New Economy Organisers Network (NEON)

Our Hera Hussain spoke to Sky News about how women have the right to safe travel like anyone else. Many women and girls will tell you that they have experienced leering, catcalling, touching, pressing, upskirting or indecent exposure especially during rush hours. This makes women feel unsafe and we often think about how we can avoid rush hour by changing our entire day’s schedule or avoid plans which require travelling at those times. This is unacceptable. It’s unsurprising that only 1 in 5 people who witness incidents report it because it’s hard to pinpoint who did it, which carriage you were in, and generally the feeling of “no one will be able to do anything about it”. We should also encourage bystanders to step in to support survivors from offering their seats to confronting the person doing the harassment & getting help.

Our Hera Hussain spoke to Sky News about how women have the right to safe travel like anyone else. Many women and girls will tell you that they have experienced leering, catcalling, touching, pressing, upskirting or indecent exposure especially during rush hours. This makes women feel unsafe and we often think about how we can avoid rush hour by changing our entire day’s schedule or avoid plans which require travelling at those times. This is unacceptable. It’s unsurprising that only 1 in 5 people who witness incidents report it because it’s hard to pinpoint who did it, which carriage you were in, and generally the feeling of “no one will be able to do anything about it”. We should also encourage bystanders to step in to support survivors from offering their seats to confronting the person doing the harassment & getting help.

I spoke to BBC London, about racism in the NHS and wider society. What underlies the anger and violence we saw on the streets and how we move forward as a community I was asked at the end on my message to Londoners - Our diversity is what makes London strong, vibrant and special. That’s something to celebrate and nourish. And if you witness othering or racism, it’s on all of us to speak out

The NEON Comms Hub is excited to present Narrative Connections - a series of online sessions featuring a conversation between an international and a UK based organiser about messaging and campaigning on shared issues. 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿: progressive comms people, people working in strategic communication, campaigners, organisers and spokespeople 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝘁: this is a chance to learn how organisers tackle similar struggles in different contexts, how messaging is deployed in campaigns to shift narratives digitally, on the doorstep and in the media and how different organising tactics interact with messaging strategies. This September we have lined up three incredible conversations: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗟𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 - 11th of September (Register here: https://bit.ly/3SImKG3)  Jeralyn Cave, 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘌𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 (𝘚𝘌𝘐𝘜) 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘚, 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘳, Emmanuelle Andrews 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘓𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰-𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵-𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 - 19th of September (Register here: https://bit.ly/470svoB) Anthony Vidal Torres 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 Get Free 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘚 - 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 - 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 Green New Deal Rising’𝘴 Fatima Ibrahim 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦. 𝗝𝗼𝗯𝘀, 𝗝𝗼𝗯𝘀, 𝗝𝗼𝗯𝘀: 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗽 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 - 25th September (Register here: https://bit.ly/3WQE7pw) 𝘓𝘢𝘬𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘪 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘺𝘢𝘮 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘞𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘻𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘎𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺, 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘌𝘖𝘕’𝘴 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨, Dora Meade 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘜𝘊 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳-𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺. 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. 

It’s been a terrifying, heartbreaking and devastating week. The far-right riots have been decades and decades in the making, through the denial and amplification of Islamophobia by mainstream politicians and the media, and the dehumanisation of Muslims, refugees, migrants, Black people and people of colour, and our communities. This is the white supremacist violent and inevitable concequences. Here’s my Aljazeera piece. The only way to ensure the UK never sees such racist riots again, the only way that our communities can feel fully safe and secure in this country, is for the government to embark on a war against dangerous far-right ideologies. The government must take the far right and its Islamophobic bigotry head on, defend and uphold the internationally recognised rights of asylum seekers and migrants. It must create a new asylum and immigration system that is aligned with international law and respectful of the dignity and humanity of all people. Further, it must make its stance on Islamophobia clear. Unless the leaders of this country recognise that hatred of Muslims, migrant and refugees is a source of domestic terror, that it is threatening the very fabric of British society, I am certain that there will be other weeks of shame in this country’s future when minorities are told to stay home for their safety. The government must now thank the British people who stopped the far right in its tracks, and take immediate action to ensure their efforts were not in vain. Starmer and his cabinet must defend multiculturalism and simultaneously take action to address the deep-seated inequalities and injustices affecting the UK’s multiracial working classes that allow for far-right ideologies to take hold in our country. Anything else would be capitulating to far-right extremists and handing power to them over all our lives. Read the full article here 👇🏽 https://lnkd.in/eHYDVSSf #raceriots #islamophbia

Spoke to TalkTV about the recent drop in people coming to the UK to work and study. Years of hostile anti-immigration policy doesn't just destroy the lives of those directly affected by it, it now risks crippling health and social care, the NHS and the Higher Education sector, along with many more. The simple reality is that the UK doesn't need less immigration, if anything it needs more.

In this interview on LBC News, I talk about the leadership that has been lacking from Government but which came from communities mobilising together to stand in solidarity and love against racism and Islamophobia in our society It is now the turn of Government to show some leadership and care for communities who are living in fear because of the recent racist violence on the streets. This long-standing problem will not be solved by putting more police on the streets but recognising how racism is hard-wired into our society. It is not just about what politicians say and how the media portrays Muslims but also about legislation and policy that normalises the dehumanisation of Muslim and other marginalised communities. The violence we see on the streets is just another expression of racial violence that our communities experience every week through legislation and the practice of our public services. They are reflections of each other: - Black communities are 12 times more likely to be stopped and searched by police - Muslim children more likely to be wrongly referred to Prevent - Black women 4 times more likely to die in childbirth than white women - Visibly Muslim women see an increase in attacks against them after racist remarks made by politicians As schools return we will be providing anti-racism resources for teachers as well as training so that there are spaces for young people to share their views.

Applications are open for the next intake of our Spokesperson Network. We’re looking for people who are working on issues that push for big progressive change in society and who would like to use the media to talk about the things they are working on. The programme works by training, coaching and providing TV and radio booking support for spokespeople. We've had over 10,000 bookings across all TV and radio channels and programmes to date and we are expanding all the time. Deadline for applications is 8am Tuesday 10th September

At NEON we try and help people navigate a complex narrative environment to put out clear messages at times like this. Here's a messaging guide we have worked up today with help from lots of people we work with (and by no means perfect). Massive solidarity to all those who have been affected by the horrendous violence on our streets over the weekend. TL:DR - Five abridged tips: 1) Universalise immediately - centre your message on those in fear of violence. 'Families are scared to send their kids to school, parents of going to work, grandparents are fearing going to pray.' 2) Say what this is - Islamophobic, anti-migrant violence 'We know that this violence is targeted at Muslims - especially women wearing hijabs, People of Colour and people seeking asylum.' 3) Keep focus on those in power - and be clear they have responsibility 'Politicians have used these communities as a scapegoat to distract from failings to address poverty & inequality. These communities are now bearing the violent brunt of that callous and cruel behaviour.' 4) Show the vast majority of people oppose this violence. Talk up community clean ups. 'Look at the aftermath of this violence and you see communities coming together. Most people want to support their neighbours, whatever they look like and whatever religion they follow.' 5) Talk about how governments can do things differently 'This government must immediately stop scapegoating of Muslims and people seeking asylum, and instead focus on fixing the deep problems in our economy and society.'

"While airport actions will be unpopular with many air travellers, the message being delivered by the protestors is long overdue. We urgently need to phase-out fossil fuel from aviation: or there will be little left to explore and enjoy."