Dear friends,

Building on our post from July, we urge you to sign this petition for the Guild of Students to join and support the national demonstration at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham on October 2nd, and to join the NUS-backed TUC demonstration on October 20th.

The petition can be signed here – http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/guild-support-tuc-and-tory-conference-demos/

Along with women and disabled students, black and minority ethnic students are amongst the hardest hit by the cuts made by the Conservative-led government. Black youth unemployment is now 56%, the rate having increased at almost twice the rate for white 16 to 24-year-olds since the start of the recession in 2008. In the Tories’ latest attack on BME students they have revoked London Metropolitan University’s license to teach international students, on whose fees it depends on for funding; this being the university with the highest proportion of BME students in the country.

With the recent Cabinet reshuffle in Westminster, the microcosm of the Government has been further reduced with there being no BME political presence in any Cabinet role. The only non-white minister Baroness Warsi was sacked from her role as Conservative Party Co-Chairman and Cabinet Minister and made Faith & Communities Minister.

We are fighting for a fairer society, and this is a fight that the Guild has supported in the past. In last November’s Guild Council we added this to Guild’s Beliefs and Commitments document “The Guild believes it has the duty to back NUS supported demonstrations and protests, and believes it has the duty to play a significant part in the mobilisation for aforementioned demonstrations and protests.” Motion 10K so it’s already official Guild policy to support these things yet they’re violating it.

There is clear precedent with regards to the Guild marching on political party conferences having backed last year’s demonstration at the Liberal Democrat party conference and precedent for backing anti-austerity marches having had sent coaches to the TUC national demo last year.

Please show your support and sign the petition,

Many thanks.

Dear friends,

For the June 15th Guild Council two proposals were made both of which BEMA supported. One was to join and support the national demonstration at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham on October 2nd. Second was to join the Trade Union Congress national demo on October 20th, which is also supported by the NUS.

Due to time constraints both these motions were referred to the sabbatical officer group for a decision. However when voting to give the decision to SOG we had no idea that they would reject the proposals that would have likely pass at Guild Council.

Black students are amongst the hardest hit by the cuts which disproportionately hit less privileged groups. The average rate of black youth unemployment is now 56%, the youth unemployment rate for black people has increased at almost twice the rate for white 16- to 24-year-olds since the start of the recession in 2008.

Unemployment rate over 50% for Britain’s black youth

We are fighting for a fairer society and the Guild has repeatedly in the past supported us in our fight. Backing the demo against the Liberal Democrat conference and sending coaches to the TUC national demo last year.

Guild Council policy and precedent clearly backs supporting these events. On behalf of many of those most in need of fighting union we call on the incoming sabbatical team to reverse the decision immediately and commence work to build for the demos.

Please show your support.

The University has announced the proposed redundancy of Dr. José Lingna Nafafé, currently the only ethnic minority lecturer working in the Sociology department of POLSIS.

With BME under-representation already a chronic issue at the University (with Black-ethnic individuals constituting only 1.5% of academic staff as of 2011), we feel that pushing through with the redundancy of Dr. Nafafé will serve too great a loss to the diversity of the University, and to BME students being served by the University also.
The letter below was sent to Vice-Chancellor David Eastwood by BME students:

Dear Vice-Chancellor,

Following the recent news that the College of Social Sciences is proposing that Dr. José Lingna Nafafé be made redundant, as Black and Minority Ethnic students we are sending this open letter to express our concern and anger over this potential redundancy.

As BME students at the University of Birmingham, and active members of BME led and related associations, groups and campaigns, we would like to express our discontent over the lack of equal and diverse environment which remains. Collectively, we believe that many of the issues faced by BME students on an academic and social level are largely attributable to the lack of BME representation within various departments. Dr. José Lingna Nafafé has not only served as an inspirational lecturer and academic, but a source of empowerment in an institution which many of us have felt isolated, marginalised and rejected from.

There have been a number of reports which point to the lack of staff representation as having a largely negative effect on attainment and overall integration within HE institutions. José has helped numerous students feel valued and that their input is relevant because their position is equal to that of their White counterparts. Even for students who have not had the privilege of undertaking a module he leads, his physical presence and eagerness to interact with all students has proven that he is invaluable. Furthermore, his approachable character has allowed us to share our concerns and seek guidance from him when we could not find comfort from the other services available.

