My Tram Experience

Last week a video was posted on Youtube entitled 'My Tram Experience'. I remember being at work and looking through my timeline on twitter seeing many people tweeting about it. I was wondering what all the fuss was about so when I got home that evening I watched the video, about three times over. I was initially offended but I also laughed at the stupidity coming out of the woman's mouth. Especially because she could not even name one black country and  made up a name i.e "nee-grag-gria".

This video went viral and hundreds of YouTube responses were made. As a result of all the attention it got the woman was arrested for Racially Aggravated Public Disorder offence. Many people think that that was the wrong course of action to take since people have the right to freedom of speech and she was just stating her opinion no matter how offensive it was.

Looking at what the woman said she was complaining that non English people are taking over her England. First and foremost the percentage of ethnic minorities in this country is  about 5% which leaves 95% of white English people. You do not have to be a mathematician to realize that it is highly unlikely for the 5% minority to become a majority in the near future.

Secondly wanting all immigrants out of the country does not make sense. If you look at British history many people settled in England from other countries, i.e the Romans from Italy,  the Normans from France and their descendants lived here. Therefore many "white English" people are not pure English but carry the blood of these immigrants. Look at the British empire when many British people moved to many countries to 'colonize' and instill their own culture. In history the British are probably the number one immigrants. Why do you think English is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world? Because of immigration. Immigration has been happening since the beginning of time, people have always traveled and explored. Without immigration the world would be very different to what we know today.

Some responses I have seen to the video is that the woman should have got beaten up. If someone (such as the boy sitting behind the her who got up and had to be calmed down) had hurt the woman he would have committed a criminal offence (i.e ABH and end up with a criminal record) and it would enforce the negative stereotype of black people being violent. In addition, hurting her would not erase her racist views but will just reinforce them. Even though I think more people on the tram should have spoken out it was good that nobody was violent against her.

Yes racism will always exist even if it was 2056 but the fact that racism is not as bad as it used to be shows progression. I sometimes imagine a utopia of people looking beyond somebody's outward appearance. However the bible does say that "People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7) which is true.

Here is the best response video I have seen so far, this guy provides many valid points and articulates his arguments very well . Enjoy

Written By Dinah

Mummar Gaddafi A Tyrant Or a True Leader?

Yesterday, Mummar Gaddafi was brutally murdered by the NATO backed Libyan rebels. Prior to his murder, Gaddafi was in exile hiding away from the NATO forces hoping to escape. The questions we must to ask ourselves is that are NATOs reasons to kill Mummar Gaddafi justified? Is NATO really trying to protect the Libyan civilians whom Gaddafi is supposedly trying to kill? Lastly, does the west really care about Africa enough to intervene in African issues? In this article I will try and answer all of these questions.

Let me start of by mentioning that it came as to no surprise when Gaddafi was killed by the NATO forces. NATO had been trying to kill him for a very long time before they were finally able to achieve their goal. For months now, NATO had been dropping bombs on Libya, which they claimed they were doing in order to protect Libyan civilians. However, as Gerald Celente put it in his interview. “If Libyas main export was broccoli would America be interested in helping the civilians”? So here we see the hypocrisy of America, because they are clearly in Libya to take its rich oil and nothing less.

The media has given Mummar Gaddafi a bad image throughout the past few years, and described him as a tyrant, monstrous dictator. I would agree with the viewpoint that he was in power for too long, and he should have had an election, and if he lost he should have allowed a democratically elected leader to lead Libya. This however does not give the west to right to put him in exile and murder him.

Under Gaddafis rule Libyans enjoyed many privileges that majority of Africans do not have. Libya had cheap food and housing prices, and everyone had access to free education from the ages of 6-15. So in short Libyans had a good lifestyle compared to their fellow Africans. Libya is also one of the few African countries were its citizens do not need to travel abroad looking for greener pastures in the west. So, if the west really cared about Africa they would not have brutally murdered a leader who has done well for the continent, such as others before him like Patrice Lumumba, Kwame Nkrumah, Thomas Sankara and many more.

