People gatehered outside Ealing Town Hall to commemorate the first anniversary of the brutal murder of George Floyd in the USA.

About forty people joined West London Stand Up To Racism, outside the Ealing Town Hall, on Tuesday evening, 25 May 2021, to commemorate the first anniversary of the brutal murder of George Floyd in the USA which had led to the world wide protests and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Rupa Huq MP, Peter Mason, leader of the Ealing Council, Cllr. Aysha Raza as well as a number of other Ealing councillors also took part. The other two Ealing MPs, James Murray and Virendra Sharma had sent messages of support. Representatives of the Ealing Trades Council, Ealing branches of the Unison and the National Education Union and West London Unite Community were also present.

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The gathering heard speeches from various speakers and then they 'took the knee' in the honour of George Floyd and also all the other black people who have died at the hands of the police. The Ealing Town Hall was also lit in purple, in the colour of Black Lives Matter movement.

Balwinder Rana, spokesperson for the West London Stand Up To Racism, said: "While we remember the brutal murder of Geroge Floyd in front of the cameras which caused revulsion throughout the world, we mustn't forget that this country is also not innocent. Many young black men have also died in this country at the hands of the police and there are too many names to say here today. We must keep protesting until we get justice for them all and we put an end to these deaths."

"But, we are also protesting against the rise of racism which is affecting the lives of many black, Asian and other minority ethnic people. The recent 'Sewell report' had tried to deny existence of institutional racism but we people can't be fooled because we have to live with it every day with the disproportionate affects of covid-19, 'name discrimination' when looking for jobs and 'pay gap' as well as lack of promotions when compared to our white counterparts."

He further added, "We want to urge the Ealing Council to make teaching of 'black history' compulsory in the schools' curriculum to be taught daily and not just for the 'Black History' months. It's important that children learn why we people are in this country. We didn't come here for the weather or the 'sunshine' but we came because our countries were left impoverished by colonialism. Once people begin to understand that only then we can all join together to oppose racism in its all forms, including islamophobia and anti-Semitism. But we are very happy with the trade unions and the politicians who are supporting us and united we can overcome one day."

Virendra Sharma MP had also sent the message: "This year has maybe done more to highlight the horrific racism still present in our public systems. America is not alone in being captured by an inherently racist system. Standing up to racism is about confronting those that wish to preserve their power at the cost of fairness and justice. Thank you for being part of tearing that down."