Author: Migrant Tales

Shirlene Green Newball (Part 2/3): A list of some black female writers you should read

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Shirlene Green Newball*

In 2011, former President Barack Obama gave Maya Angelou the Presidential Medal of Freedom. A year later, it was presented to Toni Morrison (1931-2019), an icon of the black literature in the United States of America. She was born in Lorain, Ohio, being the second of four children from a middle African American working-class family.

Her novels include The Blue eyes, Sula, Song of Salomon, Tar Baby, Beloved, Jazz, Paradise, A Mercy, God Help the Child and The Source of Self-Regard. She also wrote articles for the Times Magazine, Black World, and Confrontation.

She was recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, Pulitzer Prize, American Book Award, National Book Critics Award, and Pen/Saul Bellow Award, etc.

In her books, she captures the vivid life of African history in the USA and their cultural heritage. This topic unites Toni and Lucía Charún–Illescas (1950), a writer, journalist, translator, and activist born in Lima, Peru (South America), from an Afro-descent family being the oldest of seven siblings. Her passion for literature started at an early age by reading some of the famous writers. 

Her novel Malambo plays an important role in the Peruvian literature since it is the first fiction book written by an Afro-Peruvian woman and translated to English and Italian.  She also is the author of the book Latinoamericano en Hamburgo. Besides these books, Charún also has written articles and stories printed in several magazines.

She won the Lyra Prize for Short Stories. In 2013 the government of Peru awarded her with the Meritorious Personality of Culture Distinction.

For years, she has resided in Hamburg, Germany, about this she has said: “Soy y seré siempre limeña y no quiero que los lectores me crean una negra europeizada o agringada, que vive fuera de Perú hace cuchucientos años”.

In 2009, she participated in the seminary for Black Afro-descent Women and Latin-American Culture in Montevideo, Uruguay, along with Shirley Campbell Barr (1965), who is a renowned poet and activist from Costa Rica, Central America. She comes from a family of five daughters and two sons.

Her poems are compiled in Rotundamente Negra (Utterly Unequivocally Black), which, has been incorporated in the Costa Rican curricular education system. Her second book is Naciendo (Being Born). Her work has been printed in different magazines from several countries and translated into French, English, and Portuguese. 

Another notorious Central American writer is June Beer Thompson (1935-1986), poet, painter, and activist born in Bluefields, Nicaragua. She grew up in a middle-class family of ancestral mixture roots (indigenous, afro, and other) being the youngest of eleven children.

The pride of her black identity, the culture of the indigenous groups and the Afro ethics, who are the minority population in Nicaragua; being female, and the love for her country, were revealed in her writings and paintings. The same figures from her painting were the ones that came to life in her poems.

Her poems, Love Poem, Walk in de Moonlite, Chunku faam, Resarrection a’ de Wud, and others were published in Wani, Sunrise magazine, and Hermanas de Tinta: Muestra de poesía multiétnica de mujeres nicaragüenses. Her poems were written in Creole, English, and Spanish.

Beer is an icon for the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua because she is the first black woman poet. Four of her paintings were declared a national patrimony.

From Nicaragua, the waves of the Caribbean Sea takes us to Nassau, Bahamas home of Marion Bethel (1953), a poet, essayist, attorney, human right activist, and filmmaker.

She is well known for her anthologies of poems Guahanani, My Love and Bougainvillea Ringplay. Furthermore, her work has also been published in The Massachusetts Review, The Caribbean Writer, and Junction.

In 2012, her documentary Womanish Ways: Freedom, Human Right, and Democracy 1934-1962, received the Award in Documentary at the Urban Suburban International Film Festival in Philadelphia.

She has received the James Michener Fellowship in the Department of English at the University of Miami, and CARICOM award for her contribution to gender and justice.

Marion also won the Casa de Las Americas Prize for her poetry. It is the same one that was achieved by Ana Maria Gonçalves (1970), a Brazilian writer, English professor, and publicist born in Ibiá, Minas Gerais.

In 2002, she decided to write full time which resulted with the publication of her first book Ao lado e à margem do que sentes por mim (Beside and at the Edge of What you Feel for Me). In 2006, her second book Um defeito de cor (A Colour Defect) was printed.

She was included in the newspaper O Globo list for the best Brazilian books from the previous decade.

