Zimbabwean & British 🇿🇼 🇬🇧 Community Reporter
@DailyMirror
| Award Winning Journo ✍🏾 The Thread Newsletter & Podcast - Subscribe👇🏾Justice for Grenfell💚
Morning guys, if you’re on TikTok do give me a follow on there. It seems to be a lot better moderated than here where it just isn’t a safe environment for anyone let alone journalists like me just trying to do their jobs.
My username is melissa.sigodo
Hope to see you there!
Romeo & Juliet actor Francesca Amewudah-Rivers says she ‘didn’t feel safe at work’ after receiving death threats & hate mail after being cast in the West End play. The star is now calling for industry-wide action to protect Black & Brown actors
A mother goes to the GP worried about son’s birthmark known as blue spot which is common among BAME
She gets referred to hospital where staff call police & she is arrested
Dermatologist confirms it’s a birthmark not bruises
NHS says ‘sorry’ & ‘protocols have to be followed’
A breastfeeding mum was separated from her 6mo baby & locked in a cell for 20 hrs after staff at Basingstoke & North Hampshire Hospital had her arrested on suspicion of child neglect after mistaking her son's ‘blue spot’ birthmarks for bruises. Devastating
I can’t stop thinking about the mum who’s carried a total of 3 children by the same man, given birth & felt that every time she’s had no choice but to abandon them in different parks over the last 8 years.
Tragic. Just tragic.
This week marks 3 years since Sabina Nessa was murdered on her way to meet a friend at a bar in Kidbrooke, south-east London.
May she rest in peace. 🙏🏾
A heroic man, Folajimi ‘Jimi’ Olubumni-Adewole who died trying to rescue a woman drowning in the Thames in 2021, has now had a set of council homes named after him. RIP 🙏🏾
Today marks 3 years since Folajimi ‘Jimi’ Olubunmi-Adewole, 20, died after heroically jumping into the river Thames to save a woman from drowning in what was described as a ‘sheer act of bravery.’
Rest in peace Folajimi Olubunmi-Adewole 🙏🏾🕊️
The family of a 14-yr/old schoolgirl whose hair was ripped out ‘by 4 boys’ says that staff were ‘negligent.’The boys who had previously been involved in sending racist death & rape threats continued to attend class while the girl was put in isolation.
A heroic man, Joel Verite, 25, tackled the knifeman who stabbed children at a dance class in Southport. The former rugby player for Salford & Wigan bravely jumped on the killer before carrying the girls who had been stabbed.
8yo Mustafa Ahmed was killed by Nicholas Hopkins, 20, who drove his bike into the boy as he crossed the road with his dad & 10yo brother. The dad was placed in an induced coma & did not remember that he had a son who had died when he woke. Heartbreaking. Rest in peace Mustafa🙏🏾
In case you didn’t hear, Green Party councillor, Mothin Ali heroically stepped in to extinguish fires & stop the disorder in Leeds last night. I think that’s the definition of serving the community.
👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
TW: Labour candidate Jovan Owusu-Nepaul says Reform UK supporters ‘spat at him’, tore up his leaflets & ‘interrogated’ where he was ‘really from’ during his campaign in Clacton, Essex, which left him fearing for the safety of those around him.
Nearly 900 Black actors have signed a letter following the racism aimed at Romeo & Juliet actress Francesca Amewudah-Rivers saying, ‘Reporting [racism] is too often left on the shoulders of the abused, who are also then expected to promote said show.’
A 54yo woman diagnosed with uterine & cervical cancer which forced her to have a hysterectomy has been selected to represent Great Britain in the World Powerlifting Championships. Elaine Jackson from Camberwell Green, London, says she hopes to inspire more women into sport 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
A man in distress died when he ‘became unwell’ and struggled to breathe after being restrained by police in Hertfordshire.
