We did it!!!

Each and every one of us who used our vote as an anti racist anti fascist vote, who went out and protested, who door knocked, leafleted, spread the word, organised and educated...made sure that the BNP gained no seats in parliament and lost many council seats.

You should be proud of yourselves.

Well guild officer results are in and Joseph Moses is the new anti-racism, anti-fascism officer. I would like to congratulate him and wish him the best of luck. However, I am not the 'outgoing officer', I am very much still here, and will be until the end of June!! And these upcoming months, are probably the most important ones, with a general election coming up and the BNP putting 400 candidates forward, with Griffin himself standing for a seat in Westminster!!! We can not less this pass, we have an obligation to be the change we would like to see in the world and make it one we can be proud of.

This Saturday (27.3) there is a day of action in Sollihull,

meeting at 10:30am at the car park in Meriden Park (Solihull, United Kingdom)
off Moorend AvenueSolihull, b37 5tn.

Just to remind you who the BNP are, in their own words:

Griffin (party leader): "Back up the slogan ‘Defend Rights for Whites’ with well-directed boots and fists. When the crunch comes, power is the product of force and will, not of rational debate.”

Collet (former leader of BNP youth, now publicity director): "Aids is a friendly disease because blacks, drug users and gays have it."

John Tyndall, (founder of the BNP): "Mein Kampf is my bible."

Busy, busy, busy couple of weeks

HMD 2010, started off to many a slight hitch in the program... Sadly the holocaust survivor could not attend at the last minute due to ill health of her husband, then the Rwandan survivor cancelled, stopped flyering and publicising as I thought there may be no event, then the projector broke, then the speakers didn't work or connect, and finally we managed to play the first 5 minutes of the testimony in slow motion....

So not exactly according to plan.

However, once we actually started, things took a turnaround. As we didn't have a survivor from the Nazi holocaust to come in person, I played a testimony instead from a man called Solly Irving, a survivor of Auschwitz who told his moving and interesting personal story. Then Eugine, a man who had survived the Rwandan genocide in the 1990s spoke about what had happened there when discrimination and bigotry took over. A few students asked him questions, and the last question was "what is the main lesson you learnt from the horrific situation?" and he answered "people are taught to be kind and to help and to care forever, it takes a lifetime to teach love. But it takes ten minutes to teach hate".

In between, a few students read different poems and readings about racism, discrimination, hatred, apathy and hope, all of which were touching and telling in different ways.

To finish the event I spoke briefly about moving forward and changing our world, we then lit candles and had a minutes silence in commemoration of all those who have lost their lives to the holocaust and other genocides.

Recently there have been more and more students coming to talk to me about racism and fascism which they feel is present on campus and around in different forms, as well as students worried about the BNP gaining council seats and even parliamentary seats in the upcoming months. Anyone who has fears or queries should feel free to come and talk. I will do everything I do to support and help any student in this position. I also encourage everyone to do as much as they can to stunt the BNPs success in the upcoming elections, and just generally as a presence in our society.

Last week, I went to the BEMA (Birmingham ethnic minorities association) forum, in which many things were discussed; including representation, gaps between ethnic minority students and white students in degree attainment, graduate jobs and guild society involvement and why these gaps still exist. It was really interesting to hear so many students opinions on these matters and would love to continue the conversation to shed light on how to change the situation.

GUILD OFFICER TEAM NOMINATIONS ARE NOW OPEN!!! If you are interested in running for ARAF and would like more information/advice please email me at a.lawton@guild.bham.ac.uk. It is an amazing job and there is loads to be done (sadly)!

Sorry for the length of this message, but there are loads of things I didn't even mention... There is just to much to talk about!

Saturdays 23/01/10 EDL protest in Stoke on Trent

The violent English Defence League (EDL) are protesting against Islam on Saturday in Hanley. The EDL is a collection of football hooligans who bring violence to our streets. Many of their supporters are also involved in the BNP. They seek to divide our communities - to criticise and complain rather than strengthen our society.
I've just signed a letter to the Stoke Sentinel which contains a simple message: we reject the EDL's hate, we reject their fear and we stand together against their intimidation.
If you would like to sign it, just go to:
http://action.hopenothate.org.uk/StandForStoke
We need to send the message that the EDL do not represent us - and that we stand together for hope.


In 2010 the BNP is pressing to win control of Barking & Dagenham council and become the largest single party on Stoke-on-Trent council. In additon, they will be pushing hard for the parliamentary seat in Barking and dozens of council wards across the country. They already hold political power in thsi country and have two seats in the European paliament. This could be yeat another year of increased membership and more involvement with these parties, which leads to more racial tensions, more hatred and more attacks.

But we can stop them, and the EDL. There are always peacful counter protests to attend, petitions to sign, campaigning to be done, messages of hope and equality to be spread. I urge people to take part in these efforts to preserve and intensify our society based on good, equal values.

On tuesday 26/01/10, we are hosting a holocaust survivor and having a memorial in the guild. More details to follow but please keep the time free as it is so important to support, commemorate and hear these people speak, as we really are the last generation who will have this opportunity.