A lot of her work has been encompassing in anthologies printed in Italy and Portugal. Gonçalves also was residence writer at several universities including Stanford University, the same college where Veronica Chambers (1970), had a John S. Knight Journalism fellow. She is awriter and editor born in Panama and raised in Brooklyn, NY.

She is the author of Mama’s Girls, Having it All: Black Women and Success, Kickboxing Geishas: How Modern Japanese Women are changing their Nation, The Go-Between, Quinceanera Means Sweet Fifteen, and other.

She also has edited essays, Meaning of Michelle: 16 Writers on the Iconic First Lady and How Her Journey Inspires Our Own and Queen Bey: A Celebration of the Power and Creativity of Beyoncé Knowles-Carter.  

She is co-writer of Yes, Chef with Marcus Samuelsson that earned the James Beard Award; and 32 Yorks with Eric Ripert which, is one of The New York Times bestseller.

*Shirlene Green Newball is an Afro-Nicaraguan journalist and feminist who lives in Finland.

Bibliography

Angelou, M. (2007) I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. London. Virago Press.

Adiche, C.  (2017) Half of a Yellow Sun. London. 4th Estate..

‘Afeto fértil, fértil poema: a líria de Jenyffer Nascimento’. Literafro, 10th July 2007. Available at: http://www.letras.ufmg.br/literafro/resenhas/poesia/1059-afeto-fertil-fertil-poema-a-lirica-de-jenyffer-nascimento

Corriols M. & Rossman Y. (2014) 1st. edn. Hermanas de tinta: Muestra de poesía multiétnica de mujeres nicaragüenses. Managua.

‘Courageous Zimbabwean writer whose books addressed the taboos of her society’, The Guardian, 27th April 2005. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/apr/27/guardianobituaries.books

Chambers Website. Available at:http://www.veronicachambers.com

Evans, M. (1984) Black Women Writers ( 1950-1980). The United States of America.

Gay’s Website. Available at: https://roxanegay.tumblr.com

Habila, H. (2011). African Short Story. 1st. edn. Granta Publications. London.

Hurston, Z. (1998) Their Eyes were Watching God. HapperCollins Publishers. New York.

Henry, P.  ‘Great Expectations: An Interview with Ayobami Adebayo’, El Paris Review 8 August 2017. Available at: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2017/08/08/great-expectations-interview-ayobami-adebayo/

Morrison, T. (1993) The Bluest Eye. Plume. United States of America.

Nndi’s Website. Available at: http://nnedi.com

Olaya, J.M. (2015) ‘Lucía Charún-Illescas, la primera novelista afroperuana’, Personajes afrodescendientes del Perú y América. Available at: https://afroliteratura.lamula.pe/2017/01/19/lucia-charun-illescas-la-primera-novelista-afroperuana/afroliteratura.lamula.pe/

Smith, Z.  (2017) Swing Time. Penguin Books. United Kingdom.

Shirlene Green Newball (Part 3/3): A list of some black female writers you should read

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Shirlene Green Newball*

A lot our writers are great editors of books, newspapers, and essays. Veronica Chambers, our previous author, was an editor at Newsweek, Glamour, and The New Times Magazine, been the first black woman with that title. Yvonne Vera (1964-2005), also edited several anthologies by African women writers.

She was born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe (Africa), studied and imparted English Literature at Njube High School. Years after, she immigrated to Canada, where she completed her higher studies and worked.

While she was studying her first collection of short stories Why Don´t you Carve other Animals (1992) was published in Toronto Magazine. A year later her novel Nehanda, was printed followed by Without a Name, Under the Tongue, Butterfly Burning, and The Stone Virgins. Her writing discloses topics of colonialism, sexism, racism, war, oppression, and others.

Many of her works were shortlisted and won awards like Commonwealth Prize for Africa, Germany Literary Prize, Macmillan Writer’s Prize for Africa, the Swedish Pen Tucholsky Prize, and others.

Vera was the director at the National Gallery, a similar position that Victoria Santa Cruz (1922-2014), had at the National Folklore School in Peru.

This Afro-Peruvian poet, choreographer, composer, and activist had 10 siblings who were taught the Afro-Peruvian culture by her parents who were a painter, dancer, writer, and playwright. Along with her younger brother, they cofounded Cumanana the first black theatre.

At an early age, children rejected Victoria in her neighborhood because of her color skin; they shouted at her: “Black, Black.” This gave her the courage, braveness, and creativity to write her emblematic poem Me gritaron Negra (They called me Black) was dramatized.

