MEDIA

Well, we came, we saw, we were predictably disappointed. The Crouches screened its first episode on Tuesday 9th September and first impression suggest that the Community were far from amused. We wonder why that could be? Perhaps it may have something to do with the badly written script, the prevalence of the same old and very tired stereotypes or the fact that the BBC have wasted yet another opportunity, not to mention our license fee, to produce quality programming for our community. Ligali is very firmly on the case...

Speaking of cases, we wonder whether Richard Littlejohn is one of the mental variety for making several rather discerning, no down right insulting comments about African history.

"How many pupils know, for instance, that it was the British Navy that brought about the end of the slave trade? We are told that mud huts and wood carvings are the equal of St Paul’s and Shakespeare" .

More informed journalism from the Dick the racially insensitive and culturally unaware sensationalist. This level of blatant racism is quite simply disgusting and unacceptable. Having said that, the article was published in The Sun. Enough said.

Click here to read more about these and other media related issues.

No More Talk: MOBO Protest

There are times when being a part of Ligali is particularly exciting and this is just one of those moments. On Thursday 25th September, Ligali will be holding an organised demonstration at the ‘MOBO’ awards, at the Royal Albert Hall. We will be protesting against; 1) The music industry’s continuing support of artists who endorse crime, sexism and materialistic values 2) The lack of support given to positive British artists in favour of commercially successful American artists.

Click here for more details about the protest.

CRIME

It’s rare that we ever get to see the word 'Trident' in a positive light, but in the tragic aftermath of the terrible murder of young Toni-Ann Byfield and her father Betram Byfield, there are growing signs that the Met plans to take on board suggestions to expand its remit to a multicultural gun and drug crime force. Could this be the first steps to losing the disgusting ‘black on black’ label that has only ever served to blame the victims? We await to hear Tarique Ghaffur's response to our letter outlining our proposals for reform.

Ligali recently hosted a very positive and productive young people’s forum on Gun Crime and Operation Trident. The views and solutions proposed were realistic and workable. We are currently working to ensure that their solutions translate to real action.

And finally, in what looked like an episode from the Sweeney, Ligali founders Toyin Agbetu and Emma Pierre-Joseph were stopped and pulled out of their car after being the victim of racial abuse. In an incredible twist of fate, they were then accused of Credit Card fraud!

Click here to read more Crime news stories on Ligali.

EDUCATION

Ligali is in the process of collating details of every afrocentric supplementary school /service, learning mentoring organisation, and respective local education authority. Our intent is to make this information easily accessible for African British parents in the UK. We are starting with London but hope to expand our database to stretch to the entire UK.

We are also in communication with the DfES to provide a Ethnic Minority Achievement (EMA) newsletter service. This is to directly inform parents of the latest developments and initiatives aimed at teaching our children.

For the past few months Ligali has been part of the steering group taking forward the development of a London wide network for African British parents and School governors. The objective was to exclusively provide support for African British parents and school governors. It has been agreed that this would be reflected in the name by removing the label 'black' from the final name.


Click here to read more about Ligali's Education policies and news stories.

Me2We

Me2we is about the formation of partnerships with individuals and organisations that share our community ethos. As such, in the Me2we section of every newsletter, Ligali will focus on the work of no more than 2 organisations. If you are the head of an organisation or would like to recommend an organisation that you feel should be covered in the Me2we section, please contact mail@ligali.org

In light of October being African History Month, our Me2We section will focus on two organisations committed to telling our story back at home and in the Diaspora.

Every Generation

Every Generation seeks to empower and influence the African British community through history, family genealogy and heritage. It is a the online community resource helping to facilitate the personal development and empowerment of young people and to bridge the gap with the older generation through history, family genealogy and heritage.

The site is also a resource to schools, statutory services, voluntary sectors, mentoring and youth organisations who are supporting and engaging with black clients.

The site recognises the positive contribution that history and heritage can play in the motivation and personal development of young people as a source of self mentoring and coaching. check out their website.

Moving Here

Although not the traditional Me2We organisation we would normally highlight, its inclusion as a valuable resource during African History Month cannot be underestimated.

The vision of Moving Here is to explore, record and illustrate why people came to England over the last 200 years, and what their experiences were and continue to be. The site looks at the Caribbean, and other communities but is growing all the time.

Moving Here provides free online access to resources which record and illustrate the migration of the Caribbean, Irish, Jewish and South Asian Communities to England over the past two centuries.

You can visit their exhibitions and galleries (Migration Histories, Tracing Your Roots and The Gallery) or to look for a specific resource search the Moving Here catalogue.You can also see stories and photographs which have been contributed by other visitors to the site - these are available from the Stories section of the site.

. Click here to check out their website.

EVENTS

Ligali/Sankofa - African History Month Celebration
Sunday 19th October 2003, 3pm - 9pm

On Sunday 19th October, Ligali in association with the Sankofa Youth Movement will be hosting 'A Celebration of African History month' at Chats Palace in Hackney E5. The day will consist of poetry, films and a debate about "black" Identity and the effects of the media. There will also be arts, crafts and displays, and of course, the entire Ligali family will be present to host this free for all event.

More information, including a timetable of events, will be available shortly on the Ligali website.

AFRICAN HISTORY MONTH

As African History month grows ever closer, AfricanHistoryMonth.org website becomes more and more populated with events celebrating African History, Culture and people. As the UK's first website devoted to the activities taking place during October and beyond, we would encourage all those wishing to keep abreast of events to check the website on a regular basis. Anyone holding an event relevant to African History can submit information to the website completely free of charge. The site will have information on everything from film screenings and radio shows to local events and TV programmes.

For further information about AfricanHistoryMonth.org or to submit information about your event, visit the website at
www.africanhistorymonth.org