Report on a one day conference "United we Stand", 21st March 2019

The 21st March 1960 became the reference point for the world’s assessment of the apartheid government in South Africa , it being the anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre  which occurred in 1960 after a day of demonstrations against pass laws.   Six years later, the UN declared 21st March as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and Human Rights Day.  To mark that day, and, terribly, just six days after 50 Muslim men, women and children, the youngest just three years old, were shot dead by a supreamist terrorist in Christchurch, New Zealand, I attended a one day conference exploring unity and solidarity amongst diverse communities in Wales in the context of Brexit and the hostile environment.

The well attended conference was presented by EYST, the Swansea based charity supporting BAME (Black and Ethnic Minority) people across Wales, and Race Alliance Wales. A very varied programme of speakers included Deputy First Minister and Government Chief Whip Jane Hutt.  Ms Hutt brought greetings and expressions of solidarity from First Minister Mark Drakeford.  The Welsh Government is committed to diversity as a principle.  The Minister also announced some amounts of money that would now be available for work in the areas of concern of the organisations represented there. While these amounts were welcomed there was some concern expressed during the conference that they would have to be competed for by charities working in this field.

There are many ways in which life for BAME families is improving in Wales but, particularly since the calling of the Brexit referendum instances of hate crime and abuse have increased in Wales, as in other Western countries.  

The appalling massacre in New Zealand is a dreadful example of this horrific trend but here also anti-Muslim hate crimes reported across Britain increased by 593% in the week after, an independent monitor

ing group, the charity Tell Mama, said almost all of the increase comprised incidents linked to the Christchurch attacks.

There was little doubt among the attendees at the conference that the Brexit process, along with the hostile environment created by the Home Office, initially when Mrs May was Home Secretary, are both contributory causes to attacks on immigrants generally, but these attacks also specifically demonstrate hatred of  Muslims and, through ignorant association Sikhs and Hindus.

The point was made that fear of immigrants is not being demonstrated by the "left behind" citizens but rather by those with moderate income.  

Wales needs to build a data base of evidence of racial hate acts to provide credibility and veracity. 

Some small BAME charities showed presentations of surveys which, in my opinion, were based on samples that were too small and unrepresentative but where surveys are well conducted they can provide illumination.  For example: of 15 and 17 year olds going into apprenticeships: 0.6% identify as black, 0.7% as mixed race, 1.1% as Indian, 1.5% as disabled and 97.3% as white; and a further clear statistic: the wealth gap.  The average assets of white people £221,000, black Caribbean:£76,000, Bangladeshi: £21,000 and Black African:£15,000.

The Conference was designed to bring together all the charities and agencies working with BAME Welsh peoples to help in creating a united standpoint and to some extent the day celebrated that unity. However any celebration was overshadowed by the horror of the Christchurch attacks and the long history of inequality and exploitation of BAME peoples. 

PH.

Report of the gathering at Woodbrooke looking at diversity and inclusion in the Society of Friends, 18th -20th January 2019.

“.... Be patterns, be examples in all countries, places, islands, nations, wherever you may come, that your carriage and life may preach among all sorts of people, and to them: then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in everyone.”

dictated by George Fox in Launceston prison, 1656, Quaker faith and Practice 19:32

Racism within the Society of Friends is perhaps more damaging because it is unconscious and springs from stereotypical assumptions: “And no harm is meant by it. Harm may be done but it is never meant.”

Epistle of Black, white, Asian and mixed-heritage Friends 1991 QF&P 10:13

“And no harm is meant by it” not meant because it is not seen, it is invisible, it is invisible power.

What does it mean to be white? We should know because most British Quakers are white, but do we normally think about that question?  What is whiteness?  It is the invisible power that white people accept, and unconsciously use, in any situation where there are people of different colour.

Over the weekend a group of delightful, open minded, mostly white Friends, typical of most meetings, was constantly brought face to face with inequality.  Inequality between races, inequality of opportunity for people who have questioned their gender, people of working class backgrounds. It was often uncomfortable, even painful, it was challenging.

As the second extract, above, says “no harm is meant by it” and therefore it is not appropriate to feel guilt about what has happened in the past, but it is appropriate to mourn the way we we have unconsciously acted.  Now, today, we need to wake to what has been happening, to be aware. We need to repent, reform, rue what we have done, what we have allowed others to do on our behalf, the, often unconscious, inequality that we have allowed in our dealings with others. Answering that of God in everyone is showing respect to other children of God.  Privilege is not something that is born to some and not others, everyone should be treated as privileged.

