, he said. "It is so strange one second, you have control of your faculties of your legs, and then in the next second, you're on the ground, you've collapsed."

Although he is not certain the incident and the police's use of force was linked to his race, it was "definitely a possibility" because of perceptions of black people as aggressive.

Using his lived experience, he has is now campaigning for greater intervention in the black community before people like himself reach "crisis point" like he did, something he feels could be addressed by training more community leaders in mental health first aid.

"I think if some people in the community had access to that kind of training that would have helped them maybe identify what the issue was and to signpost and find the kind of most appropriate resource in that particular moment," he added.

Marlon Bruce, a community consultant, says using counselling services since he was a student has benefited him, but he also feels there is a need for more black mental health professionals.

One thing he is pleased about however, is how more black men he knows are talking about how they feel.

"It's been the biggest shift I've ever seen, he said.

"No longer is it the black guy who's strong and macho. But we can cry, we can share what's bugging us.

"You know, we can have those conversations. What I've realised is the longer you bottled up those emotions, the worse it is in the long run."

The Metropolitan Police refused to comment specifically on Eche's case, but it said police officers draw their use of force powers from Common Law Section three of the Criminal Law Act 1967 and Section 117 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act.

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Are perceptions around race holding back mental health services? - Sky News

November is Black Catholic History Month, but the faithfuls ignorance of the historical issues of race, racism and invisibility continue to strain Black Catholics' relationship with American Catholics and bishops. The insensitive and incendiary Nov. 4 speech by Los Angeles Archbishop Jos Gomez, head of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, helps explain why.

Gomez managed to offend Black Catholics, lay and clergy alike.

Gomez managed to offend Black Catholics, lay and clergy alike, with his ill-advised, ill-timed remarks about social justice movements being pseudo-religions. The speech, given online to the Congress of Catholics and Public Life in Madrid, obliquely referred to, but avoided explicitly naming, the Black Lives Matter movement. Calling social justice movements a rival 'salvation' narrative, Gomez went on to say social justice movements are political religious movements and "replacements and rivals to traditional Christian beliefs."

Clearly the archbishop did not consider the Pew Research Center survey from February that showed 77 percent of Black Catholics consider opposing racism essential to their faith. This kind of white supremacist culture war talk from the head of the USCCB is, frankly, a disaster for the American church if it wants Black Catholics to remain in the pews.

The negative reaction to the archbishops speech in Americas Black Catholic community and the larger Catholic community was swift. As of Wednesday, more than 13,000 people had signed a petition condemning the archbishops remarks, calling for him to apologize and to stand with social justice movements as Pope Francis has. The National Black Sisters' Conference, a group of Black nuns in religious orders across the United States, in a statement also called on the archbishop to apologize and reiterated the role of Catholics in the civil rights movement: When African-American lives are systematically devalued in this country and in the Catholic Church, we must speak out. BLM is not a pseudo-religion; nor is it a dangerous substitute for true religion. It is a movement very much in the tradition of Catholic Social Teaching.

Racism within the American Catholic church has been a problem for far too long. In 2017, the USCCB formed an ad-hoc committee against racism in the wake of the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Since the 1980s, the USCCB has published a series of statements about racism. The most recent one, Open Wide Our Hearts: the Enduring Call to Love, was a pastoral letter issued after the events of Charlottesville. Yet the history of racism has plagued the Catholic church in America. That history includes the Jesuits at Georgetown selling off their slaves to save the institution.

To put it baldly, Black Catholics are tired. The Catholic church in America has time and time again claimed to be aware of the deep wound of slavery and racism in the church. Yet from the top of the bishops conference to the diocesan priest, it seems the need to identify with racism and white supremacy continues to destroy any progress the church has tried to make. Consider thesuspension of an Indiana priest over statements he made in summer 2020 about Black Lives Matter protesters being maggots and parasites, or the Michigan priest who compared Black Lives Matter protesters to terrorists.

Gomezs comments are right at home with these priests. Thats scandalous.

Black Catholics are tired.

The irony is that Gomez calls the Black Lives Matter movement and others like it political religions, but the USCCBs continued favoritism of the Republican Party and the disdain some of its members have for Pope Francis is just as politically motivated as they believe Black Lives Matter to be. And their politics has more dire consequences for their churches.