She received awards and honors from the Peruvian and French governments. Her works had been exhibited in museum and festivals in several countries. Her peak moment was in 1968 when her group Teatro y Danzas Negras del Perú performed at the Olympics in Mexico City. Her art pieces are collected on CD or web platforms.

Santa Cruz used lyrics and music as instruments to declare her poems. Likewise, Elcina Valencia Córdoba (1963), used these same techniques years later in her works.

A writer and musician from Buenaventura, Colombia (South America), she learned her artistic interest from her mother who was a musician. At the age of 17, she wrote her first poem for one of her high school teachers.

During her career, she participated in several local, national, and international events. In 1991, the Roldanillo Rayo Museo organized an event to present her poetry. It made a huge impression on the directors of the museum, so they decided to publish her first book entitled Todos somos culpaples (We Are all Guilty).

Other literary works attributed to her are Rutas de autonomía y caminos de identidad, Susurros de palmeras, Analogías y anhelos, Pentagrama de pasión.

She had received the Almanegra equivalent to Almamadre given to the most prestigious writers, National Prize of Erotic Poetry a recognition plaque; and recently she was listed between the most outstanding women of Valle de Cauca.

Córdoba is part of the committee of Buenaventura to preserve the folklore from the South Pacific same role Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960), played for the USA folklore collection.

She was inborn in Eatonville, Florida (USA), she was the fifth of eight children from a marriage of a carpenter-preacher and a schoolteacher. She attended school at a late age (13); however, she achieved a Bachelor’s Degree in Anthropology.

She was a great novelist, playwright, and researcher. From 1921 to 1935 she published in magazines several stories and essays, for example, John Redding Goes to Sea, Spunk, Muttsy, The Fire and the Cloud, The Great Day, etc.

In 1934, she published her first novel John’s Gourd Vine, which was acknowledged by the critics. Following were Mules and Men, Their Eyes were Watching God, her masterpiece, Tell My Horse, Moses, Man on the Mountain, Dusk Tracks on the Road and Seraph on the Suwanee.

Hurston won several literary and alumni awards during her career. In 1956, she received an award for Education and Human Relations at Bethune-Cookman College.

During her career, Hurston traveled to several countries to compile the history of the black communities. Angela Nzambi (1971), born in Lia, a district in Bata, Equatorial Guinea (Africa), also collected oral history of her community to be used in her books. 

This writer, feminist, and human activist who reside in Valencia, Spain, actively campaigned for the black community and migrants.

Nzambi literature work includes Nguisi, based on an oral tradition from her village and stories of her personal life. Biyaare (Stars) describes different characters that had shown like stars. Her third book Mayimbo (Wanderings) won the International Justo Bolekia Boleká Prize for African Literature.

She also participated in the production of a collective literature Navidad dulce, Navidad (Nativity, Sweet Nativity) and 23 Relatos sin Fronteras (23 Stories without Borders).

A lot of the authors listed before are considered feminists, so is the case of our last recognized author who is an energetic writer and art producer from Brazil. Jenyffer Nascimento’s (1993), born in Paulista, Pernambuco; desire to write started at an early age, but it wasn’t until she completed her teenage that she got to express her anger, anguish, and hopes true her rap lyrics.

Nascimento describes in her poems social issues, relation with the land or city, black pride, love, black woman experiences, among other topics.

Her book Terra Fértil (Fertile Land) is a collection of poems that demonstrates the experiences of black women from the outskirt of São Paulo. Her works have also been published in Pretextos de Mulheres Negras (Pretext of Black Women), which, compiles the work of 22 contemporary black writers. 

*Shirlene Green Newball is an Afro-Nicaraguan journalist and feminist who lives in Finland.

Bibliography

Angelou, M. (2007) I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. London. Virago Press.

Adiche, C.  (2017) Half of a Yellow Sun. London. 4th Estate..

‘Afeto fértil, fértil poema: a líria de Jenyffer Nascimento’. Literafro, 10th July 2007. Available at: http://www.letras.ufmg.br/literafro/resenhas/poesia/1059-afeto-fertil-fertil-poema-a-lirica-de-jenyffer-nascimento

Corriols M. & Rossman Y. (2014) 1st. edn. Hermanas de tinta: Muestra de poesía multiétnica de mujeres nicaragüenses. Managua.

