Hucknall and Bulwell people urged to join the stand against racism

The international day, commemorates the Sharpville massacre in South Africa which happened on 21st March 1960.

A day of action has been called on the nearest Saturday to that date each year by organisations around the world.

In Britain, it is led by Stand Up To Racism & the Trades Union Congress (TUC).

The day is usually marked with public events, however, due to Coronavirus this year’s events will be taking place online in cities and communities around the world.

In the lead-up to the day, the council house in Nottingham’s Old Market Square will be lit in purple on Friday, March 19 and Saturday, March 20.

Events are taking place throughout the week in Nottinghamshire including poetry, online workshops and a series of online discussions.

Tonight (Wednesday, March 17), at 7pm, local poet Manjit Sahota presents PAR + World Against Racism: A Night of Poetry and Solidarity, exploring the issues of identity, history and what we have in common, through poetry and spoken word – register here.

Tomorrow morning (Thursday, March 18), a 10.30am, the University of Nottingham Diversity Festival looks at the impact of Covid-19 on minority groups – details here.

Also tomorrow, at 6.30m, people are invited to take part in the Zoom event Decolonising Medicine: Bridging the Health Divide in a Post-Pandemic World – join the event here or by using meeting ID: 223 161 3604, passcode 200249.

On UN Anti-Racism Day itself on Saturday, March 20, rallies will be happening across the world on digital platforms starting from 1pm onwards.

People are being encouraged to take the knee to support the cause during the event and there will be live link-ups from other rallies across the word.

The theme for the event is ‘no to racism, islamophobia, antisemitism and fascism’ and there will be talks from communities and organisations from across the county on the anti-racist movement.

And next week, on Tuesday, March 23 and Wednesday, March 24, poet Manjit Sahota will be encouraging people to celebrate their differences and similarities to build a stronger community, as well as exploring the issues of identity, history and what we have in common, through poetry and spoken word – register for the event here.

During the week and on March 20 itself, Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire Police will also be promoting their new website designed to help people respond effectively to prejudice.

The website, which is here, provides resources created with Nottingham people who have lived experience of responding to prejudice themselves.

Their knowledge and advice has been captured into videos and handouts to provide guidance to others.

Anybody experiencing a hate crime or hate incident should always report it to the police by calling 999 in an emergency or 101 in a non-emergency.

It can also be reported online on True Vision here.

For more information about hate crime, click here.