alternative perspectives conference report v4ce

7/27/2019 Alternative Perspectives Conference Report V4CE

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#flipthescript

alternativeperspectives.org www.voice4change-england.co.uk @V4CE


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The conference was a bigsuccess in many ways

and I would like tothank all delegatesand V4CE teamfor their immensecontributions. It

is clear thatour commu-

n i t i e sneed

and deserve better ac-countability, openness

and better leadershipfrom public services toimprove trust and con-fidence in those servic-es. Networks and infra-structure organisationshave the potential forseeing the bigger picture.The day simply reinforced

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FLIPPING THE SCRIPTThe Alternative Perspectives conference attracted over 120 delegates to the BernieGrant Arts Centre in north London. Some came to hear the range of prominent speak-ers, others to debate the issues and others still to network. But whatever the reason,it is clear there is a great demand from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME)

voluntary and community sector to come together in these hard times of austerity.

This one day confer-ence demonstrated thatthere are still people allover the country whocare about issues of race

equality and are preparedto look for solutions toproblems. I would con-tend that the fundamen-tal problem today is nota lack of diversity, but a

failure to utilise our col-lective voice. We need tofine-tune a strategy thatlinks our networks withother networks serious

about change in our sec-tor and society at large.This is the challenge. Wehave an election comingMay 2015 and this couldwell be the first real mea-

sure of how successful weare in getting those newperspectives on the tableand taken seriously.

Also see p6 WhatHappens Next


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FEEDBACK & REACTION

The conference proved very popular onTwitter. V4CE prompted the hashtag#flipthescript and we saw 65 tweets, 84

retweets and 34 favourites on the day.

We also received other positive feedback,from evaluation forms, emails and verbalcommunication. Positive comments from

attendees included: I thoroughly enjoyed

the day it was very informative. Anothercommented: Ensure the conversationis continued. Nonetheless, thank you so

much for an informative day.


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REDEFINING RACE IN THE 21ST CENTURYIn the redefining race panel Russell Profitt,chief executive of the Greenwich InclusionProject, responded to Dr Lingayahs paper bysaying we must remember past struggles andthrowing the baby out with the bathwater.

The panel, chaired by Neena Samota, V4CEschair of trustees, heard from Arwa Almari,from the West Yorkshire Racial Justice net-

Dr Sanjiv Lingayah, Awate, Russell Profitt, Neena Samota. Inset: Dr Lingayahs pamphlet

Awate, who came to national prominence inMay after taking on UKIPs Sanya-Jeet Than-di on Channel 4 News shortly before Thandiquit the party, highlighted the role of the me-dia in shaping attitudes and said that talk-

ing about race remained uncomfortable formany. The audience discussion that followedlooked at new alternative strategies for rais-

work, who said that racism is on the move andis changing in nature but no less dangerousor pernicious. She cited the recent murder ofSaudi Arabian student Nahid Almanea and drewa parallels with the stripping away of Britainsequalities framework under the Governmentsred tape challenge to show that BAME peoplehad less protection in a hostile climate.

ing the need to tackle racism in all its formsby stronger alliances, as well as looking atwhat black means in order to embrace andengage with all who face race discrimination.It was suggested that Britain is at a cross-roads, but that BAME communities mustcontinue to strive for self-determination andagainst global white supremacist ideology.


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Audience at the Partnerships & Collaborations session.

Inset: Caroline Schwaller, Nero Ughwujabo, Vivienne Hayes,

Angela Baugh & Yvonne Field


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What Next? For us, atV4CE, it means taking theideas and energy from theAlternatives Perspectivesconference and blendingthem into tangible plansand activities. And therewere many practical sug-gestions made in the fiveconference seminars - so-cial enterprise, education,the media, criminal jus-tice and policing. Building astronger BAME voluntaryand community sector,and anti-racist movement,

means rethinking the raceequality agenda. V4CE in-tended the event to be thestart of a converstion. Manydelegates found the confer-ence informative but someasked what happens next?There were also calls for anew network in the BAMEvoluntary sector. We will betaking these suggestionsforward to establish a newregional network to boostcollaboration and help pushrace higher up the politicalagenda.


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WHAT WE OFFERV4CE are offering con-sultancy services to itsmembers and the widervoluntary sector, covering

areas like media training,asset development andcourses in bid-writing andfundraising. We also offer

sessions on

how to influence decision-makers (lobbying) anddeveloping partnershipworking. To find out more

get in touch. Email:[email protected] or call

( 0 2 0 )76974 242.


