Black lives matter in the UK too

A number of young black men have been shot by police in the USA in recent years – leading to the emergence of “Black Lives Matter”, which styles itself as “not a moment, but a movement”. This distinction comes because it is not just a snap campaign against police racism but an attempt to rebuild a diverse black liberation movement.

Five years ago, Mark Duggan was shot dead by the police – and for days afterwards riots swept the UK. On that anniversary, 5th August 2016, a number of activists staged three protests to remember Mark Duggan and to launch a Black Lives Matter movement in the UK. Activists lay down in the road and blocked access to Heathrow airport, while others blocked roads in Nottingham. A number of arrests were made as police cleared the protesters and freed up the roads.

The protests came just weeks after a protest march in London against the latest two incidences of US police shooting young black people. Activist Joshua Virasami, speaking on behalf of the organisers of the UK protest, said that black people had to unite to take on the task of achieving “justice and equality” in Britain and around the world.

Today’s protest has prompted various news organisations to question whether racism is endemic in the UK justice system. Statistics show that a disproportionately high number of young black men in prison and similar forms of custody are black – while while men are under-represented in the prison population. Others have raised concerns that increased racism, encouraged during the Brexit campaign and by the referendum vote, will see young black men being treated with increased suspicion rather than dignity.

Although the discussion of the moment is centring around how black men are treated by the police and judiciary, the nascent movement in the US is at pains to point out that black people are a diverse group and the new movement must make space for men and women to be equally involved – along with black people of different sexualities and abilities.

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