Black Lives Matter

Black Lives Matter

• US torn by crises as election looms

  

  Ahead of the US elections, John Clarke considers the balance of forces, the dangers of a second Trump term and the intensifying crisis whatever the outcome

• From Nixon to Trump: Lessons of the 1968 election

  

  As Trump looks to shore up populism for his re-election during the BLM upsurge, Sean Ledwith draws upon parallels with 1968

• 'Enough' is enough: an interview with Slovo's Dave Randall

  

  The author of Sound System: The Political Power of Music and founder of south London music collective Slovo speaks to Mayer Wakefield

• Where does racism come from? - video

  

  As part of a series on Marxism in the Modern World, Shabbir Lakha looks at the roots of racism and what that means for the struggle against it

• Business as usual for police brutality

  

  Black Lives Matter has put racist police brutality in the spotlight, but the police continue to operate with impunity, writes John Clarke

• This country is non-functioning: Black Lives Matter resets itself after Kenosha

  

  As Trump and the far right try to capitalise on urban unrest, pro athletes take the movement to new heights, reports Kate O’Neil

• Another day, another U-turn: Boris Johnson is vulnerable - CounterBlast

  

  Pressure from below has forced the Johnson government into crucial retreats on exam grades and face coverings, writes Sean Ledwith

• Jacob Blake and Kenosha: the chickens are still coming home to roost

  

  Kate O’Neil reflects on the US empire’s latest eruption of racism and violence

• Why we need to defund the police and disarm the state

  

  As part of a series on what next for Black Lives Matter, we repost this article exploring the demand to defund the police

• Portland rises against Trump’s iron heel

  

  The Black Lives Matter uprising in Portland isn't backing down in the face of violence from Trump's troops, reports Sean Ledwith

• The Starmer supremacy: Labour is now on the wrong side of the struggles that matter

  

  Starmer's stampede to the right means that socialists will need to reach beyond the Labour Party to build a fighting left, argues Chris Nineham

• The Labour leadership isn’t serious about anti-racism - CounterBlast

  

  Starmer isn't fighting racism, he's fighting the left, writes Lucy Nichols

• BLM and the labour movement come together - Chris Smalls interview

  

  Shabbir Lakha speaks to Chris Smalls in the US about the Strike for Black Lives, his organisation The Congress of Essential Workers and the possibilities for fundamental change

• US workers strike for black lives

  

  Across the US, tens of thousands of workers joined a walkout against systemic racism and for fundamental social and economic change

• Black Lives Matter in a time of pandemic

  

  Nearly two months on from George Floyd’s brutal killing, the struggle against racist police violence is contending with a catastrophic resurgence of Covid-19, writes Susan Ram

• Organise. Agitate. Strike! - Tunnel Vision July 2020

  

  The third issue of the Rank & File bulletin Tunnel Vision covering the fight ahead on the London Underground, the jobs slaughter, funding cuts, Black Lives Matter and more

• London demands justice for Breonna Taylor in seventh week of BLM protests

  

  Saturday's march for Breonna Taylor underlines the continuing determination of the movement seven weeks on, reports Jamal Elaheebocus

• UK police: racist to the core - CounterBlast

  

  Institutional racism is not just a concept that applies to the US but a very real fact for people of colour in the UK, argues Shabbir Lakha

• Macron switches prime minister as his Thatcherite plan flounders

  

  As pressure from a number of fronts increases, Macron's position weakens, argues John Mullen

• Tory policy: eat, drink, be merry because tomorrow… well you know the rest – weekly briefing

  

  Lindsey German on government idiocy, Black Lives Matter and Starmer’s Thermidor

• Starmer is moving Labour to the right 'brutally and rapidly': a CLP secretary’s resignation statement

  

  Socialists should focus their energies on building the extra-parliamentary left, argues Terina Hine in her statement resigning as Cities of London and Westminster CLP secretary

• Five films on the black struggle

  

  As Black Lives Matter continues to make gains, Counterfire writers discuss a personal selection of films concerning race and class in the US and UK

• Olive Morris: British Black Panther, squatter and radical activist

  

  In the week Olive Morris would have turned 68, Julie Al-Hinai remembers the radical black activist and her contribution to the movement

• London marches for Shukri Abdi

  

