Digital Archive

An overview of our organisational strategic direction from 2026 – 2031.

A weekend of learning, connection and collective power

From October 4 -16, 2023, the late Professor Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o was hosted by Racial Justice Network (RJN), based in UK for a speaking tour, including a visit to Leeds University, his Alma Mater. Ngũgĩ  undertook graduate studies at the University of Leeds in 1964 where he also wrote his novel, A Grain of Wheat. […]

Standing with East and Central Africa Against Electoral Dictatorship and State Terror

People before profit Part 2: A reflection on how racial capitalism creeps into our organising and how we push back

Kenya’s Gen Z protesters demonstrate extraordinary courage in confronting a violent state apparatus that has killed over 80 people since June 2024. Their sophisticated analysis linking immediate economic grievances to colonial structures, their innovative use of technology for organization, and their transcendence of ethnic divisions represent a new model of African resistance. As one protester stated, “We are the people, and they’re supposed to listen because of the power of the people.”

The Racial Justice Network continues to stand in unwavering solidarity with the courageous youth of Kenya. The spirit of the 2024 Gen Z uprising against the Finance Bill has reignited in 2025, evolving into a powerful, nationwide movement demanding an end to police brutality, government corruption, and the crushing cost of living.

We condemn the violent state-sanctioned response to these renewed peaceful protests, which has tragically resulted in numerous deaths and injuries. The recent death of blogger Albert Omondi Ojwang in police custody is a painful reminder of the systemic injustices that fuel this movement.

We amplify the demands of Kenya’s young generation for justice, accountability, and a government that serves its people. Their fearless and creative resistance is a beacon of hope, and we join them in calling for an end to repression and for a truly just and equitable future for all Kenyans.

The following blog is an extension of the discussions which took place at the convening and political grounding for meaningful actions suggested by our communities. People before Profit explored the ways we resource and nourish our movements.

In this blog we embrace the spirit of Sankofa by sharing key moments of our work last year and reaffirming our commitment to our vision – of ending racial injustice and addressing legacies of colonialism.

Migrants and Racialised people are punished already by policing systems, and Mobile Biometrics further punishes and harms our communities. This report calls for reparative justice and healing justice for communities and an end to this system of policing and immigration enforcement.

Communities have long relied on mutual aid, collective care, and conflict resolution practices rooted in solidarity. This blog shares practical alternatives to keeping ourselves and our communities safe when we are in danger and when our sense of safety is disrupted.

Far from being neutral enforcers of safety, police forces have repeatedly been shown to harm the very communities they claim to protect. The criminal (in)justice system is geared toward punishment rather than prevention and healing. And it’s the communities already facing systemic inequalities that are targeted the most.

After considerable reflection and dialogue, the Racial Justice Network has decided to exit the Climate Action Leeds Partnership.

The Racial Justice Network is continuing to grow its staff team to support its radical grassroots work. We are currently recruiting for two roles; Facilitator and Campaign Coordinator for Race and Climate Justice.

RJN VOLUNTEER PROGRAMME 2024 About the Programme We are thrilled to announce the launch of our 2024 Volunteer Programme at the Racial Justice Network (RJN). We are looking for people who are: Who We Are Founded in 2014 by people with lived experience of racial injustice, the Racial Justice Network brings together groups, organisations and […]

The horrific acts by far-right and fascist mobs are a stark manifestation of decades of normalised racism, hostile environment policies, and scapegoating and vilification of migrants.

Elder and Prof. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s prolific works has lessons for us on resistance to the continued project of imperialism and colonialism.

The Unlearning Racism report is one of reflection, learning and accountability to our communities, Black and Brown-led movements and ourselves. It centres the voice and experience of Black and Brown-led movement leaders as a measure of whether the Unlearning Racism Programme has served its purpose and fulfilled its aims.

The report is one of reflection, learning and accountability to our communities, Black and Brown-led movements and ourselves. It centres the voice and experience of Black and Brown-led movement leaders as a measure of whether the Unlearning Racism Programme has served its purpose and fulfilled its aims. Whilst also reflecting the experience of the white people who have been part of this process from the beginning, who have held the work under the leadership and mentorship of Black and Brown movement leaders and elders.

