My
@TEDxFrensham
talk is now available to watch. I hope you find it useful.
Cultural Sensitivity, Young People and Therapy | Ben Lindsay | TEDxFrensham
You know what’s mad? That after the Stephen Lawrence murder me and my Black friends from that generation still text that we got in safely after a night out. Big man like us in our 40s still haunted/traumatised and making sure we’re all safe back home from a murder from 1993. 🤯💔
To those who need to hear this:
The vast majority of Black youth do not carry knives.
The vast majority of Black children are not in gangs.
The vast majority of Black children are not a threat.
If you believe the opposite you’re the problem.
Well done
@BBCNews
for highlighting the experience of Gabriel who had an horrific journey getting to the Polish boarder. He had to walk 12 hours after not being allowed on a train. There is racial discrimination in this war whether people want to acknowledge it or not.
In the past five years, the Metropolitan Police alone have strip searched an average of five children every day. 35 of those searches happened to children under the age of 12.
#ChildQ
The framing of knife crime as being a Black issue is such a lazy, ill informed and dangerous narrative. The two highest areas of knife crime in the UK are 1. West Midlands (77% white and 13.3% Asian people) and 2. Cleveland (98% white and 2% non white). Stop racially profiling us
*Sigh* Here we go again. We’re talking about a very specific issue in Liverpool and yet the conversation shifts to this being a black issue in London. Shouts to
@TVMarv
for letting him know. I can’t even be bothered to unpack this. So I’ll leave you with the words of
@akalamusic
Been off social media for 48 hours and thank God. Missed a chance to go on breakfast TV to talk about Will Smith. Just to be clear, I don’t care about this situation. Will, Jada and Chris will stay rich. You lot have put more energy into this than Child Q. Priorities.
I’m delighted to receive an OBE as a public recognition of my work. It’s an honour to be CEO of
@PowerTheFightUK
working with such a brilliant team. I dedicate this honour to all those building peaceful communities and to the young people working to build more hopeful futures.❤️
“Stop I’m a child.” PC Kevin Rawley is the police officer. We do not know what occurred before or after this clip was taken but unnecessary force was being used on a minor. The kid is handcuffed. Was it necessary to hit him with a baton? We have to call this out again and again.
Every Black family does not speculate how dark a baby’s skin colour is going to be. This is not something I’ve seen in my family or my friend’s families. Most decent people are hoping the 👶🏾 is healthy. I have no idea where he is getting his info from. A very dangerous narrative
"Meghan Markle had to learn how to be black on the job."
Broadcaster Sir Trevor Phillips says "race was never really part" of the Duchess's background.
@TrevorPTweets
|
@piersmorgan
|
@TalkTV
|
#PMU
No Black person from SE London who grew up in the 90s has forgotten about Roland or Rohit. A crazy and dangerous time to grow up as a Black person. Stephen was the tipping point but not the first.
15-year-old Rolan Adams was slaughtered by a gang of racists in Thamesmede, South London, in 1991. The BNP called a national 'white heroes march' to celebrate Rolan's racist killers. Stephen Lawrence attended the counter-demo. We may have forgotten Rolan, but Stephen never did.
I don’t know who needs to hear this but to be clear - white people do not know more about racism than black and brown people.
Equally men don’t get to question stories of the dangers of walking home as a girl or woman.
Fall back. Listen. Learn. Show empathy, show compassion.
As always, fascinating to see the silence of UK church leaders in calling out the racism and Islamophobia sweeping the streets of the UK. 2020 seems a longtime ago with all that performative allyship and tears.
Sick and tired of this madness. Our children, our community, our parents burying our kids. It’s not enough to post, it’s not enough to protest, it’s not enough to go on TV, it’s not enough to just pray. We need a movement to bring systemic change and hope.
The framing of knife crime as being a Black issue is such a lazy, ill informed and dangerous narrative. The two highest areas of knife crime in the UK are 1. West Midlands (77% white and 13.3% Asian people) and 2. Cleveland (98% white and 2% non white). Stop racially profiling us
Black people either being seen as subhuman (worthless) or superhuman (can absorb more physical pain more than white people and therefore seen as more threatening or needing less support in times of crisis) is the biggest paradox I’ve come across.