The comments on this tragic incident all indicate 1 thing. The Black community is tired. Myself and
@mikewhoatv
will host this Space
TW: A Black woman suffering a miscarriage was told by a midwife ‘you people have a high pain threshold’ after asking for paracetamol. Baby charity Sands says there is a “well-documented problem of systematic racism” in maternity & neonatal care
A breastfeeding mum was separated from her 6mo baby & locked in a cell for 20 hrs after staff at Basingstoke & North Hampshire Hospital had her arrested on suspicion of child neglect after mistaking her son's ‘blue spot’ birthmarks for bruises. Devastating
A ‘local legend’ Nelson Shardey who was refused the right to remain in the UK despite living here for 46 years, doing jury duty & being awarded for bravery, can now stay for good, the Home Office has decided. 🙏🏾
A ‘local legend’ has been refused the right to remain in the UK by the Home Office despite living here for 46 yrs, doing jury duty & being awarded for bravery. Nelson Shardey, 74, who is recovering from prostate cancer, now faces paying to use the NHS.
A Palestinian refugee ‘immensely proud’ to have been awarded a full scholarship to study at the London School of Economics says she has been denied a visa from the Home Office on grounds it ‘would harm the public interest", without giving any other reasons
A woman has been fighting to get footage of her time in a Greater Manchester Police cell after she was told by doctors she had suffered sexual injuries. She believes she was drugged & raped by officers. A year since this story came out, still no footage
UPDATE: The baby found in Newham at the beginning of the year is the sibling of 2 babies who were also found in East London. A boy found in Plaistow Park in 2017 and a girl found at Roman Road playing fields in 2019. Such a tragic situation.
A newborn baby girl less than an hour old who is understood to be black or mixed race was found in shopping bag in Newham, London. I hope the mother can be found safely. God knows what terrible circumstances lead to this situation.
Over £60,000 has been raised for a carer who finished a 12hr shift to find his car had been flipped & burned during riots in Middlesborough on Sunday. Brendan Nwabichie, 33, said he had been saving for 12 months to buy the vehicle
An NHS nurse’s 4yr-old child has been barred from joining her in the UK from Zimbabwe after the Home Office rejected her application on the grounds that there were no ‘compelling reasons’ for the kid to be with her mother.
A 31yo Black woman & her 18 week baby died as a result of what a maternity report called ‘cultural bias’ at Liverpool Hospital. Staff failed to address the pain she was in earlier and medical notes stated she was being ‘difficult’.
A little 5-year-old girl called Elizabeth Ogungbayibi went missing in 2006 from Bradford. We never hear much about her case. Some might even be learning her name for the first time. Things need to change.
Samaria Ayanle, 19, a student at SOAS was found dead in the River Thames after going missing. A GoFundMe has now been launched by her friends to help her family with the ‘unexpected funeral expenses’ & to support them during this time. RIP Samaria 🙏🏾
A woman who was abandoned as a baby with her umbilical cord still attached outside a block of flats in Plumstead, south-east London is campaigning to introduce baby boxes in the UK. Incredible initiative and story 👏🏾
UPDATE: Concerns about the deaths of Oladeji Omishore & Chris Kaba have now been submitted to the UN for its global investigation into police brutality.
A Black man is held down by police & begs not to be killed saying, ‘I can’t breathe.’
Police do not stop & end up killing him but no officer is even suspended or arrested.
The Black man’s life is not valued.
RIP Kenneth Knotts. RIP George Floyd.
UPDATE: Kimberley pictured below has now been found 🙏🏾 She had been missing since November 19. Thank you so much for helping find her. Hopefully the other three ladies can be found as well.
A 15yo girl died after driving a faulty go-kart which led to her being strangled by her clothing. Capital Karts also failed to do pre-safety checks & have been ordered to pay £120,000. They now operate as Capital Karts London Limited. Tragic. RIP Ruwaida 🙏🏾
Diane Abbott speaking outside Hackney Town Hall says, ‘I’m very moved by your support, thank you for your support and it will help me to go forward’ 🥹🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾
A former Olympic sprinter once described as the ‘fastest woman in Africa’ who then became an NHS nurse, will retire at the end of this month after 49 years of service. Rose Amankwaah represented Ghana at the Olympics & the Commonwealth Games. Incredible👏🏾
UPDATE: A Muslim student who made a ‘modest request’ for permission to pray for 5 mins at lunch times has lost a High Court challenge against her London school’s ban on prayer rituals
A Muslim student has taken her school to court over their policy to ‘ban prayer rituals’ which was introduced by Katharine Birbalsingh who is often described as ‘Britain’s strictest headteacher’.
