Innocent man given death penalty, Black man finds cancer after being denied test & other stories from Black, Asian & Arab communities you shouldn't have missed this week curated by Melissa Sigodo

"The harsh reality of being Black in Britain means expecting the unexpected and that your right to live and breathe is always compromised" - this week's opinion piece.

Hi all,

Hope you are having a blissful Sunday morning.

The temperatures have dropped which means winter is on its way and I feel privileged to be writing to you as the seasons change. It just shows how far The Thread has come.

This week, I participated in a panel discussing how journalists can positively shape attitudes by reporting on rape responsibly. One of the takeaways I’ve decided to implement in my newsletter is addressing the issue of male violence against women. I now have a new category dedicated to stories on this topic as I feel that the language needs to change and that we should stop treating reports of male violence against women as isolated incidents. I hope that reading the stories I’ve collated on this subject will bring home the severity of the issue and how much it impacts women of colour.

This week, you have me again giving you the Longer Read for the newsletter’s opinion column. As you know, I needed a little more time to write about the Windrush scandal and the new report that came out this week.

Do share the newsletter with friends and family. Also feel free to share it on your social media and to tag me. It really helps The Thread grow.

Without further ado, here’s the piece as well as stories you shouldn’t have missed this week.

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The Longer Read

Melissa Sigodo - Sunday September 29, 2024 - The Thread

This week, a report into the historical roots of the Windrush scandal was finally published after the Conservative government’s desperate attempts to hide it for years. The Tories worst nightmare came in the form of Home Office commissioned research and inarguable facts showing that UK immigration legislation in 1962, 1967 and 1971 was designed to reduce the number of people who did not have white skin. Furthermore, the report showed that policy assumed “too many immigrants from minority ethnic backgrounds where bad for society” but ironically race relations policy promoted the idea of racial equality.

But for some of the Windrush scandal victims I spoke to, the racism at the heart of the scandal wasn’t surprising at all. The harsh reality of being Black in Britain means expecting the unexpected and that even despite being born in the UK or living in the country since childhood - your right to live and breathe is always compromised and can change without a moment’s notice. He who feels it knows it and despite even fellow Black people trying to gaslight the nation into believing racism is a thing of the past, it’s been less than three months since we saw racist rioting across the country. Sadly, although the thugs in trainers and tracksuits have been locked up, the ones in suits and ties are still roaming free on national television.

But for Windrush scandal victims who have suffered the horrors of institutional racism, seeing the role it played written in a black and white report still pierces the heart and stirs up feelings of disgust and anger.

One man who I interviewed around 2021, had been left homeless and driven to suicide after he lost the right to housing, healthcare and work following the scandal. I couldn’t put into words how much he had suffered and how at the last minute it impacted his decision not to move forward with the story. I remember bursting into tears after we spoke as I so desperately wanted his story to be heard.

But fortunately, years later, we reconnected and after reading the report, he was brimming with feelings of vindication after years of being mercilessly gaslit. Years of being labelled as pro-Black, anti-white and having a chip on his shoulder, but now the report proved that he was right and everything he experienced was simply because the UK did not want people “who did not have white skin.” Nothing more and nothing less than brutal and unashamed racism.

For the simple act of trying to renew his passport, he fell into a trap and was forced to spend years fighting to get it back and being told that copies of birth certificates issued by the council were not acceptable and that he needed to dig up the original from the 1970s. He was then asked to provide the only identification he had left - a driving licence - only to have it confiscated.

After existing freely in a place they called home, victims of the Windrush scandal had their identities erased and with that, their right to live and be acknowledged as human beings. A cruel experience for any person to have to endure and the sickening part was that it was all by design.

But many feel that the gaslighting continues and Windrush scandal victims are still awaiting compensation from the very same Home Office which established and implemented racist legislation. Although a new Labour government is in power, the report shows that the party also had a role to play in these immigration policies too. The findings may be historical but the depraved themes are still intact today with the racist rhetoric around immigration being fully weaponised.

But ultimately, that is why this report should be known and referenced as an example of Black people’s experiences in the UK. When Black people are told racism doesn’t exist or that Britain isn’t a racist place to live in, this report serves as a beacon of truth which only devils would wish to hide so they can sow their lies without challenge.

But as for the victims of the Windrush scandal, do keep them at the forefront of your minds as they deserve justice for all they have been through as they continue to fight against systems designed to fail them. They are the best of us and have shown great determination and spirit.

But also, we must remember that overall, this is something that can happen again and that ultimately, an injustice to the Windrush generation is an injustice to us all.

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Arts and Culture

Jesse Ajilore who started practicing anatomy drawing at 15 years old using YouTube tutorials has been selected for the Royal Collection Trust’s first artist residency at The King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace. Full story.

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Windrush

Windrush scandal victims have been left ‘disgusted’ and ‘angered’ by the buried Home Office report which highlighted that immigration laws were designed to reduce the number of “people without white skin.” One victim says that it ‘proves that those who said they were being targeted and were dismissed as blaming everything on colour were right.’ They now demand a public inquiry. Full story.

Health

A Black man found out he had prostate cancer after initially being denied a health check by a GP surgery. Paul Campbell, 54, says he might not be here today if he hadn’t fought and demanded a regular test for the disease. Full story.