7 days to go! Upcoming Unlearning Racism Report Launch on the 21st of March To mark the seventh year of the Unlearning Racism Programme, we are launching a report on the 21 March 2024! The report offers reflection, learning and accountability to our communities, Black and Brown-led movements and ourselves. It sets out to evaluate […]

The report aims to ensure that the building blocks of the 13th are documented, shared and embodied by all those working, organising and mobilising in the climate movement. The report acknowledges, celebrates and uplifts our knowledge systems and knowledge production and the international, intersectional and inter-generational decolonial methods we embody.Uses our learning to actively resist being drawn into the ‘status quo’ of Eurocentricity.

The ‘Rwandan Policy’ is a UK government strategy to repatriate individuals who enter the country through ‘unlawful means.’ The Supreme Court recently ruled it unlawful, but the government plans to push it through. This reflects concerns about democracy and racial justice, highlighting issues of power concentration and historical patterns of violence and dehumanization.

“I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.” – James Baldwin The many ways in which colonisation is enacted – apartheid, genocide, settler occupation of land, violence, silencing – is nothing new to many […]

Mark your calendars! The Racial Justice Network’s exciting annual Gather Up event is around the corner. Join us for a day full of workshops, Open Mic performances, networking opportunities, community consultation and care, edutainment, and delicious local cuisine. This open event aims to foster discussions around the significance of community care as well as provide […]

Dear Racial Justice Network and Community, What an incredible two weeks the 2023 International Symposium was! From October 4th-16th, the Symposium took us to spaces and communities in Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester, where we embarked on a profound exploration of our special guest Professor Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s legacy.  The conversations we all shared together connected […]

The Racial Justice Network (RJN) is hosting Elder Professor Ngugi wa Thiong’o in a Gukunguira: a celebration of his life and works.

URC Reflections: Wealth Distribution   An important aspect of the Unlearning Racism journey has been our continued reckoning with the deep-rooted racial injustices tied to the legacy of colonialism, and imperialism exported by the British Empire. These injustices manifest themselves in different ways, notably with the global system of capitalism and wealth accumulation which leaves […]

Digital Hostile Environments and The Dangers of the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill. The Hostile Environment is propped up by a vast infrastructure of surveillance, and its tactics of fear and intimidation are increasingly digitised. Now, the Home Office has announced plans to operate a “fully digital system” for all migrants by 2024. To […]

By Maia Kelly As we approach the next annual cycle of Unlearning Courses, we will be continuing to trial and evaluate more approaches to improving the impact of the work. The ways forward we are trialling do not mitigate all inherent risks associated with this work, but we will continue to be transparent about our […]

By Naava Abigail Busenze Balagadde Resilience noun noun: resiliency; plural noun: resiliencies Comes from the Latin word ‘resilio’ meaning ‘to bounce back’. The successful adaptation to challenging life experiences (Tugade & Fredrickson, 2004). “Until the lion tells the story, the hunter will always be the hero.” Ewe-mina Proverb Research continues to reiterate that trauma can […]

By Carys Coleman When will this raft of anti-migration, and fundamentally anti-human, legislation end? How has cruelty and ignorance of this degree been allowed to continue? Little over a year ago, RJN and Yorkshire Resists wrote about the sustained attack on human rights marked by the Nationality and Borders Act. Alongside countless others, we decried […]

The Race and Climate Collective invites you to our event on April 25th from 6pm to 8pm at Imagine Leeds, 7th floor, City Exchange, 11 Albion Street, Leeds. Doors will open at 5:30pm, and you can use this time to chat and get to know other attendees.  We are excited to have Ben Mussanzi wa […]

On Saturday 22nd April, there will be a day of solidarity led by grassroots collectives across Yorkshire. Join us by attending events in Leeds or Halifax: In Leeds, Yorkshire Resists will be holding a space for solidarity and community. We will break down the Bill and what this means for our communities in West Yorkshire. […]

The amnesia of colonial violence is persistent because it has been distanced from national memory and erased as a source of conscientiousness which might prevent further meddling in the affairs of other nations.