A 22yo disabled man suffering sickle cell complications died after Royal Hallamshire Hospital failed to check his vital signs for more than 12 hours. Darnell Smith was non-verbal w/ cerebral palsy & completely depended on others for his needs. Devastating
Experts in race & racism from UK & US universities have written a letter calling for the charges against Marieha Hussain to be dropped stating that they ‘reject the notion that terms like ‘coconut’ can be compared to racial slurs’ 🧵
Steven Quinn was released from Brixton prison today as part of the government's early release scheme to free up space in UK jails. In total, he says he's spent 27 years of his life in the prison system and he has little hope that he will be able to stay out again this time.
A Palestinian father’s visa request for his 2 sick children to join him in the UK has been rejected after the Home Office said that they need to provide fingerprints as biometrics despite there being no working visa application centres in Gaza.
Labour candidate Jovan Owusu-Nepaul, was left ‘broken’ & ‘in tears’ after Labour HQ ‘intimidated him, ringing his phone repeatedly’ saying he should ‘leave [Clacton] & never come back’, a member of his campaign team has said 🥲
72 people died because of greed, dishonesty & indifference.
7 years later, not 1 single person has been charged with causing their deaths.
We cannot forget them.
The family of 12yo girl who had sickle cell & died from a stroke after Manchester Children's Hospital delayed giving her a scan for 3-days have been told by a coroner that the failings only ‘minimally contributed to her death.’ No words. RIP Victoria🙏🏾
Grenfell residents were charged £618.09 by Kensington and Chelsea Council for the cleaning of a memorial to those who died in the fire which killed 72 people. Leaseholders discovered the fees after requesting to see their service charge invoices. Sickening
As we hear that Sangita Myska has now been replaced by Vanessa Feltz, I just wanted to share her best moments and why it doesn’t make sense that a journalist of this calibre won’t be returning. Any station would be fortunate to have her. Here’s why🧵
Mizzy pranks people and is jailed for 18 weeks but when 13yr-old Christopher Kapessa dies after deliberately being pushed into a river as a 'prank' the CPS dismisses it saying it’s not in the public interest and doesn’t bring any criminal charges. We need answers.
Daniel Anjorin, 14, died in hospital after being stabbed in Hainault. Please keep Mrs Anjorin, her husband and their other children in your prayers. RIP little one. 🙏🏾
An orphaned student is being forced to pay £18,000 in backdated rent charges on her dead mother’s 4-bed home by Clarion Housing Group. Chantelle whose parents died weeks apart is being held liable even though she lives in student accommodation elsewhere.
Hundreds of tributes were paid to 14yo Daniel Anjorin who was killed on Tuesday after being stabbed in northeast London. People attended a vigil held in his memory where rows of flowers & Arsenal shirts were laid. RIP Daniel. 🕊️
A domestic abuse charity set up by a mum whose 19yo daughter was killed by her ex-bf has been forced to give up its space after struggling to meet rents in Croydon which has London’s highest domestic violence cases. Wish someone could help Cassandra Centre
Ebenezer, 20, has been missing for over 2 weeks since April 1st
He is 6ft 1in tall, slim build & was last seen wearing a white long-sleeved shirt, brown jacket, black trousers & smart black shoes.
Please help locate this young man from Walsgrave, Coventry.
A terminally ill 13yo cannot ‘enjoy his final days’ after his modified van was stolen from Hackney, London. CCTV caught 2 men breaking into the grey Ford Transit Custom which also gets Elijah to hospital. The suspects are 2 white men, 5ft10 & slim build
Thinking of the 72 people who died, those who survived & those whose loved ones were killed in the Grenfell Tower fire.
7 years on, no accountability
High-rise residents are still at risk
Recommendations aimed at govt remain outstanding
Grenfell victims deserve justice
I haven’t done a thread in a while & I wanted to do one just to recap what Black & Asian people as well as immigrants have had to endure over the last week in the UK.
Bookmark it 🧵
A mum whose baby died says she saw hospital staff mimicking her accent & laughing, while another said a bedsheet was thrown at her after she asked for it to be changed, a maternity report has revealed. Racism was experienced on ‘countless occasions’ at NUH
Diane Abbott in her own words 👇🏾
‘The Conservative Party’s reluctance to condemn the attacks on me was shocking, if not surprising.
