Government needs to put housing and poverty at the top of its agenda

In the 1950s, communist and anti-racist activist Claudia Jones identified one of the fundamental concerns for the West Indian community in Britain as: “The constant pressure and concern with daily problems of survival.” A beloved figure in Black British history, Jones’s analysis remains prescient for Black communities across the United Kingdom today.

The increasing prominence of changemakers, like 23-year-old social housing activist Kwajo Tweneboa, shining light on families forced to live with mould, rats and flooding reflects the growing deprivation that many continue to face. Black African, mixed white and Black African and Black Caribbean households are those most likely to rent social housing. The Commons Levelling Up Committee recently found that more than 500,000 homes in the social rented sector fail to meet the decent homes standard. Although former levelling up secretary Michael Gove met briefly with Tweneboa in May, it remains to be seen exactly what this government plans to do to tackle housing inequality on an effective and long-term basis. Meeting with individuals is not enough. Government needs to prioritise liaising with communities directly.

Alongside ongoing social housing problems, our communities are facing the brunt of the current cost of living crisis. Black families have some of the lowest incomes in Britain – 46 per cent of all families living in poverty are Black. Poverty breeds discontent, and the recent killing of Chris Kaba by the Metropolitan Police – who have been on special measures since June following multiple scandals – means that the 2020 rise in support for the Black Lives Matter movement will not die down.

Although the Conservative Party lauds the diversity of skin colour among its frontbenchers, many do not represent the diversity of experience of young Black British people across Britain. Their problems persist and their struggle continues. The Conservative government needs to do more to address the myriad of issues facing the Black community.

Tionne Parris is a PhD student at the University of Hertfordshire and a coordinator of the Young Historians Project.

Collective action must be a priority

The situation in the United Kingdom is bleak. An overlap of economic and environmental crises is hitting us hard. My generation is coming of age in the backdrop of this moment. Where do we go next? This article is a statement for my ambition for this generation to carve out a path through an embrace of community ambition. For us by us. Rather than by me for me.

Margaret Thatcher is largely regarded as one of the most influential and consequential prime ministers in British history. She reshaped the economy through the drastic reduction of the welfare state and a programme of privatising the British economy. But perhaps her most significant and lasting influence has been cultural. “There’s no such thing as society” is her most widely known quote. Her speech signalled what was to come. A society, atomised, to be defined only by the actions of individuals and the erosion of community. We have to abandon this.

For young Black people things are coming together, yet falling apart. More young Black people are gaining university places, yet Caribbean boys are being excluded from schools six times more than their white peers. A Black middle class is on the horizon, yet almost half of young Black children are growing up in poverty. Our community will only survive and prosper if we embrace collective ambition. How are young Black graduates teaching the knowledge that they have gained in universities to people in our community? What are we doing to make sure the community sees the profits of Black businesses? These are the questions of collective ambition.

To the politicians who may read this: the perspective that I am putting forward does not let political parties and governments off the hook in the fight against systemic racism, it’s a declaration of a roadmap for how we can survive and thrive in what are bleak and dangerous times.

Athian Akec is a former youth MP for Camden and author of the Beyond Black History Month series in i-D magazine.

Government needs to treat the climate crisis as a racist crisis

Black British communities know state violence all too well. From inequities in policing and healthcare to discrimination in education and employment, it is clear racism is woven into Black lives in Britain. We cannot escape it, not even in our environment.

Studies have shown that people of colour in urban areas in London are more likely to live in areas with toxic air. A study produced for Mayor of London Sadiq Khan in 2016 showed 15.3 per cent of Black people in London were exposed to air pollution, despite only making up 13.5 per cent of London’s population. In 2013 a young Black girl named Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah died as a consequence of air pollution. She lived next to one of the busiest roads in London, where air pollution levels consistently exceeded lawful European Union limits.

Three years on from Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah’s death, Black Lives Matter UK blocked an airway at London City Airport in protest against the airport’s expansion, which would deepen the climate crisis and worsen air pollution. Yet the government’s response to this protest was more focussed on clamping down on activists than combatting pollution.

The UN Human Rights Committee warned in 2018 that pollution is one of the “most serious and pressing threats” to the right to life and if the government doesn’t do more to tackle it more Black people, living in London boroughs like Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark will face similar fates.

The climate crisis is a racist crisis and the government needs to treat it as such. Importantly, climate justice and racial justice cannot be treated as separate issues. Climate justice thus far appears accessible only to a privileged few in Britain. Until the government tackles the climate crisis as a racist crisis, we will continue to treat climate injustice as a stand-alone issue rather than one that calls for total societal transformation.

Simmone Ahiaku has contributed to environmental, social and cultural work across the UK

Equity must be a priority in the HIV Action Plan

In 2014, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) set its 90-90-90 targets: by 2020, they wanted 90 per cent of all people living with HIV to be diagnosed, 90 per cent of those diagnosed to receive treatment and 90 per cent of those receiving treatment to reach viral suppression.

In 2020, the United Kingdom surpassed this target for the fourth consecutive year – 95 per cent know their status, 99 per cent who know their status are on antiretroviral therapy and 97 per cent of those living with HIV are virally suppressed. Living with HIV has changed. People are living longer, fuller and healthier lives.

However, Black communities in Britain still face barriers to access testing, treatment and care. The latest figures indicate that 47 per cent of Black Africans diagnosed with HIV within the past year were diagnosed late. Black Africans are more likely to experience late diagnoses than other ethnic groups.

Rates of HIV testing have fallen by 30 per cent across the board. Just 1.5 per cent of participants in the PrEP impact trial, set up to better understand usage of PrEP among people with HIV, were Black African. Black women across Britain have reported limited knowledge about PrEP’s benefits and effectiveness, and data suggests that Black communities are less likely to be engaged in HIV care. There was no mention of these issues in the government’s Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities Report.

Campaigners have long proposed that a fourth “90” be added to the 90-90-90 targets, that 90 per cent of those who have reached viral suppression have a good quality of life. Achieving this cannot happen without a commitment to ending barriers that Black communities in Britain face, which are exacerbated by broader health, social, economic and structural inequalities.

The healthcare system is still a postcode lottery. Dwindling access to holistic interventions in communities is a reminder that investment is needed to ensure that people living with HIV can thrive, not just survive. Ending stigma and discrimination must be a priority, particularly in healthcare settings. Research published last year showed that public knowledge and attitudes of HIV lag behind reality.

Decades of inequitable responses to HIV have left cracks in the positive picture of progress made. Ensuring equity is a priority in the HIV action plan roll-out is paramount.

Mercy Shibemba is an award-winning HIV activist, working in clinical trials, research and with charities supporting young people living with HIV.