News

The number of women who are part of the political family may be scandalously low, but that's not to say that a change isn't occurring.

Initiatives such as OBV's MP and Councillor Shadowing Schemes have gone some way to not only raise awareness about the lack of numbers, but also try to redress the imbalance. Many who have been helped and assisted by OBV are now playing a role in their community and armed with knowledge they didn't think they'd ever gain.

When David Starkey stated on national TV, “the Whites have become Black”, he was unequivocal in his demonisation of the Black community. For him, unless you speak and dress like David Lammy - coded for “unless you appear White” - you're bad. Worse still, he believes it is ‘Black culture’ that is now to blame for criminality and general lack of morality within White youths.

There has been a lot of furore created by historian David Starkey's comments on Newsnight last week after he blamed the failings of society and the recent riots on the fact that "the Whites have become Black". Here, David Dalgleish, author of Where Does Racism Come From? writes about why those who defend Starkey's comments shouldn't believe it is free of racial prejudice.

It isn’t easy being a young person in Britain at the moment, especially after the riots which blighted a number of cities in England have almost demonised a generation. But it is often said that the youth of today are the future leaders and decision makers and it is vital to tap into their thoughts and communicate with them about the big issues which affect them.

In today’s Guardian Newspaper OBV’s Director Simon Woolley responds to Joe Harkers’s assertion that unlike the 1980’s, there is no Black leadership today. ‘On the contrary’, Woolley argues,’ in too many quarters Black leadership is largely ignored and undermined’. He also argues that many discriminatory aspects which hold back Black progress require a different model to the one used during the 80’s.

We can't indulge in this nostalgia. Racism today is subtle and complex

Rap music has been a popular topic in the media since the UK riots. The use of aggressive lyrics in rap music is said to be the cause of this violent culture as it leads those who listen to it to develop a confrontational personality.

Daily Mirror columnist Paul Routledge regards rap music as a contributory factor of the riots,

I blame the pernicious culture of hatred around rap music, which glorifies violence and loathing of authority (especially the police, but including parents), exalts trashy materialism and raves about drugs.

The work of four prominent Black British artists who rose during the period of unrest in the 1980s will be on display at a special exhibition in Sheffield later this month.

Known as the The Blk Art Group, it featured the likes of Eddie Chambers, Keith Piper, Donald Rodney and Marlene Smith, who produced powerful, defiant and thought-provoking pieces in the 80s which raised awareness of Black British art at a time when the then Conservative government advocated an anti-immigration agenda, the BNP were on the rise and the Brixton riots took place.

The African and Caribbean community faces its biggest challenge since the riots of the 1980s. Some even argue the challenge today is even greater than back then.

Whenever trouble brews which involves the youth of the country, it is easy rhetoric to blame it on the violence and gangster lifestyle depicted in rap music.

Historian David Starkey believes this to be the case, even going as far as to say it is a "Black" thing.

He states the language, the culture, and glorifying the life of a gangster are all down to Black culture and it is the reason why the country seems to be going to pot.