But Labour has also failed to deal with the racism I’ve experienced at the hands of the party’
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GOOD NEWS: Jennifer has now been found! Thank you for sharing social media appeals and looking out for Black women who go missing 🙏🏾 will delete post about her shortly
A couple from Thornton Heath have achieved their goal of setting up a school in Ghana using their own savings & a loan after having the vision 20 years ago. Teacher Moses Mensah & his wife Philomena say they wanted to give kids the ‘opportunities they didn’t have’ growing up👏🏾👏🏾
It’s been 12 days since Levi Davis went missing in Barcelona.
His friends & family say they are frightened as he struggled with his mental health. I know most of my followers are in the UK but hopefully the power of social media will help him get found 🙏🏾
I would be interested to know if employers have reached out to their Black & Brown staff in the midst of what is going on?
To check in to see if they need support etc.
On this day in 2015, Sheku Bayoh died after being restrained by 6 police officers who batoned him to the ground and cuffed his hands and ankles in Kirkcaldy, Scotland. The 31yo lost consciousness & sustained facial injuries, a fractured rib & bruises. No officers were charged.
A man diagnosed with cancer after doing a medical check to become a bus driver was able to beat the disease & has now decided to speak openly about it for the 1st time to help others. Please show Mark some❤️ it’s not an easy thing to do.
A tradesman wearing uniform says that Met Police told him he “does not look like an electrician” during a S&S. Josh King said despite no further action being taken, he lost business when a contract ended after police contacted a client to verify his work.
BREAKING: The teen who vanished 10 months ago has been found ‘safe & well’ police say. The Met says that as a result of their appeal & ‘related publicity’ they found her in London yday 🙏🏾 They’ve asked that pics of her be removed so I’ll be deleting tweets
A Black man was left in a waking coma & only able to communicate via blinking after he was beaten in a racist attack by a group of fairground workers in 1994. His brother has now released a song to raise awareness & mark the 30th anniversary of the attack
I didn’t even want to speak on this but hope that Daniel’s Anjorin’s family is being shielded from that disgusting headline while they mourn this unimaginable loss. They deserve an apology.
A Gofundme for Daniel Anjorin who was killed in Hainault on his way to school has almost reached its £40,000 target. The fund is said to be organised by a close friend of Daniel’s brother who says he ‘would like to raise money to help with the costs’👇🏾
A Nigerian woman hired to do baby scans was forced to vacuum & mop floors, work 12 out of 14 days & threatened with deportation if she didn’t by Juliet Luporini & Anthony Woodcock who racially harassed her at Window to the Womb clinic in Swansea, Wales.
A mum who struggled to afford period pads has helped close to 20,000 women & girls by providing free menstrual products through her charity Flow Happy. She hopes to help end period poverty as 1 in 10 girls in the UK can’t afford these basic necessities 👏🏾👏🏾
On the Bedford to three bridges train & this group of guys starting on anyone (including a woman in her 70s), racist slurs, throwing punches. As soon as he sees me filming he threatens me
I get the train everyday, easily the most horrendous journey & experience I’ve had
Founding member of Windrush Lives, Anthony Williams has died. Despite serving in the Armed Forces for 13 years, he was left destitute & forced to pull out his own teeth because of the Windrush scandal. He fought so he & others could get justice. RIP🙏🏾🕊️
A Black man who was left paralysed from the chest down after falling & breaking his back when he was tasered by an officer ‘who thought he had a knife’, will receive a payout believed to be worth between £1m & £2m after suing the Met Police
UPDATE: The company raising money for a carer whose car was burned during riots say that they are ‘refunding everyone’s money.’ On GoFundMe they wrote that “someone” released ‘fake news’ that they would ‘only be giving him ‘£3k of the money’ which ‘jeopardised their safety’
Over £60,000 has been raised for a carer who finished a 12hr shift to find his car had been flipped & burned during riots in Middlesborough on Sunday. Brendan Nwabichie, 33, said he had been saving for 12 months to buy the vehicle
At the demo today outside Thomas Knyvett College where a black girl was assaulted on Monday, I spoke to a relative who says that the first thing the girl said to her was, ‘nobody helped me…One of the teachers laughed at me with my braids on the floor'.