Different boats, same storm

Last year, I was honoured to be selected by the Runnymede Trust to join a project working on Reframing Race. It has been a humbling experience to be part of a team working to create narratives to change the conversation about race. If you believe, as I do, that racism is a construct, then it must follow that it can be dismantled. This week we gathered via Zoom and had an interesting discussion about some of the media’s depiction of susceptibility to Covid19, where some lives are framed as more expendable than others. This Forbes article from Stephen Frost explores this too.

As Helen Barnard of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation stated this week in response to the ONS figures show rates of Coronavirus deaths are higher in certain occupations, “although we are all weathering the same storm, we are not all in the same boat.”

I’ve been supporting Malcolm John’s campaign for Action on Trustee Racial Diversity. Malcolm has recently joined the Board of the Association of Chairs. He's campaigning for all boards to recruit at least 2 trustees from BAME backgrounds. Racial diversity at the decision making levels of charities is even more relevant in light of the impact of COVID 19 on BAME communities.

Part of my ward councillor work in Stockwell is to ensure that we put the mechanisms in place to sustainably support our most vulnerable residents into the future, beyond the current crisis. I’m working with a group of GP practices, residents and community groups. Connection and trust are key to this work. Here’s a piece by Alex Smith looking at these themes.

This article also caught my eye this week: We can't hide behind the bunting – let's face up to what's happened to Britain

What am I reading?

I haven’t even finished last Saturday’s paper. It’s been a bit busy!

What am I listening to?

Etta James “You Got It”. Come on, dare you not to move to this one!

I also loved this Lianne La Havas at home concert. We went to see her at the Brixton Academy a few years ago surrounded by rude fools chatting away all around us. I love live music but maybe this is better? Who knows how we’ll get to enjoy live music in future?

Joy-giving things

I spotted swifts flying high in the sky over Stockwell this week.

As ever, I hope you all have a good weekend.