News

A graduate from the OBV Magistrate Shadowing scheme in her first year on the bench has already been invited to speak at the House of Lords about being a magistrate from a Black and minority ethnic community. Her journey is both moving and compelling in its ability to inspire others to be civic and community role models.

Julie Akorley was inspired to become a magistrate after learning at an OBV event that anyone could apply, regardless of whether they had any legal background.

It really opened my eyes,”

It would be wrong to speculate on some of the details that saw a promising young student -Sheraka Marsh- accidently gunned down at her boyfriend’s party in Hackney on Saturday afternoon, but one thing is for sure: gang-gun culture played a tragic role in this young women’s death.

Those rap stars such as 50 cent and Eminem who parade around in their videos with guns and girls and a ‘glamorous’ lifestyle, influence young men to ape their actions with the most appalling consequences.

By Tim Wigmore writing in The Telegraph

In 2010, ethnic minorities were three times less likely to be registered to vote than white Britons. Whether this gap is reduced will go a long way to determining the result of the next general election.

Political and community activist Desmond Jadoo makes an appeal to the people of Birmingham to vote for him. Here’s his pitch:

Clearly, there is a need for change in our City and our Local communities which are becoming increasingly divided for various reasons including wealth, health, employment, and age despite the fact that we should be “ One Community”.

In a class of its own.

Operation Black Vote has been involved in many partnerships in the last 18 years. A number of those key partnerships includes a long-standing supportive role of the Black students movement - United, an anti-racist, anti-fascist project across Europe. United is part of the UK Black caucus which contributes to the Black manifesto.

Sharon Hanooman is a champion of OBV’s values. Not only is she a graduate of OBV’s Magistrates Shadowing Scheme and now a serving magistrate, but through her work as Director of the Women’s Health & Family Services (WHFS), Hanoonman is making a positive difference to people’s lives every day. OBV’s Angelica Encinales visited the recent WHFS’ AGM meeting to find out more.

The inhumanity of our immigration system

Alois Dvorzac was 84-years old when he died in Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) last month. He was a Canadian citizen of Slovenian origin suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and trying to make his way back home to spend the last days of his life with his estranged daughter. However, his journey was halted when he was denied entry to the UK at Gatwick Airport and transferred to Harmondsworth. He died in handcuffs two weeks later.

A few days ago, a group of Black and minority ethnic students at Oxford University created a photo campaign that served to expose the racism they encountered on campus. The projects is titled “I, Too, am Oxford,” and is directly inspired by the “I, Too, am Harvard” campaign, created a few weeks ago by black students at the prestigious American university to highlight the prejudice they have experienced.

People from across the UK will converge on London this Saturday March 22nd to celebrate United Nations International Anti-Racism Day. In a poignant symbol to mark the beginning of Britain’s contribution to the international day, marchers will begin their journey to Trafalgar Square from Nelson Mandela’s statue in Parliament Square.

Greeting the marchers on their arrival at Trafalgar Square will be Jerry Dammers, the writer of the iconic song ‘Free Nelson Mandela’.

A new political force is gathering momentum in South London. Here its leader Prem Goyal outlines what his new party stands for.

Created by a group of community champions, APP is fighting for equal opportunities and representation of all people at the top. APP's aim is to focus on combating inequality at the top on a borough-by-borough basis to ensure the local political leadership reflects the communities they serve, especially minorities, women and working class people.