Public meeting on black deaths in police custody in the UK

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Black Mental Health Organization, London School of Economic Student Union

A public meeting on the issue of black deaths in custody will be held at the London School of Economics Students Union (LSE SU), from 6.30-9.00pm on Wednesday 26 October 2011.

Organised by Black Mental Health UK in association with the LSE SU, this event comes in the wake of a spate of incidents where young black men have lost their lives at the hands of the police.

This public meeting, which is free to attend but requires delegates to register online, marks the first steps to establish what action the community can take to ensure that this issue becomes a matter of priority for the present Government.

Government figures show that a disproportionate number of deaths following contact with the police are of black people.[1] Almost half the deaths of people in police custody are mental health service users,[2] and deaths of those detained under the Mental Health Act account for 62% of all deaths in state custody.[3]

The shooting of Mark Duggan by police marks men in August, triggered the most serious scenes of civil unrest that have been across the country in a generation. Within weeks of Duggan’s death three other men also lost their lives in police custody in situations which could have been avoided.

With the deaths of Reggae icon Smiley Culture, Kingsley Burrell-Brown and Demetre Fraser are still at the forefront of the community’s consciousness, and the issue of deaths in custody is now increasingly being viewed as an issue of national concern.

Matilda MacAttram, director of Black Mental Health UK said: ‘All the data shows that black men and people who use mental health services are the most likely to lose their lives while in custody. The recent spate of tragedies we have seen makes it clear that this problem will not go away by itself. This public meeting aims to put this issue back on the political agenda in order to ensure that other vulnerable people do not continue to lose their lives in circumstances, which could easily be avoided.’

Sherelle Davids, anti-racism officer at LSE Student Union said: ‘We are holding this meeting the address the continuous deaths of black citizens in police custody. It is an issue that it is easy to shy away from, but after this summer’s events we can no longer ignore this injustice. People should attend this event to hear first hand from the families who have been affected, so that we can build unity around raising the prolife of this issue.’

Marcia Rigg from the Sean Rigg Justice and Change campaign said: ‘I am speaking at this event because sadly my brother was part of that ratio of using mental health services and also being a black man. I live and breathe it and feel that the issue of black deaths in custody needs to be highlighted.

There is over whelming evidence of the higher numbers of black deaths and yet the families are stifled from gaining justice. We have been struggling for decades, it not just black people in the 70’s who have had to deal with this. We are now seeing our children being killed; it is too much for the community to bear and it be left unsaid. We have to unite together to put a stop to this by telling our story and highlighting this issue.’

Speakers include:
Matilda MacAttram, director of Black Mental Health UK
Helen Shaw, director, Inquest
Samantha Rigg –David, Sean Rigg Justice and Change Campaign
Marica Rigg – Sean Rigg Justice and Change Campaign
Steve Pope – editor to The Voice Newspaper
Lee Jasper – Race Equality Campaigner
Ken Ferro – co-director of the film Injustice
Frederick Clarke – director Mighty Men of Valour
Olu Alake – president of 100 Black Men of London

This event is free to attend but requires registration by clicking here. Please register online with Black Mental Health UK and then book for this event.

This public meeting on black deaths in custody is from 6.30 – 9.00pm on Wednesday 26th October 2011 at London School of Economics Students Union, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE

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[1] See Office for National Statistics website: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/
nugget.asp?id=273

[2] Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) 2010 Deaths in or following police custody: An examination of the cases 1998/99 – 2008/09. IPCC

[3] Independent Advisory Panel ( IAP) on Deaths in Custody. Mid Term Progress Report on the work of the IAP and Future Priorities for the Work of the Panel. February 2011. IAP

[4] Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) 2010 Deaths in or following police custody: An examination of the cases 1998/99 – 2008/09. IPCC

[5] Independent Advisory Panel ( IAP) on Deaths in Custody. Mid Term Progress Report on the work of the IAP and Future Priorities for the Work of the Panel. February 2011. IAP

[6] See Office for National Statistics website: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/

sat’day riddymz

Helen Grant, OBV Alumnui has made political and Conservative Party history in the UK

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Helen Grant, UK Elections

Hat tip: Operation Black Vote

Helen Grant, OBV Alumnui has made political and Conservative Party history by winning the Southeast seat Maidstone and the Weald becoming the first Black female Conservative in the House of Commons. The seat she takes over was represented by Westminster firebrand Anne Widdecombe for 18 years.

After two and a half years of good old fashioned hard work and positive campaigning we have seen-off a particularly unpleasant challenge in the fight to retain Ann Widdecombe’s seat, taking 48% of the vote.

I want to send out my sincere thanks to everyone who voted for me, and to everyone who has helped and supported me in this general election campaign.

I am delighted too that we have retained control of Maidstone Borough Council.

Thank you all once again. With very best wishes,

sat’day riddymz

Pioneering Black British Tailor Awarded OBE By HM Queen

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Andrew Ramroop, Savile Row, The Queen

The Voice, Britain’s leading black newspaper, has reported that Andrew Ramroop has been awarded an OBE by HM The Queen this seo companies year!

Ramroop was born in Trinidad & Tobago and was the first black tailor shop on Savile Row, the iconic street in London that has created bespoke clothes for men for decades.

