2021-2022
First Half-Year Report
Your Greens of Colour Committee for 2021-22 after the 2021 AGM were:
Results of the 2021 Greens of Colour Committee Election:
Chair – Kefentse Dennis
Deputy Chair – (currently vacant)
Co-Secretary – Paul Beswick& AC Baker (ally) (Job-Share)
Treasurer – Alex Horn
Communications & Marketing Officer – Lily Hayward
Membership Officer – Lydia Hiraide
International Officer – Nicola Scott
Policy Officer- Amerjit Kaur-Dhaliwal
Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller Officer– Virgil Bitu
Non- Portfolio– Arran Rangi; Wayne Govender; Rosemary Palmer (ally)Regional Officers
A vote was taken not to have Regional Officers by 5/5 votes.
Non-Executive roles
LGBT Officer – Kefentse Dennis
Social Media and Communication Team – Alex Horn
International Officer – Nicola Scott
Your new Committee started work immediately on Tue 30th November 2021, discussing expectations, ways of working, vision and strategy for 2021.
Here is your Greens of Colour Committee Half-Yearly Report for Dec 2020 – May 2021:
Chair’s Report – Kefentse Dennis
Winter Quarter
Climate Reparations
As Chair I wanted to continue the legacy of what has been done before me, the Motion for Atonement and Reparative Justice for the Trans-Atlantic Trafficking of Enslaved Africans, I believe has laid down a fantastic foundation for reparations, a conversation had is long overdue for the British public, institutions and royalty. In addition to this is for a Green Party government to have its own policy of reparations for enslaved Africans and their descendants.
I have my plans for that here: Outlining Climate Reparations for GPEW Policy. I’ve outlined the historical links between climate change, slavery and captalism. I also set out why reparation should not only be a social atonement, but a climatic and environmental one as well. I am taking all this information and turning it into a motion for Conference.
2022 Winter Policyfest
The event was used as the first stepping stone towards Climate Reparations being spoken about and received to the Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW) membership as a motion.
The title was called: Outlining a Green Party Policy that Encompasses Atonements, Reparations, and Climate Justice and it was presented in a slideshow format.
The recording of the event can be found here Climate Repairs: Making Reparations for the History of Colonialism and Enslavement.
Spring Quarter
2022 Spring Conference
The event was used as the next stepping stone towards Climate Reparations being spoken about and received to the GPEW membership as a motion was this fringe event called: Outlining a Green Party Policy that Encompasses Atonements, Reparations, and Climate Justice and it was presented in a slideshow format.
Social care – draft letter to Leadership
Dzaier Neil, the Chair of Disability Greens, and GPEW Equality & Diversity (E & D) co-Convenor asked for GoC support for a letter. She expressed how Social Care is the biggest political football for the coming years. We talk about Social Care being free at the point of delivery like the NHS, properly paid carer workers, proper support for informal carers etc.
Here is the letter send to the leadership Final text: 2022-Social-Care-Letter
Institutional racism
This topic came about via a Green Party of England and Wales Executive (GPEx) meeting where the term was used to describe the party. This led to the GPEW Regional Council (GPRC) asking for comment from GoC. Dzaier Neil, our Equality and Diversity officer raised the comment and had been in the past.
The committee was divided on whether the GPEW is institutionally racist. One side felt that this is obviously evident within the structure and process of the party, but others saw no evidence or experience of this.
Islamophobia with Cllr Maroof Raouf
As chair I invited Cll Maroof Raouf, after receiving an email from Andrew Bradbury of GPRC about Islamophobia. From my understanding, there has been talk about an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on the British Muslim definition of Islamophobia, and Greens of Colour have been invited to give an opinion. This would not be appropriate without Maroof present. Some groups are in favour, and some groups are against.
Those who were against wanted a some refined definition as freedom of expression could be curtailed by the perception of Islamophobia.
Although there were a lot of opposing views, the decision for GoC to support Islamophobia as defined by APPG on British Muslims was carried. The vote was four in favour, one against,one abstention.
International Committee with Claudine Letsae
Claudine has been ironically urging the GPEW for more diversity within the International Committee and urging GoC for more collaboration.
I was fortunate to have worked with Claudine as the International Coordinator at the European Greens Conference in Sweden called ‘Beyond Stockholm+50: No more time to waste – A Green perspective for the next 50 years’. I’ve written a report of my experience whilst here called: Why the Black and Brown connection with European Greens is more important than ever
Deyika Fund Board
As Chair of Greens of Colour, I sat on the Deyika Fund Board and this year’s launch of the campaign led to 8 applications being reviewed, scrutinised and accepted for the local campaign which included area’s like Bradford, Oxford and South Tyneside.
Their applications included requests for leaflets, childcare costs to be covered, and specific leaflets with additional languages.
Each successful candidate stood in the local party election.
Spokesperson for Equality and Diversity
Ria Patel has been voted in by GPEx as the new GPEW E&D Spokesperson, who was the former GoC’s External Relations Officer.
Special Interest Groups (SIG)
As Chair, I have been attending SIG meeting, representing GoC and discussing issues that have affected all SIG e.g. conference motions, and the Diverse Matters Report.
Local Elections Results
Below are the result of GoC members who became Councillors this year
Benali Hamdache
Ward: Highbury;
Council: Islington;
Local Party: Islington;
Regional Party: London.