‘Courageous Zimbabwean writer whose books addressed the taboos of her society’, The Guardian, 27th April 2005. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/apr/27/guardianobituaries.books

Chambers Website. Available at:http://www.veronicachambers.com

Evans, M. (1984) Black Women Writers ( 1950-1980). The United States of America.

Gay’s Website. Available at: https://roxanegay.tumblr.com

Habila, H. (2011). African Short Story. 1st. edn. Granta Publications. London.

Hurston, Z. (1998) Their Eyes were Watching God. Happer Collins Publishers. New York.

Henry, P.  ‘Great Expectations: An Interview with Ayobami Adebayo’, El Paris Review 8 August 2017. Available at: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2017/08/08/great-expectations-interview-ayobami-adebayo/

Morrison, T. (1993) The Bluest Eye. Plume. United States of America.

Nndi’s Website. Available at: http://nnedi.com

Olaya, J.M. (2015) ‘Lucía Charún-Illescas, la primera novelista afroperuana’, Personajes afrodescendientes del Perú y América. Available at: https://afroliteratura.lamula.pe/2017/01/19/lucia-charun-illescas-la-primera-novelista-afroperuana/afroliteratura.lamula.pe/

Smith, Z.  (2017) Swing Time. Penguin Books. United Kingdom.

Daniel Malpica: Tottelemattomuus. On the Finnish Immigration Policy

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Daniel Malpica*

A couple of months ago, as part of the Writers for Peace Committee, the Finnish PEN was commissioned to write a resolution regarding migration on behalf of The Assembly of Delegates of PEN International. That resolution – written in a collaboration between Veera Tyhtilä, Shashank Mane and I – was focused on the problematic suffered by migrants and asylum seekers worldwide in relation to their condition as outsiders in foreign lands. The document made a diagnosis on the neediness for legal aid and locally contextualized the current situation in Finland.

I remembered this document while trying to articulate my nightmare with the Finnish Immigration Office for this article. Something important about the resolution was focused on conceiving the problem as an ethical priority that should be highlighted and tackled for the sake of human dignity and structural change. The final version of the resolution will be presented at the 85th PEN International Congress in Manila, being a document with strong personal significance due to the fact that it resonates with values that symbolically represents me as a Mexican-born professional making a living in Finland.

Read the full story here.

To give a little of context about me, I might say that I am an author and graphic designer residing in Helsinki since late 2013, and also a board member of the Finnish PEN. My work and experience as a writer, multimedia artist and activist on cultural advocacy is relatively known by the community on the field in Finland and Mexico. My literary and artistic practice has been supported by local institutions like the Arts Promotion Center Finland and Kone Foundation, opening spaces for Finnish-born and non Finnish-born professionals in Finland and abroad. I am also an entrepreneur running my own firm (toiminimi) with clients from the cultural, academic and hospitality industries; I have been translator, publisher, producer, curator; and so on and so forth.

On August 2018 I received a negative decision from the Finnish Immigration Office (Migri). The story involved an appointment letter to visit them at the terminal 2 of the Airport, a phone call with an interpreter in Spanish and a negative decision with the request to leave the country back to Mexico. I originally applied with my own firm for an entrepreneurs residence permit and during that time I received a full time working grant by Kone Foundation. I informed Migri about the grant – and its demand for a full commitment – and, instead of suggesting that perhaps it was not the suitable application for my current status, it was easier for them to deny me the residence.

So I got an attorney, we appealed, I applied for a new residence permit under the base of professional artist; before summer this year they asked for my sources of income (which were the grant and my company). Summer passed by, Kone Foundation’s grant came to an end last July, then they asked yet again for my sources of income but this time – ironically – with a suggestion to apply for the entrepreneurs residence permit if my income were mainly generated from my company. So they basically suggested me to go for the same residence permit that was rejected already a year before, including the extra expenses that applying again might bring.

I asked for two more weeks to do the suggested application but then the appealing decision came from the higher judge saying that I never informed about the grant, that I do not have ties with Finland, that I have another residence permit application on process and therefore they do not see a reason why I should not be deported.

According to a Migration Review made by the ministry, several legislative amendments were introduced in the previous government term to make it easier for entrepreneurs and experts to move to Finland in order to promote economic growth and employment, but It does not seem to be the case for professional artistic or cultural based workers financed by an institution in the form of a grant. Yet again, in parallel, it still remains unclear why the work made within a firm is not consider professional artistic work under the eyes of the Migration Office, in direct contradiction with the criterias given by the Ministry of Education and Culture where a grant from the Arts Promotion Centre Finland can be awarded throughout a company. So independently if the grant passes through my firm (Manuke. Lit, Media Art & Design), or not, the point is that the work within it should be considered professional artistic practice according to their criterias in other branches of the government.

