Youth engagement agency Beatfreeks held an ‘Anti-Hate Crime Toolkit’ workshop in Birmingham (Photograph: Paul Stringer)
Birmingham-based youth engagement agency Beatfreeks held an ‘Anti-Hate Crime Toolkit’ workshop yesterday, in order to take direct and shift action against the rise in hate crime – both locally and nationally – following the EU Referendum.
Following Birmingham’s majority ‘Leave’ vote, hate crimes in the city have reportedly risen and become more visible; including cases of threats, verbal abuse and attacks. A day after the referendum vote, Muslim mother-of-two Sabiha Mahmoud was racially abused outside her son’s school for discussing the vote with her friend.
Although the city is still divided in opinion, over 35 people from all backgrounds gathered at Impact Hub Birmingham to talk about ideas, issues and solutions to tackle hate crime and to build a ‘toolkit’ in order to help people deal with issues in their area.
Anisa Haghdadi, CEO of Beatfreeks said;
“We put this on to respond to an urgent need, to get active and protect our most vulnerable communities. It’s been hugely encouraging to see some many people come together on such short notice, to mobilise against these issues. It shows the power of Birmingham and the power of hope.”
Youth engagement agency Beatfreeks held an ‘Anti-Hate Crime Toolkit’ workshop in Birmingham (Photograph: Paul Stringer)
During the session the group split and in smaller circles worked on immediate solutions such as webpages with links and business cards with resource links on that can be given out or looked at quickly and discreetly during an incident.
The main focus turned to what the group could start within the 2 hours, and groups decided to work on an A5 flyer that listed bullet-point actions that people can take against perpetrators; both from a victim’s point of view and from an observer’s perspective.
Ideas were shared at the Beatfreeks event aiming to challenge hate and preparing the vulnerable to respond (Photograph: Paul Stringer)
Participant Lauren said, “It was insightful, I learnt things that I didn’t know before. It shows that there’s still good people out there that want to make change.”
The session concluded with a brief round-up of what each group had worked on, and Beatfreeks will be putting the ideas into action over the next few weeks.
To find out more, or keep up-to-date and contribute to the project, visit the Facebook page here.
There has been a 57% increase in hate crime following the EU referendum vote results being announced (Photograph: Paul Stringer)
In light of a reported 57% increase in racist, Islamophobic and racist incidents since last week’s EU vote, a number of organisations across the country have held unity events and rallies to defend those targeted by hate groups.
In Birmingham, a Love Your Neighbour campaign and gathering was held in Victoria Square yesterday and attended by community representatives and religious leaders. The event was organised by Adrian Bailey of the Birmingham Humanist Association.
This Sunday (3rd July), a Birmingham ‘Hope not Hate’ – Get Together, Discussion and Picnic is taking place in Cannon Hill Park between 2pm and 5pm.
A large rally – titled ‘We Are One‘ – has also been billed to take place on Sunday 17th July in Victoria Square, as a direct response to recent hate attacks; with organisers hoping it will be the “largest Birmingham unity gathering ever”. The event has been co-ordinated with human rights organisation Remembering Srebrenica and supported by Birmingham City Council.
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