Melanie Phillips wants to “destroy” the “Muslim world”

The idea of free speech is being deployed as a fig-leaf for privileged white commentators to justify the abuse of their ‘legal’ right to demonise people of colour writes Nafeez Ahmed  Read More

Not in the family portrait: BME voters and Brexit – Part II

By Brian Alleyne Brexit, social class and ethnicity According to research done by Lord Ashcroft, people in England and Wales who were older, lived outside major cities, had lower levels of education and a lower social class position tended to vote Leave. Conversely, people in London and the larger English cities, with higher levels of… Read More

Not in the family portrait: BME voters and Brexit – Part I

Not in the family portrait: BME voters and Brexit – Part I By Brian Alleyne Martin is a Leave voter who was “unemployed … had his benefits suspended and been summonsed for non-payment of council tax. For him, the EU referendum was a chance to kick back”.  Martin’s story, as told in a June 20,… Read More

How should we teach children about contested histories?

by Farah Elahi  In recent years, there have been numerous campaigns for the inclusion of marginalised histories in the national curriculum. These campaigns have been successful in retaining key black British figures such as Mary Seacole and Olaudah Equiano in history lessons. However, inclusion is not enough. We must go further, ensuring that these stories… Read More

Diversity initiatives don’t work, they just make things worse: the ideological function of diversity in the cultural industries

by Anamik Saha  edited by Yasmin Gunaratnam Dev Patel might have won the award for Best Supporting Actor (that’s Dev Patel and not Riz Ahmed, Burberry), but when the nominees for the 2017 BAFTA Awards were announced, the lack of racial (and class) diversity amongst the nominees felt wearingly inevitable. What is more troubling is how… Read More

So Nadiya won the Great British Bake Off, why the big deal?

By Henna Zamurd-Butt  Surely in “melting pot Britain” no one should be batting an eyelid at Nadiya Hussain’s win of the Great British Bake Off? Well yeah. But clearly the pot’s not as melted as we’d have hoped because the media has been flipping out about it all week. The Mail even broke its three-year run… Read More

More Than Melanin: A Film Series on Black Experiences

While schools may mark Black History Month, it is important to remember that we cannot rely on them to teach us about black history.

There are other avenues, resources and people that can provide us with an abundance of knowledge, particularly during this month.

One example is Filmmaker and founder of Visionnary Arts, Troy James Aidoo who to mark Black History Month has created a short film series titled More Than Melanin. Read More

Ain’t no black in the UKIP pack?

Now we know for sure. After their stunning, and literally historic victory in the Clacton by-election and unexpected success in the North West on the same day, there is now electoral ‘proof’ – if any were still needed – that UKIP are likely to have a significant impact on the outcome of the general election in May 2015.

So what does this mean for minority ethnic communities in Britain, as the political centre of gravity drifts to the right? Read More