Smiley Culture and the march for justice

My local pastor Bishop John Francis of Ruach Ministries often talks about the power of faith being able to “change the atmosphere”. His sermons hint at the transformative power of deep faith capable of bringing about radical change in both your personal life and wider society.

Over the last six or so months I have noticed a change in the atmosphere in the African Caribbean communities right across the country. You may not have noticed but I can tell you that the tectonic political plates within the African Caribbean community are stirring. There is definitely something in the air.

The recent deaths in custody of reggae icon Smiley Culture in London and Kingsley Brown in Birmingham have left many people reeling with shock and anger. These deaths are all too reminiscent of the dark days of the 1980’s and there is real poignancy that these two controversial deaths have both occurred all in the year and almost to the month of the 30 anniversary of the Brixton uprisings.

The global appeal of Smiley Culture and the bizarre and incredulous circumstances surrounding his death have transformed the political debate within black communities and have brought together black and white communities in common cause.

The death of Kingsley Burrell two weeks later and the reported brutal circumstances of his death is viewed as further evidence of a deep and callous disregard for the lives of black people in custody. This is a fundamental fault line in the relationship between black communities and the police; a constant theme over the last 30 years that has resurfaced with a depressing regularity.

Packed meetings in Birmingham and London In relation to both deaths and support from community radio stations and social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter have come of age in relation to the struggle for race equality and the support of families for the campaign against deaths in custody. These platforms are creating the framework for unified and coordinated campaign for justice for affected families.

Saturday 16 April saw around two thousand people march for justice for all those who have died in custody in suspicious circumstances. They key demand was for an independent public inquiry.

I had the honor to help organise and lead this historic march alongside Merlin Emmanuel (Smiley’s nephew) and Kedisha Burrell Brown (sister of Kingsley), The families of Sean Rigg and Julian Webster, Jody McIntyre, trade unionist and people from all walks of life and representing all communities marched in unity.

The march was historic and I believe signifies a reawakening of black political consciousness in the UK. The outrage stems first from the yet more black deaths in custody, the fact that a millionaire reggae singer is reputed to have stabbed himself whilst surrounded by police officers, an explanation that is widely disbelieved and the fact Kingsley Brown called the police for help and is reported to have been badly assaulted in front of his five year old son.

Demonstrating the tenuous basis for the much-repeated claim that relations with the police and black communities have moved on, these two horrific cases have exposed that claim as hugely inflated. The fact is whatever progress has been made and it would be churlish not to acknowledge some progress has been made, these two cases have poisoned the well of trust and confidence. In an instant we have been transported back 30 years.

But nothing will be allowed to undermine that cause or the Emmanuel and Brown families’ moral authority on this issue.

Secondly we must avoid raising expectations of justice being delivered by either the Independent Police Complaints Authority. It too must be brought within the remit of a public inquiry as currently undoubtedly the IPPC lacks public confidence.

Our focus should be on pursuing justice through the courts and simultaneously motivating a radical political agenda for change that seeks to fundamentally reform the inquest system, police accountability and the process of independent inquiry into police malpractice and criminality.

The pending abolition of the policing authorities and replacement with Police Commissioners could potentially result in further alienation of inner city communities’ dependant on the political character of local administrations. I think the maintenance of public confidence and the upholding of the principle of policing with consent is far too important to be left solely to the police or politicians.

No doubt that the context of massive public sector cuts and the massive disproportionate effects on black communities will acutely exacerbate and already grievously inflamed situation in relation to policing and the administration of justice.

Recent event have changed all that and the black community has been shocked out of its lethargy. No longer having trust and confidence in policing or criminal justice, unemployment and cuts have forced our communities to wake up to the fact that both central and regional and local Government has abandoned race equality as a political priority.

The result will be a huge resurgence in independent political activity in challenging racism and injustice. The cases of Smiley and Kingsley can be seen as metaphors for a community that feels beleaguered disempowered and abandoned. The march on Saturday marked a watershed moment in our history here in the UK. In short we are a community on the move.