One way or the other, the inconsistencies and opacity that Migri has regarding the evaluation processes, with no clear contact person to whom consult with about your own case, ends up making the process very unfortunate and giving a general feeling of estructural harassment, considering also that there are no clear mechanisms that explain what they really look for when they process a residence permit application. This is a delicate issue due to the fact that many people suffer this kind of situation in similar or worse proportion to my case. Spending money in applications, judges and attorneys; and sometimes even with no voices of their own representation to speak their stories, like in the case of asylum seekers for instance. All these elements together seem to depict a clear structural resistance, even when the Government Integration Programme for 2016–2019 and Government Resolution on a Government Integration Programme published by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment in 2016 already acknowledged the relevance and urgency of a humane integration policy.

Last May, Support Structures Collective organized a peer group for art and cultural workers dealing with Migri. The peer group, coordinated by artist Martina Miño, took place at the facilities of Globe Art Point (Gap) in Helsinki and it was intended to compile the stories suffered by the field, identify common grounds of needs, and deal with possible solutions collectively. I attended the group both as Gap’s representative and as a professional struggling with the Migration Office myself. Martina told me that there were some attempts to contact Migri asking for them to provide one of their specialists or evaluators who could join the group, it seems to be that after some e-mail exchanges they just stop answering.

A statistical review made by The Finnish National Contact Point of the European Migration Network (EMN) in 2018, which compiles statistics from the Finnish Immigration Service, Police and Finnish Border Guard as well as the International Organization for Migration (IOM), shows that around 60% of the decisions on first residence permits for the category of ‘self-employment’ between 2017-2018 were negative from a total of 293 applications. Furthermore, the review mentions that before applying for the residence permit under the grounds of self-employment / entrepreneur, the applicant needs to get an assessment of the business model from Business Finland, but none of that information is specified in Migri’s official website. Yritys Espoo offers free of charge business advice for everyone, by the way.

For the Residence Permit Application for Work in the field of Culture or Arts, the information is not included into the statistical review, leaving a big question mark on the transparency of a process where I clearly covered all their criteria, despite its discriminatory statement on what is not a professional artist (“You may for example be a circus performer or a performing artist, but not a restaurant musician”).

While writing this article, I am facing a deportation process. But this time I have to request an appeal to the Supreme Court. A request.

True poets happen suddenly: they are born
and unborn in four lines
– Gonzalo Rojas

*Daniel Malpica is a Mexican-born author, graphic designer and board member of Finnish PEN.

See also:

Read the original posting here.

This posting was published with permission.

The real MP Jani Mäkelä and how the PS also waters the poisonous fruit of anti-Semitism in Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

THIS STORY WAS UPDATED

A tweet, which alleges Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Jani Mäkelä, stating that “without SS troops, Finlan would have lost the Continuation War (1941-44), is from a fake account. If this is true, we apologize for the mix-up.

I wrote a comment to PS MP Mäkelä below after he asked me to “Stop spreading fake news and remove this post and related web article, before I need to take further action!”



Do you believe that PS MP Mäkelä will answer my question?

I’m not holding my breath.

What Mäkelä thinks about the SS and its role in the Continuation War (1941-44) would be of interest, considering that the PS is a far-right radical right party that has links with neo-Nazi and fascist groups like Suomen Sisu.

One of PS MP Mäkelä’s campaign platform was, like all of the candidates who got elected, anti-immigration. The tweet below and his reaction to it show what he thinks about Muslims and cultural diversity in Finland.

If it were for him, minorities like Muslims would be at the total mercy of the PS’ hostile Islamophobia.

Mäkelä did not like at all Police Chief Inspector Jari Taponen’s tweet: “Even in Islandic politics hate speech has become more common. The rhetoric follows the same European formula, where the targets of this rhetoric are arriving East European migrants and Muslims. Politicians insist on their hate speech banning Sharia Law, banning mosques and banning the Burka, among others.”

Irrespective of the fake tweet, we all know that the PS is an Islamophobic, xenophobic, homophobic, and far-right radical right party. We should not be surprised that their anti-immigration populist rhetoric has fueled the hostile environment most likely fueled hate speech against Finland’s small Jewish community.