The consequences include the alienation and departure of Black Catholics from the church. The Pew survey "Faith Among Black Americans" estimated that 6 percent of Black Americans are Catholic, but Religion News Service, which reported on the study, pointed out that "nearly half of those raised Catholic no longer identify as Catholic (46%, compared to 39% of all Americans raised Catholic). About 1 in 5 Black adults who were raised Catholic have become unaffiliated (19%), and a quarter have become Protestant (24%).

Thats why the National Black Catholic Congress series Black Catholics and the Millennial Gap is important. With so many Black Catholics leaving the church, the archbishop might want to rethink his culture warrior stance to shore up an already dwindling flock.

For Black Catholics who have endured racism in the pews, in Catholic schools and from priests and bishops, it is becoming clear that statements about opposing racism are not enough. If the American Catholic church does not want to lose an important, vibrant part of Catholicism in America, it would behoove the head of the bishops conference to apologize for his ill-advised remarks, which threaten to make the Catholic church in America just another pseudo political movement.

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Black Catholics have a right to be frustrated with a church that ignores racism - MSNBC

In few places in Oregon are cultural politics as toxic as in Newberg, where the school board in September banned displays of Black Lives Matter symbols and Pride flags.

Tai Harden-Moore traces the fracture to her unsuccessful bid to serve on the school board in 2020.

Harden-Moore, 41, a diversity and inclusion consultant, moved to Yamhill County when she returned to Oregon in 2015 because renting a house in Portland was unaffordable for her family.

On Nov. 30, she announced shes running for office againthis time for Yamhill County commissionerwith priorities to tackle the homelessness crisis, the economy and the lack of access to good-paying jobs in Yamhill County. But in Yamhill County, any bid for elected office means a confrontation with the Newberg School Boards racist and homophobic policiesthe states most prominent example of conservative panic over critical race theory.

We asked Harden-Moore what she makes of the political outrage Yamhill County has sparked in Portland.

WW: Is there something in particular that inspired your run for office?

Tai Harden-Moore: I ran for school board in the last election cycle, and I lost that election, and weve seen the repercussions of that loss with the Newberg School Board and the racist and discriminatory policies that theyve put forward, banning Black Lives Matter and Pride symbols. And that was a direct result, I think, of my loss.

But I was very committed to helping this community, to addressing the issues that need to be addressed in this community. This is my home. And, as a Black woman, I have just as much right to say what I like and what I dont like about the community I live in. Im going to do something to fix it.

How did your loss result in this?

The other candidates ran as a slate of Save Our Schools. And the question continuously was: Save our schools from who? And [the answer was] from them, those women of color, those outsiders. And so there was a lot of drama around my run, and folks were tearing down my sign, saying that I was un-American, I was unpatriotic and things like that based on nothing more than the fact that Im just a Black woman. And so a Black woman living in Newberg and Yamhill County, they felt I could not be patriotic, could not be a proud American, which is completely untrue. My father was a veteranhes buried in the national cemetery in Washingtonso thats not true.

And that really did help me make the decision to make this run because those people cant have the loudest voice.

Whats the most alarming thing to you about the decisions that have been made by the school board?

I think the potential illegality of it. There hasnt been a legal decision made yet on the policy or the firing of the superintendent or any of the things going on in Newberg.

Have you experienced a change in how youre treated in the community because youre a Black woman?

Newberg has not been a completely unwelcoming place to me because Im Black, but it hasnt been a completely welcoming place either.

My primary concerns were always for my children. And my son left the district at his request because he was called the N-word in seventh grade and just felt like he wasnt able to make real connections with friends. He was kind of boxed in by teachers. Hes an athlete. So he was the Black athlete and no one wanted to see him as any more than that, but hes also a brilliant student who gets straight As now that hes at another school.

Is there anything hopeful for you about whats happening around the school board or the high school?

Were not this racist place where nobodys welcomed here. Thats not Newberg. If it were, I wouldnt live here, but thats the narrative thats being pushed by some folks that dont like Black Lives Matter.

You mentioned surviving cancer: What does that experience mean you bring to elected office?

Im actually currently still in treatment. Im in treatment for stage IV metastatic breast cancer, and will be in treatment for the rest of my life. Ive been in treatment for four years [as of Nov. 30], so the launch date of the campaign was not by accident.

