Category Archives: Equality

Handsworth Conversations

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3 Minute Wonder grabbed me this week. It featured the work of Vanley Burke, photographer, who has documented the social scene over 40 years. It is now featured in Tate Britain.
Earlier I portrayed Handsworth as an artistic incubator. I have known Vanley for many years and used some of his photographs in schools. They convey an insight into the community in an extraordinary way, and it is just and good that his work should feature nationally and internationally. Vanley remains a modest man attached to the community and alive to social division and exclusion. His work should be known since it offers an education and deep understanding of a dynamic and vibrant society.

Inter-faith union

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A young couple recently married with the blessing of one of the Gurdwaras in Birmingham. The unusual thing about the occasion is that the bridegroom was Muslim. One would have thought that this was an occasion to rejoice as an expression of moving on from a chapter of history of bitter division between religious faiths.
Unfortunately the hate brigade have entered the arena pointing out how it offends Sikhism. So Sikhism has its own home grown fundamentalists.. In this years Vaisakhi celebrations in Handsworth Park a group of the self-appointed turned up with unsheathed swords and committed serious acts of violence against people taking part in the celebrations. There were serious injuries. Another group damaged Birmingham Repertory Theatre when a play with views they did not like about aspects of their culture was staged. Its author received death threats. Again in the recent local elections members of three Gurdwaras were expected to show their allegiance to their faith by voting for a Sikh candidate irrespective of his track record and political views.

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Why have we lost it with our children?

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The Unicef Report on the state of the world’s children is scathing on Britain. It has made us all catch our breath. The feeling I get working with children in care (recently subject to a fairly damning report) is that as collective parents a poor example is shown. The information about Britain is only a part of this report which emphasises that where gender equality is practised it is the child who benefits.
As far as the situation in Britain goes it is interesting to hear views expressed by our continental neighbours. When we say proudly that our 4 years are reading they respond with “why aren’t they out playing?”. The hot house of examinations, bad enough at 16+, is replicated at 7, 11 and 14 with SATs. Why? It clearly isn’t helping our young, quite the reverse.
Regrettably the situation is a reflection of the society where a number of issues preoccupy us taking our eye off focussing what is important. Headlines are filled with alerts on crime, terrorism, gambling and other ideas which are doing great harm to us as a nation. Our responses to them have all received considerable criticism: prisons are stuffed full and are in inhuman; dealing with terrorism has lead to the stigmatisation of sections of the community and grave injustice and casinos are being promoted at every turn.

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Racial unrest in Lozells

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Three Asian men have been charged with the murder of a young African Caribbean IT specialist who worked for Birmingham CIty Council. The incident took place in the Lozells area of Birmingham last October. Isaiah Young-Sam was with his brother and friends trying to escape the trouble which was going on in the area at the time. A car chased them and hooded men got out producing knives and weapons. Isaiah was stabbed in the heart. The tension and unrest was felt in other parts of the area, including the Rookery Road area of Handsworth where a gang of youths roamed the area causing injury and damage to property. Again there was an underlying racial dimension.
Part of the problem appears to be underlying beliefs that sections of the community benefit more than others from grants and benefits available from the local authorities. Certainly the SRB6 funding has benefitted a group who were allowed to infiltrate the board claimimg that they had hitherto been denied their rightful share of funding available. One group has taken power politically in the area showing little awareness or concern about what had been taking place locally in recent months. Regrettably this is more likely to fuel suspicion and feelings of injustice rather than address it.

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Unite Against Fascism AdVan

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Unite Against Fascism AdVan
Faith communities, trades unions, political parties and ethnic minority organizations unite to oppose the BNP.
The tour of the West Midlands by the Unite Against Fascism AdVan began in Birmingham on Wednesday April 26th with a reception for the van in Newtown, Birmingham.
The reception was attended by, amongst others, Tony Rabaiotti of UNISON, Roger McKenzie of the TUC, John Tyrrell on behalf of Birmingham Labour Group, Salma Yaqoob of Respect, Mohini Howard of Birmingham Race Action Partnership and the Rev John Breadon of the Church of England.
The van is touring England with the message that voters should use their vote positively and vote against the politics of hate and division promoted by the BNP. The BNP can only succeed if the majority of voters who are opposed to the politics of racial hatred stay at home on May 4th.
Ruth Jacobs, chair of the Representative Council Birmingham and West Midlands Jewry commented ‘The Birmingham Jewish Community supports the UAF campaign to stop the rise of the BNP both nationally and locally and has been pleased to have had the opportunity to be associated with the local UAF efforts.“

