Solidarity with Selma Taha and her friends #KingsCross3 #DropTheRacistCharges

July Update

This July we are asking you to take four actions

1. JOIN US at Highbury magistrates Court on Wednesday 10th, Thursday 11th, Friday 12th of June. Bring Banners.

2. Please DONATE to their fighting fund using the reference Kings Cross Three

3. Please SHARE THIS APPEAL for witnesses.

4. Please SIGN THE PETITION, it is now surpassed 36k signatures.

 

We are pleased to announce that the CPS has dropped some of the racist charges against Danae and Divina:

• The racially aggravated public order offence charge against Danae, in relation to alleged conduct towards a white British Transport police officer on the platform at King’s Cross.
• The public order offence, without the racial aggravation, against Divina, again in relation to alleged conduct towards the same police officer at the tube station after the attack.

You can read more here. We are hopeful that this indicates that these racist charges are unravelling.

June Update

Public Meeting on Institutional Racism: The Criminalisation of Black Women

Join Southall Black Sisters online,  Wed 12th June @ 18:30

Southall Black Sisters are organising a public meeting to raise awareness about Black women’s daily experiences of institutional racism and the criminalisation they are subjected to if they dare to resist racist abuse.

In September last year, our Executive Director Selma Taha and her friends, Divina Riggon and Danae Thomas, were subjected to an extremely violent racist attack while on the Underground, in the presence of an off-duty Met police officer. This included the assailant, a white woman, making monkey sounds at Selma and her friends, and calling them “Black bitches” and “slaves” among other vile racist slurs. The assailant subsequently physically attacked Selma and her friends, pulling clumps of hair off Selma and her friend and biting Selma’s flesh, leaving a deeply embedded imprint of her teeth which necessitated tetanus and hepatitis injections and antibiotics.

Southall Black Sisters

May update

Thank you to the women’s groups from across the UK, and others who gathered, in solidarity with Selma Taha, Divinia Riggon & Danae Thomas outside Highbury Magistrates court earlier this month.

We are horrified that these charges have not been dropped. Please join us at Highbury Magistrates Court on 10th, 11th & 12th of July.

We must stand with Selma, Divina and Danae against this injustice.

Southall Black Sisters update here.

Thank you to all who attended Highbury Magistrates Court in solidarity with Selma Taha & her friends.

Please join us at 1pm April 26th. #DropTheRacistCharges #IStandWithSelmaTaha pic.twitter.com/h6eRZFEVsv

— Woman’s Place UK (@Womans_Place_UK) April 12, 2024

Statement

On Friday 29th September, Selma Taha, director of Southall Black Sisters (SBS), and her two friends she was traveling with, were subjected to racist abuse and physical violence on the London Underground. WPUK stand in solidarity with Selma Taha and her friends

You can read more about the attack, and subsequent police failures in their October statement Who do the police work for?  

Thirty years after the Macpherson Report highlighted the Met’s institutional racism and misogyny and confirmed by the recent Casey Report, we have seen little change to restore our faith. At a time of heightened sensitivity and acknowledgment of these issues, it is not unreasonable to expect better policing. Yet again we are being treated as offenders first and victims later.

Southall Black Sisters

We are appalled by the subsequent CPS charging decisions. Please see the recent SBS statement, Update – Violent Racist Attack on Selma Taha and Friends

“It would not be appropriate for me to make further public comment given this development, save to confirm that we will be fighting the charges, and that we regard these charges as criminalising the right of Black people, and in particular Black women, to call out racist abuse and resist racist violence.

Selma Taha

The first court hearing  is 11 April 2024, 10am, at Highbury Magistrates Court. Along with other women’s organisations, we will be outside the court from 9am. Please join us in solidarity with Selma and her friends.

The racist attack on Selma Taha and the poor police response demonstrates the vital role organisations like Southall Black Sisters play in challenging interpersonal and institutionalised racism. This includes their dedicated service to Black and minoritised women. We know that racism thrives wherever it is not challenged, including in the Metropolitan Police

#IStandWithSelmaTaha Woman’s Place UK 

Southall Black Sisters are appealing for witnesses. If you, or someone you know witnessed this attack please contact SBS via info@southallblacksisters.co.uk You can donate to support the work of Southall Black Sisters here.

BBC  I  Evening Standard  I  The Guardian

#IStandWithSelmaTaha #DropTheRacistCharges #Kingsx3 #TheKingsCross3

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Solidarity with Selma Taha and her friends

Art credit Emma Jackson

 

 

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Anti-racism