News

The iconic Civil Rights Leader Rev Jesse Jackson informed his friends around the world that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and would be forced to change his hectic work schedule. The two time Presidential candidate Rev Jackson 76, is well known for his back -breaking international schedule. Those of us who have worked with him know that he’s abroad he starts his day with 8am breakfast meetings and doesn’t usually finish until 9pm in the evening.

In a letter sent to OBV, Rev Jackson stated:

The Indian government has been asked to delay the release of Padmayati, a film depicting a mythological 16th century queen, following protests, assaults on the director and the set, and threats to mutilate the lead actress’s face. Civil unrest has culminated to the point where riot police may be stationed outside Indian cinemas for the release of the movie, but Uttar Pradesh officials have reported that this will prove difficult due to elections and a Muslim holiday on the same date requiring police personnel.

The controversy surrounding Labour MP Emma Dent Coad appears to have split opinion along party lines.

Her defenders, including the Corbyn loyalists Skwawkbox, claim the MP’s old blog was merely quoting a constituent who told her that black Conservative Shaun Bailey was a “token ghetto boy” and “ghetto man”.

Her detractors, not least black Tory MPs Kemi Badenoch and James Cleverly, accuse the Kensington MP of racially-charged language.

Many may recall the viral photo of a Muslim woman on Westminster Bridge following the March attacks circulating twitter earlier this year. The account that shared the hijab-wearing woman, @Southlonestar, posted a picture of the woman on her phone, supposedly callous and indifferent as she passed by a victim being treated on the bridge. The caption read “Muslim woman pays no mind to the terror attack, casually walks by a dying man while checking phone #PrayForLondon #Westminster #BanIslam.”

The hallmark of a free society is the freedom to criticise ideas, but the marker of an unjust one is a society that discriminates against people based on their background. And so it is with Islamophobia, or anti-Muslim racism.

Earlier this week, Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o spoke out against a photographer airbrushing over her natural hair in the November edition of Grazia magazine. The young actress took to social media to accuse the publication of editing her hair to “fit a more Eurocentric notion of what beautiful hair looks like”.

On Tuesday, the United States ushered in several firsts with the results of their local elections. One of these firsts is North Carolina’s Vi Lyles – Charlotte’s first African American mayor, according to the Charlotte Observer. Democrat Lyles, in a state that has historically voted Republican, won with 58 percent of the votes and defeated her Republican opponent, Kenny Smith.

BBC Radio 4 has begun airing Living With the Gods this month, an exploration of community and religion as they have influenced society from the Ice Age to present day. The thirty part series, hosted by Neil MacGregor – retired director of the British Museum, art historian, and impassioned Christian – is complemented by a related exhibition of religious objects that has been on display at the British Museum from 2 November.