News

Vernon Smith has been unwell. Thankfully he is on the mend, not least because he's a fighter, always has been, and I'm not necessarily talking about his time as a soldier. Vernon has always fought for what he has strongly believed in, and in doing so, this wonderfully big-hearted man has transformed lives. Here Merlene Carrington who was mentored by Vernon gives not just a snap shot of this wonderful man's life, but simultaneously pays great tribute. Simon Woolley.

I saw this picture in the Guardian newspaper today, and thought you just have to look at this picture and marvel at the moment of cool, being expressed by a culture that is most definitely Black. Two European leaders, the Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte and the Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, meeting on international platform with other leaders around greet each other as two Black men would do on the streets of Harlem, Brixton, Handsworth or Toxteth.

Restaurateur, entrepreneur and race equality activist,  Iqbal Wahhab last week was appointed High Sheriff for Greater London.

For many of us here in the UK, the only time we come across the 'Sheriff', is in the Bob Marley classic, ‘I shot the Sheriff’, or the Cartoon character Deputy Dawg, the canine Sheriff of Florida.

OBV’s conveyor belt for BME public life success in Bristol City shows no sign of slowing down.  The latest young leader to emerge on the threshold of political success is Sangeetha Wynter who has just been selected by the Labour party to stand for local elections in May 2020

After 28 years at the BBC, veteran radio presenter, Dotun Adebayo faced one of the biggest professional challenges of his life - saving his icon London programme from the axe. Dotun lays bare his kaleidoscope of emotions, before, during and after, and concludes that the process has made us all stronger. During his time, Dotun has covered every critical turn of OBV’s 24 years. All I can say is, thank you brother. - Simon Woolley

It is nearly one year ago when 200 delegates of African descent gathered at the European Union to have an historic 3 day conference about the challenges we face and how the EU should assist.

There was much talk, but also a lot of lobbying and planning. Of that team a few people particularly stood out. MEP Cecile Kyenge and her able team included Alfiaz Viay.

https://www.obv.org.uk/news-blogs/honouring-black-europe-people-african-descent-pad

Britain’s Dotun Adebayo has covered every major story concerning Britain’s Black communities for the past 28 years. Either on his national platform Radio 5 Live or on BBC London. But Dotun is more than just a story teller.  One of Dotun’s driving forces has been to showcase up and coming Black  artists, writers, sportsmen and women, politicians and activists such as myself.

Most Black writers or activists know that going on national TV and radio to talk about race issues, particularly race inequality, more often than not will be to enter a rigged debate. That is to say that most of the time the presenter and their chosen guests will not only set themselves up Full Square against you, but they will also attempt to characterize you as part of the problem for daring to raise the issues; rather than discuss some of the legitimate elements that cause persistent inequalities.

‘Fake news’, was not a term many people used until very recently, but it is now seen as one of the greatest threats to democracy, free debate and the Western order. The Russian Government’s manipulation of ‘Fake new’s, particularly spread throughout social media, has been widely credited for having a decisive impact on the US Presidential elections that witnessed Donald Trump come into power, and, closer to home, the Brexit decision that has caused the biggest rupture in British and potentially European politics in generations.