Lee Jasper

(First Published in Operation Black Vote: The Home of Black Politics)
http://www.obv.org.uk/news-blogs/smiley-culture-and-march-justice












PHOTOS:  DEE CONSTANTINE-SIMMS copyright.

CAMPAIGN FOR JUSTICE FOR SMILEY CULTURE: 

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/Campaign4Justice4SmileyCulture
TWITTER:      https://twitter.com/Justice4SmileyC

Prime Minister's Immigration speech manufactures “internal tension” in the Coalition Government

The PM’s controversial speech on immigration has caused what, on the face of it, appears to be “internal tensions” between the Coalition partners when he outlined his views to Tory party members at a conference in Hampshire this week.

Mr. Cameron accused Labour of talking tough on immigration whilst doing nothing to bring the numbers down.
The PM said: "This approach had damaging consequences in terms of controlling immigration, but also in terms of public debate. It created the space for extremist parties to flourish, as they could tell people that mainstream politicians weren't listening to their concerns or doing anything about them."

Warming to his theme he adds that, "Migrants are filling gaps in the labour market left wide open by a welfare system that for years has paid British people not to work. That is where the blame lies – at the door of our woeful welfare system and the last government who comprehensively failed to reform it."

He stated that the Government's plans would cut immigration numbers substantially.
"We said we would listen to people's concerns and get immigration under control. Today I can confidently say we are getting there. If we take the steps set out today, and deal with all the different avenues of migration, legal and illegal, then levels of immigration can return to where they were in the 1980s and 90s, a time when immigration was not a front-rank political issue. And I believe that will mean net migration to this country will be in the order of tens of thousands each year, not the hundreds of thousands every year that we have seen over the last decade."

Further he controversially added that some immigrant communities are refusing to integrate into British society.
Communities had been affected by incomers unable to speak English and unwilling to integrate, he argued, which had "created a kind of discomfort and disjointedness in some neighborhoods".

This speech the second by the PM on immigration and multiculturalism in as many months was immediately challenged by the Coalition Business Secretary Vince Cable.

The Lib Dem Business Secretary, was speaking in Manchester following the Prime Minister's speech on mass immigration which Mr. Cable had said was “very unwise” suggesting they could fuel extremism over immigration.
“The reference to the tens of thousands of immigrants rather than hundreds of thousands is not part of the coalition agreement, it is Tory party policy only,” Mr. Cable said to the BBC before Mr. Cameron’s speech.

Liberal Democrats supported an amnesty for illegal asylum seekers in the last election and this policy still enjoys support from large section of the party. However, there are those who think that this manufactured descent has more to do with forthcoming elections and political positioning ahead of local elections.

Recent government cuts to  English classes have further undermined the Prime Minister credibility on this issue as at the same time as calling for immigrant communities to learn English the Government was cutting funding for such classes.

The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (Niace) has warned the cuts could have a devastating impact on students, including refugees and women who are trying to integrate into British society by improving their language skills.

University and College Union General Secretary Sally Hunt , said: “We believe community cohesion is a central plank of building a fairer and more equitable Britain. David Cameron's talk of 'good immigration' is unlikely to help matters and his criticism of immigrants not learning English as his Government prices thousands out of English classes is somewhat confused to say the least."

Whilst the PM acknowledged the positive contribution of immigration to the UK he failed to mention the huge financial gain to the UK of immigrant labour. Immigrants contribute over £8 billion pounds annually to the UK economy.

The PM was further embarrassed by a recent Treasury report obtained by the BBC that expresses concern that unnecessary restriction on immigration could harm the UK economy.

There are genuine fears that the PM is politically exploiting this issue to attract voters to the Tory and Liberal Democrat causes ahead of the 5th May local elections. Portraying the Tories as tough on immigration and Lib Dems as much more liberal on these matters serves both parties well ahead of local elections.