Migrant Tales reported in 2017 how the Jewish community of Helsinki felt threatened by rising hate speech.

“I will not say that it is only the extreme right that is directing this [online] hate speech against the Jewish community,” said Yaron Nadbornik, the president of the Jewish Community of Helsinki. ”Let’s just say that they are people from different ideologies that write online thousands of hate comments against Jews.”

All those who defend the SS role in Finland are blind to the atrocities committed and such group’s complicity in the extermination of the Jews.

We have heard of the SS death squads, the Einsatzgruppen, who are responsible for murdering three million Jews.

If there is a good example of why anti-Semitism has flourished in Finland like other forms of racism, it is Mäkelä’s tweet above.

See also:

The City of Ylivieska in Finland awards anti-Semite with distinction (September 24, 2014)

The Jews of Finland (August 27, 2013)

* The far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.

European Network Against Racism Shadow Report on Racist Crime and Institutional Racism in Europe

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Brussels, 12 September 2019 – Institutional racism prevails in criminal justice systems across the EU and impacts how racist crimes are (not) recorded, investigated and prosecuted, according to a new report published by ENAR today.

“Twenty years after the Macpherson Report revealed that the British police was institutionally racist, we now find that criminal justice systems across the European Union fail to protect victims of racist crimes – this despite the increase in violent racially motivated crimes”, said Karen Taylor, Chair of the European Network Against Racism.

ENAR’s report, covering 24 EU Member States, provides data on racist crimes between 2014 and 2018, and documents institutional practice during the recording, investigation and prosecution of hate crimes with a racial bias. It reveals how subtle forms of racism persistently appear in the criminal justice system from the moment a victim reports a racially motivated crime to the police, through to investigation and prosecution. This leads to a ‘justice gap’: a significant number of hate crime cases end up being dropped as a hate crime.

Read the full report here.

Data over the period 2014-2018 suggest that racially motivated crimes are on the rise in many EU Member States. In addition, major events such as terrorist acts – and the political rhetoric and responses to these attacks – can cause spikes in the numbers of recorded racist crimes.

The shadow reported one case of Finland on page 39.

Most EU Member States have hate crime laws, as well as policies and guidance in place to respond to racist crime, but they are not enforced because of a context of deeply rooted institutional racism within law enforcement authorities.

The mishandling of racially motivated crimes by the authorities, and in particular the police, starts with the recording of racist crimes. Evidence suggests that the police do not take reports of racist crime seriously or they do not believe victims of such crimes. This practice appears to be especially true if certain groups, such as Roma and black people, report these crimes. Racial stereotyping is pervasive in policing at all levels.

In addition, the lack of institutional response and negative experiences of victims with the police mean that civil society organisations have to fill in the gap to ensure racially motivated crimes are properly recorded.

The racial bias can ‘disappear’ in the course of the police recording and investigating the crime. The police find it more straightforward to investigate crimes, such as violation of public order or crimes against property, than uncovering the evidence of the bias motivation.

There are also several factors that hinder the successful prosecution and sentencing of a hate crime with a racial bias, including lack of clear definitions of hate crimes with a racial bias; lack of training and limited capacity; and under-use of the aggravated ‘hate’ clause.

“We need a significant change within the criminal justice system, if racial justice is to prevail for victims of racist crime in Europe. Governments and institutions can better respond to hate crimes if they commit to review the practice, policies and procedures that disadvantage certain groups,” said Karen Taylor. “People’s safety is at stake and justice must be served – for all members of society.”

For further information, contact:

Georgina Siklossy, Senior Communication and Press Officer
Tel: +32 (0)2 229 35 70 – Mobile: +32 (0)473 490 531 – Email: [email protected] – Web: www.enar-eu.org

Notes to the editor:

1. ENAR’s 2014-18 Shadow Report on racist crime and institutional racism is based on data and information from 24 EU Member States: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain and the United Kingdom.
2. The report and key findings are available here: https://www.enar-eu.org/Shadow-Reports-on-racism-in-Europe. The report also includes case studies and testimonies highlighting the experiences of victims of racially motivated crime, the lack of protection and failure of measures for justice for these victims.
3. The Macpherson Report, ordered by the British government and published in 1999, is the report of a public inquiry into the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence, a black teenager, and the ensuing police investigation. It concluded that the Metropolitan Police was “institutionally racist” and made 70 recommendations for reform, covering both policing and criminal law.
4. The European Network Against Racism (ENAR aisbl) stands against racism and discrimination and advocates equality and solidarity for all in Europe. We connect local and national anti-racist NGOs throughout Europe and voice the concerns of ethnic and religious minorities in European and national policy debates.