I had cancer in law school and it didnt stop me, then why would it stop me now?

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Tai Harden-Moore Is Running for Office in the Center of a Battle Over Anti-Racism in Schools - Willamette Week

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Black Lives Matter raised eyebrows with a Thanksgiving post that characterized America as "stolen land."

"You are eating dry turkey and overcooked stuffing on stolen land," BLM's national arm wrote on Twitter Thursday. The post included a graphic repeating the "stolen land" claim.

"You are on stolen land. Colonization never ended, it just became normalized," the graphic said, instructing Americans to learn "which ancestral homeland" they are "currently occupying."

BLM DISSES KYLE RITTENHOUSE AFTER HE SAYS HE SUPPORTS MOVEMENT: I DONT F--- WITH YOU'

The tweet quickly sparked backlash on social media.

BLM, which supports defunding the police, has been a constant source of controversy.

Co-founder Patrisse Cullors announced her departure from BLM earlier this year, amid scrutiny of the group's finances. Cullors had garnered scrutiny by purchasing several homes worth millions of dollars.

BLM sparked backlash in July after releasing a statement that appeared to side with Cuba's communist regime over freedom-seeking protesters.

A Black Lives Matter banner is displayed on the building of the U.S. Embassy in Spain, on May 25, 2021 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Oscar Caas/Europa Press via Getty Images)

The statement originally posted on Instagram and later tweeted and retweeted blamed the U.S. embargo for the country's instability and credited the Cuban government for historically granting "Black revolutionaries" asylum.

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Cuba is being "punished by the U.S. government because the country has maintained its commitment to sovereignty and self-determination," the statement read. The group said Cuba has been an ally with "oppressed peoples of African descent" and praised the countrys effort to protect "Black revolutionaries like Assata Shakur."

Shakur, also known as JoAnne Chesimard, was convicted of being an accomplice in the 1973 slaying of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster, who left behind a wife and 3-year-old son. Shakur later escaped prison and fled to Cuba, where former Cuban leader Fidel Castro granted her asylum.

Fox News' Edmund DeMarche contributed reporting

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Black Lives Matter claims America is 'stolen land' in Thanksgiving tweet - Fox News

Outside a Georgia courthouse on Wednesday, the father of Ahmaud Arbery spoke to the press after three men were convicted of murdering his son.

Some outlets and reporters have misquoted Marcus Arbery Sr., however, suggesting he used a controversial slogan that is associated with criticism of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Several tweets claiming that Arbery had said "all lives matter" went viral.

What he actually said was "all life matter" as he spoke about not wanting another family to lose a child the way he had lost his son.

"We conquered that lynch mob," he said outside the Glynn County Courthouse. "We got that lynch mob letting you know that Black kid's life don't matter.

"For real, all life matter, not just Black children. We don't want to see nobody go through this. I don't want to see no daddy watch their kid get lynched or shot down like that. So, it's all our problem. It's all our problem.

"So, hey, let's keep fighting, let's keep making this place a better place for all human beings. All human beings. Everybody. Love everybody. All human beings need to be treated equally. We're going to conquer this lynching. Today is a good day."

Black Lives Matter also celebrated the verdicts. "GUILTY! We uplift the Spirit of #AhmaudArbery and send love to his family," the organization posted on Twitter.

"Deep appreciation to all who organized, protested, ran, posted, and prayed. Every effort ushered in as much justice as could be had. May this victory inspire the continued struggle for Black freedom."

Ahmaud Arbery's name became a rallying cry during the racial justice protests that erupted after the murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white police officer in May 2020.

Arbery's death in February 2020 had attracted limited attention at first, but video of the fatal shooting posted online sparked an outcry.

On Wednesday, after about 10 hours of deliberation, a mostly white jury convicted Greg McMichael, his son Travis McMichael and their neighbor William "Roddie" Bryan of Arbery's murder. All three face a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

The McMichaels had grabbed guns and jumped in a pickup truck to pursue the 25-year-old after seeing him running in their neighborhood outside Brunswick.

Federal authorities have also charged the men with hate crimes, alleging they chased and killed Arbery because he was Black. That case will go to trial in February.

Ben Crump, an attorney who represents Marcus Arbery Sr, and Black Lives Matter have been contacted for comment.