For many of us, particularly home students who know the city of Birmingham to be a diverse and multicultural space, the university served as a culture shock. If José was no longer a part of the university staff, this would further emphasise the University’s disinterest in equal opportunities and again, representation. This would also further hinder the University’s reputation regarding a diverse teaching staff (a recent mention includes the Guardian’s ‘14,000 British professors – but only 50 are black’ where it was stated that ‘Only the University of Birmingham has more than two black British professors’). It would be a catastrophic loss for BME freshers who are likely to face similar trials and feelings of isolation, or even overt forms of racism. Dr. Nafafé’s application of a zero tolerance policy has allowed his classrooms to feel like safe spaces in which to engage, and for some of us this was a rarity given that university staff had not taken action when students were confronted with varying forms of racism in the past.

If the University of Birmingham is committed to its students, then having Dr. Nafafé remain as a member of the teaching staff will truly emphasise this. His approaches to teaching, values and dedication to ALL students are no secret, and should be commended. Therefore, we collectively request that you recognise this and believe in the application of equal representation for BME students.

We individually believe that Dr. Nafafé has changed our lives and inspired an academic passion which would have otherwise resulted in either leaving the University or attaining lower class degrees.

Hear our Voice.

Yours Sincerely,

Malia Bouattia, Postgraduate student, Former Guild Councillor, and NUS Black Students’ Committee

Areeq Chowdhury, Undergraduate (Economics and Political Science), BEMA Chair

Sacha Hassan, Undergraduate, Ethnic Minorities Officer elect, and NUS Black Students’ Committee

Runako Celina Bernard Stevenson, Undergraduate (Modern Languages), BEMA Marketing Officer

Mma Yeebo-Agoe, Undergraduate (Psychology), former BEMA Guild Councillor

Akil Henry, Undergraduate (Maths and Music), BEMA Vice Chair

Azfar Shafi, Undergraduate (Psychology), BEMA Guild Councillor

Halima Sayed, Graduate (African Studies with Development), MA University of Warwick

Sundeep Kaur Johal, Graduate (Media, Culture and Society), MSc student University of Oxford

Bethany Jean Conroy, Graduate (Culture, Society and Communication)

Libby Roberts, Graduate (Media, Culture and Society)

Bashir Osman, Undergraduate (Civil Engineering), President of UoB Islamic Society

Anisa Ather, Undergraduate (English Literature and Creative Writing), UoB Islamic Society Committee

Shaima Saif, Postgraduate (MA International relations: Political violence and terrorism), Guild Councillor

John Narayan, Graduate, PHD student University of Nottingham

Sarah, Undergraduate (West African Studies)

Yoanna Okwesa, Graduate (Culture, Society and Communication), MA London College of Fashion

Dr Kehinde Andrews, Graduate

Nicole Samuda, Postgraduate (PHD)

Natalie Selby, Graduate (Culture, Society and Communication)

Kanja Sesay, NUS Black Students Officer

Other Supporters:

Simon Jones, Graduate (Sociology)

Kelly Nock, Graduate (Culture, Society and Communication)

Nicola Pitts, Graduate (Culture, Society and Communication)

Luke Nicholson, Graduate (Italian studies)

Anna Hindmarsh, Graduate (Culture, Society and Communication)

Sophie Hickman, Graduate (Media, Culture and Society)

For most people, last bank holiday weekend would have entailed of a celebratory Jubilee street party, plenty of Pimms, and reams of bunting. For me, it was an awkward and uncomfortable one which I could not wait to see the back of. Thankfully, karma poured down pretty much all weekend, which made me feel less guilty about not doing anything.

Unfortunately for those on campus, the choice was not so free. The VP of Democracy and Resources felt the need to promote and endorse nationalist and royalist sentiments, by draping the university in bunting and Jubilee regalia which for many represent the legacy of the Empire . All around the world, whether it is Palestine, Northern Ireland, Zimbabwe, India or Pakistan, its taste is still bitter in the mouths of the people. It is certainly not something a multi-cultural, internationalist institution like the Guild of Students should be celebrating.

