MAY 2021 • ISSUE NO. 1918
SEE PAGE 37
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‘RACISM IS ABOUT POWER’ After arriving in Britain with her family post-Windrush, Cordella Bart-Stewart has witnessed first-hand the disparities and injustices against the black community that continue to be prevalent today.
See page 3
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Bob Marley: Remembering a legend 40 years on See pages 26-27
What does Chauvin’s conviction mean for us? See page 4
Africa Day: Special feature See pages 24-25
RUGBY LEAGUE WORLD CUP 2021 IS ON YOUR DOORSTEP
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Inside
ROUNDUP
THIS MONTH
NEWSPAPER
Spotlight
News, views, stories & videos
THE 10 MOST POPULAR STORIES ON VOICE-ONLINE.CO.UK
Scammers are rife – so make sure you don't become a victim p10
1. Nicole Thea's partner speaks out and says medical mistake destroyed his family Jeffrey Frimpong has alluded to the cause of her death
The vaccination programme is making huge strides p14
2. Dutchavelli addresses allegations that he messaged a 14-year-old on Instagram The rapper took to IGTV to address the rumours
3. Notting Hill Carnival 2021 might still be happening Organisers have said this year's Notting Hill Carnival has not been ruled out
4. Jamaican track and field chief provides ominous warning to rivals
Some of the most respected figures in Jamaican athletics have lent their weight of support to the Global Conversation for the Future of Athletics
5. Global Boga gives first interview after death of wife Nicole Thea and baby son
The Africa Centre hopes to become bigger and better in its new Southwark home p24
The dancer-turned-Afrobeats artist described how his life has changed
6. Missing police appeal to help find 15-year-old Tariq Noor
Police appealed to the public to help find a missing teenage boy who has gone missing
7. Senegal are Africa’s leading football nation in the latest Fifa rankings
'My son has sickle cell disease – and I'm now making it easier for other families' p32
Senegal have been rated as Africa’s top rated side after April’s FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking was revealed. Nicknamed the Lions of Teranga, the African nation sit 22nd position
8. Black Cultural Archives leaves Government's Windrush Working Group after unsubstantiated race report The BCA has announced its resignation from its position on the Home Office’s Cross Government Windrush Working Group
9. Remembering the Brixton uprisings 40 years on
Rugby League World Cup 2021 chief hoping for the green light p46
With tensions rising and innocent black people being targeted by police, the so-called Battle of Brixton was a long time coming, says Dotun Adebayo
10. Why Boris Johnson needs to reject the Sewell report Patrick Vernon shares an opinion piece
This issue is 48 pages EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Paulette Simpson E. paulette.simpson@thevoice mediagroup.co.uk CORPORATE AFFAIRS & COMMUNICATIONS Paula Dyke E. paula@thevoicemedia group.co.uk
Northpole Crush
It all began when Dan, Daryl and Craig, three childhood friends from north London, came together, to revolutionise the drinking experience for customers worldwide. Tired of tasting the heavily artificial slush puppies of old, they went to work in creating natural Caribbean and African fruit based alcoholic and non-alcoholic crushies. These new flavours created much excitement and appreciation when they were shared at a BBQ tasting session hosted at Daryl’s house. This subsequently gave birth to, not only a supreme fleet of machines, but a completely unique drinking experience – Northpole Crush (NPC), a revolutionary drinks company providing unique services and personalised cocktails and mocktails in frozen and liquid form. Dan, Daryl and Craig are all co-founders and very influential in every area of the business, they make a great team! Daryl is NPC's master chef and main cocktail connoisseur. Dan and Craig can mix with the best of them, but Daryl is responsible for signing off flavours and bringing them to life. Dan is an account executive by trade and has been governing big tech sale deals for over 10 years and so he is the muscle in the sales and marketing area. Craig is Head of Operations, overseeing the full supply chain, constantly servicing the machines and drives great initiatives to push Northpole Crush forward. Northpole Crush is a lifestyle brand catering for all ages but attracts a specific stronghold of men and women aged between 21-45. It provides high end bespoke products and services which are affordable to the everyday person. When COVID-19 hit, the NPC team created unique personalised cans of cocktails and mocktails that would be delivered directly to the consumers door totally embodying the ever-increasing trends of convenience, relaxation, and personalisation. The NPC team have excited the likes of The Errol McKellar Foundation, Republic London and Nip+Fab. Check them out at www.northpolecrush.com or call them on 0747 366 8899.
