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The backdrop to this case is one of a deep divide between Britain’s Black communities and the Metropolitan Police force: Levels of police Stop and Search have been at rates not seen since the 1970’s. A retired undercover police officer recently admitted that instead of helping track down the killers of Stephen Lawrence, and assisting their family, they were tasked to wilfully smear the family and their associates.

The Jury listening in the inquest that led up the killing of Mark Duggan, which sparked off nationwide riots, have given a verdict which is incredibly difficult to understand. They concluded that at the fatal moment Mark Duggan was shot, he was not holding a gun. The jury was also  satisfied that Duggan  had probably thrown the gun before the confrontation with the police.

A group of leading Labour Party activists including the Party’s most senior Black female, Diane Abbott MP, have written to the Labour Party leadership team demanding that African’s and Caribbean’s within the party are better treated.

Diane Abbott, writing a forward within the document laments that:

If you had told me that, twenty six years later,-since four BME MPs entered Parliament- the numbers of African and Afro- Caribbean Labour Members of Parliament would scarcely be any greater, I would have been shocked.

Strong Black women beware! If you dare to speak up for yourself, particularly if you are confronting racism from a black, female perspective which challenges some white women, then instead of your arguments being discussed you’re in danger of being accused of being a ‘bully’, ‘disgusting’, and, that old chestnut, ‘playing the race card’.

Omar Ali's recent election has marked a watershed in Welsh political history as Ali becomes the first British Somali councillor in Wales.

After years of community engagement, Councillor Ali is excited to be serving the Pillgwenlly, or Pill, ward of the Newport City Council. Elected last November, Councillor Ali filled the seat of Ron Jones who recently passed away after representing the Pill area for many decades.

Racial inequality has many guises but the perhaps one if its most debilitating dynamics is deprivation. A recent study by the University of Manchester and the Runnymede Trust found that one in three Bangladeshis and a third of Pakistanis in England and Wales live in deprived neighbourhoods.

The research found for example that unemployment in those deprived neighbourhoods and other areas were double that of white groups, suggesting that these BME groups face it tougher than their white counterparts both in deprived and non-deprived areas.

Any one who came across the activist and campaigner Simon De Banya was struck by two prominent aspects about him. Some might event say aspects that were impossible to seat side by side, but now with De Banya: First, his gentleness.

De Banya was not the kind of activist that would scream and shout, instead his demeanor was of a warm kindness, he won people over with charm and strong reasoned argument. Yet alongside the warmth was a rare immovable steeliness that would ensure success was the only conceivable outcomes in nearly all his campaigns and activities.

On most occasions when I hear a sitting President admit that our nation is weighted down by poverty and cannot ignore income equality, it is a cause for celebration.

Back  in March this year I was asked once again to participate in the Transatlantic Inclusion Network for young BME leaders in Brussels, Belgium. Young men and women from around Europe and the US have a three day intensive training programme, unprecedented in its quality and multinational support.

The two men Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, who shocked the world with their brutal and vey public slaying of drummer Lee Rigby were found guilty at the Old Baily in London today.

Lee Rigby was on his way back to the Woolwich Barracks when he was targeted wearing a ‘Help for Heroes’ shirt. The two men ran Rigby over in their car before their frenzied attack with knives and cleavers.