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No, Ahmaud Arbery's Father Did Not Say 'All Lives Matter' - Newsweek

Melina Abdullah of Black Lives Matter explains how the 3 core tenets of the Black Xmas campaign are building Black, buying Black, and banking Black.

The holiday season is in full swing, with Christmas carols on the radio and shopping sales luring customers to spend their cash. In spite of rising inflation,retail numbers are highand economists predict a robust Black Friday sales surge. But this year, rather than giving into the consumerist pressure of the season, theBlack Xmascampaign started by Black Lives Matter Los Angeles urges shoppers to use their dollars wisely and in service of racial justice.

In November 2013, Melina Abdullah, one of the founders of Black Xmas, wrote the following in a Facebookpost four months after the formation ofBlack Lives Matter:

Under capitalism, we are trained to compete rather than cooperate, to hoard rather than share, and to hate rather than love. Capitalism breeds a coarse, cold, cruel world. As revolutionaries, we are charged with transforming the system. Living a life of loving kindness is a good first step. #BeKind.

Abdullah is a professor in the Department of Pan-African Studies at California State University, Los Angeles. A prominent leader inBLMLA, she helped start the Black Xmas campaign to promote Black-led organizations and Black-owned businesses and banks during the holiday season.

Abdullah spoke with YES! Racial Justice Editor Sonali Kolhatkar about how the campaign was started and what it aims to do.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Kolhatkar: Did the Facebook post you wrote in November 2013 express the philosophical basis for theBlack Xmascampaign?

Abdullah: Theres always been an analysis of the relationship between racism and capitalism. Malcolm X says you cannot have capitalism without racism, and thats absolutely a truism that we see emerge in this Black Lives Matter movement/moment.

When we were birthed, BLM had a critique of capitalism, and understood that capitalism necessitates harm brought on Black communities and the exploitation of Black labor, exploitation of Black consumers, exploitation of people of color. We understood that from the very beginning.

With the murder ofJohn Crawfordinside a Walmart store [in Ohio], it really brought everything home. It helped us to understand that as we confront systems of policing, as we recognize police as the descendants of slave catchers, we also have to think about them as protectors of capital and protectors of the ownership class and how that steals Black life, including the life of Crawford.

We also began to think about the role of White supremacist capitalism and the theft of Black life. And so, we birthed Black Xmas and really tried to get Black people to be conscious of the way in which we use our dollars and our resources. Are we feeding a system of White supremacy that steals Black Life, or are we using resources to really build stronger Black communities?

Remember that you dont just have to be in a frenzy and run into these stores and buy people things that they dont need. You can use your dollars to really build strong Black communities.

Over the last six years, Black Xmas has had three core tenets: Building Black, Buying Black, and Banking Black.

Take Building Black. Rather than buying people things, think about what your mother would want other than, say, a sweater. Maybe your mother is a lover of the arts, and maybe she would be grateful if you would donate in her name to theFernando Pullum Community Arts Center,which provides free arts programs for Black children.

Maybe your aunt is a survivor of domestic violence, and maybe she would appreciate a donation in her name to theJenesse Center,which provides housing and resources for survivorsespecially Black women survivorsof domestic violence.

Thats really what Black Xmas is about. Its about shaking off the chains of consumerism and confronting White capitalism but also building new traditions.

Kolhatkar: Is there a reason why its Black Xmas and not Christmas?

Abdullah: Well, Im not that Christian, but I was absolutely raised in a Christian church by a mother who still practices Christianity, by a family thats largely Christian.

And we have to remember that the largest groups of Muslimsthe plurality of Muslims in this countryare Black. We have to remember that there are a lot of Black folks who dont identify with Christianity, and even Christians who dont practice Christmas. So, we wanted it to be as inclusive as possible.

We call the holiday season a Season of Giving, and we actually have, on our Black Xmas website, cards that people can download that say, This season of giving, please donate in my name rather than buying me a gift. So Black Xmas is being used as a more inclusive term for people who practice Christmas, for people who practice Kwanzaa or any other holiday during this season, or no holiday at all, but still want to practice giving and building Black communities.

Kolhatkar: In addition to making donations to organizations, what about also supporting Black entrepreneurs and artists?

Abdullah: The second tenet of Black Xmas is Buying Black. Sometimes, your mother really does need a sweater. Rather than giving your money to Macys, you can go toNobody Jonesor other Black boutiques.

