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Collective Black voice or ‘comfort zone’ for ministers?

A personal view of the third conference on the education of Black children, held recently in London. Nearly 1,000 people filled the halls of the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre to participate in the third conference on the achievement of Black pupils in London schools on 11 September 2004. The conference was dubbed ‘reaching for

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Race & Class celebrates milestone

Speaking at the 30-year celebration of the radical journal Race & Class, IRR chair Colin Prescod took stock of the past, while founder editor A. Sivanandan called for new political analysis to inform struggles against racism, empire and globalisation over the coming years. At a celebration event hosted by Jeremy Corbyn MP at the House

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Father speaks out against son’s arrest

At a public meeting held by the ‘Stop Police Terror’ group this week in Tooting, south London, Ashfaq Ahmad called on the government not to extradite his son, Babar, to the US, where he faces terrorism charges. ‘I want you to know the truth about my son despite everything that has happened and all the

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Mubarek family win inquiry into Zahid’s murder

After years of campaigning by the Mubarek family, David Blunkett has announced that a judicial inquiry will be held into the racist murder of Zahid Mubarek at Feltham Young Offenders Institute. The inquiry will investigate and report to the Home Secretary on Zahid’s death and the events leading up to the attack on him, and

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Tribute to an ‘African rebel’

Four years ago this week, thousands of people lined the streets of Haringey, north London, to follow the last journey of one of Britain’s most outspoken political leaders. Now, an archive has opened dedicated to remembering the life and work of Bernie Grant MP. The seventy cubic feet of items held in the archive cover

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Between Iraq and a hard place

Today, Iraqis will protest outside the Home Office against the government’s plan to begin deportations to Baghdad. IRR News spoke to one Iraqi asylum seeker about the hard choice between destitution and deportation. When Sady Hussein walked through the security barrier at the immigration court, he set alarm bells ringing. Worried officials searched him for

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Custody death at Heathrow airport

Paul Yorke, a 38-year-old mixed-race man, died after being arrested by police officers at Terminal Two of Heathrow airport on 2 November. He was taken to Heathrow police station where he was charged with being a ‘prohibited person’ (it is alleged that he had been banned from airport property) and then detained in a cell.

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Roger Sylvester – police condemned for black death

It has taken the Sylvester family four years to get an inquest into Roger’s death. A verdict of unlawful killing has been returned. But the last successful prosecution of a police officer involved in a black death was in 1971, despite numerous inquest verdicts of unlawful killing since then. Clapping and shouts of joy, mingled

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