The PM speech event attracted criticism from the extreme right. A Simon Darby, spokesman for the extreme right wing and racist BNP party charged the PM with stealing its policies. He told the BBC’s Today programme: “It’s cynical opportunism, isn’t it? It’s almost like a ceremonial adoption of our policy about two weeks before any major vote.

In other words, he knows what ordinary British people are thinking. He completely ignores that until two weeks before a major poll and then all of a sudden starts pressing a few buttons to try to make people believe he’s actually doing something about immigration.”

Whilst announcing his immigration crackdown the PM and the Government simultaneously this week announced cuts to UK Border Agency resulting on the loss of 5000 jobs over the next few years.
The problem is that such speeches can cause trouble on the streets of the UK. When it comes to issues of race and immigration irresponsible commentary by politicians can cause an increase in racial tension and race hate attacks.

The PM’s speech on immigration was further undermined by a recent published public attitude survey published by the Economist and conducted by Mori. The results show that the public concern about immigration and race issues has fallen right down the list of priority concerns.

Lee Jasper, Co Chair  BARAC.

The Lib Dem Business Secretary, Vince Cable


First published in OBV - The Home of Black Politics
http://www.obv.org.uk/news-blogs/coalition-pm-immigration-speech-cause-internal-tension

Trevor Phillips gets angry reception at TUC Black Workers Conference - by Zita Holbourne

Zita Holbourne

Written by Zita Holbourne PCS national Exec, TUC Race Relations Committee member and Co Chair of Black Activists Rising Against Cuts ( BARAC)

I attended the TUC Black Workers conference 8-10 April both as a member of the TUC Race Relations Committee and a delegate for the PCS union.

Trevor Phillips’ introduction as a speaker at the conference was met with lukewarm polite applause from some delegates and none from others. In his opening comments he said it was good to be amongst friends then hastily added ‘some friends’ acknowledging that his presence was not welcomed by all in the conference hall.

He told us that his first message was Things have changed. Britain has changed. And that means that the equalities business has to understand that change, and to get ready for it. If we simply continue to fight battles we won yesterday we don't just waste our energies - we betray our successors by not addressing tomorrow's challenge. Today's equality warriors need to fight, yes; but they also need to win.

It’s all very well for him to preach to us about  what we need to do but for a start some of the battles we fought yesterday are still not over because we still face discrimination which in many areas is increasing because of cuts, the far right and the con-dem coalition. He wants us to win - in order to win sometimes we need the backing of the body that is supposed to monitor employers and ensure that they are compliant with equality legislation – the body he heads – EHRC – how does he expect us to win if the EHRC is not adequately resourced to have a helpline to give advice to those on the receiving end and to carry out enforcement work against employers and public bodies who ignore their responsibilities on equality?
He talked about managing the economy but nothing about resisting cuts that will have a disproportionate impact on black communities, workers and service users or the multiple impact on black women and young black people.

I asked Mr Phillips in the Q & A after his speech the following;
PCS members in EHRC have just voted to take strike action over the 68% cut to budget and cuts to staffing of 50% which will have a devastating impact on the commission’s ability to carry out its duties and protect black communities from the discrimination of cuts – we understand your term as chair ends next year. Should not the vision for the EHRC be developed by the incoming Chair in conjunction with stakeholders? What do you plan to do when you leave the EHRC?

My questions were met with laughter from the conference floor. Phillips responded with laughter of his own and asked ‘What am I going to do?’ as if he was asking himself the question for the first time and added ‘anyone got a job? I’m available!’ He went on to accuse me of being a liar and said that the numbers I had mentioned were not true – just not true – cuts are nothing like that – cuts are 53 million to 45 million. The UK spends 3 times as much as any other country.