I hope every right wing newspaper thinks twice before crucifying the three black players who missed. Don’t be predictable. Lift them up. Don’t tear them down. The young boys did well to get us to the final. The future is very bright. Well done
@England
The most impactful event of my teenage years. When people ask why we fight so hard against racism it’s because of and for Stephen.
Never forget. Never give up.
#StephenLawrenceDay
@sldayfdn
Clive Driscoll, the officer who convicted two of Stephen's killers, said Cressida Dick suggested in 2012 he should not bother going after the other suspects, even though the trial judge had urged police to pursue them.
If I speak…
The filmed assault on the Black woman in Peckham in an Asian owned hair shop is disturbing but unfortunately not a shock. Those shops have treated Black customers with distain for decades which is ironic as Black people - particularly Black women - are the target customers.
In a week when one young person was buried and another teenager was killed in SE London, I think we can do better than this.
#ThingsMorePressingThanBrexit
BIG NEWS! 🎉 We are so excited to be one of three organisations, chosen to work with
@mission44
as part of their Inclusive Education Programme.
To read more about this click here 👉
Thanks for all of the love regarding the OBE. Overwhelmed with the ❤️ and messages. Happy New Year to one and all. Blessings upon blessings for 2023
Benjamin Lindsay OBE 😜
Just catching up with the
@CharleneWhite
Empire’s Child Doc. Wonderful to see my Great Uncle Albert Johnson featured. Alongside my grandma they opened up their homes and managed the pardna so many from the Caribbean could eventually buy homes. Proud to be part of their legacy 🇯🇲
A year ago today
#WeNeedToTalkAboutRace
was released. Celebrating it’s 1st Anniversary and being number 1 for a second week in a row on
@Nielsenbook
top 50 Religious Books 🤯 Thanking God for this opportunity and thanks to all who have purchased and supported the book. Cake time!
And in a way, Rashford is the populist right’s worst nightmare: a young, black, working-class campaigner who bases his appeal not on culture war or tribal loyalty or fiery invective, but on unity, consensus, the common ground. 🙌🏾
You again. This will be my last interaction with you as you’re clearly a dangerous individual with a mindset that can only be best described as anti Black. I’ll leave you with words I often draw upon when I encounter people of your disposition. Laters. Over to you
@akalamusic
:
@BCWLindsay
This brutality will not stop until Black people decide it needs to stop. To simply blame society is far too simplistic & takes away responsibility from communities. If we want to solve this we must look at the core of this issue which is the breakdown of the black family.
The fact that only the Independent ran a front page about
#RichardOkorogheye
body being found tells you all you need to know about how black people are perceived by the British media. Yet there’s no institutional racism, right?
#sewellreport
Tonight was a madness.
@powerthefightuk
won charity of the year for the charity times awards and I’m apparently social media leader of the year. Man feels like Ancelotti in 2010 winning the double. We give thanks 🙏🏾
What a heavy weekend. Praying for all the families, communities, emergency services and youth workers who have engaged or will be engaging with this heartbreaking loss of life. We need to do better. We need more investment and support. We need resources to scale for more impact.
@samhailes
Sam, historically Notting hill carnival gets profiled/highlighted for crime in a way those other (predominantly white) gatherings/festivals don’t.
I love being Black. I love being a Christian but being a Black Christian can be exhausting. Praying for strength and zeal for the week ahead for anyone in the same space. ❤️🙏🏾✊🏾
Not a surprise. Remembering being told at 9 at primary school by the white swimming instructor that because I’m Black my bones are to heavy to learn how to swim.
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”
RIP Archbishop Desmond Tutu
I get it, you’ve woken up to racism. I’m pleased for you but please stop hunting me and my friends down for a comment, podcast, interview, quote, picking of our brains, a quick chat etc. We have full time jobs. We’re tired and are still processing recent events ourselves. Peace.
All data shows strip searches are used against Black children more often than any other group. Assumptions that Black children are more mature or adult than other children can drive these practices, as can racist excuses for searches such as a ‘smell of cannabis’.
