‘Name it and Claim it!’

Mission Statement

Wednesday, 2^nd March, 2011, marks the 30^th anniversary of the National ‘Black People’s Day of Action’ (BPDA) and leading activists, organisations and Afrikan-centred professionals –Initiated by Baba Prof Gus John and Bro Ldr Mbandaka - are mobilising the entire Afrikan (Black) community/nation to commemorate this occasion en masse.

The BPDA (2^nd March, 1981) is the most powerful event in the history of our presence in Britain. 25,000 people took to the streets of London to protest the New Cross Massacre (18^th Jan, 1981), where a suspected racist fire-bomb attack killed 13 Black youths (aged 15-22), injuring 27 - at 439 New Cross Rd, SE14. They also protested the brutal police treatment of survivors; racist media reporting; ongoing racial attacks; and the silence of the British government and Queen; resulting in the slogan, “13 dead and nothing said!”

The BPDA not only demonstrated the power of our unity and solidarity, it ushered in a turbulent decade that changed the political landscape, breaking down racialised barriers to socio-economic progress. Uprisings mushroomed From Brixton, London; throughout Britain: Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Leicester, Bristol, Edinburgh, etc.; between April and July, 1981; sending a clear message that our people will no longer tolerate racial injustice and serving as a catalyst for positive change.

Yet, thirty years on, many of our people, especially our youths, know nothing about this history; and we continue to endure the same injustices as well as disproportionately high: school exclusions/underachievement; deaths in custody; stop and search; DNA profiling; etc. Furthermore, drugs, guns and gang violence kill 30-40 of our young people every year and wreck the lives of many more. All of this suggests that we have seriously regressed in the past 30 years and have lost the spirit of resistance and our sense of community.

The commemoration will be primarily youth focussed - connecting the New Cross Massacre and the State’s response with the threats facing our young people today. The emphasis will be on 1) taking responsibility as a people to indentify and implement the solutions 2) agreeing a national programme of action, based on the attached aims and objectives; and 3) community/people empowerment. We urge everyone to take the day off from work, college and university (except exams); and take your children out of school and to join us in paying homage to the past, but taking command of the present in order to determine a better future. NB. Further details regarding the event will follow shortly.

Commemorate, Evaluate, Organise to Liberate!