News

In an unprecedented move a coalition of 14 Caribbean states, including Jamaica is embarking on the first united campaign for reparations from Britain, France and Holland over its Atlantic slave trade.

The united campaign will argue that those European countries that became supremely enriched by a commercial endeavour which included murder, rape, forced removal and forced labour - which lasted for over two hundred years and involved up to 20 million people.

Recently OBV wrote about an extraordinary young African Caribbean woman, Gabrielle Turnquest, the youngest person in the world to pass the Bar. The legal achievements and contributions of another outstanding individual were marked which OBV was privileged to be invited to.

British star Jamelia says that “institutionalised racism” exists in modern-day society.

The singer, who, last year joined the panel of ITV1 daytime show Loose Women, believes that racial prejudice remains prevalent in the world.

Recalling a recent incident, the Birmingham-born talent says she believes she had been a victim of racial profiling. Jamelia told The Voice,

The life of an activist can be difficult and challenging, but equally it can be exhilarating, dynamic and, best of all, bring about the possibility of making a difference.  This is what drove leading campaigner, Batook Pandya MBE, the Director of Stand Against Racism and Inequality (SARI), who sadly passed away on Sunday.

Since its inception over 25 years ago, Pandya worked with SARI, the dynamic Bristol based charity which is run by and for victims of racial harassment and attacks.

Nick Griffin reared his ugly head last week making offensive and provocative comments about Bradford.

Griffin made the comments in reference to an innocuous national news story in Denmark about a giraffe which was put down at Copenhagen Zoo to prevent inbreeding.

Griffin’s twisted response to the story, which he tweeted to nearly 30,000 followers stated,

“Strange the Danes shoot giraffes to stop them having retarded offspring with their cousins. It’s regarded as perfectly normal in Bradford.”

Earlier this month, Dr Michael L. Lomax, President of the United Negro Fund (UNCF) delighted the audience at the British Library Conference Center, London, discussing the rich history and importance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

Think about one of the most successful businesses on the planet today and one that clearly recognises its global customer base and recognises talent. Can there be more of a positive message than this global company’s leading two figures being African American and Indian American?

On 5th March around forty BME, faith, community and business leaders from around the UK will converge at Operation Black Vote headquarters in London for a historic strategic planning meeting in the run up to the 2015 General Election. The main aim will be to ensure that tackling race inequality is firmly put back on the political agenda.

There are said to be over 76 countries around the world with criminal laws against homosexuals, with some of these countries like Iran giving death penalties.

In many cases, homosexuals have received violent abuse, and due to cultural and religious reasons, a large number of countries implement ‘draconian’ laws in place such as Uganda’s life imprisonment for "aggravated homosexuality".

Black talent  stole the show at the Baftas last night wining three of the most prestigious awards, including  Chiwetel Ejiofor for Best Actor, in 12 Years a Slave,   Barkhad Abdi,  for Best Supporting Actor in Captain Philips, and of course Steve McQueen's spectacular film 12 Years a Slave won the coveted title of Best Film.  

Accepting his award Ejifor turned to the audience and in particular the film’s Director Steve Mc Queen  and said,