As the Covid-19 situation moves into its second year the UK government is preparing to announce “stage three of the roadmap out of lockdown,” we should assess what impact the last 12 months has had on the Afrikan community. (1)

In spite of various valiant initiatives, commentaries and insights, we are still short of a comprehensive community-wide response/strategy. However, such an approach was always going to be a big ask in the absence of a viable nationwide structure. (2)

One of the main establishment media narratives from last year was the Afrikan community’s increased susceptibility to covid. But as of March this year government statistics suggested it is now more or less in proportion to the population that to date has seen 127,605 recorded deaths from 4,434,860 infections with 4,248,211 recoveries. (3)

But what has persisted are the low rates of vaccine take up by the Afrikan community. (4) It seems clear that the authorities’ sole strategy for addressing “vaccine hesitancy” is telling us we are wrong – persistently, while dismissing any alternative perspectives (e.g. the changing narratives on “the science”, nature of transmission, the efficacy of the vaccine, the usefulness of masks, the role of big pharma, etc.) to the wilderness of anti-vaxxer/conspiracy theory. (5)

Yet, these dismissals fail to take into account (even if while paying lip service) to the historical atrocities and present day experiences at the hands of a global system that Covid 19 is just a part of. (6) Instead we are told we are being misled. (7)

(1) BBC News (05/04/21) Covid: What are the social distancing rules and the rule of six? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51506729

(2) Afrika Speaks with Alkebu-Lan on Galaxy Radio (04/01/21) Can we rise to the challenges of 6261 (2021) and beyond? https://www.alkebulan.org/2021/01/04/aswag-313-6261-challenge/; Afrika Speaks with Alkebu-Lan on Galaxy Radio (01/03/21) 40 Years after Black People’s Day of Action: Where are we now? https://www.alkebulan.org/2021/03/01/aswag-321-bpda-at-40/

(3) Public Health England (14/04/21) COVID-19 confirmed deaths in England (to 31 March 2021): report https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-reported-sars-cov-2-deaths-in-england/covid-19-confirmed-deaths-in-england-to-31-march-2021-report; Worldometer (10/05/21) United Kingdom Coronavirus Cases. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/uk/

(4) Alain Tolhurst (06/05/21) Covid Vaccination Rates Are Lower For All Ethnic Groups Than For White Over-50s, New Figures Show. https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/ons-vaccine-rates-bame-lower-white-over-50s. For over 50s between December 2020 and 12 April 2021: Black Caribbean – 66.8%; Black African – 71.2%, Pakistani – 78.4%, White British, 93.7%.

(5) Jon Craig (21/04/21) COVID-19: Tony Blair says vaccine hesitancy is ‘completely wrong and unjustified’. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-reported-sars-cov-2-deaths-in-england/covid-19-confirmed-deaths-in-england-to-31-march-2021-report

(6) Peter Koenig (08/05/21) Beware of Covid PCR Testing and the Relentless “Vaccinate Vaccinate Vaccinate” Campaign https://www.globalresearch.ca/beware-pcr-testing-you-may-unknowingly-vaccinated-instead-tested/5742819

(7) Quinn Slobodian (04/12/20) How the ‘great reset’ of capitalism became an anti-lockdown conspiracy. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/04/great-reset-capitalism-became-anti-lockdown-conspiracy

So we ask the question:

A year of “lockdowns”: How have we been affected?

1) How deadly is Covid-19?

2) Has “the science” been consistent throughout this time?

3) Can we trust the government’s Covid statistics or actions around it?

4) Why is “vaccine hesitancy” still so high in the community?

5) Are we being duped by ‘anti-vax/conspiracy theories’?

6) Does the community need to develop a response to Covid-19 or is it too late for that now?

Our Special Guest:

Bro. Ifayomi Grant: in addition to operating his own consultancy firm Paul Grant & Associates Ltd, Bro. Ifayomi is the author of a number of exciting and dynamic books ‘Niggers, Negroes, Black People and Afrikans’ and ‘Blue Skies for Afrikans’, ‘Saving Our Sons’, ‘Sankofa the Wise Man and His Amazing Friends’, ‘Why Willie Lynch Must Die’ and ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’. He is an active member of the Afrikan community and is involved in a number of community groups some of which he founded or co-founded:Nubian Link www.nubianlink.org.uk a community education group, ABDF Ltd (www.abdf.co.uk), a community economic development company, Nottingham Black Families in Education Parent Support Group and Brother II Brother an Afrikan men’s group. He is an executive member of the Foundation for the Sustainable Development of Africa (FOSDAF) www.fosdaf.org an international group promoting grassroots Afrikan economic empowerment. In addition to his www.houseofknowledge.org.uk that houses writings, information and resources, Bro. Ifayomi has also launched a the website: www.blackfinancialfitness.com as a learning platform to facilitate economic empowerment.