#ChildQ
It’s sad that people still think the only weapon we have (pun intended) to fight violence affecting young people is stop & search. No talk about investing in youth services, addressing poor mental health, closing the poverty gap, reducing school exclusion. Just good ol S&S. Wow.
Tears. Just witnessed 3 young black men and women host, lead worship and preach on the main stage at
@newdayevent
2019. No tokenism. Pure excellence. Have prayed for 10 years for nights like this. Joy in my heart. Praise the Lord. Well done
@lifeinplaylists
and
@TJonBASS
.
Remembering Stephen Lawrence on the 30th anniversary of his murder. A defining moment for me personally and for the UK. God bless the Lawrence family. Lord grant them peace, justice, comfort and love today & always.
#StephenLawrence30
Me to my two year old : How do you feel this morning?
My two year old: Happy.
Me: Why are you happy?
My two year old: You make me happy.
Yep, today will be a good day ❤️
Happy Friday!
I’ve have had to be ruthless with people, media and church leaders who want to debate racism. Nope. We’ve gone past that conversation. Action over words. Solutions over noise.
Proud dad post. 2 of my kids were voted to the school council for their respective year groups yesterday. Both took a different approach. Eldest took to iMovie to create a campaign video. Number 2 wrote and delivered a powerful speech. Different personalities, same outcome. ❤️😊
Andrew Edwards said: "I think all white men should have a black man as a slave or black woman as a slave, you know.
"There's nothing wrong with skin colour, it's just that they're lower class than us white people."
He has NOT been suspended by his party
But no one wants to talk about why protesting for
#climatechange
only suits a certain demographic. Sorry but I can’t negotiate the terms of my arrest like some people. This protest is more risky for black people. Until we have this conversation a lot of black people won’t engage.
Love this. We all feel like Clinton Morrison. Big up Darren Moore. Listen, if a top flight manager orchestrated a comeback of that magnitude we would never ever hear the end of it. Give Darren his 💐💐💐💐💐
Last night at a Black History Month event for a corporate bank, I met a young man I mentored when he was in primary school. He had his issues but went uni and is now doing well for himself. I had not seen him in 16 years. He said I changed his life. Emotional. Humbled. Joyful. ❤️
Thanks to the security guard at Blackheath
@marksandspencer
who followed me around the store resulting in my 3 year old saying “Look it’s the Police. Do they think we’re bad guys?”
Nice one.
After 12 years of being one of the pastors/leaders/elders of Emmanuel Church London I’m moving on to focus on
@PowerTheFightUK
a charity I launched in 2019. It’s been an incredible adventure and I’m so thankful to God to have been able to serve the local community in this way. ❤️
#Lewisham
Met Police say a 15-year-old boy has been charged with the murder of 16-year-old Teon Campbell-Pitter (pictured).
Teon was stabbed to death outside the Moonshot Centre on Angus Street,
#NewCross
, SE14, on Wednesday 13 April.
Unpopular opinion: We do not need more youth clubs. We need more initiatives that bring youth services to where young people reside. In this day and age a young person isn’t risking their safety going from 1 side of a borough to another to play pool. The danger is in the travel.
While everyone is being distracted by Dominic Cummings, black and brown people are STILL disproportionately dying from COVID-19 and black and brown people are STILL being killed by the police. Would be nice to see the same energy given to DC also given to everyday racism. Peace
All of this leaves Black children suffering criminalisation, punishment and violence rather than the safety, healing and protection they need and are entitled to. The trauma and violence police enact through strip search severely impacts Black youth at a terrifying scale.
#ChildQ
Christians criticising the
#BlackLivesMatter
movement would do well to remember the story of the Good Samaritan, which among other things is a warning against church apathy. If God’s church will not “seek justice, correct oppression”(Isaiah 1:17) God will raise others that will.
One of the most powerful quotes from last night’s webinar We Need To Talk About Race: How Should White Majority/White Led Churches Respond to the Disproportionate Impact COVID-19 has had on Ethnic Minorities? from Dr Elizabeth Henry🔥
Watch in full here:
Spent the afternoon with a family who recently lost their son/brother/cousin to knife crime. 💔 situation. We’ve just hit 28 YP murdered in the capital. These YP are not just statistics. They had their whole life ahead. Families and communities shattered. We must and can do more.
