UCL BME Network

Our statement in response to the de-naming of UCL spaces named after Eugenicists:

This is just the first step of a long-term process for UCL to make-amends for its deeply troubling ties to eugenics and institutional racism. Thank you to all the students, activists and staff, whose tireless efforts over many years made this a reality. Now let’s sustain and channel this energy into our education, into our research, into our hiring practices and into all of our decision making at UCL.

Eugenics is far from being a dead ideology. This crisis has shown the disregard for human life that isn’t deemed worthy. We cannot accept eugenics by neglect, herd immunity by stealth or death by austerity. We cannot afford to be numb.

We’re sad that protests, countless petitions and a year-long inquiry was needed to change the names of a building, a lecture theatre and a lab. It’s about time that this was recognised as an important change necessary for our community. Although changing a name appears to be a trivial matter, keeping the names for so long upholds the very values that we want to dismantle. Names of buildings, statues etc. are physical manifestations of these values. We have seen from the tearing down of the Edward Colston statue, that this is how we learn and make history.

We will no longer accept having to recount traumatising experiences for fruitless consultations that lead to empty promises and no action. We will stand for change as long as harmful injustices prevail. Let this be our encouragement as student activists to continue!

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For more information on the history of this campaign of the Inquiry, see the signposted links below the statement:

UCL announces immediate denaming of spaces named after eugenicists This is just the first step of a long-term process for UCL to make-amends for its deeply troubling ties to eugenics and institutional racism. Thank you to all the students, activists and staff, whose tireless efforts over many years made this a reality. Now let’s sustain and channel this energy in...

This is history.

Sign this petition if you want to change the name of UCL buildings and spaces named after Eugenicists: https://www.change.org/p/university-college-london-ucl-rename-buildings-named-after-racists

The toppling of Edward Colston's statue is not an attack on history. It is history | David Olusoga The slave trader’s figure loomed over Bristol for 125 years. Now a multiracial protest has achieved what past campaigns couldn’t, says historian and broadcaster David Olusoga

📣ACCOUNTABILITY FROM UCL AND DEPARTMENTS 📣

A group of students have written this template to help other students write to their departments and the Provost to ask what is being done to tackle racial inequality and to support Black Students.

‼️Please use share this with your friends and edit it to meet the needs for your department.

If you need any support with holding your departments to account - please send me an email at [email protected] or message the page!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1k47Ud-9q_AhaSrMx2alZne9F-jEf4Ly5-KDFEgLifnc/edit

Email to Provost (or head of Departments) re: Geroge Floyd Copy + Paste the below text to an email addressed to the head of your institution (eg. Provost, Head of a Department, Headmaster, Dean of a college, etc), and don’t forget to alter the [ BRACKETED ] text.

Full solidarity with the people of Minneapolis and black people worldwide currently experiencing the brunt of police brutality and white supremacy. Please join me as we demand for justice.

No Justice. No Peace.

*To our black members*

I’m sending my love to all our black members - I hope you’re taking time off to decompress, getting fresh air, speaking to your loved ones and holding each other tight. Protecting yourself is good and ok, especially in a society that doesn’t give us time to process the intensity of our trauma and grief.

Please feel free to DM me Sandy Bmeso for mental health support and for a listening ear.

In the words of James Baldwin:

“You always told me it takes time. It’s taken my father’s time, my mother’s time. My uncle’s time, my brother’s and my sister’s time. My niece’s and my nephew’s time. How much time do you want, for your progress?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCUlE5ldPvM

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*Acts of solidarity*

1. Do you care about Black life as you do about Black death? If you consider your an ‘ally’ your silence on racism makes you complicit

2. Donate to the families of those killed and campaigns that are fighting for their justice - we will be sharing links to fundraisers on your instagram :
https://www.gofundme.com/f/i-run-with-maud / https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd / minnesotafreedomfund.org/donate (a direct bail fund for protestors)

3. YOU DO NOT NEED TO SHARE BRUTAL IMAGES OF BLACK PEOPLE DYING TO BRING ATTENTION TO RACISM
“Relying on the consumption of trauma to evoke empathy is not sustainable for our work toward liberation. As long as we depend on consumption of trauma to ‘empathise”, we will always rely on the traumatisation of black and brown bodies...” - Shea Martin

"Only more obscene than the brutality unleashed at the whipping post is the demand that this suffering be materialized and evidenced by the display of the tortured [Black] body or endless recitations of the ghastly and terrible." - Saidiya Hartman, _Scenes_of_Subjection_

Read these articles for more on this: https://t.co/9bm1foRhqE / https://t.co/5lT0nMr876 / https://t.co/0Q6u1WAwyr

4. Sharing images of faces protestors puts them at risk of retaliation by the police - share images responsibility and blur faces or distinguishable features

5. Police brutality is a global issue
Being from the UK or elsewhere in the west does not mean you have somehow escaped racism or being complicit in white supremacy. Stephen Lawrence (1993), Mark Duggan (2011), Sarah Reed (2016), Desmond Ziggy Mombeyarara (2020) were all victims of UK police brutality and institutional racism in the police force.

