As protests following the murder of George Floyd started to gather momentum during the summer, I felt the compulsion to speak up for the anti-racism movement.
I have been publicly highlighting systemic racism for more than 15 years. As a Muslim, and as someone of South Asian heritage, I know what it feels like to be fooled into believing that you are simply imagining your oppression.
But the summer was not the moment to speak out about personal experiences. I held my tongue. This was the moment for black communities to speak about their experiences of racism. And while the movement began in the US, it quickly gathered global momentum.
Levi Robinson, curated by Paints Institute, paints a mural of Desmond Tutu on the boarded-up windows of St. John's Church as a work of art activism for racial justice at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, U.S. REUTERS
Senia Cade, curated by Paints Institute, paints a mural on the boarded-up windows of St. John's Church as a work of art activism for racial justice at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, U.S. REUTERS
Louie Wri, curated by Paints Institute, looks at his mural on the boarded-up windows of St. John's Church as a work of art activism for racial justice at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, U.S. REUTERS
Keiona Clark, curated by Paints Institute, paints a mural on the boarded-up windows of St. John's Church as a work of art activism for racial justice at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, U.S. REUTERS
Demont Pinder, curated by Paints Institute, stands in front of a mural he's painting on the boarded-up windows of St. John's Church as a work of art activism for racial justice at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, U.S. REUTERS
Shawn Perkins, curated by Paints Institute, paints a mural on the boarded-up windows of St. John's Church as a work of art activism for racial justice at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, U.S. REUTERS
Sonia Jones, curated by Paints Institute, paints a mural on the boarded-up windows of St. John's Church as a work of art activism for racial justice at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, U.S. REUTERS
A woman walks near a wall of protest signs, including a portrait of Breonna Taylor - killed when drug investigators burst into her home in Louisville, Kentucky in March - at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, U.S. REUTERS
Rainwater bleeds the lettering on a protest sign at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, U.S. REUTERS
I took the view that my role at that moment, as a Muslim and as a person of colour, was to stand as an ally with my black brothers and sisters. But it was also about more than that.
It was also about wanting to confront racism in my own communities. Because the truth is more people are racists than they admit or even realise, and it is not easy to talk about. Like everyone else, some people of colour and some Muslims, too, hold racist views. It is hard to say, but say it we must.
Remaining silent allows discrimination to advance. Silence from people in my positon makes us complicit of racism – regardless of skin colour, religion or ethnicity. By not speaking up, we show that we are either uncaring or oblivious to the fact that we are agents perpetuating racism.
When some Muslims are challenged about their own biases against people of colour, a familiar response is to hold up the example of the esteemed companion of Prophet Mohammed, Bilal, who was black, as supposed evidence of racial harmony among all Muslims. Or to state that Islam is a brotherhood that sees beyond colour and race, all the while continuing without irony to demean black people.
People who are of colour but not black bristle at the notion that we might be upholding racist structures – the very same structures that we complain oppress us.
My family heritage is East African Indian, so I know first hand the history of how Indians were established as intermediaries between white colonists and black ‘natives’.
This conferred a sense of superiority among some East African Indians, keen to believe that there is something inherently better about us, while oppressing black people. This hierarchy is exactly how racist structures are entrenched and proliferated.
Demonstrators in London get their message across. Getty Images
Demonstrators in London get their message across. Getty Images
Demonstrators in London get their message across. Getty Images
Demonstrators in London get their message across. Getty Images
Demonstrators in London get their message across. Getty Images
Demonstrators in London get their message across. Getty Images
Demonstrators in London get their message across. Getty Images
The truth is more people are racists than they admit or even realise, and it is not easy to talk about
Regardless of their own skin colour, nobody wants to think of themselves as racist, particularly those who themselves may have been at the receiving end of racism, sexism, Islamophobia and other discriminations. So I understand that these are difficult and sensitive conversations.
October is Black History Month in the UK and parts of Europe, which makes it a perfect time to have these discussions with honesty and respect.
Dating back to the 1980s, the month’s aim was to offer a fresh perspective on the history that dominated British school teaching, with the goal of challenging racism.
It has broadened out since then to celebrate the contribution of black people and to nurture a deeper insight into black history. It drew on the American institution of Black History Month, which dates back to the 1920s and takes place in February every year.
Any other people of colour inclined to react to this takeover of the upcoming month with "what about me and my heritage" need to realise that it is not about us, but about black people and starting on a journey to equality and humanisation.
And if we can’t do it for altruistic reasons or the fact that it is intrinsically right, then we should understand that it is in our own interests to destabilise racist hierarchies. This is exactly what Black History Month sets out to do. That is why I will be soaking up all the cultural events in the coming weeks.
I was brought up with only a little knowledge of the history of East Africa, where my family lived for over a century. And shamefully, my knowledge of black British history is more limited than I would like – even though, in recent years, I have been working to rectify this.
I am only speaking for myself here, but I have found that by listening with an open heart and mind to the experience of black communities, one develops a stronger sense of humanity and a sharpened sense of one's own identity and place in the world.
Shelina Janmohamed is an author and a culture columnist for The National
A fraudulent investment operation where the scammer provides fake reports and generates returns for old investors through money paid by new investors, rather than through ligitimate business activities.
Red flags
Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
Tim Southee (capt), Trent Boult (games 4 and 5), Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson (games 1-3), Martin Guptill, Scott Kuggeleijn, Daryl Mitchell, Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Ross Taylor, Blair Tickner
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
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Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024. It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine. Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages]. The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts. With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians. Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved. Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world. The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say
- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance
- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs
- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills
- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month
- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
How to join and use Abu Dhabi’s public libraries
• There are six libraries in Abu Dhabi emirate run by the Department of Culture and Tourism, including one in Al Ain and Al Dhafra.
• Libraries are free to visit and visitors can consult books, use online resources and study there. Most are open from 8am to 8pm on weekdays, closed on Fridays and have variable hours on Saturdays, except for Qasr Al Watan which is open from 10am to 8pm every day.
• In order to borrow books, visitors must join the service by providing a passport photograph, Emirates ID and a refundable deposit of Dh400. Members can borrow five books for three weeks, all of which are renewable up to two times online.
• If users do not wish to pay the fee, they can still use the library’s electronic resources for free by simply registering on the website. Once registered, a username and password is provided, allowing remote access.