Gareth Southgate’s in game management and player management has been superb during this tournament. Anyone wanting to understand what cultural competency is - study this man. His ability to read the room, back his players, speak on justice and block out the noise is incredible.
Reports like this make me angry as they ignore austerity, police cuts, poverty, race discrimination, sky high exclusions and more. We can’t just blame individuals. What about the systems?
Knife offenders lack male role models, says senior police officer
Nothing to see here, just two of the youngest Black Professors in the UK - Prof.
@carlenefirmin
and Prof.
@jason_arday
- having lunch with little old me.
Incoming…
Let’s be real, there is no money to build or reopen youth centres but imagine if every church, every place of worship became a youth club in the holiday period. Trained members of the community serving young people. Let’s think differently.
#powerthefight
#churchestoyouthcentres
Obviously it would be nice for England to win but hearing my 7 year old daughter say I want to play for England when I’m older is the real win.
#Lionesses
I’m not going to RT the video I’ve just seen of a Black school boy being racially assaulted as it’s to distressing but it takes me back to time which I thought had long gone. I hope and pray the perpetrators have been caught and the young boy is getting the support needed. 😡😡😡
I became a Christian at a time where white male American Evangelical Megachurch leaders were held up as kings. To see these same leaders fall gives me no pleasure. Respect to the pastors with small congregations who focuses on Kingdom over Empire building. You’re appreciated ❤️🙏🏾
“We must remember that Hitler didn’t last, nor Stalin; imperial colonies disappeared and the Iron Curtain fell. Essentially, humanity will always stumble towards the light.”
Harry Leslie Smith, Don’t Let My Past Be Your Future
These statistics make me sick.
The equivalent of 30 per cent of all young black males in the capital were stopped between March and May.
More than 80 per cent of the 21,950 searches resulted in no further action.
First time I saw
@GuvnaB
perform was at
@FairfieldHalls
in 2009. People forget that Guvvy has been rapping about Jesus from day. Maybe Kingdom Skank gave Stormzy confidence for Blinded By Your Grace? Either way, give my man his flowers. Forever proud bro. ❤️
I’m clocking off for a month. It’s been an emotional and exhausting few months. Time for some rest and family time. Please keep supporting
@powerthefightuk
. We’ve got some big things dropping in September
Stay encouraged
Stay safe
#PowerTheFight
❤️✊🏾🙏🏾
What a mighty man of God we have just lost. The modern day CS Lewis. His writing and preaching has shaped my theology for the past 20 years. Rest well
@timkellernyc
and 'Well done, good and faithful servant’
Someone once said to me where do you think all the BNP, NF and EDL members went? What do you think they do for their day jobs? The reality is they are teachers, police officers, doctors, magistrates and more. Very scary.
“It is young black men who are dying and by the way it is young black men who are doing the killing”
This is a dangerous narrative without context and without exploring other factors contributing to the problem. LDN is not the rest of the UK. This is not simply a black issue.
“It is young black men who are dying and by the way it is young black me who are doing the killing”
@TrevorPTweets
says to tackle knife crime we must help young people in these communities, rather than arguing about spending on police
#bbcqt
So proud of this young man. Joshua Adeyemi attended a state school in Elephant and Castle before he earned a place at
@Eton_College
on a full scholarship. He has just graduated from
@Cambridge_Uni
. Josh has also been on the
@PowerTheFightUK
advisory board since it’s inception 💪🏾
I shouldn’t have to be talking to my 9 year old son about the adultfication of Black boys from white men but here we are. The fine line between protecting his innocence and preparing him for the world. Exhausting.
My son’s year 4 class had to work together to create a poem for
#BlackHistoryMonth
This is what they came up with. My son was responsible for the first paragraph and part of the last. I’m very impressed and very proud ✊🏾
This weekend
@carlenefirmin
and I are a hosting a 3 day retreat on Protecting Young Black Lives, Celebrating Black Professionals. We have 50 Black people from various sectors attending. After the events of this week the timing to gather, connect, learn and heal couldn’t be better