Brighton Black Lives Matter set to protest again

Brighton Black Lives Matter will hold another march through the city on July 11, starting at the Palace Pier at 2pm.

The group’s newsletter published a list of demands for Brighton and Hove City Council, including:

• Investigating Sussex Police’s use of stop-and-search powers, use of force by officers, and controversial Government anti-terrorism programme Prevent
• Conducting an independent inquiry into the ethnic minority wage gap in the city
• Boosting funding for the Black and Minority Ethnic Young People’s Project
• Ending British Airways’ sponsorship of the i360 due to its role in deportation flights and ring-fencing the £3.1 million of loan repayments deferred by the attraction for ethnic minority community projects.

Speaking to The Argus anonymously, two representatives of the movement said it amounted to more than protests and demands.

“It’s best to focus on the movement itself and not the numbers, because there are lots of people protesting behind their phone screens. It’s a movement, not a moment,” said one.

Another Black Lives Matter protest will be held in Brighton on July 11. Photo: Simon Dack

“We’ve had some incredible change already. In Britain we’re having a national conversation about statues, and in Brighton that’s happening with plaques and street names.

“But it’s not just about going to the council, it’s also about having conversations with your family and in your relationships with people who are racist. That’s where real change is made.”

“Racial inequity shouldn’t be an uncomfortable topic to talk about. You have to have those conversations,” said another representative.

“Someone who’s racist could come to a protest, have a good time and still be racist. Being an anti-racist is a journey, it doesn’t end as soon as you say you’re anti-racist. We’ve had anti-racists coming to protests who have come back knowing more. You learn from other people’s lived experiences.”

Activists have made a number of new demands for Brighton and Hove City Council. Photo: Simon Dack

Brighton and Hove City Council did not respond to a request for a comment.

A Sussex Police and Crime Panel meeting last week revealed police were almost ten times as likely to stop and search black people than white people last year. The force said it was reviewing its stop-and-search processes.

Last month a British Airways spokeswoman told The Argus it was legally required to deport migrants when asked to do so by the Home Office.