News

Like many people I’ve stayed away from the office for the last few weeks. But I had to go in at the end of last week to pick up some files, and there in reception was this big box addressed to us that was probably delivered just before lock down. And to my delight it was the beautiful and prestigious award given by the UK Parliament that OBV won for best Campaign of the Year 2020, which we actually did in 2019.

Dr Martin Luther King Jr walked ahead of OBV by over fifty years on our collective path for justice, fairness and equality. Despite being born on a different continent, at a potentially and equally polarizing political moment he sought to find commonality - to identify and champion what unites rather than divides us.

To many in our Western society the notion of a deadly epidemic or pandemic belong either to a bygone era of the Great plague 14th Century that wiped out an estimated 75 -200 million people in less than five years; the more recent, ‘Spanish flu’, that claimed the lives of 50 million in an astonishing two year period, or a disease that almost is the unique preserve of non-western countries such as the very recent Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

“Black people only came here in the 60s to drive the buses and work in the factories. You did not attend the University of Oxford.”

This shamefully ignorant comment by a member of the public to Pamela Roberts belies the truth about the Black community in the UK, both the historical legacy and the wealth of its contribution. Such ignorance spurred Roberts, an Operation Black Vote alumna, to become the founder and director of a radical project entitled Black Oxford Untold Stories.

On the 23rd March at 8.30pm life in the United Kingdom changed. The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, effectively ordered a lockdown. The lockdown was issued in response to the ongoing lack of restraint by groups across the country, who had gathered in their numbers in parks, outside pubs and even travelled a considerable distance to spend time by the seaside.

As the stark reality of Corona-virus or Covid-19 really hits home any honest analysis would suggest that Black and minority ethnic communities here in the UK will be disproportionally hit by this global pandemic in a number of key areas.

First and most importantly health. The Government has stated that there will be certain groups who will be more vulnerable than most as the Corona virus spreads throughout the population. Those with underlying health problems such as diabetes, and respiratory problems and the elderly.

Ms Williams who was a high ranking police officer, has now been forced out of her job with immediate effect after being found guilty of possessing indecent images of a child. Despite her long service within the police force and her repeated insistence that she had not viewed the image, Ms Williams’ case was fast tracked. The Metropolitan Police Service were aware of Ms Williams’ current position of appealing against the conviction.

OBV have won the ‘Campaigner of the year’ year award by UK Parliament.

OBV had an extraordinarily busy year in 2019 working on many fronts. We were particularly pleased with our General election campaign and the collaboration with our media partners, advertising giants, Saatchi & Saatchi.