News

It’s probably apt that the recent glamour and prestige that has become associated with the Nobel Peace Prize will be lost on this years winner.

Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo has been detained in his Beijing home since December 2008 devoid of any communication with the outside world.

Diane Abbott stood in the Labour leader race after many in the Black community including OBV encouraged her to run for leader. By doing so she changed the nature of the debate, and was an inspiration for others to follow, simply by being there.

Now with the leadership elections over, the next vote is for a place in the shadow cabinet. The outcome of the ballot is announced this evening at around 7PM. 49 MPs have put their names forward for the election decided on by fellow Labour MPs. 

Ed Miliband is expected to appoint either Yvette Cooper or Ed Balls as Shadow Chancellor.

Cooper with the most votes is in a strong position.Regretably, Diane Abbott MP who campaigned for the Labour leadership with an endorsement from David Miliband didn't make the grade.

Other MPs who were not elected to the shadow cabinet include Peter Hain, Ben Bradshaw and Shaun Woodward.

One Black MP Sadiq Khan and eight women including Meg Hiller and Eagle sisters Angela and Maria were elected.

The Bernie Grant centre in Tottenham is to get a makeover according to a report in the Voice today.

Much of the grounds surrounding the central building will be furnished with outdoors facilities including an open air theatre and cultural arts fair space.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has officially announced his retirement from public life after many years of political activism and human rights work.

The decision comes as Mr Tutu celebrates his 79th birthday.

Tutu rose to prominence as a fierce anti-apartheid campaigner in the 1980’s, and made history by becoming the first Black South African Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town.

New Beacon books is not your average bookshop.  It is situated a few doors down from my flat in Finsbury Park in the heart of cosmopolitan London.

Just passing by, looking in the window is enough to catch the eye of any activist concerned with Black empowerment and engagement.  The shop is quite literally littered with works of some of the most well known and prominent Black British, African, and European figures in history.

Black History Month seems an appropriate time to direct you here for what is a haven to any would be activist.

Liberal Democrat Cllr Duwayne Brooks has called for Police to use pirate radio stations to help crack criminal cases.

The Lib Dem cllr who recently decided throw his hat into the ring and seek the Lib Dem ticket for the 2012 Mayoral election explained why he thought the London Police forces should introduce alternative measures:

A video in yesterday’s Guardian told the story of the rise and fall…and rise of Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith.

The light-hearted film highlights different points in Duncan Smith’s career with a running commentary from a range of contributors.

From entering Parliament and serving in John Major’s government, to his decision to step down as party leader, the film is an alternative look at the career of one of the most recognisable faces in the Conservative Party.

OBV ally Reverend Jesse Jackson will be visiting the UK and meeting with Black activists in two weeks time.

The most prominent veteran of the American civil rights movement has been to the UK on several occassions to speak at OBV rallies to encourage greater voter registration and wider political participation.

A Kenyan author has been tipped to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, having steadily risen from being an outside bet to the bookies favourite.

Ngugi wa Thiong’o is a social commentator, activist and professor at the University of California. His  seminal linguistics and post colonial text Decolonising the Mind is the most well known work in his catalogue , but he has also written for childrens literature.