  A march for justice for Shukri Abdi advances another important campaign in the battle against systemic racism, reports Lucy Nichols

• The UK is systemically racist: the fight has just begun

  

  Luna Williams, a political correspondent for the Immigration Advice Service, writes for Counterfire on racism in the UK

• Maxine Peake is right: US and Israeli state violence is linked

  

  Pointing out the link between US police brutality and Israel’s barbaric tactics against Palestinians is no conspiracy theory, argues Shabbir Lakha

• Sacking Long-Bailey is a disgrace: it's proof Starmer is leading a witch-hunt against the left - CounterBlast 25 June

  

  There can no longer be any doubt, Starmer is leading a witch-hunt against the left in Labour at a time when the Tories are in maximum disarray, writes Chris Nineham

• Erasing empire has to end: why schools need to decolonise the curriculum

  

  Decolonising the curriculum and supporting BAME children at school is a critical step towards tackling systemic racism, argues Jamal Elaheebocus

• Small Island - theatre review

  

  This week the National Theatre are streaming their acclaimed production of Andrea Levy's Small Island from last year. On Windrush Day, we repost Katherine Connelly's review of that production

• Reconstruction in the USA: Black freedom denied - part 2

  

  In the second of a two-part analysis, John Westmoreland explores the successes of Reconstruction, and the subsequent attempt to airbrush them from history

• The movement that can dump Trump – weekly briefing

  

  Lindsey German on the Black Lives Matter impact on US politics and the floundering Tories   

• Racism is systemic, so why are we still talking about privilege?

  

  Locating racism as rooted in capitalism is key to building the kind of movement that can end it, argues Shabbir Lakha

• Staying in the streets: Black Lives Matter protests continue across the UK

  

  Black Lives Matter protests continued in cities and towns all over the country for a fourth week 

• Reconstruction in the USA: Black freedom denied - part 1

  

  In the first of a two-part analysis, John Westmoreland examines the contradictions of American society which laid the basis for black oppression to persist after the Civil War

• Don’t let the dust settle on Cecil Rhodes

  

  The agreement to remove Cecil Rhodes’s statue is a big win for the movement and shows that protest works, argues David Jordan

• Black history you can’t be without: Nine books on the struggle

  

  A reading list of nine essential books on black history and the struggle against racism

• From fighting pandemic to fighting police brutality

  

  Jillian Primiano, a registered nurse, speaks to Spring Magazine about fighting COVID-19, racism and health, and the movement for police abolition

• Black footballers shame Tory ignorance on poverty and racism - CounterBlast 17 June

  

  Boris Johnson’s hope that the return of the Premier League will distract us from his criminal incompetence is likely to be misplaced as a new generation of politicised black footballers emerges, writes Sean Ledwith

• The racist brutality of Canada’s police

  

  Police brutality and wider societal marginalisation of people will be challenged as the BLM movement gathers pace, says John Clarke

• The coming culture war - CounterBlast 15 June

  

  No amount of Westminster window-dressing can dampen this global revolt against racism, writes Lucy Nichols

• The good, the bad and the ugly – weekly briefing

  

  Lindsey German on the Black Lives Matter movement and its impact

• Black Lives Matter protest marches through South London

  

  Hundreds marched from Burgess Park demanding justice for George Floyd and justice for Grenfell, reports Cici Washburn

• Reclaiming our history

  

  Behind the symbolism of statues lies a more fundamental battle over the reality of British racism, past and present, argues John Westmoreland

• Black Lives Matter protests continue to spread across the UK

  

  Around the country, thousands of people marched, knelt and shouted against racism on Saturday. We report on some of the local Black Lives Matter protests

• Fascist thugs attack anti-racist protesters in London

  

  The police failed Black Lives Matter protesters who were attacked by fascists in Trafalgar Square, reports Steph Pike

• Democratic history challenges imperialist and racist history

  

  Dominic Alexander explains how black history is intrinsically connected to the history of the working class

• Don’t let cynical ploys derail BLM - CounterBlast 13 June

  

  The Black Lives Matter movement in the UK is coming under pressure from a number of directions, writes Alex Snowdon

• London: BLM protesters keep up the pressure

  

  Protesters march to Trafalgar Square after inspiring rally in Hyde Park to continue the renewed fight against systemic racism, reports Harry Welch

