Activism
Because understanding Britain's colonial legacy and how it impacts on the lives of Black British people daily matters.
Earlier this summer – and since – the Black Lives Matter movement has seen hundreds march in solidarity across the world and in the UK. Anti-racist content has flooded social media. Both protests and social media activism were in direct response to the murder of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of a white police officer in the U.S. state of Minneapolis. But not him alone. We learned the names of Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain, Tony McDade, Dion Johnson, and so many others. All examples of police brutality and victims of systemic racism. On Sept. 23, the Kentucky attorney general announced that the three police officers who were under investigation for the death of Breonna Taylor would not be prosecuted. Instead, Brett Hankison will face charges for "wanton endangerment." This has sparked a new wave of calls for justice.
While it's important that Black Lives Matter and the way in which racism is baked into society in countries around the world is garnering so much attention, it's long overdue. The UK has its own long history of racism which is barely acknowledged or understood by most. If the ongoing conversations and protests have made you realise you require further educating, this list includes articles that can help you begin to fill those gaps. (There are also books about race in Britain you can read, Instagram accounts you can follow, UK organisations you can support, and podcasts you can listen to.) Understanding Britain's colonial legacy and the way it impacts on the lives of Black British people daily is not something that can be achieved by the clicking of one or even a few links, but it is a start. There is a wealth of brilliant writing out there from Black journalists, writers, and historians and about the life and work of important Black British people. Get to know it.
Recently Published
Being anti-racist must be a conscious and continuous effort — when Black Lives Matter is no longer trending, education and activism will keep going. Staying informed and keeping on top of news and conversations about race – and then sharing this new knowledge with family, friends, and colleagues – is one of the most effective ways to do your bit in creating an anti-racist society. The articles below, all published within the last few months, are a starting point for staying up to date on discussions of race in the news and will be updated regularly:
- 'Sorry, We’ve Already Got a Black Act': The Insidious Racism of UK Comedy (Thomas Ling for Vice)
- What It's Like To Be A Young Black Journalist In The UK, According To The Women Doing It (Niellah Arboine for Bustle)
- Channel 4’s The Talk failed dark-skinned black women (Nicole Adjei for gal-dem)
- Bookmark this: are acronyms like BAME a nonsense? (Chanté Joseph for gal-dem)
- Why ‘I May Destroy You’s Imperfect Black Characters Are So Important (Niellah Arboine for Bustle)
- As A Black Woman, Celebrating Pride This Year Has Been Hard (Yasmin Benoit for Refinery29)
- Racist anti-Black Lives Matter protesters are not far right outliers – they’re shaping mainstream society (Dawn Duhaney for gal-dem)
- 'Millennial Black' Author Sophie Williams On Watching Her Anti-Racism Work Go Viral (Sophie Williams for Bustle)
- For a few weeks, black lives mattered. Now what? (Nesrine Malik for Guardian)
- How algorithms on dating apps are contributing to racism in our love lives (Anne Marie Tomchak for Glamour)
- The Race Chat: How White Parents Avoid Talking to Their Children About Racism (Dipo Faloyin for Vice)
Anti-Blackness In Modern Britain
Anti-Blackness is a specific form of racism that is widespread within modern British society. It’s part of the legacy of Britain’s colonial past and it affects the way Black people are treated and exist in Britain at every level. These articles will help you better understand what anti-Blackness is and how it manifests itself in British society.
- Google is free, so why am I still being mixed up with other Black MPs? (Dawn Butler for gal-dem)
- ‘Anti-Blackness’ is a form of racism that’s specifically damaging for Black people (Natalie Morris for Metro)
- For Black students badly-predicted grades are the tip of the iceberg (Leah Cowan for gal-dem)
- Bosses Saw Belly Mujinga’s Life As Disposable, Joining A Union Is Our Only Defense (Leah Cowen for gal-dem)
- Black British history 'missing from school curricula in England' (Sally Weale for the Guardian)
- 2019: A Disgraceful Year Of Racism In Football (Nadine White for Huffington Post)
- Why are twice the amount of Black women imprisoned for drug crimes than white women? (Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff for Vice)
- We Have to Be Honest About 'Polite' Racism at UK Universities (Vic Sanusi for Vice)
- Bookmark this for the next time someone asks you what political blackness is (Kemi Alemoru for gal-dem)
- The shameless dismissal of black British people in this election shows exactly how racism in the UK works (Seun Matiluko for the Independent)
- Why is reality TV so obsessed with the angry black woman (Danielle Dash for the Guardian)
- Black British history: A study in erasure (Paula Akpan for Al Jazeera)
- Marcia Rigg: You Think Police Brutality Is Just A US Issue? Think Again (Olivia Blair for ELLE)
Racism In Modern Britain
Once you’ve understood the concept of anti-Blackness, you may want to consider doing further reading and research into racism in Britain more widely. These articles break down the various profound ways in which discrimination impacts the lives of people of colour in the UK of all kinds.