Maleiki Haybe
Ward: Broomhill & Sharrow Vale;
Council: Sheffield City;
Local Party: Sheffield;
Regional Party: Yorkshire & the Humber.
Lauren James
Ward: Shaftesbury;
Council: Newport;
Local Party: Gwent;
Regional Party: Wales.
Amanda Onwuemene
Ward: Birkenhead & Tranmere;
Council: Wirral;
Local Party: Wirral;
Regional Party: North West.
Ria Patel
Ward: Fairfield;
Council: Croydon;
Local Party: Croydon;
Regional Party: London.
Also now a Green Councillor,
Ekua Bayunj
Ward: Hulme;
Council: Manchester City;
Local Party: Manchester;
Regional Party: North-West.
Internal elections
Below are the list of GoC members who are standing in internal elections this year
Deputy Leadership
Shahrar Ali
Zack Polanski
Tyrone Scott
GPEx
Nannette Youssef (Job share) (Internal elections)
Kefentse Dennis (Management Coordinator)
Diverse Matters
Diverse Matters were contracted to conduct an internal investigation into Diversity, Equality, Inclusion in GPEW, after statements about institutional racism in the party. Interviews were conducted in March, and the first draft of the report is due to be submitted to GPEx w/b Mon 30 May 2022.
Kefentse Dennis will then give a full response to the draft report. The final report is due to be made available to GPEW Members during the Summer.
There are concerns about who was invited to the Focus Groups, and who was included at that stage.
2022 Summer PolicyFest
Our Co-Secretary led the GoC event titled: ‘Reviewing and updating the ‘Racism’ element of the Rights and Responsibilities Chapter’, this was much overdue as this was written in the 1990s. The recording of the event is here.
Constitutional changes
This is an ongoing issue – we need to have a proper discussion with Martin Hemingway, to ensure the Greens of Colour Constitution makes it easier for Greens of Colour to work.
The Constitutional change will help us with how we vote outside of our AGM. We haven’t got a clear constituency, and we don’t have a clear process e.g. for online voting. Martin Hemingway can help with this.
An EGM will be called at Autumn Conference so the Greens of Colour membership can vote on the recommended changes.
Co-Secretaries Report – Paul Beswick & AC Baker
AC Baker
“As ally co-Secretary, I have provided admin & tech support to Paul Beswick and other members of Greens of Colour Committee, with both committee and GPEW business, as required.”
Paul Beswick
“My report as Co-Secretary is very brief; I’ve contributed to arranging for Liz Reason and Dzaier Neil to come to a Greens of Colour committee meeting to discuss whether or not GoC considers GPEW to be institutionally racist (March 2022);
I’ve facilitated a joint meeting between Greens of Colour and the Rights and Responsibilities Policy Working Group at PolicyFest this summer, alongside Ammi Kaur Dhaliwal, to start the process of writing new Racism policy for the Rights and Responsibilities chapter of PFSS (May 2022);
I’ve also helped coordinate with Jewish Greens to stage a joint hustings for the GPEX Chair and GPEW Deputy Leader candidates (June-July 2022);
I’ve worked to support my co-Secretary AC Baker in their excellent work to maintain Greens of Colour’s administration and Zoom tech. Most recently, I’ve just submitted the Quarterly Financial return for GoC, following last night’s committee meeting. I’ve also contributed to all the GoC committee meetings, and to various email and signal exchanges.”
Treasurer’s Report – Alex Horn / (currently vacant)
(This is written by the chair)
Bank statement
December ’21
£3,031.86
May ’22
£3595.82
Membership Officer’s Report – Lydia Hiraide
“This year, I have been compiling and sending out the monthly newsletter to our membership to keep them updated with relevant business and encourage their participation in our activities such as the Deyika Fund. I have also been updating the GoC website with information about the committee, upcoming events, and articles written by members of the GoC committee. I have also been following up with members whose financial contributions to GoC have been terminated by emailing them. These emails include a thanks for the member’s contribution to GoC so far, an encouragement to restart their valued contribution, and an offer for a call/chat with one of the committee members to see if there’s anything we can do from our side to encourage them to renew their financial commitment.”
Communications & Marketing Officer – Lily Hayward (currently vacant)
(Absent report due to vacancy)
International Officer – Nicola Scott
“Nicola has been attending GoC meetings since earlier in 2022 to initially gain an idea of what the Committee does and an understanding of EDI Party processes, procedures and policies”.
Policy Officer- Amerjit Kaur-Dhaliwal
“As Policy Officer for GOC, I have had the privilege to work alongside my colleagues on transforming and updating the Racism Policy. The policy will be put forward at the Autumn conference. As a regular attendee to meetings, I have contributed to the changes the group have implemented and pushed forward to the wider party such as thinking around our stance on reparations. In addition to this I contributed my experiences and thoughts about equality and diversity within the party, which helped feed into the 2022 Equality and Diversity Report”.
Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller Officer- Virgil Bitu
Thank you for reading this Greens of Colour Half-Year Report. If you would like to explore how you could be more actively involved with Greens of Colour, please get in touch by emailing GreensOfColour@greenparty.org.uk or look at https://greensofcolour.greenparty.org.uk/contact/
Your next Greens of Colour elections will be in the Autumn.