In the latest issue of Race & Class, the lead article ‘Four days in August: the UK riots’ examines reports and inquiries conducted in the aftermath of last summer’s disturbances. Professor Lee Bridges comments on the failure of government to consider the deeper structural causes of the riots in August 2011. Instead it has chosen
A press conference on the use of plastic bullets in Northern Ireland and implications for the UK. Thursday 21 June 2012, 9-10am Room C, 1 Parliament Street, London SW1A Chair: Jeremy Corbyn MP
A legal observer examining the policing of a February English Defence League (EDL) demo in Leicester, describes how its members were protected by the police whilst counter-protesters were ‘kettled’ and harassed. You had to wonder at and yet be extremely concerned about mass kettling and the suspension of rights to free assembly and movement
On Sunday 17 June, as families celebrate Father’s Day, vigils will be held at police stations across the UK to remember loved ones who have died in custody. Families and friends will gather for peaceful vigils in Birmingham, High Wycombe, London, Manchester and Slough. The national day of action, which is being supported by the
Vigils on Father’s Day to remember those who have died in custody. All vigils will take place on Sunday 17 June 2012, 12-3pm Birmingham – Remembering Mikey Powell, Demetre Fraser, Lloyd, Alton Manning and Kinglsey Burrell: West Midlands Police HQ, Lloyd House, Colmore Circus, Queensway Birmingham B4 6NQ High Wycombe – Justice for Habib ‘Paps’
The victim of a vicious Islamophobic attack awaits the verdict of a Versailles appeal court after his alleged attackers, one a known violent racist, were acquitted. Nouredine Rachedi and his supporters in the campaign group Justice for Nouredine were in court on 12 June and now anxiously await the verdict. The case concerns the acquittal
A screening tour of COINTELPRO101, a documentary about the FBI’s attacks on the Black Panther movement, with discussions on how BME communities in the UK now face similar tactics. Tuesday 19 June 2012, 6.30pm British Film Institute, Blue Room, Belvedere Road, South Bank, London SE1 8XT Chaired by Cageprisoners and Colin Prescod Thursday 21 June
A fundraiser for Joint Enterprise Not Guilty by Association (JENGbA). Tuesday 26 June 2012, 7-10.30pm The Tabernacle, 35 Powis Square, Notting Hill, London W11 2AY including music from: Alabama 3 Goddaz Speakers: Paddy Hill – MOJO, Birmingham 6 Janet Cunliffe – Mother of Jordan Cunliffe Related Links JENGbA Download an event flyer here.
In Poland, the public prosecutor has closed the investigation into the police shooting of a Nigerian street vendor. Two years ago, on 23 May 2010, a young Nigerian man, Maxwell Itoya, was shot dead by a policeman in an open-air market in Warsaw where he sold shoes. The unexplained tragedy attracted a lot of public
Police indifference to BME community concerns perpetuates racial violence, according to ongoing research by the Institute of Race Relations. The police have been forced to acknowledge the racism embedded within their own ranks recently, primarily as a result of the quick-witted teenager Mauro Demetrio, who surreptitiously recorded a PC telling him that ‘the problem with