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MAY 2021 THE VOICE | 3
Special feature
Race report
‘Race is not about class – racism is about power’ After arriving in Britain with her family post-Windrush, Cordella Bart-Stewart has witnessed first-hand the disparities and injustices against the black community that continue to be prevalent today – so why won’t the Government take action?
T
HE EUROPEAN Union Agency for fundamental rights in its EU Minorities and Discrimination Survey published on November 11, 2019 noted that People of African descent have been an integral part of the social fabric of European Union (EU) countries for generations, but across the EU – which then included the UK – people of African descent face widespread and entrenched prejudice and exclusion. Wendy Williams, in the Windrush Lessons Learned Review, identified in the Home Office an institutional ignorance and thoughtlessness towards the issue of race and the history of the Windrush Generation. These aspects are included in the definition of institutional racism considered in the MacPherson inquiry. This country has difficulty reconciling its history of slavery and colonialism with what it considers its exceptionalism. It is therefore saddening but not a surprise that a Commission on race and ethnic disparities that has been shown a vast quantity of evidence confirming continued racial injustice, has sought to ignore it as some parts of the world might treat minorities worse. This is shameful and pitiful. I have read countless official reports over the years and have yet to see a report which uses so much name calling and denigrating of people as this one. Although the Commissioners stated they felt able to make “with confidence sometimes controversial arguments” they rushed out a statement defending the report. Organisations and individuals have complained their work was misrepresented or credited when not consulted at all. All this because of a determination to ignore evidence and exclude voices that do not buy in to a narrative that allows Government to do nothing about the deeply imbedded
This country has difficulty reconciling its history of slavery structural and systemic factors that are the foundations of racial disparity. The devil is in the data The report points out that arguments about discrimination almost always start with data. What is crucial is the data chosen and how it is framed and presented. That is where the cherry picking in the report is evident. It is true that “differences – or ‘disparities’ – are not always sinister and do not always arise from discrimination”. However, where differences point to something sinister and systematic it should be called out. Instead, they looked for alternative explanations. Anything but skin colour. Where stuck they have Commissioned research, which it has not published, and recommended yet more data collection and mini Commissions. A surprising omission is the historical and institutional racism at the heart of the Windrush Scandal. Yet randomly they refer to addressing online abuse and the platforms used to perpetuate hate. This is already Government policy. They don’t mention bigotry and racist views in mainstream newspapers and their online presence. The Government has no interest in tackling that one. It already knew who the report was for. Institutional or systemic racism does not need to be deliberate or targeted. Had the Commission not insisted on avoiding that truth they saw
evidence and ideas could be embraced as a way forward to real and lasting improvement. Instead, they have entrenched a confected culture war and caused further loss of confidence and division. No sensible targets and backup Policyexchange.org.uk, whose work is quoted said in a recent report looking at ethnic minority progression, said: “Ensuring greater ethnic diversity at the top is something that is within reach. Some of it is happening anyway, in other places it requires a nudge and in some corners a shove. “It requires the investment of moderate amounts of political capital, access to data, measures that put things on a more transparent footing, some sensible targets, and backup to ensure that progress is not lost in the future.” That extract is not in the Commission’s report. Instead, it said: “This Commission finds that the big challenge of our age is not overt racial prejudice, it is building on and advancing the progress won by the struggles of the past 50 years. “This requires us to take a broader, dispassionate look at what has been holding some people back. We therefore cannot accept the accusatory tone of much of the current rhetoric on race, and the pessimism about what has been and what more can be achieved”. A Commission on race disparity should not be worrying about tone and rhetoric. It should acknowledge the numerous reports and reviews that highlight discrimination and disproportionate outcomes particularly for African and African Caribbean people in the UK. Refusal to accept unpalatable rhetoric means they have not properly engaged with recommendations in numerous pre-existing reports and set out a road map for full implementation.