Congrats to him. I think it’s fab news. There is contention amongst the black community here as to whether black people should accept awards from the Empire like the OBE. The OBE stands for Order of the The British Empire. Personally, I think if people see themselves as Black British, then accepting an OBE should not be a big deal.

I am not Black British but living here for so long has made me realise what a big deal this is. Again, Congrats to him!

The number of recruits from ethnic minorities to British police forces has almost halved in the past five years

BME recruitment to police halves in 5 years

The number of recruits from ethnic minorities to British police forces has almost halved in the past five years, amid concern about discrimination in the service.

Official figures obtained by the Tories have revealed that the total of black and ethnic minority (BME) entrants into the 43 forces in England and Wales fell from 795 in 2003-04 to 430 in the last financial year. The revelation undermines the Government’s claim that there had been “significant success in increasing overall minority ethnic representation”. It comes amid renewed concerns over racism in the service after the suspension of PC Steve Bettley, from Merseyside, whose name was included among those of thousands of BNP supporters leaked on an internet blog. The Met saw BME recruits plunge from 500 to 193 over the period. Huge metropolitan forces including Greater Manchester, Merseyside and the West Midlands were also among 31 that have reported a fall in BME recruits since 2003. Shadow Home Secretary, Dominic Grieve, said the figures were “worrying”, but also condemned the Black Police Association’s “highly irresponsible” call for a boycott of ethnic recruitment.

Source

Black Students Excel in the UK From Corporate Mentoring

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AC Diversity, Black England, Black UK, Brenda King

For immediate release

BLACK STUDENTS EXCEL FROM CORPORATE MENTORING

The ACDiversity mentoring programme has achieved an 87.50% GCSE pass rate for 2007; this is 27.50% above the Governments benchmark of 60%.

In partnership with some of London’s leading institutions, the “Mentoring and Enrichment Programme” was created for the black youth to support their development and educational growth.

Brenda King, Chief Executive of ACDiversity states, “The Mentoring Programme” has now proved that mentoring will improve a student’s academic and personal abilities. Black youth have many obstacles to face, and with this programme, it enables them to build their abilities and understand the aspects of critiquing social and media influences. The results for 2007 have exceeded all expectations with their attitudes and personal issues greatly improved”.

Since 2003, 142 students have participated in the programme with 25 students in 2007. ACDiversity works with organisations that include JPMorgan, Citi, Clifford Chance LLP , Baker & McKenzie LLP and Barclays Capital.

ends

For all press and media enquires

Victor Trocki
Message
07711671028
trocki@messagepr.co.uk

AC Diversity

African and Caribbean Diversity (ACDiversity) was founded in 1990 by a group of black business professionals, with an objective to implement educational programmes for young African and Caribbean students in the UK. ACD became a charity in 1995.

Notes from England: Black and Asian Women “missing” from almost a third of workplaces in areas with significant ethnic minority populations

Cross posted from Black Women in Europe: 

As it releases the results of a two-year investigation, which reveals for the first time the full scale of the workplace penalties faced by Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Black Caribbean women, the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) is today calling for a fundamental cultural shift in the way black and Asian women are treated at work and by public policy makers.

Moving on Up: Ethnic Minority Women at Work, the largest investigation of its kind in Great Britain, has established that Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Black Caribbean women face significantly greater penalties than white women in the workplace. Those who want to work are finding it more difficult to get jobs, progress within them and are more likely to be segregated into certain types of work, despite leaving school with the same career aspirations as white girls and similar or better qualifications than white boys.

In areas with above average numbers of black and Asian women participating in the local labour market, BME women are entirely absent from 3 out of 10 workplaces and under-represented in almost 3 out of 5 workplaces. The EOC’s report suggests it’s not too late to set the country on a different course. 28% of employers surveyed said they intended to introduce steps to improve the recruitment and progression of black and Asian women. However, the same percentage said they were unsure what action to take.

The EOC is today urging Britain’s employers and policy makers to catch up with the diversity of modern Britain and develop ‘cultural intelligence’ – the awareness, understanding and confidence to communicate and relate positively to people from different cultural backgrounds, to get the best from them at work and design policy that meets their needs.

The EOC warns that cultural intelligence is absolutely crucial if Britain is to avoid paying a high economic and social price. Between 2001 and 2020, ethnic minority people are expected to account for over 70% of the growth in the UK population aged 16-59. With Britain’s employers facing skills shortages, it is crucial to tap into a growing and increasingly well-qualified pool of young Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Black Caribbean women’s talent if we are to maintain economic growth.

And with access to jobs being a key ingredient of community cohesion, policy makers will fail to build stronger communities unless black and Asian women’s skills and ambitions translate into better-paid jobs in a wider range of organisations.
Read more here.

By the numbers:

Breakdown of Black Caribbean women in English cities (Sources: ONS (2004) Census 2001: CD Supplement to the National report for England and Wales; GROS (2004) Scotland’s Census 2001: CD 5 Volume 1.):

Birmingham: 25,700
Bradford: 1,500
Leeds: 3,600
Leicester: 2,500
London: 191,500
Manchester: 4,700