Activists call for solidarity marking world anti-racism day
On February 18 residents and union members showed their support by sharing photos of solidarity on twitter. - Credit: HSUTR
A Hackney organisation is inviting residents to unite against racism in a series of events building up to the United Nations’ anti-racism day later this month.
Hackney Stand Up to Racism (HSUTR) is set to hold a socially distanced rally on March 20 to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on March 21, though the plans will depend on coronavirus restrictions.
But before the main event, which will see similar actions take place around the world, HSUTR will also be holding a virtual rally on March 7 and a screening of Rubika Shah’s documentary White Riot (2020) on March 14.
An HSUTR spokesperson said: “The UN international anti-racist day of action is not just an anniversary but a day where every anti-racist in every town and city, in every workplace and college can raise the demand that refugees are welcome here, that Black Lives Matter and that racism in whatever shape or form will not divide us.”
The film White Riot is a documentary charting the growth of the activist group Rock Against Racism (RAR) as its members clashed with the National Front in the 1970s and held a 100,000 person-strong carnival in Victoria Park.
Its screening will include a post-film discussion with two of the founders of RAR, Red Saunders and Roger Huddle, who live locally.
The virtual rally on March 7 will feature prominent speakers such as Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP Diane Abbott and prosecution lawyer Takis Zotos, who helped convict far-right members of the Greek political party Golden Dawn.
Anti-racism campaigners outside Hackney's Museum of the Home, which decided to leave a statue of Sir Robert Geffrye standing, despite the merchant's involvement in the transatlantic slave trade - Credit: HSUTR
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The HSUTR spokesperson added: "Despite the public pandemic, HSUTR has been at the forefront of organising for refugees, against Islamophobia and antisemitism, of building the Black Lives Matter movement and campaigning to remove the statue of slaver [Robert] Geffrye from the Home Museum."
The socially-distanced rally for the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is set to take place on March 20, at Hackney Town Hall Square at 12pm.
To join the online rally on March 7, visit www.facebook.com/events/1334317640270500
To attend the film screening, hosted by HSUTR and the Rio Cinema, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/474819173697127/
Clapton Girls' Academy teachers and National Education Union members also shared photos in support against racism - Credit: HSUTR