So Gaddafi is not as bad as the west made him look, apparently in Libya there are supposedly more people fighting for Gaddafi then against him, but because NATO backed the rebels, they were able to win the battle.

In addition Gaddafi had similarities with Kwame Nkrumah’s policies. Gaddafi wanted Africa to unite, hence he had the idea of creating a one currency system in Africa called the gold dinar. This currency would have stopped African countries from being cheated of commodities by the west and other nations. So Africans will be able to name the price of their commodities and not be forced by the World Bank and IMF to lower their prices because of the loans taken from them. However Gaddafis vision was not meant to be, as like other leaders before him he was murdered by the imperialistic money mongers of the west.
Written By Aaron

Who am I? part 1

                                                                 Who am I?

The following statements are from different sources, speaking out about things they have done, things they are doing, and things they will continue to do. Or it could be things that are being done unto them. It is up to you the readers, to guess who or what said these statements or what is behind these statements. In other words these people may not have said these statements directly but they were most likely thinking like this.

Every single day men come to rape me. I am very rich in terms of my bodily possessions. I have gold all over me, diamonds all over my feet and oil which I use to make my body smooth, but yet I continue to get raped by these men who come from their shores and take my belongings. They take my gold, diamonds and oil, and enrich themselves at my expense. Just to make matters worse, these men then try and sell me my gold that they stole from me . All I want is to have my belongings back, is that too much to ask? I just want to live in peace. To top it all up, no men are here to defend me, it is just me on my own, and I can see more rapists coming from the distance from other shores. Only if my people will wake up from their slumber and stop these insane acts from continuing. I pray that one day I shall regain my gold, diamonds and oil back, and I shall be as rich as I was thousands of years ago, but that can only happen when my people rise from their slumber. Who am I?




Written By Aaron                                                                   

Race & Riots

Recently I watched an interview on BBC Newsnight with David Starkey, he was discussing the UK riots and the things he was saying had shocked and offended me greatly. If you have not seen the interview you can watch it here. What surprised me is the fact that he is a historian saying all these ignorant things, you would think that someone as educated as him would have more sense. He was blaming the UK riots on black culture. He stated that it was black people who started rioting in Tottenham due to the shooting of a black man. However he failed to note that it was a white man that shot Mark Duggan which caused the protests in the first place which then escalated into the riots. It is a shame how these riots have become racialized even though people of every race was involved. Here's a quote from the interview

"The whites have become black. A particular sort of violent, destructive, nihilistic gangster culture has become the fashion,"

Here Starkey is associating gangsterism and violence with black culture and saying that white people have adopted this so called black behaviour. As a historian he should know that gangster culture exists in all racial groups. Take the Maffia as an example one of the most known notorious gangs and they are Italians and last time I checked Italians were not Black. Even the show 'Ross Kemp on Gangs' is proof that there are gangs everywhere; it is not something which occurs in only one racial group. Anyways back to the riots, yes there were many black people who did partake in the riots but it should also be noted that riots had also occurred in areas that have an extremely low black population. There were many white people who took part in the riots and there is proof of this in the numerous video footage there are of the riots.

Another quote David Starkey said in reference to the MP David Lammy:

"If you turn the screen off, so you were listening to him on radio, you would think he was white."

From this statement Starkey is implying that speaking proper English is a 'white' characteristic. It is a shame that in society there are people who associate everything positive with being white' and everything negative with being black. This reinforces the whole "white is right" ideology. Can't a black person be educated and speak proper English without it being said that they are acting white? Actually what is acting white and what is acting black? Yes culture influences our behaviours but just because you are a particular race it does not mean you have to act a certain way. For example I despise the terms 'coconut' and 'wigger'. If you get a white child and black child and they are brought up in the same way I guarantee they will act the same. The way you behave is due to environmental factors, culture and most importantly the way you have been socialised. Being a particular skin tone does not mean you automatically adopt characteristics associated with a certain race, it is something that is learned. For example just because you are black it does not mean that you will automatically like chicken. Whether you like it or not depends on your experiences with food growing up.

