“The freedom struggles of black people that have shaped the very nature of this country’s history cannot be deleted with the sweep of a hand. We cannot be made to forget that black lives do matter”.
Angela Davis – Women’s March Speech, Washington January 2017

For the UCU’s day of action on workplace racism on 8th February, branches are being asked to organise stalls, use UCU materials and show the UCU’s own Witness film. Recently some additionally useful materials on the whole issue of racism and fighting discrimination have appeared in the run up to , and since the inauguration of Trump.

If you are showing the Witness film (which we recommend), we’d also suggest that many of the resources made available in the last month by veteran academic and activist Dr Angela Davis can also help kick off a discussion. We post them below for the possible additional use of members and branches.

Although Black History Month is in October in the UK, it takes place in February in the USA, and it was fitting that activist, scholar Angela Davis helped launch it in Kansas State University, less than a month after her appearance with Black Lives Matter Co-Founder Alicia Garza in Conversation across Generations  on You Tube, and her fantastic speech to the Women’s March in Washington last month (Click here for transcript) or here to watch it on YouTube. Similarly she rallied activists in Memphis, speaking at the to the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center’s 35th annual banquet, “Living the Legacy of Non-Violence,” on Jan. 14, 2017, two days before Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Again – a speech worth watching, to spark off discussion of the roots of racism, and racial discrimination, not only the the US, but worldwide.