Interesting that he did not offer any alternative figures on the cuts to staffing.  In 2007 EHRC had a budget of 70 million. It was reduced to 60 million and then again last year it was reduced to 53 million by the con dem government. The government plan is to cut it to £22.5 million by 2015. Within the next 12 months the government wants to cut the current staffing of 460 to 200.  The government has already announced it is withdrawing funding for the EHRC’s helpline and grants programme and the commission has also decided to close its regional offices. These decisions will take effect by March 2012.

So if anyone is a liar it certainly is not me. He did not just accuse me of being a liar but my union – an allegation which I take seriously.

In a ballot of the 314 PCS members at the EHRC, more than 77% voted to strike on a turnout of 48% and the first action could take place later this month.

Phillips went on to say that unions should help EHRC and focus less on rumours and gossip. Does he believe then that our members have voted to take strike action on the back of lies? Perhaps he should read some of his own staff notices where the facts are stated which led to the vote for industrial action by PCS members in the Commission. Is he suggesting that his own staff circulars are not true?

I was able to set the record straight in a debate on a motion immediately after his speech and refer delegates to the PCS website where they could read the facts themselves but by that time Mr Phillips had made a hasty retreat from the conference.

Mr Phillip’s speech for me was stale, uninspiring, and complacent and gave me neither faith nor hope for the future of the EHRC under his leadership.  He is resigned to cuts and demonstrated no concern for his own staff losing jobs not to mention the areas of work which will cease to exist.

Setting aside Phillips the mood of the conference was strong, defiant and ready for action with motion upon motion focused on the impact of con dem cuts on black communities and workers.  As co-founder and co-chair of Black Activists Rising Against Cuts (BARAC) UK I was proud to hear several speakers refer to the work that BARAC is doing, calling on the union movement to work with us and that we were featured in a number of reports given to delegates. We held a very successful BARAC fringe meeting where both panel speakers and contributors from the floor made it quite clear that whilst working with the wider trade union movement against the cuts self organisation and ownership of the fight against the racism of cuts was imperative for us as black people.



Trevor Phillips



MEETING TONIGHT: Stewards needed for the March For Justice For Smiley Culture

Help needed for a very important day in our history.

Campaign For Justice For Smiley Culture needs stewards for the march this Saturday April 16th.  

Coming together as one people marching for justice for Smiley Culture and all those that have died in police custody.  


We are holding a meeting this evening at the  Karibu Education Centre, from 6pm to 8pm. We will be discussing roles and strategies for the march.  We also need help with banners. Please support us by coming to the meeting and offering your time to this important cause.

Time: Tuesday April 12th. 6pm to 8pm.

Location: Gresham Road, Brixton SW2 Opp Brixton Police Station.



Tube: Brixton (Victoria Line) Rail: Brixton Bus: 2, 3, 35, 45, 196

Official FaceBook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Campaign4Justice4SmileyCulture

Official Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/Justice4SmileyC

Official YouTube Account: http://www.youtube.com/user/Justice4Smiley2011

Download flyers & Radio AD for the march: http://www.reggaeairways.co.uk/smiley-culture

ONE LOVE ONE AIM

Southbank Club 124 -130 Wandsworth Road SW8 2DL proceeding to New Scotland Yard

SMILEY CULTURE MARCH FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.

Saturday 16th April 2011 - Assemble at 12 noon

Its time to  bring an end to all deaths in custody.

Please do now allow your emotions to compromise the objectives of the masses and give the media ammunition to discredit our campaign.

Speakers; Merlin Emanuel, Lee Jasper other speakers to be announced.

No Justice No Peace!

Called by the Campaign for Justice for Smiley Culture.

 

Justice 4 Kingsley Brown & Smiley Culture Meeting in Birmingham

Justice 4 Kingsley Brown & Smiley Culture (AKA David Emanuel) Meeting in Birmingham


Location: The African Caribbean Millenium Centre 
339 Dudley Road, Winson Green, Birmingham.B18 4HB

Email:  info@acmccentre.co.uk or phone 0121 455 6382

Time: ‎6:30PM on Friday, April 8th

The family of Kingsley Brown will now join the  family of David Emanuel at the meeting this Friday in Birmingham. Two families united in grief . One people committed to securing justice.