The 1999 MacPherson Report concluded that the Met Police was institutionally racist which led to the mishandling of Stephen Lawrence’s case. The police uphold white supremacy.

Our short attention spans often mean we continuously forget. Some of us don’t have that luxury.

Say their names. Say all of their names.

James Baldwin: How Much Time Do You Want For Your "Progress?" From the 1989 American Masters documentary, "James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket."

Do you have a business idea that is socially impactful? Then come along to *PitchStart with iE5!*, the conference dedicated to facilitating, promoting and showcasing BAME student entrepreneurship.

The IFES are hosting a start-up workshop where students and aspiring entrepreneurs from minority backgrounds can present their idea to a panel of investors, to receive advice on how to develop their business idea into a successful commercial venture! Tickets are FREE

Think you have a business idea? Share it, or even better, pitch your idea to our panel! Our experienced panel of experts will discuss your idea and help set you on the path to transforming your vision into a reality. Remember, ideas are worthless without knowing how to execute them. The panel may choose at its discretion to mentor select individuals who demonstrate exceptional promise.

Pitch practice makes pitch perfect, so make it count!

Full details here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/609679279825127/

For your idea to be considered, it must be submitted using the google form below:

https://bit.ly/2HpLRbw

🗣️‼️ UCL Town Hall: Eugenics Inquiry 🗣️‼️

This Friday 28 February, 4pm-6pm, Cruciform Lecture Theatre 1.

UCL will be holding a Town Hall - open to all - to relay the findings and recommendations of the Eugenics Inquiry, an investigation into the past and present of teaching and research into eugenics at UCL. There will be a presentation followed by audience Q&A.

The Inquiry has been led by an independent Chair, Professor Iyiola Solanke of the University of Leeds. Members of the Inquiry include prominent UCL academics as well as professional services and equality representatives from UCL and the Students’ Union.

It's crucial that we have as many BME students there as possible. The culmination of this Inquiry must be heard by all, and scrutinised by the marginalised students and staff it most closely affects.

💥💥💥 Tell a friend to tell a friend. Cop your (free) tickets and come through 💥💥💥

The event will also be filmed and live streamed.

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ucl-town-hall-eugenics-inquiry-tickets-89997931235

UCL Town Hall: Eugenics Inquiry UCL Town Hall: Eugenics Inquiry Friday 28 February 2020 4pm-6pm Cruciform Lecture Theatre 1 UCL has held an Inquiry into the past and present of teaching and research into eugenics at UCL. The Inquiry has been led by an independent Chair, Professor Iyiola Solanke of the University of Leeds. Members....

Make sure you come to the Untold Black history event this Thursday where we’ll be covering topics such as black resistance to black British racism and challenging how we view the slavery narrative from our speakers Adam-Elliot Cooper and Paul Crooks. Come along and get clued up about our past!! Register your interest and find out some more here:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/untold-black-history-our-present-and-future-panel-tickets-96303972775?utm_term=eventurl_text

Join the Student Sustainability Council. It is very important for us to make this as inclusive as possible. Apply now:

The Sustainability Student Council Application Form 🌿 The Student Sustainability Council is a body set up by Sustainable UCL and the Students Union that aims to provide feedback on the direction of sustainability across UCL and the Student Union. Membership is open to all students across the institution. The successful candidates will have to meet thre...

THE CORONAVIRUS ISN'T AN EXCUSE FOR RACISM!

Since (mis)information about this virus has been circulating, it has become a toxic breeding ground for some of the most gross forms of scaremongering, racism abuse and discrimination. This disgusting and unacceptable.

The BME Network stand in solidarity will all the student affected. And as BME Officer, I will do everything I can do to defend Asian students.

For help, you can reach out to:
∙ UCL Student Support and Wellbeing - https://bit.ly/2OVan8D
∙ The Union Advice Service - http://uclu.org/advice
∙ The BME Officer (Sandy) - [email protected]

To report and incident on or off campus, you can use:
∙ Report + Support - https://report-support.ucl.ac.uk

Excluding people won't cure the virus, bolstering our borders won't cure the virus. Only collaboration and helping the most vulnerable will be effective.

If you see anyone experiencing racist violence and abuse - be an ACTIVE BYSTANDER. You can request trainings from the SU.
Remember the 4 D's / options for intervention:
∙ DIRECT INTERVENTION, DELEGATE, DELAY, DISTRACT

Help and Advice | Students' Union UCL We can all make a change. Together, we’re a union that can work to make things better, on campus and beyond. UCL is yours, so it should be what you want it to be. We’re led by students. That means you’re in charge.