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The conference featuredfour workshop seminars,which were all repeatedduring the day. One of themfocussed on social enter-prise and was led by JohnMayford of Olmec, whichadvises SMEs , and NathalieRichards from the SMEEduKit who is also a V4CEtrustee. Richards gave abreakdown of what a socialenterprise andcommu-

n i t y

interest company was, andtalked about the trade-off between funding op-portunities and autonomy.Mayford gave some historyand context to social en-terprises and co-ops.Both said it was allabout identifyingthe marketand doing re-search.

It was impor-tant not to bedependent on

one sourceof income,eg. a localauthoritycontract.

John Mayford (Olmec) and Nathalie Richards

(EduKit) answer questions


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MEDIA DIVERSITYThis seminar featured several

prominent media panellists in-

cluding journalist Eva Simpson,

ex-Sky News anchor Juliette

Foster, Akua Gyamfi from theBritish Blacklist, ex-CBBC News-

round presenter Nelufar He-

dayat, and Mike Doherty from

the Travellers Movement. The

session was chaired by V4CE

policy officer Lester Holloway,

a presenter on Colourful Radio

and former Editor of the New

Nation newspaper. Doherty gavepractical examples of what ac-

tion had been taken to challenge

unfair representation of Irish

travellers in the media, including

legal judicial reviews, flashmob

protests outside the Specta-

tor magazine, complaints to the

press regulator. Hedayat arguedthat aspiring BME journalists

should not hold themselves back

through fear of being discrimi-

nated against because that can

become a self-fulfilling proph-

esy, but Foster said that it was

common for BME people in the

sector to face glass ceilings.

Simpson spoke about herjourney in the media and

offered tips for getting a

foot in the door.

Juliette Foster and (inset, l-r) Mike Doherty, Eva Simpson, Lester Holloway, Akua Gyamfi and Nelufar Hedeyat


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EDUCATIONThe education seminar was led

by a team from ROTA (Race

on the Agenda) and included

panellists Pascale Vassie from

National Resource Centre

for Supplementary Educa-

tion, Kristine Wellington from

Hackney CVS, Shareefa Energy,

Arzu Merali from the Islamic

Human Rights Commission, and

was chaired by writer Amrit

Wilson and activist David Dal-

gleish. Discussion included the

regulation of supplementary

schools, which some suspect

is cover for Prevent-style sur-

veillence to find extremism.

There was also concern about

lack of funding for supplemen-

tary schools, and that Michael

Goves free schools were not

only circumventing the national

curriculum but were also fail-

ing to comply with the Public

Sector Equality Duty under the

2006 Equality Act. Some felt

that free schools failed to en-

gage with BAME communities.

David Dalgleish (standing) and Benjamin Ikwueme, Pascale Vassie and Arzu Merali


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Mubarak Hassan (speaking)

and Tony Smikle

POLICINGThe policing seminar in-cluded panellists PatrickWilliams (ManchesterMetropolitan University),Tony Smikle, Awate, TaherGulamhussein (IslamicHuman Rights Commis-sion) Shareefa Energy,Estelle Boulay (NewhamMonitoring Project), andwas chaired by SaqibDeshmukh. This sessionlooked at the racialisationof gangs in the media and

the need for bespoke so-lutions tailored to eachcommunity. There wasalso a discussion aboutinforming communitiesof their rights if unfairlyconfronted by officersand how we can better

hold the police toaccount.

Smikle,w h o

served 25 years in theforce, talked about thechallenge BAME officersfaced and the establish-ment of the Black PoliceAssociation. Williamssaid 20 percent of youngpeople on the gangs da-tabase had never beenconvicted, and that thegangs label was partlya device to over-policeblack communities. Thesession also looked at

the targeting of Muslimcommunities. Solutionsincluded better policeaccountability, an is-sue that had been setback with the abolitionof police authorities andtheir replacement withelected crime commis-sioners.There was also

a need to improve mon-itoring of policing withaction to investigate dis-proportionality.


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Shareefa Energy performs poetry and (inset) Awate raps


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WHAT V4CE DOVoice 4 Change England are a national charity supporting

and capacity-building the Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic

(BAME) voluntary and community sector to survive and

prosper. This is particularly important in this current

age of austerity. We work to enhance the way we work

together to creatively define new solutions to prob-

lems. We support over 1,500 Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic

groups through training, advice, resources and advocacy.

Our work includes developing community assets, policy and

parliamentary training, social enterprise seminars, collabo-

ration and partnership work, research studies and influ-

encing public policy at all levels.


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Designed by Lester Holloway

alternative perspectives conference report v4ce

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