9.30am–4.30pm SATURDAY 21 OCTOBER
THE LIGHT, FRIENDS HOUSE, 173–177 Euston Road, LONDON NW1 2BJ
Click here to download leaflet
Speakers include:
Diane Abbott MP Shadow Home Secretary
Kate Osamor MP Shadow DfID Secretary
Kevin Courtney NUT Gen Sec
Dave Ward CWU Gen Sec
Talha Ahmad Muslim Council of Britain
Lowkey rapper
Catherine West MP
Claude Moraes MEP
Shahrar Ali Green Party Home Affairs spokesperson
Maurice Wren Chief Exec Refugee Council
Esa Charles Father of Rashan Charles
Moazzem Begg former Guantanamo Bay detainee
Clare Moseley Care4Calais founder
David Rosenberg
Imam Mohammed Mahmoud Muslim Welfare House Finsbury Park
Sabby Dhalu & Weyman Bennett Stand Up To Racism co-convenors
Themes of conference include:
- Unite Against Trump, fascism and the racist right
- Brexit: defending free movement and EU nationals’ rights
- Acid attacks and Finsbury Park – Stand up to Islamophobia
- Grenfell: institutional racism and the social cleansing of our cities
- Refugees Welcome Here – Dubs Now!
- Black Lives Matter – no more deaths in police custody
- Opposing austerity and scapegoating immigrants
- Love Music Hate Racism
Now is an urgent time for anti-racists to organise. We need to defend refugees and migrants, oppose Islamophobia and anti-Semitism and stop all racist scapegoating.
In the US, Trump’s attacks on migrants and Muslims have opened the door to the far right. At Charlottesville we saw fascists marching with torches, swastikas and confederate flags and Heather Heyer murdered. There has been a brilliant response by anti-racists in the US since the Charlottesville events. In Europe, the far right seek to replicate the growth of the likes of Marine Le Pen and the Front National in France. Meanwhile refugees are still continuing to drown whilst attempting to flee war, torture and persecution.
In Britain, Theresa May continues to use the future of millions of EU nationals as a bargaining chip in Brexit negotiations. The tragic aftermath of the terror attacks in Manchester, Westminster and at London Bridge has led to a ramping up of Islamophobia with a terrorist attack on Muslims in Finsbury Park, North London, acid and other racist and Islamophobic attacks.
In such a heated atmosphere and with UKIP defeated in the general election sections of the far right want to seize the time and take to the streets, using Islamophobia to win support.
The ongoing reality of institutional racism in Britain has been highlighted by the horrific death toll at Grenfell Tower. The Tories won’t even grant a full amnesty to survivors and families that are undocumented migrants. The deaths after contact with police of Edson DaCosta, Rashan Charles and Darren Cumberbatch are recent examples of how black lives don’t seem to matter to the forces of law and order.
But as racism is rising, a movement against racism is growing. Tens of thousands have taken to the streets, standing up to Trump’s Muslim ban and racism and Theresa May’s racist hard Brexit saying EU nationals are here to stay. Many are still campaigning for Britain and Europe to welcome refugees.
Come to the conference and join the debate about how we build the anti-racist movement.