Comment

School governors and British Values

We reproduce here a ‘statement of concern'[1] issued by Robin Richardson of Insted Consultancy on ‘School Governors and British Values’ which also touches on the statutory duty to prevent violent extremism now placed on schools and other educational establishments. Summary 1. Several school governors or former school governors in Birmingham have recently received a letter from the

Read More…


News

Calendar of racism and resistance (1 August – 3 September 2015)

A monthly calendar for anti-racist and social justice campaigns, highlighting key events in the UK and Europe. Immigration and asylum 24 July: The government’s system for monitoring companies it pays to run migrant detention centres is called into question after a year-long Freedom of Information battle wins disclosure of confidential ‘self-audits’. The documents reveal how contractors are paid according to their own monthly performance reports. (Corporate Watch, 24 July 2015) 27 July: The Home Office announces it will

Read More…


News

National Memorial Family Fund launched

The Birmingham-based 4WardEver UK campaign and the Mikey Powell Campaign have launched a crowdfunding appeal for a national family support fund for relatives, young people and children affected by deaths in state custody in the UK. The Memorial Family Fund has been set up in remembrance of Mikey Powell and acknowledges the work and campaigning of the late Pauline

Read More…


Comment

When solidarity fails

In observations made at a side-meeting of the 87th session of the Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD),[1] the IRR’s director warned that Europe’s mishandling of the refugee crisis is fuelling racism. I want to talk about the immediate institutional crisis in the EU, as hostility grows towards a modest plan by the European

Read More…


News

Calendar of racism and resistance (19 June – 2 July 2015)

A fortnightly resource for anti-racist and social justice campaigns, highlighting key events in the UK and Europe. POLICING AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE 19 June: The Independent Police Complaints Commission will consider whether the ethnicity or the mental health of a 33-year-old prisoner injured in a cell influenced the actions of six officers involved in his restraint, resulting in

Read More…


News

Past and present of the IRR

Two videos from the IRR’s recent conference Catching History on the Wing, which celebrated the work of the IRR and A. Sivanandan, are now available to view. The first session examined the ‘coup’ in 1972 which ousted the IRR’s rich and powerful Management Board and its monopoly on defining ‘race relations’, is available here. The second

Read More…


Audio & Video

Sivanandan’s April 2015 postscript

A. Sivanandan updates his thinking on globalisation, impact of the market state and the stirrings of rebellion. ‘The spaces are there for us to fight back in, and the time is here to be seized’. RELATED LINKS Read about the event here

Read More…


Audio & Video

Catching history on the wing: the future

Session three of of an event celebrating the work of the Institute of Race Relations on 18 April 2015. The future: Building on communities of dissent: premiere of film Catching History on the Wing: a conversation with A Sivanandan followed by audience/panel interaction led by Suresh Grover (The Monitoring Group) and Phil Miller (Corporate Watch), moderated

Read More…


Audio & Video

Catching history on the wing: the past

Session one of an event celebrating the work of the Institute of Race Relations on 18 April 2015. The past: Thinking in order to do – an audio interview ‘On lived theory’ with A. Sivanandan; discussion with Colin Prescod and Jenny Bourne about the IRR’s historic struggle, followed by contributions from the floor. Related links Read

Read More…


News

Living to tell the tale

On 18 April, a celebration event of the work of the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) and its Director Emeritus, Sivanandan, turned into a serious discussion on how to unite and strengthen struggles at a time of globalisation and austerity. Divided into three sessions – past, present, future – the packed afternoon covered a conspectus

Read More…