On Monday 21 May, John Carlos, the 1960s icon of Black Power, will be speaking at a meeting in London (alongside Janet Alder and Doreen Lawrence).
It is fitting that John Carlos is speaking in London just months before the Olympics circus hits town. For this is the John Carlos who, alongside Tommie Smith, raised his fist in defiance as they celebrated their wins (bronze and gold respectively) in the 200 metres at the 1968 Mexico Olympics. The iconic image is a call to arms.
The rejection of race discrimination claims brought by a young Nigerian woman who was brought in illegally by her employers, brutalised and denied wages, gives a green light to racism.
Mary Mounga was probably only 14 when her employer brought her from Nigeria to work in the UK as an au pair, promising to send her to school and to pay her £50 a month on top of her board and lodging. She was told to say that she was 20 and that she was coming to visit her grandmother.
Olympic athlete John Carlos, who marked his medal at the 1968 games with a raised fist ‘black power’ salute, will speak in London at a meeting organised by members of the RMT trade union.
Monday 21 May 2011, 6. 30 – 8. 45pm
Friends Meeting House, Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ
Programme:
7pm - John Carlos, Doreen Lawrence and Janet Alder
8.
A critical look at the recent box office hit – The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
You can almost hear the film executives: ‘hey you know Slumdog Millionaire was such a success and so was Ladies in Lavender, why don’t we just combine the two – a set of wistful old English people set against an exotic Indian background? And then throw in some other British stars like Tom Wilkinson and Ronald Pickup and for laughs we could add two of those sly Calendar Girls.
An asylum seeking father’s suicide in Holland for the sake of his children has highlighted the growing local-national divide over the deportation of children.
On 9 April 2012, Alain Hatungimana, a 36-year-old Burundian facing deportation with his two children, took his own life in a desperate attempt to prevent his children’s removal.
A conference about the high number of children being unlawfully excluded from school, and to examine alternatives to exclusion.
Wednesday 16 May 2012, 9.30-4pm
The Conference Room of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, Riverside Building, County Hall, Westminster Bridge Road, London
SE1 7PB
Speakers include:
chaired by Dr.
The Children’s Commissioner’s exclusion inquiry reveals entrenched discrimination and ‘illegal’ exclusions.
In March, the Children’s Commissioner published the report of her first formal inquiry on schools exclusions after eight months of evidence-gathering by her team supported by a panel of experts. They listened to children and adults alike, as well as taking account of written evidence across the country.
In a nutshell, Stop Search, plays out the devastating impact that the policy of stop and search can have on a family.
This excellent new play shows a black middle-class family whose young teenage son is keeping a secret – his daily interactions with the police and a collection of over thirty records of being stopped and searched. As a result, he harbours a hatred for the police officers who carry out the stops.
The launch of a book of poetry, The Cheering Rain, by Kate Adams.
Wednesday 9 May 2012, 7.
Gerry was a life-long campaigner for children’s education rights and an unwavering supporter of all our struggles.
Having been a former headteacher and Principal Education Officer at the Community Relations Commission/Commission for Race Equality, he helped to establish the Working Group Against Racism in Children’s Resources and thirteen years ago invited me and a couple others to join him in setting up the Communities Empowerment Network (CEN).
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