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For most Muslims, the very essence of fasting is to both curb earthly desires, and to bring them closer to those who are less fortunate than themselves. The spiritual process also allows them to feel closer to God too.

Glen Chisholm is a UK based town Councilor of mixed Jamaican and English descent. He is deputy portfolio holder for communities on his local council also sitting on the Police and Crime Panel and also as Equality and Diversity advisor for a local charity. Glen has previously blogged for a mental health charity trying to raise awareness of the stigma around mental health. He is a supporter of OBV and here we publish an article that he wanted to share.

The murder of nine African American parishioners at their church in Charleston, South Carolina, last night by a lone gunman, echoed the heinous act of White Supremacist terrorism in 1963 at the African American 16th St Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, when four young girls were killed in a bomb attack.

This time the gunman, known to be a white man in his 20s walked into the church on a killing spree before fleeing the scene. At the time of writing, he's still at large.

If there has been one mission America’s First Lady has brought to the world, it’s her passion that girls and young women can be strong, safe and educated.

No surprise therefore that in promoting her global project ‘Let girls learn’ Michelle Obama chose the East London Mulberry Girls school, in the heart of the boroughs Bangladeshi community.

Sayeeda Warsi, the first Muslim to serve in cabinet has warned that the Government cannot have an effective approach towards the radicalisation of British Muslims until it has a comprehensive understanding of its drivers.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the former Conservative minister for faith and communities said her ex-colleagues were fuelling the problem by “disengaging” with Muslim communities.

She added:

A common complaint, when consulting black communities about tackling racism is the strong perception that when talking about local and central government, "race has dropped off the agenda" Its a phrase that has now assumed the status of a social fact within black communities. It is reflective of a strong push by Government to end policies that are either ethnic specific, or try and recognise and deal with the reality of racial disadvantage.

The success of extreme right-wing parties in last year’s European elections is a worrying symptom of the nationalism which has grown across the continent in response to austerity and the financial crisis.

Migrant communities are all too often the target of such movements, and indeed of ‘mainstream’ politicians and media who claim migrants have a detrimental impact on employment, housing and public services.

Labour's John Biggs yesterday won the election for Tower Hamlets called after the previous mayor Lutfur Rahman was removed from office following the findings of an inquiry into electoral fraud.

Rabina Khan came an impressive second in the campaign to be the directly elected mayor of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

The Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity at Manchester University has always been one of those academic institutions that are at the forefront of evidence based research to understand and articulate race inequality. OBV will seek greater ties with these academics and others to ensure the passion of  campaiging is matched with the intellect of academic rigour. In this piece Ken Clark discusses the race equality gap within big business and the efforts to close the gap that would unleash BME talent.

At the moment, it seems that a politics of division is on the ascendency. However, when times get tough, organised communities pull together rather than turning to hatred and division. That’s why, in these tough times, Operation Black Vote are happy to promote HOPE not hate’s HOPEcamp.

HOPEcamp is a four day residential event held in September, where community members will be developing strategic plans for building HOPE in their towns and cities.