News

(Alex is third from left)

(Katie is pictured on the right)

The week before I began my internship here at OBV, I could not have been more nervous.

Nine African-Americans had been tragically killed at Emanuel AME Church in South Carolina, eight predominantly African Americans churches across the southern US had been burned within the span of ten days, and international news outlets condemned the Confederate flag that was hoisted above the South Carolina state house.

The youth leadership organisation Patchwork and Operation Black Vote joined forces to put on one of the most dynamic Labour Leadership hustings to date. Attendees crammed into the one KPMG’s plush executive meeting room to hear from the would-be leader of the Labour Party and would-be Prime Minister.

Questions came thick and fast on issues such as immigration, education, employment and representation. Some candidates squirmed at the intensity of the questions others relished it and didn’t want to leave.

When will innocent unarmed Black women, men and children stop being shot dead for simply being Black?

America braces itself for another backlash after a University police officer Ray Tensing dealt with Samuel Dubose in a most minor driving infraction, described by the Chief Prosecutor as a ‘pretty chicken-crap stop’, by shooting the man in the head, killing him at close range.

The officer then engages in catalogue of lies to his superiors stating that he feared he was going to be run over by Dubose - so he shot him.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/27/lord-sewel-scandal-financial-sexual

This is your chance to make history.  Never before have we had the opportunity to, in our own words articulate what the Black experience is in the workplace.  Now we do. Business in the Community's 'Race Equality Campaign' in partnership with BME communities and organisations such as Operation Black Vote and Runnymede Trust will endeavour to undertake the UK’s largest ever survey of racial attitudes and experiences in the workplace.

Lord Sewel was caught in drugs and sex sting that saw his glittering political career implode.

I've heard that some peers have claimed he has ' brought the Lords into disrepute' and when I heard that I laughed so much I fell off my chair. The House of Lords is disreputable by definition as it sits as an unelected second chamber with members being paid £300 of tax payer’s money for turning up for two minutes a day.

Saturday’s Labour Party London Mayor candidates’ hustings, organised by Operation Black Vote and Patchwork, was a great success. All the candidates agreed that of the several hustings they had attended, including those hosted by the Evening Standard, LBC and The Guardian, Saturday’s event which concentrated on issues most relevant to London’s BME population, was the most challenging and demanding.

Yesterday, the leading race equality think tank, Runnymede Trust unveiled their analysis of the Governments  recent budget. The hard hitting report suggests nearly 4 million Black and minority ethnic individuals might be disproportionately affected.

On 23 July I had the pleasure to accompany OBV director Simon Woolley as he introduced Home Secretary Theresa May on a forum for policing by consent. I was enthusiastic to attend the event because police brutality is a particularly passionate concern in the States right now, and I was interested to see that the Home Office for the UK was initiating a conversation of the same issue with OBV.