MUCH TO LEARN: Cordella BartStewart and her younger brother shortly after arriving in Britain
Missed opportunities It is difficult to have confidence in a report using snippets of reviews, material from
ommendations. This is a missed opportunity as there are some useful discussions such as education where the experience for
What is crucial is the data chosen and how it is framed and presented a Conservative party think tanks random sources such as a blog post and an online news site read by a small number of people as evidence to make rec-
all children could be improved. Their data clearly shows that African and Caribbean children start school with no significant disparity with white peers in
meeting the expected standard in development, but disparity widens by the time they leave primary school and continues to widen throughout their educational life. Over the last 10 years the attainment gap for children on free school meals has been increasing when it decreased previously. Early years show a downward trend in attainment that began in 2010. Continued on page 16
8 | THE VOICE
MAY 2021
News feature
Can Sir Keir Starmer pull a rabbit out of the bag?
TOUGH TIMES: In the wake of uncertainty over the COVID crisis, Sir Keir Starmer faces an uphill battle as the public clings to stability
Labour is in decline in the polls and Sir Keir’s personal ratings are also falling. As we move towards May 6 elections and beyond, what are the party leader’s challenges? By Dr Floyd Millen
O
N MAY 6 across England, Wales and Scotland, we have mayoral elections, Welsh Assembly/government elections, Scottish Parliament elections, along with elections for 39 Police and Crime Commissioners in England, a parliamentary bi-election in Hartlepool and up to 6,000 councillors in England. These elections will be seen as a litmus test on Sir Keir Starmer. Whilst the predictions for May are gloomy for Mr Starmer, he could still yet navigate a path to 10 Downing Street. Shades of Grey - Keir the reluctant populist With the decimation of the Labour Party and Jeremy Corbyn, pictured below right, at the 2019 general election, the ‘stop the rise of the left’ candidate, Sir Keir, secured victory with a commitment to pull the Labour Party back to the centre ground and win back Red Wall seats and seats taken by the Greens and Lib Dems. As my mentor, the Late Philip Gould of Brookwood told me, the centre ground is where the party needs to be. The first challenge which faced Sir Keir when he became the leader of the Labour Party was internal. Even during the tenure of the most successful British prime minister of our time, Tony Blair, the party was hell bent on internecine warfare. Left- and right-wing factionalism exists in every political party, but the Labour party has long battled with its left wing. Sir Keir’s equivalent Clause 4 moment was the defenestration of Mr Corbyn and others on the left, because, not only was Mr Corbyn the physical embodiment of the Labour Party’s left, but paradoxically, Mr Corbyn secured the largest mandate
The media and the public have forgiven the government for its litany of errors ever won by a party leader and his victory saw 350,000+ new members join its ranks. Having previously worked so closely with him, it could be argued that Sir Keir pushing Mr Corbyn out of the party was him playing the man, not the ball: with the result of entrenching the left/right divide in the party and in the mind of the public. The right of the party and the media supported Sir Keir in stamping his authority on the party, but just as a pet boa constrictor stretches out alongside its keeper, seemingly adoringly, the constrictor is in reality measuring the keeper for lunch. Sir Keir needs to be mindful about the pull from both wings of the party because, as night follows day, the adoring constrictor will turn on him when it has gauged the cut of your jib. The present and the future Sir Keir’s speech on February 18 this year was to reset and frame Labour’s attack on 11 years of Conservative-led government. He convincingly stated that 10 years of austerity and year-on-year cuts had left the NHS and other public services unable to properly function. His clarion call was that radical reform on the scale of 1945 was needed. He was on to something, as most people would agree
that something is wrong with the management and funding of our public services. Polls, however, showed that Sir Keir’s message was not positively received. This was more to do with the timing than the message. In a time of crisis people will “hold on to nurse, for fear of worse” and so it was always going to be an uphill struggle for him to break through the wall of COVID fear and uncertainty. His message was also stilted by the ninja-like moves of the Conservative government as it counter-attacked by political cross-dressing and announcing its fiscal expansion in the budget and they began debating policing, immigration and defence, which took the wind out of his sails. The vacuum on the left With 127,000+ deaths from COVID-19, there is no doubt that the government has blundered and made many missteps in response to the pandemic. It seems however, that with the successful planning and rollout of the vaccine, the media and the public have forgiven the government for its litany of errors. Against this backdrop, Mr Starmer has an uphill struggle to differentiate himself. His advisors appear out of touch, inward-looking and do not understand what the electorate wants, let alone how to ameliorate Labour’s internal turf war.