I am not ashamed to say that I feel a certain level of discomfort at the idea of waving a Union Jack, and indeed even more so at the sight of others (particularly People of Colour) doing so. After all, it was not hijacked by far-right groups and football hooligans for no reason, neither could they have so successfully reappropriated and rebranded it if it did not conflate with their ideology in the first place. To myself and others in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kenya all it stands for is genocide and white-supremacy.

It is not only the Union Jack people will be jingoistically waving that represents white-supremacy, but the very premise of the role of head of state. I for one can never assume this role and neither can any other Person of Colour. Considering the head of state is supposed to represent its people, how can black people ever feel proud of being British when we can never reach this “pinnacle”? The most educated, moral and decent asian guy will never be able to assume this role, instead Prince Harry who used the term Paki to describe a member of his platoon could represent Britain.

Our acceptance of the Jubilee celebrations do not only legitimise the Queen’s role as the head of state, but also others like the King of Bahrain who recently took a day off from his murderous regime to luncheon with Queen at her special jubilee meal. The other despots who she broke bread with included Prince Mohammed Bin Nawaf Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia and Mswati III, the King of Swaziland, who has imprisoned the president of the Swaziland Union of Students.

The recent Macpherson inquiry, demonstrated how entrenched institutionalised racism is in this country. The Guild needs to be an organisation that can overcome this sort of racism, but by covering itself with regalia of institutional racism, how can it ever expect to engage black students or those who have suffered racism. “Black apathy” in the Guild is a direct result of it being overwhelming dominated by privileged white men who make insensitive out of touch decisions like this one, thereby alienating us. So unless the Guild executives check their privileges and change how the Guild appears to black students, it will never progress.

Sacha Hassan

Hi folks,

Ok so the first thing that anyone reading this probably notices is that the post was made well into December, whereas the conference took place back in November. I have to hold my hands up to that one, but in my defence I have had lots going on for me so that is the reason it has taken me this long to put something concrete down.
Right, well this Winter conference took place over two days at Birkbeck college in London on the 26/27th November this year. Conference officially opened with an opening statement from the NUS Black students officer Kanja Sesay, who instigated a minute’s silence for those black individuals killed through Race attacks. Following on from that, we had remarks from Black activist Lee Jasper, Black lawyer Peter Herbert and Operation Black Vote’s director Simon Woolley.
After that we went to individual sessions for those from the different parts of the country. That was quite informative and useful for networking. The first day of conference closed with a debate around issues affecting black students today in education.
Day two was mainly focused on workshops which saw the delegates from the different universities getting involved in the different classes. I attended a workshop around Black feminism that was very useful and enlightening.
The conference closed with a statement by the Black student officer, Kanja, He spoke about the various things which he had been trying to do this past year and how he intended to move forward.
All told, I think the conference was very informative and quite a useful event. It allowed me to make connections with delegates from different institutions, which will hopefully assist me for the future in my role as EMSO.
PS.
Here are the links to the opening statements made at conference by the different speakers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KKb1rHVhzk – This is the final video, but the others are available from this page.

Thanks for reading guys.

Hi folks,
Just really want to take the time to thank you for putting aside time in your busy days firstly to read this post and then perhaps to respond to it with ideas of your own.
What I would like to ask people for is just some ideas in terms of the next campaign you want to see run on campus as BME students. The first campaign I ran (BHM) was a resounding success all around and I cannot help wanting to build on that and move forward.
If people could leave their comments and ideas for further campaigns in then comment section that would be greatly appreciated and if I decided to expand on your ideas for a campaign then of course (credit where it’s due) I would acknowledge you as the main instigator of the idea.

Thanks alot, and thanks again for taking the time to read and leave brief comments.
Carl ‘Raskarl’ Gayle

Hi Everyone,
I would just like to use this time to introduce myself to you. I’m your EMSO for the coming academic year and will be working for your interests. If you have any queries or need to get in touch with me for some reason my email is:
c.gayle@guild.bham.ac.uk
I will try and respond ASAP to your questions and comments. The first thing I have on the calendar is an eventful Black History Month for you…so if there are any suggestions or things you would like to see happen during October this year then please leave a comment here or alternatively drop me an email.

Thanks folks.
Carl G