Please share the link to this post on your pages, we need your support.

https://www.facebook.com/Campaign4Justice4SmileyCulture 

https://twitter.com/Justice4SmileyC

Harry’s Place and Searchlight and their active collusion with racism

Terry Fitzpatrick

Terry Fitzpatrick was a supposed anti racist. He often boasted about his credentials of working with the Searchlight organisation for many years. He claims to be personal friends with many Bangladeshi activists and worked on many anti fascist campaigns. Some on the left considered Terry an iconic figure. Last week saw him convicted at Snaresbrook Crown Court of racially aggravated harassment charges.

I knew Terry and as far as I was concerned he was one of those on the left who always viewed black self-organisation as a diversion to the working class struggle against racism. Of course I and thousands of others disagreed with that analysis, always believing that as black people and as victims of racism, we had an inalienable right to self organise and lead the anti racist struggle.

Terry and his supporters not only disagreed with us, they violently disagreed with us. This difference in perspective was strongly held and Terry made it his business to be prosecutor in chief of a racist campaign that has targeted me over the last decade.

At the time I was receiving the full treatment from the racist Evening Standard during the 2008 London Mayoral election campaign I was being bombarded with racist email and phone calls with threats of violence from Terry. He told me in no uncertain terms that he was targeting my home and any meetings where I was intending to speak.

On top of Andrew Gilligan searching through my rubbish bins and the daily headlines in the press, Terry was seeking to turn the screw even further.

Terry’s vitriol is worthy of the BNP or EDL and much of his rhetoric was steeped in racist bigotry and hatred for black people.

 Some on the left supported Terry despite his views and even when this matter became public many on the blogosphere decided to support Terry.

Many accused both myself and Simon Woolley of fabricating lies despite the emails we published from Terry clearly demonstrating his racism. The result was Simon and I received a hate storm of comments from people who declared themselves to be left leaning anti racists.

Chief among these webs sites was Harry’s Place a left wing libertarian site that I now accuse of being a safe haven for racists. I will be publishing more detail on the clear evidence I have to back up my claim. I found them to be deeply duplicitous and profoundly hostile to supporting my demand that they ban Terry from their site. They did so only after they became aware that Terry would now face criminal charges.

They eventually ‘ cleaned “ their site of all Terry’s racist comments. Luckily we have a complete record that demonstrates their full support for Terry whilst he was conducting his campaign.

Similarly we contacted Searchlight and asked them to support us by publicly distancing and condemning Terry’s comments. They refused to do so even when it was pointed out that he was announcing himself as a member of the Searchlight team. They indulged his racism and supported his campaign along with Harry’s Place much to their discredit. Both only took action to when forced to do so and it became clear that Terry had been charged.

The fact that a so called prominent “ anti racist “ campaigning organisation and ‘ left leaning “ Harry’s Place gave this despicable man cover during his racist campaign against Simon and I speaks volumes.

There is a section on the left that despises black self-organisation and in their ideological zeal their articulation becomes both racist and profoundly hostile. I will say more about this in the coming weeks suffice to say that I have always maintained their can be no collusion with racism without becoming deeply compromised and poisoned by it. 

The racism on the blogosphere is rampant and out of control and Harry’s Place is not alone in allowing unmoderated racist comments in the name of “ free speech”. After securing the conviction of Terry Fitzpatrick I along with OBV will be taking a zero tolerance stance toward these matters and all such comments will be reported to the police for prosecution.

We don’t expect apologies from either Searchlight or Harry’s Place: they are incapable of such good grace. We do expect that their collusion with a racist and their failure to condemn him should result their unequivocal condemnation by all genuine anti racists. They must be held accountable for their actions. They must face censure.