@thevoicenewspaper
Ten tips for Sir Keir to boost his chances for Labour... 1. A Blair-Brown ‘big picture’ programme of hope and national renewal 2. Develop a multi-tiered fight strategy 3. Move away from collegiate opposition to a fighting Opposition 4. Change your top table of advisers 5. Raise the prominence and visibility of shadow ministers 6. This is a street fight, not a There is still time for Sir Keir to turn the ship and chart a course for Number 10. Can he stave off the predicted losses that political pundits are signalling on May 6 and beyond? There is a growing feeling across the membership that Sir Keir may be the man to rekindle their fortunes, but he has not as yet found his voice, his authenticity or his mission. The real Sir Keir is being smothered and an air of competency from his front bench is lacking. Mr Starmer has two superpowers; firstly, he is the kryptonite to the left; secondly, his forensic approach at the des-
@thevoicenews
yodelling contest – being nice is becoming a negative 7. Being forensic only works when your opponent is reading the same script 8. A strategy of participation is not a strategy to win 9. A ‘refreshed’ shadow ministerial team that will illicit confidence 10. Reconnect with Labour grassroots
patch box has been an asset but it is quickly turning into his Achilles heel, because his opponent, Boris Johnson, is like Bruce Lee — he is “shapeless like water”. Boris is the thing which discombobulates an organised and structured opponent who approaches work with clinical, rather than emotional and tactile intelligence. There is still time for Sir Keir to turn his fortunes around. The conjuring trick which Mr Starmer needs to pull off now is to reunite the Labour Party around a common theme and a progressive centrist agenda
voicenews
and to change the narrative that the Labour Party is not fit to hold power. There is a vacuum on the centre left of British politics. If Sir Keir performs poorly in the upcoming elections, he can still beat a path to Number 10. Dr Floyd Millen is a political scientist and a former special adviser to the Cabinet Office and the
founder of the first BME-owned public affairs think tank Yes
Minister. Dr Millen was mentored by the former home secretary
Charles Clarke and studied under the Conservative peer, Professor the Lord Norton of Louth.
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FEBRUARY 2021
THE VOICE| 9
s n o i t a l Congratu
55
Years
Grandfather Herman Drummond
Son Errol Drummond
Grandson Daniel Drummond
Sunrise Bakery Celebrates 55 Years of Giving the Caribbean Community a “Taste of Home” Sunrise Bakery is one of the UK’s oldest family-run Caribbean craft bakeries. Established in 1966 in Smethwick, Birmingham, the Founders, Herman Drummond and William Lamont, opened their own business to the local Caribbean residents offering “A taste of home”. Three generations on, the bakery has become one of the largest supplier of Caribbean hard dough bread, cakes, and Jamaican spiced buns in the UK, producing over two million products annually across 300 stores, including Asda, Sainsburys, Tesco, and Morrisons. Sunrise Bakery is now run by Herman’s son, Errol Drummond, and grandson, Daniel Drummond. Errol believes that at the heart of the bakery’s success is the business’ commitment to supporting the local and wider community in the UK and in the Caribbean. “Since my dad first opened the bakery 55 year ago, we have strived to make our products the gold standard of Caribbean baking. We recognise that our anniversary wouldn’t be possible without our customers, and that’s why we have always given back by supporting social initiatives that aim to empower our communities.” Daniel, the bakery’s sales and marketing manager, added, “throughout the next month, we’ll also be delivering our tropical cakes to the African-Caribbean charities that have supported the elderly throughout the pandemic.” As part of their 55th anniversary celebration, Sunrise Bakery will be launching a new range of vegan cakes and a luxury boxed bun later this year. And as an ongoing effort to keep their products available to customers, the bakery will soon be launching an online store at www.sunrisebakery.co.uk
Let us keep supporting them!
Lifestyle Suzann McClean talks Peckham’s finest p36
Mark Grey on his phenomenal stage and screen career so far p38
Time to get black on your bike
BUBR 2021
Fiona Pacquette is spreading her classical vibe p44