Here is a video I saw of Nabil Abdul Rashid rebutting David Starkey's point. It is a great video and I advise you to watch it, this guy makes a great argument and he is very knowledgeable in the points he makes.

Written By Dinah

UK Riots 2011

The UK is recovering from one of the most serious riots ever seen in British history. But  what caused this? How did it all start?

Well on Thursday 4th August a 29 year old man known as Mark Duggan was shot and killed by police during a police operation in Tottenham. He was a passenger in a cab at the time and it was said that he fired shots at police but later reports confirmed that Mark had not fired any shots. He was a father of four and was also known within his local community as "Starrish Mark". His girlfriend had said that Mark has been in trouble with the law in the past but never imprisoned. The media have portrayed Mark as a gangster, some reports say he's a drug dealer and has gang affiliations whereas his relatives say he is a loving father.

Mark Duggan

As a result of his death a peaceful demonstration occurred in Tottenham on 6th August which then led to a few becoming violent since they had not received the answers they wanted pertaining to Mark's death. This caused riots in Tottenham where an array of vandalism, property damage, theft and arson had occurred.The next day the riots had spread to nearby Woodgreen and other parts of London such as Enfield and Brixton. Over the next couple of days the riots has spread to the majority of London where a great amount of damage was caused. Many shops and businesses were looted as people stole and damaged shops. This had spread to  areas outside of London including Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Nottingham.

Police resources were stretched and could not cope with the level of violence and disorder occurring, hence many people rioting and looting for hours without any police presence. Thousands of people from all ages and races had taken part in the riots not just "black youths" as some aspects of the media are trying to portray. This is NOT a race issue but one of class where majority of those looting are from working class backgrounds regardless of their race. My sympathy lies with those who have lost their homes in the process and those whose businesses have been attacked. God knows how much money they have lost after all their blood sweat and tears they had put into establishing their businesses for someone to then destroy it for no valid reason.

I  think those who took part did not do so due to the death of Mark Duggan but they were just opportunists who wanted free items and to cause havoc and destruction. They know what they are doing but instead of taking responsibility for their own actions they want to blame everyone but themselves and make excuses. If I had my way I would want the police to have used more force (not excessive) to have controlled the looters but hey its not up to me. I hope all the looters get caught and punished for their selfish and violent actions.

On a lighter note here are a few pics of people who looted some very cheap items which I found quite amusing

Written By Dinah

How far can black people progress as a race?

A couple of months back I watched a video called 'Stan the white Man' on the internet. The video struck a chord with me, it came out with various points about black people which I thought was very true but painful to accept. It talked about how black people as a race hinder themselves from progressing.

The first thing it mentioned was the disunity amongst black people. It seems as if black people are generally divided and we are always using our differences as a reason to be against each other. For example Africans v Caribbeans, light skin v dark skin, black on black violence, tribalism etc. It is non stop. I always ask myself why this is, why can't we just accept the fact that we are all black and unite with one another? why do we always see each other as enemies? Why do we always look for differences instead of similarities? This reminds me of the quote "united we stand and divided we fall". It seems as if as a race we have fallen since we are always divided. Sometimes I look at the Asian community and envy them, they are much more united than we are.

This reminded me of the famous 'Willie Lynch Speech' which was a speech given by William Lynch a slave owner in 1712 in the USA who was addressing other slave owners about how to control their slaves. Here is an extract:
"The black slave, after receiving this indoctrination, shall carry on and will become self-refueling and self-generating for hundreds of years, maybe thousands.

Don't forget you must pitch the old black VS. the young black males, and the young black male against the old black male. You must use the dark skinned slaves VS. the light skin slaves. You must use the female VS the male, and the male VS, the female. You must always have your servants and OVERSEERS distrust all blacks, but it is necessary that your slaves trust and depend on us.

Gentlemen, these kits are your keys to control, use them. Never miss an opportunity. 

My plan is guaranteed, and the good thing about this plan is that if used intensely for one year the slave will remain perpetually distrustful."

