The latest news, updates and events in Birmingham
An exciting new photographic exhibition, which will take place during the Commonwealth Games 2022, will be previewed this Black History Month during a panel discussion celebrating Birmingham’s diversity through rarely seen photographs of some of its Commonwealth citizens, who settled here and enriched the city with their contributions. The panel discussion to launch the photographic exhibition will…
Birmingham’s celebration of Black History Month has been launched with a special virtual event held over the weekend. As well as reflecting the city’s diversity and heritage, this year’s programme also reflects on the Black Lives Matter movement and the impact COVID-19 has had on Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.
Young citizens from across the region have written to the West Midlands Combined Authority urging it to continue to fight racism. Members of the Young Combined Authority (YCA) wrote to the WMCA’s chief executive, calling on the authority to keep structural racism and disadvantage high on the region’s agenda in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests.
Over 50,000 people have signed an online petition calling for an elderly Smethwick woman to remain in the UK after she was threatened with deportation. 75-year-old Sikh woman Gurmit Kaur has received backing for her cause from people all over the world, amassing in excess of 50k signatures in under seven days, after I Am Birmingham…
Community campaigners are rallying behind an elderly Sikh woman from Smethwick who is being threatened with deportation, despite living in the country for over ten years. Outraged friends and neighbours of 75-year-old Gurmit Kaur have jumped to her defence after menacing letters threatening to “secure her removal” were sent to the senior citizen by the government immigration services.
The Sikh tradition of Langar was embraced at a Black Lives Matter protest in Sandwell on Saturday, as residents came together to rally against racism and to defend a local elderly woman from threats of deportation. Billed as Sandwell’s sixth Black Lives Matter protest in recent weeks, over 50 people gathered in Victoria Park to voice their solidarity with the…
West Midlands Police chiefs have jointly committed themselves to fighting racism and discrimination in the regional force amid growing criticism of their handling of a recent racism scandal. The Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable condemned racism and highlighted the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement, but fell short of responding to recent criticism of their…
Campaigners supporting the Black Lives Matter movement in Birmingham are demanding West Midlands Police release the name of an officer who has been sacked for making racist comments. Community activists from the region’s Black community have described the police force of “protecting racists” after it failed to disclose the personal details of the officer as has been done…
An officer from the West Midlands Police has been sacked after making racist and inappropriate comments about his colleagues, according to the force. The officer, whose identity has been withheld by police, appeared before an independent misconduct panel this week.
The significance of Saturday’s demonstration by ex Zulu Warriors and Birmingham City fans in support of Black Lives Matter cannot be underestimated. Flashback to 24 March 2018 and 4,500 supporters of the Football Lads Alliance and the breakaway Democratic Football Lads Alliance, along with Tommy Robinson, amassed in Birmingham in support of the Justice421 campaign.