London Unions RISE against London Festival

London Unions RISE Against London Festival Written by Maxi Powell and Davis Mukasa, Edited by Davis Mukasa Trade Unions in London announced that they have withdrawn all support from the Mayor of London’s ‘Rise Festival’ due to a contention of issues, primarily surrounding the dropping of the anti-racism tenet, central to the event’s inception. The decision to remove the ‘anti-racism’ tag is seen as a setback to campaigns challenging racism in London, and further decisions have also seemed incongruous: Unison said ‘the organisation of the event has been a fiasco from start to finish’. Arrangements for the festival began under former Mayor Ken Livingstone - with subsequent support from incumbent Mayor, Boris Johnson, confirming the festival would continue in earnest. But recent weeks have seen Mayor Johnson’s Culture Director, Munira Mirza take the boldest of steps and remove the “London United Against Racism” subheading from this year’s promotion, thereby antagonising many groups in the process. Unions have seen these changes as shifting the focus and nature of the festival significantly towards a generic music event. More so, the sentiment seems to be that if this event is still part of a wider ‘anti-racist’ campaign at all – the money could be spent in better, more productive ways elsewhere. Megan Dobney, the TUC’s London Regional Secretary said: “Trade unions are greatly offended by the removal of the central anti-racist messages as well as by the ban on an organisation supported by the TUC. Trade union negotiation has thus far proved fruitless and SERTUC has been left with no alternative but to withdraw.” Steve Hart, Unite London Regional Secretary said: “Rise, or Respect as it was known, was launched by the trade unions as a means of involving mainly young people in anti-racism in the wake of the Stephen Lawrence and other racist murders. What is the point of what was explicitly an anti-racist festival, if it drops its commitment to anti-racism?” Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union General Secretary said: "We have supported the Rise Festival as a celebration of London's diverse communities and of anti-racism. It appears that this clear message is now being lost and the FBU no longer feels able to participate. We remain committed to any genuine initiative aimed at combating racism.”

About Rise: 13 Jul 2008, Finsbury Park London's biggest free music festival, Rise Festival (formerly known as the Respect Festival), started in 1996 as a music festival to promote anti-racism and celebrate cultural diversity. With an eclectic mix of hip-hop, indie, pop, jazz and reggae, it offers something for everyone. The African Village celebrates and showcases the vibrancy and diversity of London's African communities through music, arts, culture, literature, food and film. There is a special music tent, featuring a range of artists from across the African diaspora and displaying the diversity of East, North, South, West and Central African music. Other attractions include a cinema tent, which screens a diverse array of film shorts, documentaries and features; various workshops; a community market place and a lot more. There is also a comedy tent featuring some of the best comedians from around London and the UK.

For more info, Visit: http://www.risefestival.org/