First expel or murder your enemies, then trash their cultural artefacts.

Posted on January 4, 2016 by Phil Andre in News

As humankind’s capacity to inflict death and destruction has increased with advances in the technological and military fields, we have witnessed whole groups of people subject to actual or attempted extermination. However, legends, sagas and religious scripture suggest that this alarming inclination in the human species has an ancient pedigree.

The persecution of the despised ‘other’ rarely ends with murder alone. Perpetrators have a tendency thereafter to remove all physical evidence that the ‘absent’ people ever existed. Moveable artefacts such as books, paintings, sculptures and religious items are stolen, destroyed or sold to collectors far away. Houses are occupied by those …

Using multi-voice poetry to promote human rights

Posted on December 4, 2015 by Ashby McGowan in News

Ten years ago I started writing material for the pupils in my school’s Amnesty International Youth Group to perform. The subject was domestic violence and I thought of using their voices in a way that would allow the sounds of the words to complement the actions in the poem. So when there was something bad happening, the joining of words and phrases would result in a cacophony. When there was resolution or peaceful thoughts, the voices would blend to produce a pleasant sound. Voices can also be used to create subtle rhythms that build up in the poem.

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Why Study ‘Massive Resistance’ to the Civil Rights Movement?

Posted on November 27, 2015 by Scott Weightman in News

The study of the civil rights movement has largely focused on the African-American struggle for freedom and offers an expansive, vibrant and ever developing understanding of civil rights campaigners. Indeed, the dynamic and multifaceted nature of the Black protest movement has necessitated successive scholarly reinterpretations in order to attain a true picture of the movement. It is a topic that continues to garner interest and foster new debates.

Conversely, segregationist opposition to the civil rights movement has received far less attention. Whilst commendable as an indication of the generally liberal values of the academic community and understandable given the nobility of the …

Bias: The enemy of Justice?

Posted on November 11, 2015 by Erica Toms in News

‘People exercise an unconscious selection in being influenced.’- T. S. Elliot

As a Bachelor(ette) of Honours in History, it is easy to assume that every bias exists primarily due to events in History. Religion, economic status and political views are often handed to us by our parents; how many people transcend the status they were born into? In accepting that bias is also potentially affected by personality, present situation and a lack of thought, I couldn’t help but wonder: is bias intrinsic to human nature? Can we educate ourselves above bias? How far does bias hinder the journey to justice?

The first …

Social Justice

Posted on October 26, 2015 by Philip Mansell in News

Social justice is a broad term. The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as “Justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society.” In other words, social justice aims to create equality.

I recently completed a journalistic project on political representation in the UK, where there is clear inequality. Following May’s General Election, the undeniable fact that we as a country had elected our most diverse Parliament ever, made a few ripples in the media. More female MPs had been elected than ever before. More MPs from a BME background had been elected than ever before. The …

The Activist’s Balance: Reaction and Creation

Posted on October 19, 2015 by Rebecca Livesey-Wright in News

by Rebecca Livesey-Wright

As with all things in life, activism should be based on balance. Everyone has their own centre of balance and we should each feel comfortable with knowing how hard we can fight before we hit the activist’s ‘burn out’. We need to find a balance not only between fighting and resting but also between reacting and creating.

In Spring 2015, I was heavily involved in the four-week occupation at my college, Central St. Martins, University of the Arts London in response to the proposed closure of hundreds of courses. This was an intense and exhausting period, but …

Refugees in Hungary

Posted on October 19, 2015 by Nora Berend in News

by Dr Nora Berend

‘The people decided: the country must be defended’. This is the claim of a new poster, displayed as part of the latest government campaign in Hungary. True to government promises, police started to defend Hungary at the newly built wire fence on the Serbian border, where refugees, including children, were subjected to water guns and tear-gas. An Associated Press journalist reported that police forced him to delete the film he took of a police dog attacking refugees. Police denied that such an event took place. Members of a Serbian TV crew also complained that Hungarian …

Calais; an observation of the active volunteer

Posted on October 19, 2015 by Joanna-May Sutton Klein in News

By Joanna-May Sutton Klein

Many people care about a plethora of issues within the realms of social justice and some have an ideological perspective. Occasionally something compels them to act on an issue. There is no science to explain all the reasons people become active in the name of their beliefs. This summer, as I watched the news coverage of the unfolding refugee crisis, I found the story resonating within me.

I am Jewish, and for me, I could not help but see history repeating itself in the Calais refugee camp. This evoked an unavoidable sense of …

Racial Stereotypes: how far have we come?

Posted on October 14, 2015 by Emily Needle in News

The Jenkins Orphanage, Charleston by Emily Needle

The end of the nineteenth century in Charleston; a rise in crime. Assaults, robberies, prostitution, illegal trafficking and gambling, with fights and stabbings frequent. Bootlegging was the only option for many poor African-Americans who could not afford to pay for expensive goods. Wealthy African-Americans often requested the protection of police because they were afraid to leave their homes in case they were broken into by members of their own race.

‘Fear of black crime helped a black Baptist minister, Daniel J. Jenkins, persuade the City Council to support the orphanage he had recently founded. …

Journey to Justice at News from Nowhere, Leytonstone 13.09.14

Posted on September 29, 2014 by JtoJ in News

Journey to Justice is an organisation that seeks to inspire and encourage local activities dedicated to equality and respect.  Working through education and arts Journey to Justice draws on the history of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States of America for its first project – a multi-media travelling exhibition.  While using the figurehead Martin Luther King, with recordings of his speeches and archive film, the programme will tell the stories of lesser known figures, with whom most of us …