Just in case you are in doubt about the serious and disgusting nature of the abuse we received over a two-year period. There are far to many to highlight here and of course they do not include the many phone calls we had from Terry.

Below you can see a small selection of highlights of the emails as presented in court.

---------------------------------------------------

Terry Fitzpatrick’s email to Lee Jasper 2008 – 2010.

I am doing a thesis on the development, or should I preface that with under, on the black/left/revolutionary/pimp/hustler/taking money from guilt tripped white liberals/sydrome that existed from the Critchlow/Howe/Nottinghill Gate, Lucky Gordon, chucking whites out of their homes by nigger pimps like you paid by landlords like Peter Rachman you could make that a rap crap song while you have your silly base ball cap on the sid eof your head and you is grabbing you balls innit?

You have called me a coward you fucking nigger, oh and by the way I have a cutting where you call yourself a nigger, so I challenge you to a fight, not just you but the other two named niggers, I will batter the shit out of your, almost, black hides.

Lee, Always thick you black cunt are you not? Why don't you shut your,

actually not very black, thick gob? I gave you advice before you nigger, I

flatter you, the last time you took me on.

Back on line you fucking nigger? What about you and the crack dealers and the

gun renters in All Saints Rd you fucking nigger.

Come on you fucking nigger. Let's have a fight.

For the benefit of those who might not know what a nigger is I posit some definitions. Never done a days work in its life. Ponced of white society in terms of grants from Ken Livingstone. Sold crack with its mates around Notting Hill and Brixton.

o, whahapen innit, or is it init? I really don't know how to spell in nigger. Well boy, we really, as far you and your Jew hating niggermates in OBV are concerned, have a problem. In your nigger stupidity you made a complaint to old bill. You hit on one who was and is corrupt and will go to prison over this maybe taking some of you black pimp hustlers with him. 

I know why you haven't got back to me, because you know just how much information I have on you nigger pimps. I am subpeoning a number of people.

Lee Jasper,

Michael Eboda,

Lester Holloway,

Darcus Howe,

Francine Fernandes,

Winsome-Grace Cornish,

Leon Green.

Giving evidence willingly will be,

Brian Paddick,

Andrew Gilligan,

Mala Sen,

Farrukh Dhondy,

Any number of Bangladeshis who have know me for over thirty years and will call you a fucking nigger.

Are you kidding you fucking thick cunt? There is no way you wrote this. It is actually in joined up English you fucking jungle bunny. Who wrote it for you, you moron? Post this on your site.

Yo nigger,

Wat am appen innit? You am still tik cunt wat cant spel innit? That,s a

question mark for you nigger. Ow am de odder niggs in OBV wat am goin to de cort for to tell de lyes about me an wat I am bring al ge witnes to say de am sit an tak al de money initt?

-------------------------------------------------------

Lee Jasper

http://leejasper.blogspot.com

http://www.leejasper.com

https://twitter.com/leejasper

Another black man dies after contact with the police. Its time we unified and defended ourselves... this can't go on.

Posted on 01 April 2011

It is with deep regret that I write this. I offer my sincere and heartfelt condolences to the family of  Kingsley Burrell Brown.

 I cant imagine your pain right now. I had thought that the suspicious death of Smiley Culture was shocking, but the death of Keith Burrell after being arrested by West Midlands Police, as reported by the Voice leaves me feeling  physically sick. I call upon all people of good conscience to support our demands for justice for  both of our brothers. Our lives seem so cheap in their hands. I ask that both black and white, rich or poor  unite in the simple cause of justice and truth. Thing have to change. 

Everybody physically connected to this case has to be arrested immediately. All Birmingham citizens regardless of race will find the reported facts both deeply shocking and deeply worrying. Back to the eighties has become a hackneyed phrase of late. 30 years on from 1981 history appears to be repeating itself.


No Justice No Peace.

Kingsley Brown hours before he died in hospital (from The Voice)



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