This speech breaks my heart every time I read it. It is so sad to see something derogatory that was said about black people a couple of hundred years ago to still be very evident today. To think that there was a time in history where Africa was very rich and powerful with strong empires. Then Africans became enslaved, colonized, oppressed and degraded. However there are many black people who fought for the freedom of our people and the future generations of black people. Sometimes the behaviour of some negative black people makes me think that those freedom fighters had died in vain.

There are now more opportunities for black people compared to say 50 years ago, but instead of making the most of them (don't get me wrong there are many blacks that do) some decide to waste their lives. I am sick of seeing people who have potential but choose not to fulfil it and say "It's because I'm black". So what? Are there not plenty of successful blacks out there? So what if racism is a barrier it does not mean you should stop trying to be successful. You are the author of your life.

Another point made in the video is that black people are being financially exploited. This is true, if you look at the Jewish and Asian communities they tend to understand the nature of business. This is something more black people need to learn. For example black people are large consumers of hair products and the majority of these hair shops are run by Asians who are making  a lot of money from our community. Though there are black owned businesses there are not many. There is also this whole show off/stunting culture (especially in hip hop) where  people feel the need to show off their expensive cars, designer labels, and how much money (or stacks) they have. This is detrimental and encourages non wealthy people to buy designer items so they can show it off to their peers. These labels they mainly buy i.e Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Chanel etc are by European designers who are becoming even richer. We consume a lot but most of the money does not even go back to our own communities (whereas it does in the Asian & Jewish community).

We need to learn from our Jewish and Asian counterparts and have more of our own businesses and sell our own products. We should learn more about the creation of wealth, investing and supporting each other more. We should celebrate the success of others instead of trying to pull them down. We need to stop dividing ourselves and most of all we need to WAKE UP! All those black people doing positive things in their life continue what you are doing. I hope one day as a race we will be more united and not continue to allow ourselves to be exploited.

Written by Dinah

Valentines day & Love

A holiday which occurs annually on 14^th February. When people hear the word valentine’s they instantly think romance, roses, love, passion etc. I could write about the origins of Valentines Day, I could also talk about relationships, and I can talk about how valentine’s day is a highly commercialized holiday for people to make money but I am sure you all know that already.  I want to be different and talk about love and no not about love in a relationship but loving one of the most important people in your life. You.

Self love should not be confused with narcissm. What do I mean by loving yourself? Well love is not an easy concept to define, there are a large number of variations when it comes to defining the term. It is a subjective concept depending on your cultural mentality. The whole ‘romantic’ nature of love is a western ideology (e.g buying chocolate and flowers, living happily ever after). Everyone has their own opinions as to what they believe love is. The best book I have read about love was by TD Jakes – The lady her lover and her Lord. As it is a Christian book it talks about love from a Christian perspective.

The first part of the book talks about falling in love with yourself, I know that sounds quite weird but let me explain further. I believe that loving yourself includes many different factors, I think appreciating yourself is one of the most important things, you have to embrace who you are as a person. Let go of every past mistake you have made, stop hating yourself for it. I believe that mistakes happen to teach you a lesson so that it can make you a better person. Yes there are many things I have regretted doing like most people but the past should be left in the past, do not let it dictate or hinder your future. You have the capacity to change and prepare for the person you want to become.

You should make yourself a priority in your life, sometimes we spend so much time worrying about others and then end up neglecting ourselves. You should spend time with yourself, I know this can be difficult with those of you with busy schedules but it is important to take time out to relax. When you love someone you would like to spend time with them right? So why not spend time with yourself? Learn to be comfortable with being alone, some people are scared of spending time alone with themselves, how can you expect anyone else to want to spend time with you if you can’t even do it yourself? Having ‘alone time’ can really help you to discover who you really are as a person and to better understand yourself.

