Coconuts confiscated, a disturbing exposé & other stories from Black, Asian and Arab communities in the UK you shouldn't have missed this week curated by Melissa Sigodo
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What a week it has been.
From coconuts getting confiscated to a very disturbing exposé in politics, there have been many shocking stories this week.
And with racism in full focus during the lead up to the election, it has truly been a dark week in politics.
But as well as politics, health matters for Black and Asian women continue to worsen with more distressing experiences coming to light.
I know this newsletter can be quite heavy a lot of the time, but by shining a light on these stories, one can only hope that a difference can be made.
Thank you for reading along with me.
Here’s a look at the stories you shouldn’t have missed this week.
Campaigns
A Londoner running 9000 miles from South Africa to London in order to ‘challenge the racist notion that people should “go back to where they come from”’ has been freed after being jailed in South Sudan over paperwork. Deo Kato says he wants to “tell the story of human migration” and that as “Africa is the origins of humanity and if you tell someone that they should go back to where they come from that means we all basically have to go back to where we come from”. Full story.
Health
A Black woman suffering a miscarriage was told by a midwife ‘you people have a high pain threshold’ after asking for paracetamol, while an Asian woman was told her bleeding was ‘completely normal’ when her uterus had ruptured causing the baby to slip through her abdomen. Baby charity Sands says there is a “well-documented problem of systematic racism” in maternity and neonatal care. Full story.
An 16-year-old girl with autism was dragged across the floor by a nurse at Kingston hospital and two security guards ‘kneeled on her neck like George Floyd’ after she suffered a “mental health episode.” Five months later, the hospital has only just begun investigating. Full story.
Policing
Ella Janneh who won her case against therapist Michael Lousada who she accused of rape says that when she went to the police ‘she was told it was a he said, she said matter’ and ‘not to expect too much...’. The Met Police is now considering reopening the investigation. Full story.
The Times story I’ve linked might be behind a paywall but here’s a Guardian story which details more about the police considering reopening the investigation here.
A demonstration was held in support of teacher Marieha Hussain who held a placard depicting Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman with coconuts under a tree at a beach and was then charged with a racially aggravated public order offence. Five arrests were made and footage of police confiscating coconuts was shared on social media. Watch here.
The driver of a 4×4 which crashed into a Wimbledon school killing two girls had suffered an epileptic seizure at the wheel and will not face any criminal charges, the Crown Prosecution Service has said. Full story.
Police waiting five days before recalling sexual predator Jordan McSweeney to prison, contributed to the death of Zara Aleena who was raped and murdered as she walked home, a inquest jury has found. There were also "significant failures to appropriately assess risk" by the prison and probation service. McSweeney was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 38 years but won a Court of Appeal bid to reduce it to 33 years. Full story.
Politics
A campaigner in Nigel Farage’s Reform UK Party was filmed calling Prime Minister Rishi Sunak a F****** P***, saying asylum seekers should be shot and labelling Islam “a disgusting cult.” While a member of Farage’s ground team was filmed saying “we’re going to bring back nooses” and calling the Pride flag a “degenerate flag”, during an undercover investigation by Channel 4. Watch here.
Labour candidate, Jovian Owusu-Nepaul who started ‘gaining more social media traction than Keir Starmer’ has been sent to campaign in the Midlands away from where he is standing in Clacton, Essex, after “distracting” from the Labour leader’s campaign. Full story.
Labour leader, Keir Starmer has come under fire for singling out the Bangladeshi community in a interview with The Sun where he said “at the moment people coming from Bangladesh are not being removed”, despite Bangladesh not topping the list. Full story.
Aviation
A woman was forced to pay £1,200 for a new flight to Mexico after being prevented from boarding a TUI plane due to a “little scratch” on her passport, despite flying back from Morrocco the day before. After making a complaint, TUI has now agreed to refund her the cost. Full story.
Hospitality
An Asian BrewDog worker who alleges she was fired after raising concerns to her manager about the English Defence League visiting their premises on the day a far-right rally descended into violence, was accused by the company of “aggressive and abusive behaviour” in documents seen by Tribune Magazine. The woman says that when she read the accusations, it “broke” her. Full story.
World News
Police opened fire on people protesting against raised taxes outside Kenya's parliament killing at least 22 people. President William Ruto says he will now withdraw the finance bill. Full story.
A white couple from West Virginia have been accused of forcing their adopted black children aged six, nine, 11, 14 and 16 to work as 'slaves' and locking them in a barn. Full story.
GRAPHIC CONTENT: Israeli army forces tied an injured Palestinian man to the bonnet of a military car and drove through the occupied West Bank city of Jenin during an arrest raid. Full story.
Lastly, this week marks five years since the death of 12-year-old schoolgirl Shukri Abdi who drowned in the River Irwell in Bury, Greater Manchester, on 27 June 2019.
May she rest in peace.
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