• Boris Johnson, statues and staying in the streets

  

  As Johnson launches lazy attacks on the movement, now is no time to retreat, argues Lindsey German

• The uprising on Trump's doorstep: Black Lives Matter in DC

  

  The Black Lives Matter protests in Washington DC are taking the fight straight to Trump, reports Shabbir Lakha based on an interview with Sarah Govan

• Prestwich takes the knee for George Floyd

  

  Activists in North Manchester gathered for a local socially-distanced Black Lives Matter protest, reports Penny Hicks

• Statues come tumbling down - CounterBlast 10 June

  

  The growing campaign to remove racist iconography takes us nearer a progressive and decolonised curriculum for future generations argues Sean Ledwith

• Black Lives Matter, the sixties and socialist organisation - video

  

  Lindsey German interviews Tariq Ali on the Black Lives Matter protests, their significance and the struggles ahead

• Boot the Wellington: The growing resistance to Glasgow's colonial monuments

  

  Christine Whyte reports on the growing movement of resistance to the slave traders and colonialists commemorated on Glasgow's streets

• Tearing down Colston's statue is not destroying history, it is illuminating it

  

  Archaeologist Kevin Potter on why the statue of Edward Colston obscured the past

• Black people protesting racism are not thugs - CounterBlast 8 June

  

  Johnson’s attempt to demonise protesters in Bristol reveals his true colours, argues Lucy Nichols

• Fred Hampton: Black Panther and red revolutionary

  

  Fred Hampton's politics are a lesson in how to fight racism and capitalism together, argues Sean Ledwith

• #BLM: Doncaster steps up

  

  This weekend's protest in Doncaster was an important action in the battle against those who would misrepresent the town, argues Mick Wattam

• A turning point against racism – weekly briefing

  

  Lindsey German on fighting oppression and the continuing Covid crisis

• Don't blame the protesters for the virus

  

  It's the government endangering people's lives, not protesters, argues Shabbir Lakha

• From BLM to decolonising Bristol

  

  Black Lives Matter protests in Bristol brought its citizens face-to-face with its ugly past, a ground report by Susan Newman and Jeni Van Heerden

• Why pulling down Colston's statue was right

  

  Bristol's Tom Whittaker on the impact of kicking over a symbol of oppression

• Why I'm angry: People's Assembly Youth Takeover

  

  Shabbir Lakha speaks on a People's Assembly platform on Black Lives Matter protests, racism and the pandemic in Britain and how we fight back

• Ten days that shook America

  

  The brave defiance of the protesters in America has the ruling class in retreat, argues Chris Nineham

• Noughts + Crosses: a reverse reality that illustrates systemic racism - review

  

  Despite some dubious changes, this BBC adaptation of Malorie Blackman's exploration of race and class is well worth watching, says Shabbir Lakha

• London on the march: Black Lives Matter

  

  At a second mass demonstration in London, thousands of protesters gathered in Hyde Park to racist police violence in the US and here, reports Jamal Elaheebocus

• Justice for George Floyd: model resolution and window poster

  

  Counterfire has produced a model resolution you can pass in your organisation and a poster you can download to put on your window or in your area

• Where are the US protests going? - interview with Chris Smalls

  

  Counterfire's Shabbir Lakha interviewed Chris Smalls, former Amazon employee and now an organiser, about the protests sweeping across the US against racist police violence

• Black lives matter: Brixton takes to the streets

  

  A young angry crowd marched to oppose the murder of George Floyd and highlight racism and police brutality in the UK, reports Dave Randall

• Minneapolis: a popular revolt against racism

  

  The current unrest in Minneapolis is an explosive response to endemic police racism, writes Sean Ledwith

• London demands justice for George Floyd

  

  "No justice, no peace" rang out on the streets of London as protesters marched in solidarity with Minneapolis, reports Lucy Nichols

• Black Lives Matter: getting organised

  

  Shabbir Lakha reports on this week's London activist meeting of Black Lives Matter, as participants discuss the next steps for the movement 

• Black Lives Matter spreads to Britain

  

  As racist attacks escalate in the US, and continue in the UK, the show of solidarity from Britain's streets is inspiring, writes Shabbir Lakha