Here at The Racial Network we’re taking a look back at our journey and celebrating our 7th anniversary as a charity. As we reflect on the connections and networks we have created along the way during this article, members of our RJN team also join us to express what the charity means to them all […]

On Thursday 2nd March we, alongside The Race and Climate Justice Collective, Yorkshire Resits and Stop the Scan Campaign group will be joining for the first in person event of the year. About this event During the session, we will explore the intersection of the policing and criminal system with the climate emergency. • How […]

Recently, our Stop the Scan campaign group spoke to The Baring Foundation. The Baring Foundation are an independent foundation which protects and advances human rights and promotes inclusion. They believe in the role of a strong, independent civil society nationally and internationally, using resources to enable civil society to work with people experiencing discrimination and […]

The UK government made the decision to block the implementation of the Scottish Gender Recognition Reform Bill under section 35 of the Scotland Act. This comes at a first in the history of devolution. The UK’s recent restrictions towards the bill includes stopping the gender recognition certificate (GRA 2004) which recognisied and respected trans men […]

RJN’s Race and Climate Justice Collective is delighted to welcome you all to join us for the first session in the 2023 Race and Climate Justice Learning series About this event We begin with the Race and Climate Justice Glossary and in this first session, Abigail will feature an exercise: ‘A Song To The Earth: […]

The 13th in particular, emerged as an action or a challenge to, what we call the three tenets of the 13th framework, which is internationalism, acknowledging colonial legacies and active solidarity. And within this is an understanding of how everything is interconnected and interdependent when we see and understand social justice issues. The 13th Highlights […]

We aim to continue our support and further educate people in our different project groups this year. From our Unlearning Racism Course set to start their Weekend Course in February, to The Race & Climate Collective releasing their 2023 event dates. Unlearning Racism Course ‘The course is designed to be a participatory, critical and experiential […]

The recent news of the passing of Kenyan LGBTQ+ rights activist Edwin Chiloba has raised a bigger issue that is yet to be addressed.  Due to British colonial-era laws, there is still a ban on homosexuality, this law still exists in many parts of the world including Kenya. This leads to damaging legacies on all […]

We are looking for people to support and hold us through our growth, challenges and ambitions for the future. If our vision and mission resonate with you and you actively practise anti-racism, we want to hear from you. 

The report examines how UK police forces have used mobile biometric tools (fingerprint scanners linked to immigration and police databases) and operator-initiated facial recognition (OIFR) over the period 2020–2022. It is grounded in Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to UK police forces, as part of the #StopTheSCANdal / #HandsOffOurBiodata campaign, with support from Big Brother Watch. We argue that the rollout of these technologies represents a serious threat to privacy, civil liberties, and especially to racially minoritised and migrant communities, given existing policing inequalities.

A new report written to draw attention to the experiences of migrant communities within West Yorkshire. The report discusses issues that arose from being caught between a rock and hard place that is policies, legislations and marginalisation that extend from structural racism whilst dealing with a global pandemic

The Racial Justice Network and Yorkshire Resists, in conjunction with Queen Mary University of London, released a new report written to draw attention to the national use of the Biometric Services Gateway (mobile fingerprinting) by police forces. The report discusses issues that arose from new data obtained through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request from […]

This report explores how the public views the introduction of mobile fingerprint-scanning by police via the Biometric Services Gateway (BSG) system, especially in relation to civil liberties, racial profiling, and trust in policing. It is based on two sources of data: An online survey of 115 participants, asking about their views on the BSG and related issues and Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to police forces (especially in West Yorkshire) about how mobile fingerprint scanners are being used in practice.

This report provides an insight into the hate crime experiences of migrants in Leeds and Bradford. This report includes the narratives of individuals who have experienced a hate crime and reported it to West Yorkshire Police.