News

Writing exclusively in the Drum OBV’s director Simon Woolley appeals to the UK’s advertising industry that having a diverse workforce not only widens your talent pool, but also helps you avoid accidently causing racial offence.

http://www.thedrum.co.uk/news/2011/07/12/23489-advertising-white-is-new-black-/

Operation Black Vote and Lewisham Council are currently running the 2011 Lewisham Civic Leadership Programme in which 40 dynamic Black and Ethnic Minority individuals from Lewisham have been selected to find out more about five different areas of public life. The recent focus has been looking at school governing bodies and their roles and responsibilities.

Thirty year old Boma Campbell, a programme member writes about her experience at a recent observation session.

The crisis consuming millions of people in the Horn of Africa could not have come at a worse time: Wealthy countries including the UK are struggling to stave off another global recession; many Arabian countries are desperately trying to shake off the cloak of tyranny and forge the beginning of their own democracy, and closer to home our own daily news is mainly focused on the on going scandals emanating from Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.

Who then will care about an unfolding disaster that will see some of the poorest people on our planet die of starvation?

A high profile coalition of musicians and songwriters are challenging the decision of a major music awards organisation to close down recognition and awards for some categories of world music.

In April, the USA Recording Academy, the organisation that hosts the world renown Grammy Music Award's announced that they were getting rid of 31 music awards categories, changing some eligibility requirements and rewriting the rule on how members vote. Many believe the Academy is unfairly targeting ethnic world music.

Justice is about to be served.

In the late 1980 and 90s much of my work was around fighting for justice for those wrongly convicted of crimes. Back then the police favourite modus operandi was to 'fit people up' if there was a lack of compelling evidence. Officers would lie and plant evidence to secure their convictions at any price. People will remember the iconic miscarriage of justice campaigns such the Tottenham 3 or the M25 3 and cases such as the Birmingham 6 campaigns.

Something told me that my family would not be at the London Olympic Games, other than through the medium of the telly box in our London frontroom. My parents met at the Helsinki Summer Games of 1952 and married shortly after. My mother a young Finnish beauty - my father a performer and founder member of Ballet Negre, had come from the Gold Coast - now modern Ghana, via a career in London.

Celebrating the burgeoning movement of alternative Indian cinema, the second annual London INDIAN Film Festival is now on and will run until 12th July, bringing to UK audiences a selection of cutting edge films from some of India's hottest independent talents. Going way beyond Bollywood, these are films that challenge, shock, generate debate and present a more realistic view of India today in all its colour and diversity.

Black and minority ethnic children and young people are being overlooked in the planning and provision of services that can address their mental health needs, claims a new report launched today by The Afiya Trust.