Our testimony to the world is that there is that of God in everyone, so we will not fight with outward weapons, we will not lie, we will not take more than our share of resource, and we will try to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in everyone.

Edwina Peart, diversity and inclusion project co-coordinator at Friends House, and Mark Russ of Woodbrooke, led the weekend, ably supported by Elders and the Woodbrooke volunteers and staff.   Edwina introduced the concept of intersectionality; where social strata do not exist separately from each other but are interwoven together. Thus the term “black” comes to mean black men and recognises that the forms of oppression experienced by white middle-class women were different from those experienced by black, poor, or disabled women.

Edwina is currently trying to establish a base line of where Quakers are now, with regard to diversity and inclusion through a simple survey, information about this can be found here: http://www.quaker.org.uk/blog/diversity-where-are-we-now

Prof Robert Beckwith introduced some idea of the history of racism. In the Middle Ages there were attempts to bring an academic approach to studying different human types by examining skulls, the study finding that the ideal was that of a young Caucasians woman, giving the word Caucasian a special historical relevance. A later study decided that Anglo Saxons were the nearest to ideal with the Sots, Welsh and then Irish filling lower positions. A concept which fueled hundreds of bar room jokes.  Professor Beckwith, who is a BAFTA winning media presenter as well as respected academic, told us about a situation in which he arrived to take up his chair at a University but was initially put to work peeling potatoes in the kitchens. Read more about Professor Beckwith here: https://www.canterbury.ac.uk/arts-and-humanities/school-of-humanities/religion-philosophy-and-ethics/research/jamaican-bible-remix.aspx.

Sabah Choudrey http://sabahchoudrey.com/about-2/ led the second session on the Saturday. This is what Sabah says about themself. “I am a magician. I’ve mastered the art of concealment, and everything you see is an illusion. What you see is not what you get. Some see a handsome gayboy, others see a pretty faced lez. What I am, is carefully constructed, to emphasise parts of me I feel that fit me, and hide other parts that I feel do not belong.” They are very clever in this regard. They have a full mustache and bushy eyebrows. They are small and slight, so the part of the illusion that I picked up was the first of the two above. They appear to work on this as a major part of life. The point that Sabah made very clearly is that our lives are not a debate. The pronouns, man/woman, boy/girl, these are not our concern, only they get to define, only they have the power to decide. For both Beckwith and Choudrey our role is to be a gateway, never gatekeepers.  We experienced comfort and discomfort, some would keep a gate at the point where someone who identifies as female gets access to women only spaces, here we were not in unity.

Rev  Lynne Cullens website: https://lynnecullens.com/about/  identifies herself as a working class, single mother. She is a vicar in the Church of England and made it clear that she is not informed about Quakers.  Her talk was totally focused on the Anglican community and she was to leave it to us to decide if, what she has to say has relevance to our situation.  Lyn is clearly very articulate, intelligent and informed. Her spirituality appears to be very much in line with her church.  She has involved herself with organisations to further the well being of people living in estates.   However, when she has applied for situations that she feels would be appropriate for her she has been passed over, as “Middle class men appoint men who seem like them.”  But this was not an appeal against her misfortune but rather an indication of how her church was missing out on priests who could communicate as equals with their working class parishioners, being accepted as “someone like me” How much are Quakers missing out by not being in direct, respectful, loving conversation with working class people? How do we open ourselves to their energy, their experience, their spirituality?  Is this a question that should be forefront in our minds as we consider the revision of Quaker Faith and Practice?

Throughout the weekend we constantly returned to the realisation that the way in which class, gender, race, physical or mental impairment create gateways are all just symptoms of the same malaise, the difficulty that people have in treating others with the respect, dignity, love that Jesus demanded of us, the need to answer that of God in everybody.  If sin is falling short then we have all sinned, can we take such a realisation into the silence and hold it in the light?  Can we forgive ourselves and change our attitudes, give up our undeserved invisible power, and gain the true power of community?

PH

Powys, climate breakdown and zero carbon

The Welsh Government accepted that all decisions that it makes have to be in line with the concept of the welfare of future generations.  This makes Wales probably the most progressive of all the home nations certainly far more so than the UK Government where all decisions can be overridden by the needs of security or finance.  I am amazed and delighted that Powys County Council have now  unanimously passed the following motion.

