Good evening.
A statue of Winston Churchill was given more protection than the Grenfell Tower and NHS workers during the coronavirus pandemic.
So why does Britain continue to protect racists so ardently?
There is no doubt, as contributing editor James Moules outlined earlier this week, that our former Prime Minister, valiant as he was in World War II, was a racist.
From the Bengal Famine to Kenyan concentration camps, there are some actions that cannot be excused.
According to rapper and author Akala, it’s partly down to the lack of education on British colonialism.
How many of us can remember ‘divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived’ but have no idea about the Opium Wars and the capture of Hong Kong?
Or how many of us know William Wilberforce, but not Toussaint Louverture?
In any sense, as a Black Lives Matter protest organiser said yesterday, the struggle is not a sprint, but a marathon. Once clear demands are made and leadership is installed, progress will be quicker.
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Who will stand up for us in Britain?
Will it be Keir Starmer, who on Monday said demonstrators were wrong to fell a statue of a slave trader following years of bureaucracy preventing it being removed by democratic means?
Thankfully for some, Jeremy ‘the absolute boy’ Corbyn is continuing to voice his analysis from the backbenches.
He’s often a lone, sane voice in the House of Commons on foreign policy – and this time, he warned of a looming war between the US and China unless current tensions simmer.
The US imperialism complex may be pre-occupied in Latin America, however Professor Daniel Hellinger wrote in an exclusive op-ed for us this week.
He warned that, unlike the US invasion of Panama 31 years ago, any incursion into Venezuela – as has been touted following Juan Guaido’s failure to lead an internal coup – will actually be an act of self-sabotage for President Trump.
Elsewhere, the fight for basic human rights continues to take place around the world.
While Declan Carey highlighted the mass ‘tidal wave’ of homelessness that is likely to take place once the pandemic ends, Mason Quah detailed the oft underreported LGBT struggle in Asia.
At least Spain is providing a glimmer of hope – left-wing party Podemos have started rolling out a version of Universal Basic Income.
Finland had mixed results with this – for the good of progressives, Podemos must do it better.
Looking forward?
Serbia will hold elections for its National Assembly next Sunday – but as experts have pointed out, polling day will be a dead rubber.
There is no chance the ruling SNS – a populist, ‘big tent’ party – will give up any semblance of power.
It’s simply a chance to rearrange the opposition – the bulk of whom are boycotting the elections anyway.
In the meantime, to support BLM, you can continue to sign petitions and support causes financially using the links below:
UK BLM fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/ukblm-fund
Justice for Belly Mujinga: https://www.change.org/p/govia-thameslink-justice-for-belly-mujinga-justiceforbellymujinga?recruited_by_id=14b3a740-6cc6-11e4-807a-db4e03659474
And Trevor Belle: https://uk.gofundme.com/f/trevor-belle
StopWatch, a UK charity that promotes fair and accountable policing: http://www.stop-watch.org/about-us/donate
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