Muslim babies graves vandalised, 100yo exceptional midwife dies and other stories from Black, Asian and Arab communities in the UK - curated by Melissa Sigodo
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As well as celebrating a birthday, The Source published its first-ever exclusive news story which was met with a lot of love on socials as well. Do look out for the next one which will drop soon.
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It feels empowering to have the platform to put important stories from the Black community in front of audiences, especially at a time when the experiences of ethnic minorities continue to be disregarded. Sadly, this week provided yet another example of minorities being attacked and grossly overlooked.
On Monday, news broke that Muslim graves had been vandalised with most of them being those of children and babies. You might have expected this sickening act of depravity to spark public outrage from politicians and commentators who are usually eager to jump at the chance to take the moral high ground. But instead, not a single acknowledgement came from those who have previously leapt to denounce the vandalism of monuments by the likes of climate activists Just Stop Oil.
But why the silence? Did they feel it would be hypocritical to condemn the desecration, given that many politicians, commentators and newspapers have stoked the flames of hate that make the UK a hotbed for Islamophobia. Or is it simply down to the fact that they couldn’t care less about the Muslim community? Or is it both? Either way, how can the Muslims in the UK not feel anything but unwanted when such a heinous act occurs and no one in power bats an eyelid. The sad reality is that Britain has been unmasked as a dark place where the graves of babies can be defaced but all you hear is a deafening silence simply because they’re Muslim.
But that is what this newsletter is about. Highlighting what should have received widespread attention.
Here’s what else you shouldn’t have missed this week as well as some stories that fell through the cracks last week. Also, this week’s newsletter is free to mark The Source’s birthday month.
News
Over 80 graves have been vandalised in the Muslim section of a cemetery in Watford. Police say a large number of the damaged graves were believed to be those of babies and children. Read the full story by ITV News.
A bereaved Muslim mother was left “shattered” and “barely able to control her emotions” after discovering that her baby daughter’s grave along with others had been vandalised at a cemetery in Watford. The mum says she found out about the desecration through social media and hadn’t received any communication from Brent council. Read the full story by Harry Stedman at Asian Image.
A community group has been picking up litter on the streets of Birmingham after bin workers entered their fifth week of strikes over pay disputes. Sparkhill Litter Busters which is made up of around 70 volunteers say they want to help the community in a positive way. Read the full story by Anita Mureithi at Hyphen Online.
Marcus Fakana Update: The teenager’s family has thanked people for their letters of support to the Brit who they say is ‘hanging in there’. It has now been four months since he handed himself in after being sentenced to one year in jail for having consensual sex with British girl during a holiday romance in Dubai where sex under the age of 18 is illegal. See the update.
Albertina Aparicio known as Tina who recently celebrated her 100th birthday has died her family has said. The exceptional midwife delivered 2000 babies and was part of the Windrush generation. Read the full story I wrote about Tina for the Mirror before she passed.
Kaliyah Coa Update: A body has been found in the search for the 11-year-old who entered the River Thames on March 31. Police say formal identification has yet to take place and Kaliyah’s family have been informed. Read the full story by Alex Marsh at The Newham Recorder.
The Source Exclusive
A pensioner has received an honorary degree for dedicating her life to helping people with sickle cell after her own daughter died from the disease after being forced to wait six hours to be seen by doctors in 2000. At nearly 80-years-old, Cecilia who still gives support says she is ‘overwhelmed’ by the honour. Read the full story by Arike Idris for The Source
Windrush
An event for the Windrush generation serving high tea to older members of the Caribbean community is under threat after it failed to receive funding from the government. Organiser Opal22 says they asked for feedback as to why, but that they hadn’t received a response. Read the full story by Jo Hollis and Kevin Ncube at BBC.
Politics
The UK’s largest teaching union has called the Reform UK party as “far-right and racist” as it pledged funds to go up against the party’s candidates in elections. The National Education Union’s General Secretary Daniel Kebede said he had “great concern” about what a Reform government would do to education. Read the full story by Richard Adams at The Guardian.
Entertainment
Doctor Who boss Russell T Davies says he has “no time” for those who have accused the series of being “too woke” saying, “what you might call diversity, I just call an open door." The Tardis team is played by Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor alongside and Varada Sethu as his companion. Read the full story by Paul Glynn at BBC.
British actor John Boyega only had £45 left in his bank account and spent £33.89 to travel to meet filmmaker J.J. Abrams who then told him he had been cast in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The star says he had been auditioning for “so long” it felt as though it took his “dignity away a little bit.” Read the full story by Zack Sharf at Variety.
A new film called Jafaican starring Mysterious Girl singer Peter Andre posing as a gangster wearing fake dreadlocks and having “a poor Jamaican accent” has been criticised for having derogatory Jamaican stereotypes. Social media users have called for people to boycott the film labelling it “demeaning” and “dated.” Read the full story by Sinai Fleary at The Voice Online.
Slavery
A pier formerly known as Plantation Wharf Pier has been renamed St Mary’s Wandsworth after it was slammed for being offensive and linked to colonialism and slavery by anti-racism campaigners. Read the full story by Aamna Modhin at The Guardian.
Missing people
Children from ethnic minority backgrounds are not reported missing as parents fear they will be judged by their communities or criminalised by police, missing people charities have said. As many as seven in 10 missing children are not reported to the police leaving families forced to suffer in silence. Read the full story by me for The Mirror.
Immigration and Asylum
A pregnant asylum seeker who fled Zimbabwe’s censorship of government critics and could not open a bank account or work in the UK, was charged more than £10,000 after having an emergency c-section. The pregnancy charity Maternity Action says that women are being wrongly billed for having babies. Read the full story by Chris Osuh at The Guardian.
Alleged Male Violence Against Women and Girls
A man has been charged with the murder of his wife at their home in Lewisham, south London. Hai Van Nguyen, 41, was charged on Monday with killing Hien Thi Vu, 45. Read the full story by Bill Bowkett at The Standard.
Education
Misogyny and racism is surging into schools with pupils being influenced by Donald Trump and Andrew Tate through social media and gaming as well as viewing violent pornography, teachers say. One teacher said a 10-year-old student would only speak to a male staff member instead of her. Read the full story by Richard Adams at The Guardian.
World News
Nine million Sudanese people of which more than half are children have been driven from their homes. The displacement which is equal to the total population of London has also seen sexual violence against children with kids as young as one being victims of rape. Read and watch the full report by Rageh Omaar at ITV.
Harvard University announced earlier this week it would not adhere to Donald Trump’s demands to end its diversity programming by derecognising pro-Palestine student groups as well as other orders. The President has responded by freezing billions in funding. Read the full story by Dhruv T. Patel and Grace E. Yoon at The Harvard Crimson.
Over 100 people have died after a boat caught fire in Congo. A woman was said to have been cooking onboard and the number of those who died has risen from 50 to 148 with 100 survivors. Read the full story at Sky News.
Before you go, I wanted to highlight the important work done on the story of 276 girls abducted by Boko Haram from the town of Chibok in Nigeria. I was reminded of the story by journalist Yemisi Adegoke who spoke to one of the girls Lisu. Her story is heartbreaking as she says since being escaping, she regrets coming back. Read the full story by Yemisi Adegoke at BBC.