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Birmingham links with Republic of Guinea

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Birmingham UK, like its namesake in Alabama, is a diverse city which likes to believe that all is well in inter-community relations. A recently conducted report on attitudes and its findings on the way that the city is segregated in residential patterns is yet another instance why the City’s leaders should stop being complacent.
Complacent? If you don’t agree then look again at a report from 2001 about the enquiry commissioned by the City Council itself. I was a member of this enquiry for which Judge Ray Singh was invited to preside. Members of the enquiry interviewed a range of individuals and representatives of community groups. A group of employees working for the City Council were also persuaded to speak out. I knew of their concerns because a number of them spoke to me about “the glass ceiling” they felt existed. The then Chief Executive and secretary to the enquiry, Sir Michael Lyons, felt that by interviewing employees personal grievances would be put forward. However the hearing went ahead, with employees insisting there should be no senior officers present and that the session should not be recorded as had happened elsewhere during the enquiry. This seemed to me an eloquent statement in itself!

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Handsworth: an artistic incubator

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Handsworth like Harlem in the U.S., has a tradition of inspiring artists arising from the struggle for equality and justice. While a number of people have a considerable record of achievement, it is often understated if not recognised. Birmingham has a habit of ignoring some of its greatest assets.
Vanley Burke has photographed events and recorded social history in Handsworth and Birmingham, although he has also ventured further afield. He visited South Africa after Mandela’s release and made a interesting study at a time of significant social change. Fortunately the City’s Library has created an archive which contains not only Vanley’s work, but also that of others with notable achievements such as Pogus Caesar and Pervaiz Khan

Vital Link Educational Limited

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Vital Link Educational Limited was set up in 1993 by five people: Gilroy Brown, Head Teacher of Foundry Primary School, Eileen Daley, Manager of a Community Enterprise, John Cockcroft, teacher and librarian at the Martineau Teachers’ Centre in Birmingham, Sitinder Bahia, a teacher and myself who had run the Multicultural Resource Unit for nearly 15 years. Three of us had been involved in All Faiths For One Race (AFFOR) which had been based on the Lozells Road for many years, and was known for its hard-hitting publications, including “Talking Blues” and “Talking Chalk”. These were about black peoples’ experience with the police and education services respectively. AFFOR had been set up in 1971 to protest against a South African cricket tour. Clare Short was one its early directors.

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Rainbow over Derry

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Jerry, son of my cousin Jack, and brother of Chris, died of cancer a few years ago. He was active in Derry, working with the Quaker Peace Initiative. I went to his funeral, which was extremely well attended by the Catholics and Protestants who valued Jerry and the Project.
The occasion was a truly Irish affair, with Jerry’s huge frame on view in the front room of the family home. Jo, his wife, and children Sophie and Jack welcomed me, although I had not had contact with them for a long time. I had spoken to Jerry on the phone when I visited West Belfast a year or so earlier, before Jerry had known about his illness. He was then back in England with his father helping him to move from Isleworth to Aylesbury to be near to Chris and Margaret.
Jerry Tyrrell photo gallery
All the male relatives carried the coffin and Jerry was taken first to the College where a Quaker meeting remembered his life and work. I recounted the occasion when my friend and business partner in Vital Link, John Cockcroft, had phoned me to tell me that Jerry’s airline ticket to Belfast had been found at the Euston Road Meeting House. Did I know where he could be found? A call to his Father, Jack found him. No, he had not realised his ticket was missing, and yes, he would be picking it up.
Jerry’s book on Peer Group Mediation appeared posthumously. I left a copy with the Holy Land Trust in Bethlehem. This group organised a trip to Palestine/Israel this January (2004) when we found a deserted Bethlehem and a family in the Refugee Camp whose house had been demolished as a reprisal for a bombing incident in Jerusalem earlier the same day. More about that later.
rainbow over derry
The picture is a scene at Jerry’s burial at the cemetery above Derry looking down into the valley. The rainbow appeared just as Chris had read “I am in the wind”. It is a symbol of hope for Ireland and for Palestine/Israel.
The following links tell you more about The Quaker Peace Initiative and Jerry’s work with information about availability of his book.
http://www.ccruni.gov.uk/research/csc/quaker.htm
http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/emu/visits.htmhttp://www.peacenews.info/issues/2455/2455381.html