Develop yourself in all areas of your life, spiritually, physically, mentally,
and emotionally.  Add value to yourself by investing in your mind, educating yourself and developing habits that will be beneficial to your life. You could do this by praying, meditating, exercising, reading, studying, etc. If you are not up the standard you want to be at for the different areas of your life then take action and do something about it. When you are content and confident with who you are as a person and you fully understand yourself then you become a whole person within yourself.  When two whole people enter a relationship they can compliment and develop each other. This way you will not need to depend on your partner to fill certain voids which you need to fill yourself. For example if you have too many emotional problems and you think that having a partner can ‘cure’ that, then you’re wasting your time, no one wants to be with someone who sucks out their positive energy and becomes a burden onto them.

If you are single use this time to develop yourself and be the best you you can be so that when you do have a partner you will be prepared for them. Please do not be with someone for the sake of. It is a waste of time and energy, embrace your singleness, so what if all your friends have a partner? it doesn’t matter. Think about YOUR happiness many of these so called relationships won’t last so don’t feel sad because you are single. If you are in a relationship never stop developing yourself as a person. 

Anyways happy Valetines day! if you have a partner appreciate them if you are single appreciate yourself :)

Written by Dinah

Body Image and The Black Woman

Hi reader’s I have been M.I.A for a while but I’m back now.

Today I saw a newspaper article about a 20 year old woman from London who died from buttock injections she received in the USA (full story here). At first the questions raised from this story is why someone would risk their life just to have a large butt? What was she thinking doing such a dangerous procedure? I was thinking to myself that there is more to it than having  a larger butt
 for aesthetic purposes. There is a much deeper psychological explanation behind it.

As a 21 year old black female, growing up I was a very skinny girl, my size did not bother me until my teenage years. I’ve had comments made to me such as “omg you are so skinny”, “Do you even eat?” and numerously I’ve been called “anorexic”. These words used to hurt me and as a result I had very low self-esteem.  Many of my friends were bigger than me and in the black community being thick is seen as a favorable size for a black female to be and I did not 'fit' that. Even once I had an Asian friend say to me “you are skinny for a black girl”.  I felt that I needed to conform to the image of what a black girl’s body should look like so ate large amounts of junk food to gain weight but that did not work. As a result my lifestyle was becoming more unhealthy.

The media constantly talks about pressures on white women to be skinny but you never hear of the pressure on black girls to be thick. In recent years there has been the whole “Video Vixen” phenomenon in hip hop video’s and in song lyrics (i.e  Sir Mixalot – Baby got back). This body type consists of large breasts, small waist, large butt/hips and thick thighs. The media embraces this hourglass body type (i.e Nicki Minaj, Kim Kardashian) and it appears that many black males prefer females that look this way. Many women of African descent are known for having large buttocks therefore it is expected of every black female to automatically have that asset but people fail to realize that this is not true. Society have unrealistic expectations of how a women’s body should look like but the majority of women do not look like these models and as a result are left with low self confidence and self esteem.

Buffy The Body famous for her Assets

 I’m going to be honest ,there was a time I used to aspire to have the ‘video vixen body’ and there are many black females that still do. Many feel succumbed to the pressures to conform to this image. However, many of these vixens we see on T.V and in Magazines have had surgical procedures such as breast implants, liposuction, butt implants etc in order to obtain the so called “perfect body” that we see.  Many women who cannot afford the surgery will undergo cheaper, dangerous and potentially fatal procedures.  For example there are some women who are consuming pills which are used to fatten chickens in order to gain weight. The pressures stem from the media, men, our communities and society that is why a high number of black women risk their lives to achieve these desired looks.


There is nothing wrong with wanting to have a better looking body whether your overweight and need to lose weight, or under weight and need to gain, or tone up certain areas, yes exercise is important and also having a healthy body. Women come in all shapes and sizes tall, short, fat, skinny and we should embrace our bodies, this took me a long time to do. We shouldn’t allow external factors to stop us from loving our bodies. The images we see in the media are fake and are highly photoshopped. We should stop aspiring to have unrealistic bodies but instead aspire to have healthy bodies. Real women have imperfections such as stretch marks, cellulite, area’s of fat etc it is NORMAL and no one is perfect. Real women aren't perfect and perfect women aren't real.

Ki Toy Johnson

Written by Dinah