News

Prime Minister David Cameron has spoken of the vital relationship between India and Great Britain, as one that we ‘should not take for granted’, and has revealed his commitment to ensuring the longevity of the relationship.

Last week whilst speaking at the annual gathering of the Conservative and Friends of India, the PM told those who were in attendance his vision to strengthen the ties between India and Great Britain, saying:

We have not yet even scratched the surface of how far this relationship can go”

Entrepreneur Rami Ranger has won The Queen’s Award for Enterprise for a fifth time. The self-made millionaire had previously won the award in the four consecutive years leading up to 2012. Prime Minister, David Cameron visited Rami after his latest success, to show support for his achievements. Speaking to the Eastern Eye Rami said:

Normally people have to go to the prime minister for an award, but for the prime minister to come and present this award to me was surreal… He gave me a wonderful speech and paid tribute to me”.

Black workers at major UPS depots across the England complain that their superiors refer them with racially insulting names such as ‘boy’ ‘aggressive' and 'wild’. In one of many disturbing incidents, a senior manager informed a Black HR worker, after seeing an employee with dread locks that:

We don’t want Rastafarians working here."

Over the summer OBV donated five computers to community projects that aim to empower, educate and better their communities.

The first two computers went to Brightstart, an after-school club founded by two sisters from Lewisham; Tamika Murray and Toyah Holness.

This Tuesday, the UK government and UNICEF had the privilege to host the first ‘Girl Summit’, aimed to bring together the international community to end female genital mutilation (FGM) and child, early and forced marriage (CEFM) within a generation. Girls and woman should have the right to live freely from violence and abuse and make decisions independently, but millions across the world are prevented from these basic rights.

Writing again for OBV Grace Ji-Sun Kim confronts another US race taboo: Cultural tensions between African Americans and South Koreans. Some of you may remember this was starkly illustrated in Spike Lee’s ‘Do the Right thing’, but here Grace goes into some detail exploring how the South Korean phenomena- Psy-is using his fame to build cultural bridges.

On Tuesday evening, Patrick Vieira walked his ‘Elite Development Squad’ off the pitch in the middle of an Under-21 match in Croatia. It was alleged that City midfielder, Seiko Fofana, was racially abused by an opposing player. After consulting the referee, Vieira abandoned the match against HNK Ryeka.

In an official statement, Manchester City wrote:

There’s been a lot of talk about why the Great War hero Walter Tull should not receive, posthumously, the Military Cross.

The main objection has been: “Well there were a lot of brave soldiers out there during the First World War, why should we make the case for Walter Tull just because he was Black”? Of course Walter Tull’s family and campaigners have always argued that the Military Cross was highly recommended for Tull’s bravery, but somehow it  got lost in the system. How, why, we can only hazard a guess.

In her second news story, Kei-Retta Farrell takes a look at the dynamics that are fueling Black youth unemployment. One big factor, she argues, is Black stereotypes.

Around half of young black men available for work in Britain are unemployed according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). A recent study conducted by the Black Training and Enterprise Group (BTEG), concluded that persistent racial prejudice was the main reason for high unemployment among the BME community.