Striking staff at City and Islington College on the picket line

CAMPAIGNERS across the borough “took the knee” on Tuesday, marking the one-year anniversary of the death of George Floyd while he was being arrested in Minnesota.

The case was a watershed moment in the Black Lives Matter movement and sparked protests worldwide.

Pupils and staff took the knee at Tufnell Park Primary School to raise awareness. Some offices in the council also held a minute’s silence in memory of Mr Floyd, while striking staff at City and Islington College took part on the picket line.

Outside the Town Hall, staff members from the Whittington Hospital who had to fight for adequate provision of PPE in the first wave of the pandemic, joined campaigners from Islington Stand Up to Racism (ISUTR) with the message that the “UK is not innocent”.

Whittington Hospital staff joined campaigners outside the Town Hall

Also there was Toufik Kacimi, chief executive of the Muslim Welfare House in Finsbury Park, who spoke about the Islamophobia Muslims in the UK are facing.

Paul Holborow, convener of ISUTR, said: “We argue the UK is not innocent either because of the number of deaths in police custody still taking place. The point of taking the knee is to remember the dead but also the plight of the living. Not only deaths in police custody, there is the question of decolonising the curriculum and presenting the reality of the British empire.”

Mr Holborow said he hoped the events would also raise awareness of the discriminatory behaviour of the police regarding stop and search which is an increasing and ever-present problem for young black males.

“That is the point of remembering George,” he added. “The best way is to organise against the reasons that he was killed.”