The 2022 Virtual Black Members’ Conference took place on 27 – 28 May, rescheduled from a physical conference in January due to the pandemic.
This year’s theme was Black Members United and Empowered.
As the conference was inquorate, delegates voted to suspend Standing Orders. This meant that the debates to follow would not form a policy of the NBMC but instead inform and guide its work.
Guest Speakers
Conference was addressed by the General Secretary, Christina McAnea who gave her commitment to work with the National Black Members’ Committee to tackle racism in the union. She added that proportional and fair representation will make sure our Black members have access to everything in our union. To become active, Black members need to know they have a real voice.
The conference also heard from Kudsia Batool, TUC Head of Equalities and Strategy, who spoke on the work of TUC Anti-Racism Taskforce.
Kudsia remarked that the murder of George Floyd on the street of Minneapolis is not just a moment in time or a snapshot, but a catalyst to make change. A time for building safe and inclusive environments for Black workers. She said, our unions need to focus on making a change in our own movements and making tackling racism in our unions a priority. We need to remove the barriers that exist on the path of progression for Black activists and colleagues and that we must set up a path to leadership for our Black members.
The conference heard from the president who quoted Angela Davies “In a racist society it is not enough to be non-racist, we must be anti-racist.” He commented that the presidential team will act as a conduit to bring about change in our union by ensuring that they facilitate important conversations on race equality.
Our lay activist speaker Elizabeth Cameron brightened the second day with her passionate speech on her journey to activism, touching on intersectionality and calling on delegates to support women, disabled, and LGBT+ colleagues.
Elizabeth added “we can argue different points of view before we come to a conclusion – like a family. When as Black people we come together, we can achieve great things.” She concluded that, our union is only as good as the people in it and that we all need to get involved.
Kemoy Walker, winner of the Nelson Mandela Award, also gave a passionate and uplifting speech. He told the attendees how important the award was to him and discussed the Black people that have inspired him to be a role model in his community.
Debates
Most of the motions debated focussed on the challenges facing Black members and setting the direction to tackle those challenges. One of those challenges is the difficulty for Black members to prove racism, thereby discouraging them from reporting racism and making institutionalised racism feel like a normal way of life.
Delegates took aim at the Tory government’s double standards aimed at ensuring Black migrants are kept out of the UK and are sent to Rwanda, while the population is encouraged to assist in accommodating and give support to white migrants to settle in the United Kingdom.
The chairs kept busy by supplying delegates with facts relating to Black workers while the votes were being counted. Did you know that the first National Black Members’ Conference was held in Brighton in 1997?
Conference was able to debate all of the motions on the agenda, including the five emergency motions on racism, Child Q, and the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. The full text of all the motions can be found in the final agenda.
Adejare Oyewole
Communications Officer, National Black Members’ Committee
