The National IRO Managers Partnership (NIROMP) is appalled by the murder of George Floyd. We stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter protests and speaking out against continued racial injustices. Racism and racial discrimination is decades, centuries old. We are angry and sad that in 2020 it is still killing people, destroying lives, affecting livelihoods and stopping people from breathing.
Now is the time to move beyond sentiment – to turn pledges of commitment into a lived reality through our every day actions, our thinking, our conversations – with family, friends, and colleagues. We at NIROMP believe this will be the way that we can effect positive change.
It’s impossible to produce an exhaustive list of resources but we have attempted to at least pull together some resources that speak to the Black British experience of racism and racial discrimination. Below we share both practical information on effective steps we can all take to be a better ally and activist for change.
We start with Dr Muna Abdi – on some of the ways you can show up and stand up as an ally HERE and on the stories that make up who we are HERE
Understanding the lived experiences of black and ethnic minority children and families By Dr Claudia Bernard
This excellent Knowledge Briefing briefing by @DrCBernard is for social workers and supervisors about understanding the lived experience of Black, Asian and minority ethnic children & families and is FREE to access via the Research in Practice website. A central aim of the briefing is to focus on black and ethnic minority children as these groups of children are over-represented in children’s social work, but have unique issues as a result of various marginalised identities. It provides summaries of research exploring salient factors affecting children and families’ day-to-day realities, thus deepening practice supervisors’ knowledge of how poverty and systemic inequalities affect families’ social conditions.
Read the Knowledge Briefing at source: HERE
Black Lives Matter: Then, Now & Always
It’s time for all well-intentioned platitudes and recycled rhetoric to be converted into meaningful activism and root and branch reform, says local social worker and activist Wayne Reid. By Wayne Reid16 JULY 2020
Read at source: HERE
CHRIS MORRISON, INDEPENDENT REVIEWING OFFICER
A collection of great talks, videos and resources by and for children
What’s it like growing up with mixed heritage? HERE
What is racism – and what can be done about it? A collection of really helpful, informative videos by young people: HERE
PODCASTS & TED TALKS ON RACISM & ANTI-RACIST ACTIVISM IN THE UK TODAY:
- Ellis Fearon (aged 14) explains Black Lives Matter
- Nova Reid describes microaggressions
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of a single story
- Akala: race and class in the ruins of empire
- June Sarpong talks diversity and the British class system
- ‘Ways To Change The World’
- Ghetts on black British artists, gang violence & the evolution of grime
- George The Poet on youth violence, representations and limitations of government
- Munroe Bergdorf on racism, trans activism and acceptance
- Afua Hirsch with David Olusoga
Visit HERE for articles and other resources.
Advice for being an ally
BAMEed is a grassroots network aimed at ensuring our diverse communities are represented as a substantive part of the education workforce. There are three main parts to our network mission:
- Increasing the number of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people entering and remaining in education careers
- Encouraging and supporting those within the profession to progress in their career
- Championing change in education structures so that bias does not prevent diverse representation
These three parts feed into our beliefs that are listed on our website here
No morel exclusions – a grassroots movment
No More Exclusions is a new UK abolitionist coalition grassroots movement. Our mission is to bring about an end to the persistent race-disparities in school exclusions in the next five years and to affect change at legal, policy, practice and cultural level in education and society as a whole over the next ten years. We want an education system that works for all!
Visit the website: HERE
Black minds matter – therapeutic support
The effects of racial discrimination across this country, for many black people the cases of violence against individuals such as George Floyd in the USA and the many historic incidents in the UK are deeply triggering. Treating mental health must be a priority in the fight for equality and welfare of black people in the UK.
Black Minds Matter is a fantastic organisation on a mission to make mental health topics and support accessible for all black people in the U.K. Understanding that the NHS is currently in crisis and therapy is not always readily available, their aim is to link as many black individuals and families in the UK with certified, professional, black practitioners for sessions as soon as possible.
Learn more about the Black Minds Matter organisation and how to donate. Your support is needed to help bridge the gap so that therapeutic access can be made available. The money raised will be used to pay in full for therapy sessions for those in need. Individuals may choose a practitioner to their liking, keeping confidentiality and dignity as a focus.
Visit the Black Minds website. We have created a website: HERE
Black Lives Matter & The Question of Violence by Gary Younge
One of the leading thinkers on politics and society, Gary Younge is Professor of Sociology in the School of Social Sciences and an award-winning journalist.
Inclusive bookshops & reads
Put this hashtag into your twitter search bar to find a range of books for children and adults #ReadTheOnePercent
Children’s books that cover race and racism: HERE
ROUND TABLE BOOKS exists to celebrate underrepresented children’s books, writers and illustrators. We curate and stock books from the widest variety of UK and Irish publishers possible. See their last books for children of all ages: HERE
Help diversity-led independent publishers tell more stories! Representative publishing is in crisis, help ensure their future. Watch the video below and read more: HERE
Onjali Q. Raúf is the founder of Making Herstory, an organisation mobilising men, women and children from all walks of life to tackle the abuse and trafficking of women and girls in the UK and beyond. In her spare time she delivers emergency aid convoys for refugee families surviving in Calais and Dunkirk, and supports interfaith projects. Her first novel, The Boy at the Back of the Class, won the Waterstone’s Children’s Prize and The Blue Peter Award. Her second book, The Star Outside My Window, published in October 2019 and she has written a 2020 World Book Day title that’s a follow up to The Boy at the Back of the Class called The Day We Met the Queen. Here she reads an extract from ‘Boy at their Back of the Class’.
On racism, structural bias and privilege
Source: Unfiltered with James O’Brien Akala deconstructs race, class, and Britain’s modern myths | Unfiltered with James O’Brien #32
Rapper, poet and scholar Akala joins James O’Brien to discuss race and class.
Akala picks apart many of the modern myths around educational attainment, gangs, street violence and black youth, looking at the ways these are perpetuated in the media and who benefits from perpetuating them, as well as looking back to the Windrush generation and the institutionalised injustices that led to the recent crisis. Read about the interview: HERE
Read ‘Natives’ by Akala. Shortlisted for the James Tait Black prize, the Jhalak prize, the Bread and Roses award and longlisted for the Orwell Prize for political writing. More Information: HERE
Windrush scandal
OUR CHILDREN DESERVE A PROPER HISTORY LESSON
We need to make concerted efforts to learn and to unlearn. It will take time and effort, challenge and continued activism to really address and bring an end to racism and racial discrimination. Sadly we’re a very long way off from where we need to be.
The Black Curriculum: Meet the woman bringing black British history to schools: HERE
Read the report and join the call for changes to children’s education and curriculum: HERE
This is excellent, do watch: The School That Tried to End Racism review – a powerful lesson in white privilege: HERE
THE POWER OF LANGUAGE
Downloaded at source: ‘Don’t call me BAME’: Why some people are rejecting the term
Intersectionality
Law Professor Kimberle Crenshaw founded the Term ‘Intersectionality’. She says: ‘Feminist backtalking confounds patriarchy. Anti-racist questioning confounds white supremacy. Intersectionality is the framework that allows for the “both/and” conversations we most need.’
A PERSPECTIVE ON WOKENESS
@Ayishat_Akanbi On radical kindness/understanding/compassion/empathy… about arguing & shaming each other online … Radical or conformist or performatist? Nuance is important to seeing our interconnections… Enlightening, helpful reflections and challenges:
niromp.org 