Westminster Law School supports the Black Lives Matter movement: stops the silence around privilege, racism and decolonisation

The event was organised in a time of uncertainty, where millions around the world congregated and marched for solidarity, justice and change after the death of George Floyd. The event took place as the University published its Black Lives Matter Commitment Plan in collaboration with staff networks, trade unions and the Student Unions. It brought together colleagues from all schools, PhD students and student activists to consider how power and privilege is implicated in our teaching and research. 

The event started with opening remarks from Elizabeth Duff, Head of the Law School, followed by three short presentations. The first presentation was an ‘in conversation’ with Manvir Grewal, Lecturer in Law, and Henna Masih-Shah, Student Activist. Manvir spoke about her experiences in teaching the level 5 module called “Legal Theory and Diversity” which aimed to provide students with tools to question the intersecting forms of oppression that exist in the legal profession. Henna Masih-Shah, a second year student on the module, spoke about her experience in the classroom and how it informed her activism on the Rhodes Must Fall campaign, in Oxford. Together they explored a staff-student perspective on best practices on decolonisation in the classroom.

The second presentation was given by Berekhet Berakhy, University Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Officer, who spoke about the Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Staff Network’s action points, recruitment and progression. Read the BME Staff Network’s Collective Statement of Demands.

The last presentation was by Kate Theophilus, Research Development Manager, who talked about racial disparities in the award of research grants, and the need to ensure representation on research committees and diversity among decision-makers. The presentations were followed by lively discussions on the issues raised. 

Since the event, the Law School has set up a working group titled ‘Stop the Silence’ to action the fifteen commitments published in the University’s Black Lives Matter Commitment Plan. Since the creation of the working group the Law School has been eager to continue the conversation around change and anti-racism. On 15 July the working group had another event that discussed how the Law School understands the fifteen commitments and created an action plan. The working group is now divided into three sub-committees with colleagues working on areas related to Teaching, Recruitment/Progression and Research. 

We hope that all schools around the University will engage in uncomfortable conversations that surround privilege, identity and power in our behaviour, pedagogies and research. Let’s stop the silence.