Latest members’ activities

• 29 November 2014 – ISD-Bund actions in the fight against racism (Germany)
  The Initiative for Black People in Germany (ISD Bund) organised a protest against Black Pete on 29 November. The manifestation aimed to protest against the presence of this racist, colonial figure in the celebrations for Sinterklaas in the Netherlands. In the meantime, protesters linked this issue with the outrageous decision of the American Criminal Court on the Ferguson case.

• 12 September 20104 – ISB-Bund’s work highlighted by the German Federal Agency for Civic Education The German Federal Agency for Civic Education (Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung) interviewed ISD-Bund about its work and approach to fight racism.

• 3 September 20104 – Article by ISD-Bund: Enriching the public discourse by highlighting colonial continuities The Initiative of Black People in Germany (ISD) has been actively working on the empowerment of people of African descent and Black people in Germany for almost 30 years. For more than three hundred years, people of African descent have been born and raised in Germany, have made Germany their place of home, but narratives about the Black experience in Germany often remain silenced in the public discourse. While their stories do not exist in the dominant historiography, stereotypical clichés dominate the images of the Black Diaspora. Racist pictures and beliefs need to be understood as a historically developed relationship of power – blurring past and present depictions of Black people’s realities. This must also be interpreted through the lense of colonialism.

• 24 August 2014 – ISD-Bund solidarity action for Michael Brown and events in Ferguson in the United States ISD-Bund, the Initiative for Black People in Germany, organised a solidarity action #FergusonIsEverywhere, in the form of a photo campaign of support, also highlighting cases of ethnic profiling and police brutality in Germany.

• 1 August 2014 – Pre-order the catalogue of ISD-Bund’s “Homestory Germany” exhibition The catalogue of the “Homestory Germany” exhibition of 27 Black German biographies in historical and present times, organized by the Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland (ISD Bund), will appear for the first time in English. You can now pre-order the catalogue in English by sending an email to witnessed@limitedtoyou.com with ‘Pre-order Homestory Deutschland’ as subject, including your name, address, number of books to order, amount of money you are transferring and whether you would like to have a receipt. Then transfer 28,80 € per book (24,80 € + 4 € for packaging and shipping costs) to: Sharon Otoo, Fidor Bank AG, IBAN: DE04 700 222 0000 716 495 12, BIC: FDDO DEMM.

• 12 May 2014 – ISD Bund e.V. in Germany has launched a Demand Catalogue for People of African Descent and Black Europeans. Help us spread the word: pick a demand and take a picture with it! It will be posted on My Demand May 2014 Facebook page. The Catalogue includes a series of demands to address the specific form of racism faced by people of African descent and Black Europeans (PAD & BE) across Europe, which severely inhibits their full enjoyment of human rights. Black organisations are strongly welcomed to endorse it!

• 11 April 2014 – BUG (Germany) proposal for strong anti-discrimination law
  BUG, the Bureau for implementation of equal treatment in Germany has presented amendments to the equal treatment act and proposals on how to reinforce legal protection against racial and other forms of discrimination.

• 4 April 2014 – ISD-Bund’s Demand Catalogue for People of African Descent and Black Europeans (Germany)
  ISD-Bund in Germany has launched a Demand Catalogue for People of African Descent and Black Europeans. It includes a series of demands to address the specific form of racism faced by people of African descent and Black Europeans (PAD & BE) across Europe, which severely inhibits their full enjoyment of human rights. Among others, they demand a recognition of the situation of PAD & BE and that PAD & BE be recognized as affected by a specific form of racism across the European Union. Black organisations are welcomed to endorse it and contact us for more details. Read more

• 28 March 2014 – Impressions of the Network Meeting about People of African Descent: the video is now online!
  The Initiative of Black People in Germany (ISD) in collaboration with the ENAR held a European networking event from February 13th-16th 2014. 130 years after the Congo conference, Black European advocacy groups gathered in Berlin to elaborate a catalogue of demands at the occasion of the European elections 2014. Based on a set of demands, compiled by Black representatives from more than 15 European countries, the meeting was set up to create critical policy touchstones for the European elections 2014, which are meant to facilitate the development of a collective strategy against anti-Black racism in Europe. Watch the video!

• 20-21 March 2014 – Launch of the annual Shadow Report on racism in Oldenburg
  The German Shadow Report on racism, focusing this year on employment, will be launched during a seminar about discrimination of young people with migrant background in the labour market. The seminar is organized by VIA-Seminar in cooperation with IBIS e.V. on the occasion of the UN International week against racism. Date and venue: 20-21 March in Oldenburg.

• February 2014 – BUG’s brand-new Facebook page is now online
  A few days ago BUG (Büro zur Umsetzung von Gleichbehandlung e.V.) launched its brand-new Facebook page! It both aims at reporting on current developments and at depicting and explaining BUG’s focus areas. In the context of ‘themed months’ they will examine specific topics in a more detailed way. The first focus is expected to be on institutional racism. Like and share the page!