Rather than buying from Amazon, a company that we know exploits its workers, you can go to small Black-owned bookstores, likeEso Won Books orMalik Books.

Did you know that theres a Black-owned skateboard shop? If your kid really needs a skateboard for the holidays, you can go toThe Rad Black Kidsand buy a skateboard. The brother there who started Rad Black Kids has intentionally based his business in Compton and employs Compton residents to work there.

So rather than going to businesses that dont value Black people, that dont contribute to the building of Black community, we have a pretty strong list of Black organizations and businesses that youcan buy from.

Kolhatkar: What about the third tenet of Banking Black?

Abdullah: Remembering where our dollars are housed is also important. So if you bank atCitibank, you are financing our oppression. If you bank atBank of America or Wells Fargo, you need to think about how they invest in private prisons and ask, are your dollars being used for the financing of environmental degradation, like the Dakota Access Pipeline and other problematic projects? So we encourage people to move their money toBlack-owned banks.

Kolhatkar: Is engaging with Black Xmas this year a chance for non-Black people who say Black Lives Matter to prove it?

Abdullah: Put your money where your mouth isliterally. So if you want to say Black Lives Matter, make Black lives matter by investing in Black communities.

We know throughout the pandemic about 40% of Black-owned businesses permanently shuttered. This is a way of supporting those that remained and investing in those that are seeking to emerge coming back out of this pandemic.

A lot of Black folks also lost their jobs, so theyre launching new businesses. So this is a way for all people all around the world to really make Black lives matter.

Kolhatkar: How do you square your critique of capitalism by encouraging people to still engage in consumerism but just narrow it to Black-owned businesses and banks?

Abdullah: Were not seeking to create richer Black capitalists. When we say Buy Black, were really looking at small Black-owned businesses. Most Black-owned businesses have 12 employees, and oftentimes, the employees are the owners and the owners families. This is not about enriching Black capitalists. This is about building strong Black communities so that we can have a degree of autonomy and self-determination.

When we think also about what Black-owned businesses do for the Black community, theymore than any other type of businessalso create livable-wage jobs for other Black people. I think about restaurants in Los Angeles, likeSimply Wholesome, which intentionally employsreturning citizens.

So this is not about trading Black capitalism for White capitalism. This is about really thinking about what cooperative economics the principle of Ujamaa is and how we can use our dollars to begin to create those systems.

Kolhatkar: The Black Xmas website lists businesses in Southern California, including Los Angeles and Long Beach. But it also includes South Bend, Indiana, and Michigan. What is the geographic reach of the campaign?

Abdullah: Black Lives Matter is a global movement, which means many of our chapters are becoming involved in Black Xmas. The campaign originated in Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, which was the first chapter of Black Lives Matter and is still the largest one. But other BLM chapters are also engaging. All of the BLM chapters in Michigan and BLM in South Bend, Indiana, are also participating.

If businesses want to be featured, they can send an email to[emailprotected]. Were still trying to carry the bulk of the work, but if they email us, regardless of where they are, well look at their business, and if we have a chapter there, we can feature their business on our social media platforms.

Were not the only organization that does Buy Black work. There is a website calledWeBuyBlack.comthat has things like laundry detergent, batteries, and toilet paper! All of these things that you probably didnt know exist as Black-owned businesses.

Many of the businesses that we feature are online rather than solely brick-and-mortar. So you can always order online.

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How to Show Solidarity with Black Lives Matter this Holiday Season - YES! Magazine

The COVID-19 pandemic has created major challenges for businesses across the globe, but the head of Nova Scotia's Black Business Initiative (BBI) said there has also been positive change.

The Black Lives Matter movement in the United States and Canada was unlike anything Rustum Southwellhad seen in his time with the Halifax-based business development organization, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this week.

"There was a strange set of circumstances that caused people to be at home for COVID, looking at TV and so on, to see ... the brutality that was happening in the U.S. And that awoke many folks who wanted to help," said Southwell, who has been with BBI since it launched in 1996 and serves as interim CEO.

Suddenly, in the middle of a pandemic,BBI wasswamped with calls from people looking to support Black businesses, or companies looking for advice on how to become more inclusive.

