Innovative lesson plans based on key documents from within the IRR’s Black History Collection can now be downloaded from its website. Teachers of Citizenship and History and anyone interested in Black history in the UK are invited to use the resources that have just been created around items selected from the Institute of Race Relations’
No glory days for immigrant elders in France
An interview with Boualem Azahoum, an activist with DiverCités and El Ghorba in Lyon. At the Social Forum of the Banlieues (FSQP) at Nanterre, Paris, in October 2008, Naima Bouteldja interviewed Boualem Azahoum, a long-standing activist living in Lyon and a member of DiverCités, a local organisation campaigning on issues such as racism, discrimination, policing,
Speaking for the youth of the banlieues
An interview with Abdul Zahiri, an activist with ACJ REV in Avignon. At the Social Forum of the Banlieues (FSQP) at Nanterre, Paris, in October 2008, Naima Bouteldja interviewed Abdel Zahiri, 28, an activist living in a banlieue populated by 20,000 people, in Avignon (southeast France). He is a member of AJC REV, a local
A Muslim feminist in France speaks out
An interview with Zahra Ali, president of Al Houda, a Muslim women’s organisation. During the Social Forum of the Banlieues (FSQP), in October 2008 at Nanterre, Paris, Naima Bouteldja interviewed Zahra Ali, 22, the president of Al Houda, a Rennes-based Muslim women’s organisation. Zahra, a student, is preparing a dissertation on the emergence of a
Coroners and Justice Bill
Some provisions in this vast, unwieldy Bill threaten to undermine still further civil rights and protections, particularly for victims of state violence. The Coroners and Justice Bill, which had its second reading in the House of Commons on 26 January 2009, is a massive hotchpotch which deals with child pornography, defences to homicide charges and
Looking back to move forward
Below we reproduce a speech by Rosemary Campbell-Stephens given at the recent London Schools and the Black Child conference. ‘Greetings. It is an honour to be invited back to address the sixth London Schools and the Black Child Conference and respect is due to Diane Abbott MP for organising these conferences annually. This conference, unique
Conference highlights exclusions
A report on the recent London Schools and the Black Child (LSBC) conference organised annually by Diane Abbott, MP. The sixth London Schools and the Black Child conference was attended by about 1,200 people at Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster. A sample survey indicated that about 85 per cent of the delegates were
Brilliant new play about David Oluwale
A new play on David Oluwale, which opened recently at West Yorkshire Playhouse, is a must-see dramatisation of Kester Aspden’s book on David’s life and brutal death at the hands of Leeds police officers. David Oluwale was a Nigerian migrant whose body was pulled from the River Aire in Leeds in May 1969. His death
Unlawfully detained asylum family compensated
The High Court has awarded a family, including a one-year-old baby and a child of eight, £150,000 damages after the Home Office accepted that it had unlawfully arrested and detained them. On 9 February 2009, in the face of court proceedings brought by the family, the Home Office accepted that the family’s arrests and subsequent
New report reveals serious flaws in asylum process
A National Audit Office report confirms many long-standing complaints made by refugee and campaigning groups about unfairness in the asylum process. The report from the National Audit Office (NAO), Management of Asylum Applications by the UK Border Agency, is concerned with value for taxpayers’ money, and at first sight therefore is not a promising source.