THE BLACK Lives Matter cause was brought to the heart of Saddleworth as activists took part in a local protest.
What happens in the area may seem as far removed from the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis, USA – some 3,860 miles away – as you can get.
But the fallout was brought to Uppermill as members of the Extinction Rebellion (XR) Mossley and Saddleworth branch took part in a demonstration.
On Wednesday, June 10, they and others held placards outside the village’s Methodist church and chanted, ‘Black Lives Matter.’
They also took a knee, the gesture that has become associated with the movement over recent years.
Mathew Hampson, of the XR Mossley and Saddleworth group, who works as a nurse and is a steward for the Unison trade union, was one of those who took to his knee.
He said: “We were protesting in Uppermill because we are sickened by the murder of George Floyd in the USA.
“We took the knee in solidarity with Black Lives Matter activists who demand a world free of racism, poverty and injustice.”
George Floyd’s death sparked the recent protests after a video on May 25 showed policeman Derek Chauvin kneeling on his neck and back as he pleaded for his life.
He has been charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter. Three other arresting officers are charged with aiding and abetting murder.
Officers responded to a call from a teenage grocery storeworker who alleged that Floyd had used a forge $20 note.
In a statement released by the Minneapolis Police Department, the officers responded to a report of a “forgery in progress.”
The death sparked protests around the world, with some in the UK turning violent and seeing statues of people linked to the slave trade pulled down, notably one of Edward Colston in Bristol.
Britain has been acknowledging that “Black lives matter” since the 18th century.
In 1772, Lord Mansfield gave his landmark judgment that slavery was illegal, meaning that any slave who landed here was automatically free.
Soon after this, Granville Sharp, Thomas Clarkson and William Wilberforce spearheaded the primarily Christian Evangelical campaign to make the slave trade illegal. This was finally made law in 1807, followed in 1833 by abolition of slavery itself in all British dominions.
By the way, it seems very strange that the only black person I can see in the pictured group is marginalised on the edge of the photo.
The Royal Navy established the West Africa Squadron at substantial expense in 1808 after Parliament passed the Slave Trade Act of 1807. The squadron’s task was to suppress the Atlantic slave trade by patrolling the coast of West Africa, preventing the slave trade by force of arms, including the interception of slave ships from Europe, the United States, the Barbary pirates, West Africa and the Ottoman Empire.
These folk need to read more.
In 1706, Smith v. Browne & Cooper, Sir John Holt, Lord Chief Justice of England, ruled that “as soon as a Negro comes into England, he becomes free. One may be a villein in England, but not a slave.”
So blacks were serfs just like whites. Only the Ottomans freed slaves sooner.
The Royal Navy established the West Africa Squadron (or Preventative Squadron) at substantial expense to the UK in 1808 after Parliament passed the Slave Trade Act of 1807. The squadron’s task was to suppress the Atlantic slave trade by patrolling the coast of West Africa, preventing the slave trade by force of arms, including the interception of slave ships from Europe, the United States, the Barbary pirates, West Africa and the Ottoman Empire.
The UK played a major role in ending slavery, but feel free to tear down our statues anyway.
Nothing but far left-wing political posturing. Pathetic. By the way, what will your stance be when the clamour comes for Ammon Wrigley’s statue to be pulled down? Find something useful to do.
Pathetic left wing political posturing. They’ll find a reason to topple Ammon Wrigley’s statue next. Find something useful to do.
Embarrassing that the Church is supporting this gangsterism. I suggest anyone interested reads the BLM manifesto to see what these useful idiots are supporting:
1) The abolition of the nuclear family;
2) Defunding of the police;
3) The abolition of capitalism etc.
Equality and respect for all but supporting a hard-Left separatist movement which sees this as an opportunity to recast society against the democratic will of the people? No.