Celebrating 25 years is a significantachievement, said Southwell.BBI's original goal of making sure Black entrepreneurs are supported in life, as well as in business, remains just as vital today.

The organizationreceives funding from the federal and provincial governments to deliver a huge range of training, grants, mentorshipand other programs.

BBI also works withbusinesses and services to set up anonline presence, often for the first time. Helping people move into the digital age ensures they will also be around for decades to come.

"The systemic challenges of racism and marginalization on top of that makes it a little bit more difficult for Black-owned companies to be hugely successful but we've sustained. There's a lot of companies that have done well," Southwell said.

Tiffani Young received help from BBI when she started her natural cosmetics company, Butter Bar, last year.

Young said BBI has had a huge impact on her business, covering the cost of a pop-up kiosk at the Halifax Shopping Centre, connecting her with fellow entrepreneursand helping her navigate the loan process.

Shesaid BBI is vital because the Black experience is unique, and the organizationunderstands the challenges she might face.

"It's not just about the business ... but also, you know, helping you to build your image, helping you to navigate a world that you may not always see a reflection of yourself in," Young said.

"It's nice to have that support system."

BBI's website notes it is the longest-serving Black business development initiative in Canada.

Its 25th anniversary will be marked by a sold-out gala dinner and awards event Friday evening at a Halifax hotel. The event will also be live streamed.

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.

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Black Lives Matter 'awoke many folks,' says Black business organization as it marks 25 years - CBC.ca

False narratives are making it more difficult for charities working on anti-racism agendas and social change issues, the chief executive of the Runnymede Trust has said.

Halima Begum was discussing the issue of charities and culture wars at an event organised by the law firm Bates Wells earlier this week.

The Runnymede Trust has been at the centre of some of these arguments this year, with Conservative MPs questioning the charity's motives. The Charity Commission cleared the Runnymede Trust of breaching charity law in September.

Begum said: It's been really difficult being in the charity sector, working on Black Lives Matter at a time when others are in control of that narrative.

She said that the term culture war was unhelpful and offensive to anyone who has experienced a real war.

Begum said her real concern with how they end up going from a place where we can discuss to one where it's just becoming quite dangerous.

She called for people on all sides to deescalate and focus on civilised debate, because the faux culture war narrative certainly doesn't benefit social change, and democracy.

Later in the debate she said that she had tried to resist being drawn in to culture war debates and that: I think there's something going on in British life that is about creating false narrative.

She also said that it was wrong to assume that we're in the middle of a very intense culture war because it is perpetuated by extremists on both sides.

Tessy Ojo, chief executive of the Diana Award, said changing attitudes was normal because as humans we evolve, we change, she explained.

The problem, she said, comes when one group tries to prevent others from taking part in discussions.

She added: If we have children who are the age of 21 wanting to be fed on baby food, we will have a problem, right? Why would we expect that society should stay the same as society was maybe 21 years ago?

I do agree that things have to be done with a lot of dialogue that is not about war, what we often find where perhaps this war is where there's one group much louder than another and wanting to suppress dialogue.

As a charity that champions young people she said the Diana Award manages to do this without becoming adversarial towards older people.

She said: How can we be the voice for them? How can we help pluck from the issues that they're facing without trying to suppress, for example, older people, we don't say actually, everyone keep quiet, because right now, the most important thing is a young person. No, because we can coexist.

Ojo and Begum both suggested that it is important to focus on the real issues.

Begum said: The way to fight inequality is by looking at what the data and the evidence is telling you.

Now, if the data and evidence is consistently telling you that some groups and society are left behind or the outcomes are not as equal, then it's incumbent on decision makers and the government and territories to do something about that.

Ojo described examples where young peoples expectations for their future and opportunities available to them were curtailed by their race or circumstances.

She said: What young people are asking is to have a fair chance.

She added that during the pandemic young people from middle class families saw their mental health improve, with their parents being around all day. But that for children from a minority group their mental health was 10 times worse at the end of the pandemic.

That's the kind of irony when we talk about inequality. That's what we need to be working on, she said.

Danny Kruger, Conservative MP and a junior member of the Levelling Up Department, also called for a civilised debate.

He said he would describe it as a religious conflict, because: At the heart of what we're seeing is a presence of a new religion, or a new manifestation and over culture, which I disagree with.

