Image part of the publicity for 1972 film The Harder They Come a 1972 Jamaican crime film directed by Perry Henzell and co-written by Trevor D. Rhone, and starring Jimmy Cliff. (Permission to use the image applied for)
I’m sharing Dr Alan Maddison’s Article from the great British blog Political Sift because, not only is there now a Task Force looking at Hate Crime against women in Universities and the Radio 4 programme Woman’s Hour has recently spoken out in her autobiography about tutor class and gender aggression. Obviously race impacts in these situations and Harriet mentions the 1980’s ‘not getting the joke’. She talks about Guys hospital Rag magazine which had a joke column that was foul and racist.
In 1988
She protested about these jokes and the local newspaper said she had ‘no sense of humour‘. She cites the case of the Soho Fire Service where a man who had behaved appallingly towards a woman at work. When one of the men was sacked his union fought for him (you can see here an example of where the union was incapable of delivering justice) and he was reinstated because it was seen as ‘just banter’. See the article by Ralph Jones here I haven’t read Harriet’s book ‘A Woman’s Work’ yet but the way black individuals and groups built and build alliances across race, class, religion and gender building social capital that is transforming for everyone is a real education and it’s thorough art and film and discussion of what we need.
So looking at the reporting of hate crime statistics I think it’s important to bear in mind that always, as we read terrible things that always, in the places where injustice is happening that there’s a continual process of knocking on the doors of democracy: measures being asked for, lobbied for and implemented to mitigate these horrors. That, without a doubt, there are good people who know that blind faith, technology and poor news media are the elephants in every living room in the UK. Dr Alan Maddison is one of them.
Above recently published percentage statistics of Hate Crimes in the UK Alan’s letter to Jeremy Corbyn is below.
My letter to Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell, January 12th 2017 — PoliticalSift
signsofanopencity 
This is just a quick look to connect a film (The Harder They Come) as a kind of knowing history with the ‘discovery’ of ‘facts’ and crimes against people. (This is important as we have to remember that everyone, including the Alt Right and the Far Right have stories based on racial superiority that justify slavery and the resulting oppression and modern day slavery I think.
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