Selected case studies:

Lenient sentence for murderer of Nigerian refugee (Italy)
The main perpetrator of the racially motivated murder of a Nigerian man, affiliated with a far-right group, was arrested on charges of manslaughter, aggravated by racist motives. However, his lawyer, together with part of the local and national media, pleaded legitimate defence. The man later received a reduced sentence of four years in house arrest.

Police fails victim of racist and homophobic attack (Netherlands)
“I have to be on watch 24/7 just because of who I am, it drains me. I’m just not important”.
Omair was harassed on grounds of his origin and sexual orientation on a bus in Utrecht. The police officer did not want to document witnesses’ statements or check the bus camera images. Four months later, Omair received a statement by the police that the case could not be pursued due to lack of evidence. Omair requested a meeting at his police office to discuss the statement with a member of the Pink in Blue Network, a network of LGBTQI police officers. The officer acknowledged the case should have been investigated as a hate crime and that the incident was wrongly recorded.

Police mistreatment of Roma people (Slovakia)
More than 60 police officers physically attacked 30 Roma people, including women and children, during a police raid. The police entered the houses without permission and caused material damage. Several complaints were submitted to the police inspection for investigation. The police inspection found that the police had acted in accordance with the law. The inspection was based only on investigating information from police officers. No other witness was included in the inspection. One victim filed a criminal complaint, but this was dismissed as unfounded.

Who needs a commissioner for protecting European values? What are “our” European values anyway?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Why does the European Commission need a commissioner for the protection of “our” European values? Protection of what “European” values need protecting?

Are social exclusion and racism European values? What about the over 34,361 migrants who have died to May 2018 while crossing the Mediterranean Sea? What about Islamophobia? Fascism? Our unrepentant colonial past, among other dark spots?

What are our common values? Human rights? Respect for diversity and social equality? Are we hypocrites or do these laws only apply to white Europeans?

Apart from the 25 new commissioners being white, it’s clear that little will change concerning inequality and racism with EU President-elect Ursula von der Leyenwith.

The EU is such a hostile place for some minorities these days that even the mere suggestion of a little diversity causes a hostile knee-jerk reaction.

EU President-elect von der Leyen caves into the threat of fascism and Islamophobia

Posted on by Migrant Tales

EU President-elect Ursula von der Leyen presented Tuesday her team and the new structure of the next European Commission. Apart from having no minorities on the commission, von der Leyen, raised a lot of eyebrows by nominating Margaritis Schinas of Greece as the new Commissioner for Protecting Our European Way of Life.

In a story in The Independent, states that the title suggests that immigration and cultural diversity are threats to Europe.

The fact that at this point EU President-elect von der Leyen seeks a Commission for Protecting our European Way of Life suggests that racism and social exclusion of minorities and people of color will continue to get the short end of the European stick.

Molly Scott Cato, a British Green MEP, was quoted as saying in The Independent: “This looks like the portfolio to fight back against the rise of the fascists, but only by adopting their divisive rhetoric around ‘strong borders.'”

Image result for The new european commission commissioners
The new nominees for commissioner are all white. Even Finland’s commissioner, Jutta Urpilainen, had a difficult time understanding almost ten years ago what cultural diversity means and who are people of color. Her (in)famous avice to immigrants: In Rome do as the Romans do. Urpilainen will be in charge of international partnerships and forging relations relations with Africa.

Dutch liberal MEP Sophie in ‘t Veld added: “The very point about the European way of life, is the freedom for individuals to chose their own way of life. We do not need a Commissioner for that, thank you very much.”

She adds: “The implication that Europeans need to be protected from external cultures is grotesque and this narrative should be rejected.”

Council of Europe: Mayday, Mayday, Finland must get a grip on rising hate speech, racism, and implement trans rights

Posted on by Migrant Tales

THIS STORY WAS UPDATED

In the face of rising hate speech, racism and the lack of trans rights, the Council of Europe Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) called today on Finland to tackle such social issues.

ECRI added: “[t]o tackle growing racist and intolerant hate speech, better coordinate integration activities for immigrants and review the law requiring transgender people to be sterilized before they can have their new gender legally recognized.”

