Beloved Hat Lady dies, Tim Westwood BBC report, Child Q, Oladeji Omishore update and more stories from Black, Asian & Arab communities in the UK - curated by Melissa Sigodo
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This week has been hectic. With the unbelievable scenes that played out in the White House, Trump dominated the news. But there’s plenty of news that didn’t get the attention it deserves which you probably missed. Quite a few stories on policing this week as well as Grenfell. But as we all need a bit of uplifting, this week’s newsletter starts with the stories that show the best of humanity.
News
A grandmother known as the 'Crystal Palace hat lady' who knitted scarves for football fans ahead of matches has died at the age of 80. Elloney Foster who spent hours creating the knitwear for Crystal Palace fans often asked people to pay what they could afford. A JustGiving page has been launched for her funeral Read the full story by Luke Donelly at MyLondon
A former teacher Kayne Kawasaki has raised enough money to have a Black history billboard placed at this year’s Notting Hill Carnival. The first billboard will honour Kelso Cochrane who was murdered in a racially motivated attack by white youths in Notting Hill in 1959. Read the full story by Sinai Fleary at The Voice
Activist Ringo Vision who was given a police warning after serving food to the homeless says he is now back out on the streets of Croydon with his mobile soup kitchen. He has asked if anyone would like donate ingredients and give help to those who need it most. Watch below: Credit Ringo Vision. Instagram - @ringovision
Stories of Black Londoners who escaped slavery have been revealed by researchers who have compared the resistance to that of the Underground Railroad in America Read the full story by Chris Osuh at The Guardian
Politics
A historical cross-party Parliamentary Black Caucus has been launched by MP Dawn Butler. The caucus aims to tackle racial inequality and with founding members including MP Diane Abbott, Lord Bailey of Paddington, Lord Woolley of Woodford, and MP Josh Babarinde. Read the full story by Vic Motune at The Voice
Health
The heartbroken family of a British man stuck in a coma for over a month after a motorcycle crash in Thailand are fighting to raise £100,000 for him to return to the UK. Okemena Sule’s brother says it has been the “hardest time” of his family’s life as they launched a GoFundMe to bring him home. Read the full story by Veronique Hawksworth at MyLondon
Legal
A 14-year-old boy who was “tricked” into moving from London to Ghana to go to boarding school by his parents has lost a court case he brought against them. The lawyer representing the boy's father, said the teen had “met 11 of the points on a checklist” to suggest whether he may have joined a gang such as “being absent from school, having unexplained money, buying new things, and carrying weapons.” Read the full story by Sanchia Berg and Levi Jouavel at the BBC
Policing
The heartbroken family of a Black man Oladeji Omishore who was experiencing a mental health crisis and died after he was Tasered before falling into the River Thames, have called for a fearless investigation into his death. Read the full story written by me at The Mirror.
Three Met Police officers will face a misconduct hearing after allegedly exposing "intimate parts" of a 15-year-old Black girl known as Child Q while she was on her period during a strip-search without an appropriate adult at her school. Read the full story on The BBC
Police will be able to search homes for stolen mobile phones without a warrant in new plans under the new Crime and Policing Bill. Watch the report by Channel 4
The Metropolitan Police took no action to try to find a 14-year-old boy who was a victim of criminal exploitation and had been stabbed in the past, as well as a 15-year-old-girl who had been coerced to go to a hotel, given drugs and alcohol and made to do sex acts on men, a police watchdog report has found. Read the full story by Andre Rhoden-Paul at BBC London
Police will be able to search homes for stolen mobile phones without a warrant in new plans under the new Crime and Policing Bill. Watch the report by Channel 4
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