However, he said was quite appropriate to have public disagreement and discussion on the topic.

Elaborating on the idea of a new religion, he said it has roots in French existentialist theory from 50 years ago, which he described as: The idea that essentially, the material order matters less than people's beliefs and feelings.

In terms of how society resolves the issue, he said: In our traditions in England, we have a template which is the religious conflicts that we've had in this country. And in a nutshell, I would say that somebody needs to win this cultural disagreement.

He added that he hopes his side wins, but that the other side is accommodated, and gave an example of how Elizabeth I treated Catholic and Protestant extremists.

So I hope that a conservative victory in this culture war will then lead to a much more generous accommodation of the very valid theories and points and frankly, the freedoms of people to take a different view, he concluded.

See more here:

'It's difficult working on Black Lives Matter when others control the narrative' - Civil Society Media

The killing of George Floyd by a white police officer may have taken place thousands of miles away, but his agonising cry I cant breathe reverberated in the UK, too. In fact, it became the catalyst for the largest wave of anti-racist protests in British history, taking place in more than 260 towns and cities last summer.

These protests were very much rooted in the British experience. Demonstrators carried handmade placards with the names of black Britons killed by the British police; they demanded justice for members of the Windrush generation threatened with deportation and the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire; they decried the high Covid-19 death rate among communities of colour. Statues were toppled, streets renamed and venerable British institutions such as the Bank of England were forced to reckon with their ties to the slave trade. A year later, Black British Lives Matter, edited by Lenny Henry and Marcus Ryder, takes time to reflect on this extraordinary movement.

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The book comprises essays from 19 prominent black figures, including the historian David Olusoga, the architect David Adjaye, the Labour MP Dawn Butler and Baroness Doreen Lawrence, the mother of murdered teenager Stephen. It is an effective primer for those keen to understand why Floyds death drove hundreds of thousands of people to the street. The essays offer a 360-degree portrait of the black British experience, taking in health, the criminal justice system, politics, art, journalism, business and education. They interweave the writers lived experiences with their expertise.

This is expressed most powerfully in Lawrences essay, Black British Mothers Matter. She writes about how the tragic events of 22 April 1993, when her 18-year-old son was murdered by a gang of racists, have defined her life since. She had just turned 40. I am aware that to many people I am ageless, she writes. I am ageless in the way that people in the public eye often are frozen in time by a single event I am also ageless because people dont always see me as human.

Her tireless battle to get justice for her son, and force the country to confront the reality of racism, has transformed her into a symbol, but this has also dehumanised her. And I need you to remember my essential humanness and the essential humanness of all Black mothers, she writes. This plea to recognise black Britons humanity recurs throughout the book, from Marverine Coles account of mental ill-health, which deconstructs the devastating consequences of the strong Black woman stereotype, to Ryders closing essay, which describes his own horrific encounters with the police.

So large is the political crisis to which the book is responding that some of the essays only manage to scratch the surface of their subject, while others at times feel repetitive. But what the collection occasionally lacks in depth, it makes up for in range. There is certainly enough variation in style and approach to keep the reader interested.

The essays are most effective when the authors use their experiences and expertise to address a specific problem. Butler laments the smattering of black and Asian representation in overwhelmingly white institutions such as parliament, arguing that, as a result, minorities can easily be pitted against each other. Too often there is one person of colour to argue for a policy that would deny their own parents entry into the UK versus another politician of colour arguing for policies that would benefit other people of colour. A critical mass of black politicians would avoid this.

It is clear, though, that the response to last summers Black Lives Matter protests must go beyond just representation. Protesters called for the dismantling of racism and vowed to weed it out of society. In Olusogas chapter, which is an interview conducted by Henry, the historian admits this surprised him. It never occurred to me that it was even possible. And maybe Im right and theyre wrong, or the other way around. The fact is I put limitations on what I thought was possible; I always presumed racism would always be here, that it was a given.

Perhaps that is what makes this moment critically important, and what makes the breadth of experience reflected in this collection justified: whereas we have become used to simply asking for space to breathe, our imagination has now been expanded. We see that not only is a new world possible, it is ours to win.

Black British Lives Matter is published by Faber (16.99). To support the Guardian and the Observer buy a copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.

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Black British Lives Matter edited by Lenny Henry and Marcus Ryder review - The Guardian