Finland’s hostile environment against migrants and minorities is a Mayday call to do something.

Read the full ECRI statement here.

But how can anything effective be done if Finland’s second-largest political party in parliament, the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, are spreading ethnic hatred and demanding to do away with hate speech laws?

How much harm and fuel to the fire of racism is spread when politicians like PS First Vice-President Riikka Purra near-constantly attacks people of color by labeling them “human scum.”

Adding to the problem are mainstream parties like the National Coalition Party and Center Party that give mixed messages on accepting the PS as a future partner in government.

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand that one of the big problems in Finland is enforcement of hate speech laws. For some, the police are seen as part of the problem.

Even so, ECRI said that “it welcomes the adoption of a new anti-discrimination law and the prohibition of ethnic profiling, as well as measures taken to combat hate speech, including the setting-up of Hate Speech Investigation Teams in every Police Department.”

Some 900 Finnish police officers have received training on preventing and combating hate crimes.

* The far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.

The dark racist side of Finland, the Nordic country with the best education system, home of equal rights and all that blah blah

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Helsinki City Councillor Abdirahim Husu Hussein, who is now giving racists and parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* a taste of their own medicine proves a point: There is too much racism in Finland, and too little is done to counter it.

Disagree? How many hate speech, hate crime, and cases involving racism ever reach the courts? How long does it take to reach the courts? How many get convictions?

After receiving countless racist insults and recently a letter with a death threat and a piece of rope tied as a noose, the insults, death threats, and racist harassment against Hussein continue.

Hussein’s case is a sad reminder that even if we have good laws against racism and hate speech, too little is done to enforce them.

Attacks against Hussein continue and show that Finland does too little to counter hate speech and racism.

Racism and hate are like a rabid dog that some politicians walk to impress and lure their voters. They forget, however, that that dog knows no master and can bite back hard, very hard.

* The far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.

Danger of white terrorist attacks in Norway and Europe. What about Finland?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

A report by the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) warns that Norway and Europe may suffer from terrorist attacks in the next few months against Muslims, Jews, and the LGBTQ community, reports Yle, citing the Norwegian Police Security Service.

PST cites the Christchurch attack against two mosques in New Zealand in March as a source which may encourage some to act.

Read the PST statement (in Norwegian) here.

Apart from alligator tears from then Foreign Minister Timo Soini, PS Youth’s Johannes Sipola blamed in the tweet below the killings in New Zealand on multiculturalism.

Even PS Chairperson Jussi Halla-aho played down what happened in New Zealand in March. He considered the attack due to mental health or social marginalization.

Considering that “quiet” Norway suffered its worst attack after World War 2 on July 22, 2011, when Anders Breivik murdered 77 innocent victims, and a new attack happened in August when a young white Norwegian did not succeed at killing Muslims at the Al-Noor Islamic Center near Oslo.

Writes PST: “Some right-wing groups internationally will insist on urging their members to carry out terrorist attacks. The groups are spreading terrorist propaganda as part of their goal to launch a revolution and a racial war.”

What about Finland? Has the Finnish Security Intelligence Service (SUPO) conducted a similar assessment? I’m certain that they have but why haven’t they warned the public?

Considering that radical right groups like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* are spreading the very hatred that fuels and feeds white terrorism, this may discourage them from being too public about the threat.

Finnish exceptionalism and simple ignorance on the impact of racism may also be factors.

Words have consequences and those words are copied by the PS and other hard-right groups. Apart from fueling racism and discrimination, it’s pretty clear that labeling Muslims and Africans as a threat to Finland is the poison pill that these white terrorists like to hear.

All of the PS MPs who got elected this year used Islamophobia or some form of populist anti-immigration rhetoric in their campaigns.

Racism and and spreading ethnic hatred has become so normal in Finland that the PS’ first vice-president, Riikka Purra, asks with a poker face if it is racist to call an African rapist “human scum.”

Indeed, it is racist, especially when the person making such a comment is white and belongs to an Islamophobic party like the PS.

As words have consequences so does spreading racism. Racism is like a rabid dog that populist anti-immigration politicians use to impress their voters. They walk around with this dog but keep it on a short leash. Since the dog knows no master, it can bite its owner hard.

The rise in hate crime in Finland is already one indication that should start to worry.

Let’s hope that this concern turns to action to tackle all forms of hatred.

* The far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.