News

Today, an event entitled How Parliament Works has been organised in Greenwich to demystify how our parliamentary democracy works.

Organised by Abi Abimbola Junaid, a graduate of the OBV and CLG Parliamentary Shadowing Scheme, BME individuals will have the opportunity to learn how to engage effectively in the governance of our country.

The future is bright, the future is diverse.

If this conference in Copenhagen, about the next generation of minority political leadership, was a snap shot of the talent in the USA and Europe, then the future is bright, very bright.

As a non-partisan organisation, OBV does not endorse any one candidate or Party but we do support BME candidates. Today we have given a platform to Siobhan Benita, the Independent London Mayoral candidate. In the next few days we will also look at BME Greater London Assembly candidates.

Good luck to Siobhan and all the BME candidates around the country contesting local seats.

Simon Woolley

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Baljit Rihal a graduate of the OBV and MOJ Magistrates Shadowing Scheme was amongst a select list of prominent UK Sikhs invited by the Prime Minister to a Vaisakhi reception at Downing Street earlier this month.

Rihal earned his invitation by playing a prominent role in promoting young footballing talent from amongst the Asian community. To this end Rihal co-founded the Asian Football Awards, which this year held its inaugural awards ceremony at Wembley Stadium, with the full backing of the Football Association and its Chairman David Bernstein.

It has recently been claimed that the Archbishop of York , Dr John Sentamu, the current early favourite to become the next Archbishop of Canterbury has been the victim of "naked racism".

Dr John Sentamu was born in Uganda and is the only black Bishop in the Church of England. According to his former aide the Rev Arun Arora, Dr John Sentamu has been targeted by an "anonymous whispering" campaign by critics trying to slander his name, and claims it has the potential to be hugely damaging to the Church.

Scotland Yard has yet again found itself in another alleged racism case, this time involving a Black off duty fire-fighter. The complaint was lodged by Edric Kennedy-Macfoy, 28, from north London who claimed he was targeted because of his skin colour, abused, assaulted and shot with a stun gun.

Mr Kennedy-Macfoy’s complaint is now the 10th case involving alleged racism known to have been referred to the official police watchdog in the last three weeks.

Ahmed Sule CFA explores the extent of poverty in today's world and analyses the roles we play as individuals in creating this situation.

Despite the abundance of resources in the world, billions of people still live in poverty. According to the World Bank, the world Gross Domestic Product at current prices is $63.12 trillion. With the world population currently at seven billion, the global GDP on a per capita basis translates to $9,017.

First it was Pepe Reina in the jungle ridiculing Black people in a despicable sexualised ad that echoed the crude racial stereotyping of the 1950’s.

Now it’s a Swedish Minister's turn - Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth who along with a well known artist put together a stunt involving a grotesque caricature of a naked pregnant Black woman. The Minister – a self proclaimed anti-racist - scoops the flesh of the Black woman’s stomach which happens to be a cake.

On Sunday, April 22, a group of more than 60 young elected political and civil society minority leaders will gather in Copenhagen, Denmark for the 2012 Transatlantic Inclusion Leaders Conference.

Co-sponsored by Copenhagen’s Mayor for Integration, the Danish-Ethnic Youth Council, the U.S. Department of State, and the German Marshall Fund, this event, which is supported by the Transatlantic Minority Political Leadership Conference, presents an opportunity to strengthen relations between emerging minority leaders in the United States and Europe.

Actor, comedian, radio host, and champion for the Black community, Eddie Nestor will fulfill a lifetime dream when he runs in the world's most famous marathon this Sunday - the London Marathon.

Fun loving Nestor began his preparation some five years ago but was forced to abandon his plans because he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma – a type of cancer that affects cells in the lymphatic system.