- The backlash against Meghan and Stormzy shows that Britain is in denial about racism (Monica Sarkar for CNN)
- The Truth About Racism In The UK (Jude Yawson for Creative Review)
- Yes, The UK Does Have A Race Problem. And It's Just As Troubling As America's (Jazmine Kopotsha for Grazia)
- How Brexit and Megxit have highlighted the reality of racism in the UK today (Ateh Jewel for Glamour)
- Racism is rife in modern Britain. Nothing can change until we admit it (Hasnet Lais for the Independent)
- Stormzy and Gary Neville: how privilege works in 21st-century Britain (Paul Ian Campbell for The Conversation)
- More BAME people are dying from coronavirus. We have to know why (Sadiq Khan for The Guardian)
- Boris Johnson Must Learn Lessons From George Floyd's Death (Diane Abbott for Huffington Post)
- UK Universities Have An Inclusion Problem & Change Isn’t Happening Fast Enough (Niellah Arboine for Bustle)
- David Lammy: ‘The British aren’t interested in revolution’ (Robert Shrimsley for the Financial Times)
- David Olusoga: ‘There’s a dark side to British history, and we saw a flash of it this summer’ (Arifa Akbar for the Guardian)
Black British Life
Covering successes and struggles alike, these articles speak to the reality of life as a Black person in Britain today.
- Meet the UK Black Pride Co-Founder Who Turned Down an MBE (Ella Braidwood for Vice)
- Black British TV is blossoming again (Daniellé Dash for gal-dem)
- Why we launched the UK’s only festival for Black women and girls (Moya Crockett for Stylist)
- Three Generations of Black Artists Tell Us About Working in the UK (David Woode for Vice)
- I'm A Windrush Grandchild & The Scandal Has Taught Me So Much About Privilege (Lollie King for Bustle)
- What it's like being the only Black woman in the barbershop (Karis Campion for gal-dem)
- ‘Girl, Woman, Other’ Author Bernardine Evaristo No Longer Calls Herself An Outsider (Sam Rogers for Bustle)
- We don’t talk about depression or anxiety in the Black community (Victoria Sanusi for Glamour)
- What it’s like to be a Black student at Cambridge University: ‘People there had never met a black girl before’ (Chelsea Kwakye and Ore Ogunbiyi in Cosmopolitan)
Black British History
Despite what your school curriculum may have made it seem, Black British history is British history. You may have learned about slavery as a bare minimum, but chances are you did so from a white British perspective. Besides, there is so much more to Black British history, it’s past time to get acquainted with the origins of Notting Hill Carnival, the contributions of the Windrush Generation, and the activist heroes whose names you should already know.
- Black history is still largely ignored, 70 years after Empire Windrush reached Britain (April-Louise Pennant and Nando Sigona for The Conversation)
- Black people have had a presence in our history for centuries. Get over it (David Olusoga for the Guardian)
- Britain's Black Power Movement Is At Risk Of Being Forgotten (Mark Brown for the Guardian)
- Historian Jade Bentil On Black British Feminism & Doing Justice To Everyday Black Women's Lives (Paula Akpan for Bustle)
- Black People's Day Of Action: Inside The 1981 New Cross Fire March That Brought Britain To A Standstill (Nadine White for Huffington Post)
- Meeting Mama Edwards, Manchester’s Black activist hero (Kemi Alemoru for gal-dem)
- Why Notting Hill Carnival embodies what it means to be Black & British (Meena Alexander for Stylist)
- Remembering Altheia Jones-Lecointe, the UK’s forgotten civil rights activist (Danielle Dash for Stylist)
Britain’s Colonial Past & Legacy
To be fully educated on the extent to which racism against Black people underpins British society, it’s vital to look back at the country’s history of colonialism and oppression of Black people. “The UK is not innocent” has been shared widely across Instagram in posts related to the protests for George Floyd – the below articles are just a starting point for getting acquainted with the horrific truths behind this statement:
- It’s time Britain confronted its racist, oppressive past (Kemi Alemoru for HUCK Magazine)
- Put our colonial history on the curriculum, then we’ll understand who we really are (Maya Goodfellow for the Guardian)
- Britain’s record on racism is no less bloody than America’s (Priyamvada Gopal for Huffington Post)
- Britain Has Never Faced Up to the Shame of Empire (Oscar Rickett for Vice)
- The true story of Queen Nanny, rebel leader and Jamaican national hero (Marai Larasi for Stylist)
- Addressing colonial narratives in museums (Professor Elizabeth Edwards FBA for The British Academy)
- It’s not just Cambridge University – all of Britain benefited from slavery (Myriam Francois for the Guardian)
Activism & Allyship
Bringing learnings from your research and the sentiments shared on social media into your every day – your actions, your thinking, your conversations with family, friends, and colleagues – is the only way to effect real change for Black people and communities in the UK. The articles below share both practical information on effective steps you can take to be a better ally, as well as taking a deeper look at the negative impacts of performative activism and optical allyship on the Black Lives Matter movement:
- This is how workplaces can be better environments for Black employees (Danielle Dash for Stylist)
- Room For Everyone (Niellah Arboine for Intern Mag)
- We Need To Rethink Our “Pics Or It Didn’t Happen” Approach To Activism (Yomi Adegoke for Vogue)
- White people, here's how we can try to be better allies and proactively anti-racist (Chloe Laws for Glamour)
- 5 Meaningful Ways To Support Black People In The UK (Niellah Arboine for Bustle)
- A Practical List of Ways to Support the George Floyd Protests in the UK (Ruby Lott-Lavigna for Vice)
- If You Are White And Anti-Racist, This Non-Optical Allyship Guide Is Required Reading (Mireille Cassandra Harper for Vogue)
- White people: this is what you need to do (Olive Pometsey for British GQ)
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