"This Council in seeing Powys as the Green Heart of Wales;
> 1. Acknowledges that the potential impacts of Climate Change are of significant concern:
> 2. Asks the pension trustees to look into the possibility/legalities of developing a strategy of divestment from fossil fuels
> 3. Supports the principles of Zero Carbon Britain and the work done by CAT (Centre for Alternative Technology)
> 4. Encourages the development of Hydrogen production and technologies in Powys utilising the clean environment, water and energy supply
> 5. Highlights that zero carbon technologies and new zero carbon producing economic opportunities that are sympathetic to Powys’ rural landscape, should be considered as part of the Mid Wales Growth deal thus giving us a USP (Unique Selling Point)
> 6. That the authority should put in place an economically feasible strategy to reduce its carbon output and strive to develop best environmental practice in its buildings
> 7. That the authority should look into best practice from other authorities.

Yes!

Hey Siri, how peaceful is my phone?

By Dilia Zwart / December 14, 2018 / Economic Justice, Peace, Sustainability

“I come from one of the richest countries on the planet. Yet the people of my country are among the poorest of the world. The troubling reality is that the abundance of our natural resources – gold, coltan, cobalt and other strategic minerals – is the root cause of war, extreme violence and abject poverty.”
These are the words of Denis Mukwege as he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on December 10th, Human Rights Day. He spoke of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where he has worked as a gynaecologist helping victims of sexual violence. The DRC is one of the countries where terms such as ‘conflict minerals’ and ‘resource curse’ became infamous in the 1990s. Armed groups that seized control of mines in the DRC often exploited communities, fuelled human rights violations, and used the profits to finance their activities.
Mukwege’s words underline an uncomfortable notion – that our everyday items such as vacuum cleaners and smartphones contain minerals that may have been mined in conditions violating human rights. With this in mind, QCEA created the space for Europe Union institutions, civil society, and industry to explore how the management of natural resources can contribute to peacebuilding. On November 15th at Quaker House, QCEA and the Young Professionals in Foreign Policy organised the third of a series of policy discussions called Cobalt and Conflict Minerals: Europe’s role to promote peacebuilding in the DRC.
Cobalt was named by Mukwege as one of the minerals fuelling violence in the DRC – however, it is not one of the conflict minerals listed by the EU’s recent Conflict Minerals Regulation: tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold, or 3TG. Yet growing demand for ‘green technology’ such as electric cars has increased the value and production of cobalt in recent years as it is a key component in lithium iron batteries. Questions about the ethical sourcing of cobalt have been raised by businesses and civil society organisations alike, with some calling it the ‘blood diamond of batteries’. Cobalt is mostly mined in the relatively peaceful south-eastern DRC; however, a report by Amnesty International shows that mining industries are failing to tackle child labour.
As the demand for cobalt rises, natural resource management that contributes to peace is paramount. Natural resources are not inherently linked to violent conflict. They are a source of livelihood for many people around the world. Natural resource management can be a tool for peacebuilding if planning and implementation are inclusive and conflict sensitive, as shown in QCEA’s Building Peace Together. Another important concept highlighted in Building Peace Together is Due Diligence, or the steps taken to ensure initiatives ‘do no harm’. The EU regulation that aims to regulate the trade of ‘conflict minerals’ will become binding for member states in 2021, requiring importers to use the five-step Due Diligence process of the OECD.
Inclusive, multi-stakeholder partnerships can help ensure that such legislation is implemented. An example of such a partnership is the European Partnership for Responsible Minerals (EPRM) which seeks to create better working conditions for mining communities. Its members include industry, civil society, and government. The efforts of such partnerships can help companies align to regulations.
With many people buying gifts in the Christmas season, what can consumers do? Globally, there is more awareness about the peace and human rights issues surrounding the sourcing of minerals. The demand for ethical and sustainable goods has increased, and is reflected in Goal 12 of the United Nation’s Agenda 2030: Sustainable Consumption and Production. Consumers can refer to a number of resources on responsible sourcing, such as Ethical Consumer and the Good Shopping Guide. Paying attention to what you buy and how it is sourced can help keep the pressure on company compliance to legislation that promotes the peaceful management of natural resources.
QCEA blog.
There is a phone manufactured as ethically as possible, the Fairphone 2 which is marketed by the Phone Co-OP details are available here

The dark side of militarism

This is an article published in the Canary, 14th November, if you read this you may also like to watch Dan Snow's BBC documentary on "Shell Shock"

A new film called War School: The Battle for Britain’s Children challenges the stories we tell ourselves about the military and war. The film:

reveals how government policies are targeting ever younger children for future recruitment into the armed forces

Mic Dixon’s documentary is essential viewing for anyone interested in the increasing militarisation of British life. War School was released to coincide with the 100-year anniversary of the armistice that officially ended the First World War.

