News

Both the Prime Minister David Cameron and the Home Secretary Theresa May have viewed the review of police corruption with the Stephen Lawrence murder investigation as ‘profoundly shocking’.

As a direct result to these initial findings the Home Secretary has ordered a Judge led public inquiry into incidents such as undercover officers purporting act for, and on behalf of the Lawrence family whilst seeking to wilfully discredit the family and their associates

OBV's Deputy Director Francine Fernandes inspired BME leaders and academics from around the UK with a simple, yet truly empowering message:

"History is waiting to be written."

And that was the theme that continued throughout the historical 2015 General Election summit held yesterday at OBV’s offices. In my introduction, I argued that:

Last week, Shadow Home Secretary Rt. Hon. Yvette Cooper MP said that the practice of stop and search needs an urgent change and wrote to the Home Secretary, Rt. Hon. Theresa May MP offering cross party support.

Cooper believes the disproportionate impact on BME communities is “shameful” and calls for urgent reform. Cooper added,

Here’s something you will not hear much from Ukip leader Nigel Farage, or for that matter, most mainstream politicians:

Migrant entrepreneurs' "breathtaking" contribution to the UK economy has been revealed by new research, which found that they are twice as entrepreneurial as native Britons.

Foreign-born entrepreneurs are "hyper-productive" with a fantastic contribution to the UK economy according to a study by the Centre for Entrepreneurs think-tank and financial tech firm DueDil.

With the draconian anti-gay laws recently passed in Uganda and Nigeria many might believe that it is only on the African continent, and or in Russia where homophobia is on the rise. But a glance across the Atlantic to the ‘one of the freest, and indeed richest countries on the planet, we see politicians making legislation that is clearly anti-gay.

Sol Campbell, one of the most capped Black England footballers of all time, has claimed in his biography that if he was white he may have captained his country for more than a decade.

In an extract from an authorised biography published in The Sunday Times, Campbell said he realised the extent of the FA's racism when Michael Owen was made captain ahead of him. 

"I believe if I was white, I would've been England captain for more than 10 years," he said. "It's as simple as that."

Introduction

This is the first article from OBV’s latest media/politics recruit from the USA. Belinda is studying politics here with work experience at OBV, and will be with us for a few months. As we expect from all our staff and volunteers, she’s hit the ground running with an excellent article which covers Black women in sport, politics, and broader gender issues.

Simon Woolley

There are many individuals in Eastern European countries that have been campaigning for the Rights of the Roma people throughout their regions and beyond. And last week in Budapest witnessed another giant step forward in the political empowerment of Roma people.

Intro

I’ve known Clive for a number of years. He’s a good man and a strong Black  activist. So when he came to our offices promoting Ukip, I asked him if he’d lost leave of his sense? 'No' he replied, 'there is racism in all the parties including Ukip, but I’m in there to change it’.

OBV’s Mohamed Ali interviewed the former Chief Race Advisor to Ken Livingstone and current Co-Chair of BARAC,Lee Jasper.