Stop Hate Now!

Over the period of the referendum, there has been an increasing tide of racism and unashamed refugee and immigrant blaming.  This would not have happened without the referendum. It’s been open season for any idiot to come out with the schrodinger’s refugee who both stole jobs and claimed benefits.

The BBC have run programmes focussing on how some migrants are working for lower than the minimum wage. When people have highlighted the illegality of the people employing them and their blatant flaunting of the law or the links with human trafficking. The torrent of abuse has been relentless. They include calls for my own deportation. Not sure where to, since I was born in the town I live in.

The local press have run stories of European migrants paying thousands of pounds for advice that they could have got for free, only to have a stream of comments from people saying that they should not be entitled anything and the should simply go back.

When I joined other local people to protest about chief xenophobe and hypocrite Nigel Farage coming to the town I live in, the town I was born and brought up in, I again faced abuse from those from the left, the right and people who badged themselves as coming from faith communities because this was challenging mainstream politics. Friends of mine have had their houses attacked for standing up for the their town not to be invaded by one more racist that wants to halt immigration but also wants the freedom to employ immigrants when he chooses to. Despite my taking this action on my own time, UKIP continue to want to bring my employers into this. That’s nothing new since they distributed leaflets to EVERY household in Kettering where they were standing citing the fact that the council gave money for a discrimination service (my employers) as a waste of council resources.

When talking about the level of racism in the country at the moment, a colleague said that the genie was out of the bottle and it wasn’t easy to put it back.

With the news of Jo Cox’s death, it’s time to say enough is enough and the hate must stop. Regardless of the actual motives of the perpetrator, she died because she stood up for what she believed in and the included challenging hate. The hate has to stop right here, right now.

Mike Prescod ... The Peoples Man

On Monday Mike Prescod died. Since then we have all been trying to come to terms with it. Mike had an immense influence on the Northamptonshire Voluntary and community Sector and local Northamptonshire politics. His contribution to public life included being the first Black mayor of Wellingborough, being the first Black chair of Northamptonshire Probation Service, but much, much more than that he supported and mentored so many of us into the work and activism that we do now.

My friend Roopa said looking back at the years she spent in the area,

"Mike's presence was there, guiding us, teaching us, watching over us and giving us a kick up the backside if it was ever needed! WE are Mike's legacy. We'll carry on fighting the cause, often with our backs against the wall but always strong together. Mike made sure of that. He WILL rest in peace as he's done his bit and it's time for us to carry on with him always in our hearts."

So what did this man from Barbados have that enabled him to command respect from such a wide variety of people across his adopted town and county? Mike was passionate about people, was straight talking and it was these qualities that won him friends where ever he went. He knew a lot from just immersing himself in the community events and activities in Wellingborough and across the County.

Condolences to Mikes's wife and family. Mike Prescod, Rest in Peace.

For those who would like to attend his funeral, it will be Friday 5th March at 1pm at the United Reformed Church on the High Street in Wellingborough.

Mervyn Felix - Not Forgotten part 3

So Mervyn's funeral came and went. In true tradition of direct action, the trinity of the Council, the undertakers and the appointed vicar did not succeed in ensuring that there was no embelishment to the funeral. Julia Bush was allowed to pay tribute to his life in her synopsis of the interview that she undertook about his life. I was not prevented from handing out an order of service sheet and the local conservatives (bless 'em) did put on his wake.

Those who attended included those from the NREC Board, contacts and associates from the local Black community, the Conservative association the Labour party and at least one of his neighbours.

I was anxious about it all partly due the that last minuteness of the preparation and the need to muscle in the things that Mervyn would have wanted. Also, this was the first funeral I had been involved in planning since my parents. The only downside really was the multiple occasions before and after the event that the right hon member for Northampton South chose to indulge in lip action about my person. Well - maybe Mervyn was worth it.

Mervyn Felix - Not Forgotten part 2

It does seem that there there isn't any family for Mervyn to be there or make the arrangements for his funeral. So being consigned to a local authority funeral, people who were closer to him are finding it hard to make the funeral something that he would have wanted. The relationships between local council, funeral director and appointed vicar seem inpenetrable.

In some ways Mervyn was indicative of political circles in Northampton - drifting from Party to party as first he displayed passion for his cause and then disillusionment when political breakthroughs seemed unattainable. The only consistency was his committment to anti-racist activity. In some ways, it's a reflection on the kind of animal that local politics attracts. In some ways its a reflection on how hard it is for people who are not really part of the popular crowd.

The funeral is at 11am on Christmas Eve at the Counties Crematorium.

local conservative deaths

Liz Taverner's death on Friday was a shock. It just really seemed that she would always be here. I visited about four weeks ago just to see her as full of the zest of life as any other person. Talking to people close to the family, it seems like Lizzie passed away as peacefully as possible. She was always, always kind to me and I will always remember that.

Mervyn died alone as a strong supporter of the conservative party. Working on trying to find his next of kin, I've learnt a lot about him that I didn't know. He did talk to a local racial equality officer about having children but it does seem from community and police contacts that they do not exist or do not want to be contacted. At this stage at least I know that his mother and cousin at least know that he is dead.

This is all the more important to me having attended Caanan Mutemasango's memorial service (canaan of course a socialist spending time in the Labour Party and more recently the independent socialist group) this weekend at which his daughter was only lately informed of his death. I do feel that if there is even one action that can help that not happening to someone else then all of us of us need to be doing that.

I've been doing some research in finding out about Mervyn. He was in the army, where he was injured which resulted in his limp that all of us in recent years knew as a distinguishing feature.

In trying to track his family down I called contacts in Peterborough. Even there the details of contacts drew a blank. One member of the local community said, "There were a lot of people who were impressed and supportive of Mervyn for his ability to speak out for local people. However, his general position that 'Margaret Thatcher could do no wrong',did lose him a lot of support in the community".

Maybe Mervyn had just not found his time. Hopefully Mervyn will now find his friends who want to be involved in his death. Not easy for the best of us, but still has to be done.