It’s not really remembrance

War School successfully weaves together different voices critical of militarism. It begins with a quote from former special forces member Ben Griffin, who says:
 "They call it the remembrance period. But there is actually no remembrance going on at all. It’s the opposite of remembrance. It’s concealment – concealment of the true nature of war and militarism."

The darkness ‘behind the curtain’

Later in the film, Griffin notes:

It’s like that scene in the Wizard of Oz… Where you look behind the curtain and you see it’s all, just all, a load of shit. It’s more disgusting than that, you know. They look behind the curtain: there is a silly little man there. But when you look behind the curtain in Baghdad… it’s pretty dark.

A state of permanent war

Ian Cobain, journalist and author, tells the viewers that:

"Official secrecy has the result of distorting our understanding of our recent history. And as a consequence we tend to think of ourselves as being a largely peaceful people."

Cobain continues:

"Over the last 100 years, not a single year has gone by when we haven’t been at war somewhere or another. That’s not true of anybody else. It’s not true of the French, or the Germans, or the Russians. It’s not even true of the Americans: there were no wars in the Carter years. Only the British are perpetually at war."

Remembrance

War School questions the nature of remembrance. “I find it quite a hard question to answer… what does remembrance mean?” Griffin asks. Later, he says the build-up to Remembrance Sunday is “longer than Christmas”. During the film, we hear of the pain, guilt and anguish soldiers experience as a result of what they have seen and what they have done. But this is a phenomenon that is rarely, if ever, discussed during the year – let alone during Armed Forces Day or Remembrance Sunday.
Some of the most powerful moments are the brief testimonies from various soldiers that are peppered throughout the film. One soldier speaks of being ordered to bury the bodies of 24 men who had been killed by communist “terrorists” in Malaya. He described taking the women and children away, and sticking them in a “concentration camp” after burning their homes. He later discovered that it was, in fact, a British unit which removed all 24 men from their families and executed them. The United Kingdom waged a brutal counter-insurgency against communists and others in Malaya from 1948 to 1960. But this war, like so many others, is rarely mentioned in popular discussions.

Quakers for peace

Quakers feature prominently in War School. Quakers have a long and illustrious history of peace activism. Quaker activist Marigold Bentley says that they are constantly being “criticised” and “undermined” and also “ridiculed” and “marginalised” by the press.
The film also charts the slow discovery by Quakers that the increased militarisation within British schools is part of a wider strategy orchestrated at the nation state level. And not, as some may have first believed, a ‘natural development’ without any central planning.
Sam Walton, a Quaker peace activist, explains that:

This new type of militarism isn’t nebulous, it isn’t a conspiracy theory. And if you look at government green papers, government white papers, they very clearly spell out that they are trying to influence society to support the military.
What really shocked me when I started reading these documents was how brazen they were about it. And how brazen they were about prioritising the interests of the armed forces getting recruits, getting the public to fund the armed forces over pretty much anything else.

Get them while they’re young

War School also makes the point that “it’s not true anymore” that if you’re “not in education, training or employment then the army is saving you”. In fact, research conducted by medical charity Medact shows just the opposite. According to a 2016 Medact report:

"the risks associated with an armed forces career are greater for those recruited under the age of 18 than they are for those recruited as adults. They are more likely to die or be injured in action, and to suffer mental health problems such as alcohol abuse, self-harm and suicide."

When we were soldiers

Perhaps the most significant aspect of the soldiers’ testimonies is their frankness about their way of thinking when they were soldiers. In particular, their desire to kill and the lack of satisfaction they felt when they didn’t. It’s important to note that these people are not psychopaths. On the contrary, it is quite clear from the interviews that they have a moral compass and that they are filled with remorse and regret. But of course, that changes nothing for those on the receiving end of these wars.
The film is as poignant as it is straightforward. And while its contents may not surprise anyone actively engaged in challenging or participating in the militarist project, that’s almost certainly a very small percentage of the overall population.  As the film notes towards the end, “the armed forces make around 11,000 visits to secondary schools and colleges each year”. It seems only fair then that this is balanced out. This film should be required viewing in every school and college in the country.

PH comment:  I spoke at the November AM about our Prime Minister laying wreathes on the graves of the first and last men to die in the 1914 -18 war.  This action attempts to "box" the war into just a four year period when the causes of the war go back centuries.  Spanish Flu, which broke out towards the end of the war among weakened soldiers and civilians and killed more people than died of the violence of war, wrought havoc with all the populations that had been involved; while the punishing final settlement which the victors forced onto the vanquished became one of the offenses that built up to the outbreak of Word War II.