"I know when to go out..."

Tools for anti-racists, Malcolm X in Smethwick, and lockdown birthdays

29 May 2020 — 3 min read

This newsletter started out as a bit of an experiment but has turned into more of an adventure as more people sign up and get involved. 20 issues in and I’ve really been enjoying writing it every week and getting people’s feedback. Particularly when it’s positive!

Each week I worry there won’t be anything to write about and then I struggle to fit everything in. Let me know what you’d like to see more (or less) of by emailing me or by commenting.

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I had thought of taking this week off because it was my birthday. And then a white woman called the police because a black man asked her to put her dog on a lead, and George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis. Issues of racial justice loom large and protests are continuing across the USA as I write.

The above links are to articles discussing what happened next, rather than reporting the incidents themselves. I don’t share articles that link to videos of people’s last moments. Gal-Dem posted an interesting discussion about that here. “Footage of brutality is a powerful weapon but as much as it brings publicity to a case it also brings a lot of pain. As such they should be handled with care.”

I’d also urge you to read Kimberlé Crenshaw’s piece The Unmattering of Black Lives and this article too: How White People Can Hold Each Other Accountable to Stop Institutional Racism.

Here is a reminder of some useful information for white people who want to help dismantle white supremacy:

What white people can do for racial justice

Anti-racism resources

Meanwhile, here in the UK, this Louis Theroux interview with Lenny Henry is worth a listen for the discussion of racism in the West Midlands in the 60s. Did you know that Malcolm X visited Smethwick?

This exhibition on Runaway Slaves in Britain at Glasgow University is worth a look.

“The runaways are the silent heroes who created opportunities for future generations of people of colour, and it is important that their existence is acknowledged and celebrated.” Morayo Akandé, Director of 1745 - The Untold Story of Slavery.

A few weeks ago I helped Martin Lewis and his Money Saving Expert team to review some of the thousands of applications to his Covid19 emergency funding round. It was an honour to be involved and it was interesting to read this article about the project here. I was really pleased to see the level of feedback they gave to unsuccessful bids and think the funding sector can learn from this.

I like this appeal from Vodafone to put your unloved old device to a better use for someone who needs it.

Learning points:

If you like reading newsletters (and I hope you do, if you’ve read this far in this one!), you might like Stoop, like a podcast app but for newsletters.

What am I reading?

I’m reading Fistful of Shells by Toby Green which is about the West African slave trade. Ghana’s currency is the cedi, which comes from the Akan word for cowry shell, the former currency.

What am I listening to?

I loved this podcast from the author Melissa Harrison as she waits and watches for swifts in her Suffolk garden.

Joy-giving things

I couldn’t face a crowded zoom for my birthday so I made a playlist of tunes that my friends and I have danced to over the years and encouraged them to have a bit of a bop around their own kitchens and gardens. Maybe you’d like to, too? Here’s the playlist.

And here’s a ranunculus which emerged in my garden this week and looks nothing like the picture on the box. This often happens.