A fortnightly resource for anti-racist and social justice campaigns, highlighting key events in the UK and Europe. Post-Manchester 22 May: Following a suicide-bomb attack at the Ariana Grande concert in the Manchester arena, which left 22 people dead, many young people, and hundreds injured, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham tells BBC News that Mancunians will not
Geography: North-East England
Archives, race, class and rage
Below we publish an excerpt of a commentary in the April 2017 issue of Race & Class, in which Colin Prescod (IRR Chair) examines the challenges of black heritage facing archivists today. This is an edited version of a keynote speech to the annual conference of the Archives and Records Association 2016 in which a leading
Honouring Chris Searle: an afternoon in poetry
The unique contribution of teacher Chris Searle to education in London’s East End was celebrated at the launch of his autobiography, Isaac and I: a life in poetry, on 20 May. There is some archive footage of Chris Searle, long-haired in corduroy jacket walking head, shoulders and torso above a sea of milling children, trying
Calendar of racism and resistance (5 – 17 May 2017)
A fortnightly resource for anti-racist and social justice campaigns, highlighting key events in the UK and Europe. Asylum and migration 2 May: The European Network Against Racism (ENAR) publishes a report: Racism and discrimination in the context of migration in Europe: ENAR’s Shadow Report, 2015/2016, download it here (pdf file, 3.6mb). 6 May: Two reception
Spanish fire-fighters who saved lives at sea must not be criminalised
As petitions are launched to stop the criminalisation of humanitarians, calls for the European Commission to intervene to change the law intensify. The continuing threat of jail hanging over three Spanish fire-fighters, arrested in January 2016 on charges of attempted human trafficking and weapons possession, has led to the launch of at least two petitions,
Black, Brummie and British
IRR Chair, Colin Prescod, reviews a collection of poetry, Beginning With Your Last Breath, by Roy McFarlane. Roy McFarlane’s reputation goes before him – Birmingham Poet Laureate, Starbucks Poet in Residence, poet in residence at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, just some of the accolades garnered. Beginning With Your Last Breath (Nine Arches Press, 2016) is
Who will defend the space to protest?
An insightful TNI discussion paper is a must read for anti-racist and social justice campaigners. Are you working for a human rights NGO or part of a social justice movement and are you worried about increasing restrictions, overt political interference and government de-legitimisation of your work? A short pithy discussion paper, the result of a
Calendar of racism and resistance (21 April – 4 May 2017)
A fortnightly resource for anti-racist and social justice campaigns, highlighting key events in the UK and Europe. Asylum and migration April: Statewatch publishes a ‘Viewpoint’ by Chris Jones: Hindering humanitarianism: European Commission will not ensure protection for those supporting sans-papiers. Download it here (pdf file,127kb). 20 April: Doctors of the World launches a campaign, #StopSharing,
Breitbart: global politics and fake news
A new report by HOPE not Hate, Breitbart – A rightwing plot to shape Europe’s future, explores Breitbart’s influence on global politics, the creation of fake news and its expansion into London. ‘It’s easy to see why the KKK views Trump as their champion when Trump appoints one of the foremost peddlers of white supremacist themes
Isaac & I: Chris Searle and friends
A special event to launch the first part of Chris Searle’s autobiography, Isaac and I, to be published by Five Leaves. Saturday 20 May 2017, 2-4pm Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives, 277 Bancroft Road London E1 4DQ Chris is a teacher, poet and activist who found himself on the front pages of the newspapers in 1971