Month: June 2020

Weekly Digest for Sunday 21st June

Good to see Scotland unlocking….tomorrow is start of week 15 of WFH for me and I can see me having occasional days back in the office. Traffic is getting busier too. Be interesting to see where the mask discussion goes. Mandatory from tomorrow on public transport but the ask to wear them in shops is largely ignored. Would say around 10-20% are wearing masks in the shops in Glasgow…needs to be higher. What I’m looking forward to is a week off work even with the lockdown restrictions in place. Need a rest.

How Google Docs became the social media of the resistance

Black Life’s Matter and many other organisations rely on social media but Google Doc’s is a surprisingly effective tool.

They Used Smartphone Cameras to Record Police Brutality—and Change History

Another modern day tool that’s a game changer is your mobile phone camera. What a weapon.

Birdman of Central Park

One video from the last few weeks that stuck with me was of the woman reporting a black man for hassling her…when all he had asked was to put her dog on a lead. This article explains more on the two people involved.

Sarah Cooper – owning Trump

Sarah Coopers video are viral gold on social media. So good.

Marcus Rashford owns the Government

An unlikely campaigner, 22 year old Marcus Rashford has not only raised millions for disadvantaged kids but forced the Tories into a U-turn this week to provide school meals for kids during the holidays. Brilliant.

You Download the App and it Doesn’t Work

WWDC tomorrow and while there’s rumours of ARM Mac’s and significant iOS changes to come the news this week has been dominated by Apple’s App Store and how it’s doubling down on service revenue and insisting that apps must allow Apple to take 30% of revenue. What worked 13 years ago is no longer the case. Hopefully Apple will see sense and change it’s stance…before legislation forces it.

Tenement Bonding

Glasgow tenements are fantastic. This story of how neighbours got together to reclaim a back garden is brilliant and shows another side of what lockdown has done – brought people together in times of need.

Story behind the Sad Banger

Robyn’s Dancing On My Own is such a great song.

Drive & Listen

If you need some background entertainment while you work you could do worse than try Drive & Listen. Quite addictive.

Black Lives Matter

Black Lives Matter. It’s such a simple and obvious statement, yet I’ve seen countless people criticising and jumping on the all lives matter bandwagon. Most have British flags in their twitter profile or profess a love of Brexit. This cartoon from scarecrowbar nails why Black Lives Matter is such an important statement that will not be silenced.

@scarecrowbar nails it

I’ve looked on in shock at the violence in America this week. Video after video of police attacking blacks in general, or attacking anyone protesting. So far the violence isn’t working. Protests are rising and spreading across the world. Not sure if it’s weeks of lockdown but this feels like a tipping point has finally been reached. But why should I comment? What do I know? I read this tweet about being black and working in the UK and was almost in tears.

I’ve never suffered from this prejudice but I’m in no doubt that others around me are racist and that in general we live in a racist and unjust society. I’ve seen and heard it at work. At times I’ve taken action but as I write this I know I could and should have done more. I’m part of the problem. So what now?

The biggest for me is Educate. This thread from Lisa-Marie Ferla has some really useful ways for people to educate themselves. I’ve already signed up for the course on British history. Time also has a list of books on anti-racism that I will start to read through.

However it’s clear that action is taking place. A statue of Colston was ripped down today in Bristol. He was a slave trader and you have to question why that action has caused so much upset around the UK. Is a slave trader someone that should be looked up to via a statue? Maybe 100 years ago when society was very different but not now. We’ve seen similar shouts to rename streets in Glasgow as it like Bristol and other UK cities grew thanks to the slave trade. Activists placed alternate names across Glasgow on streets named after slave trade owners. There’s also a petition gaining wide support – please sign it.

On the first day in months that there wasn’t a death from Coronavirus in Scotland I thought this may be a more positive post than recent but that will have to wait for another day.

Finally, if you are reading this and disagree then please read A Letter to my White Friends. Don’t be silent.