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Introduction
In the first part of this investigation we examined the controversial academic Kehinde Andrews and his views. A devotee of 1960s revolutionary Malcolm X, he promotes the idea that race is at the core of society, rejects the notion of reform or integration, and calls for an African superstate to be created to which the diaspora can return. In doing so he feels free to dismiss his opponents as “Uncle Toms” and claims that whiteness is a “psychosis”. In this second part, we will be looking at videos of the events he has organised, including some at the publicly funded Birmingham City University where he is now a Professor, which reveal that he has platformed people who have endorsed segregation, promoted rioting, and described homosexuality as the work of the Devil.
What is in the videos?
The Organisation of Black Unity, which Kehinde Andrews runs, has a page dedicated to the many videos of events he has organised. Unfortunately not every event he ran was filmed but we know from posters hosted on the website who was invited. These include the “warrior scholar” Zak Kondo, a conspiracy theorist who claims the FBI and NYPD were behind the assassination of Malcolm X (he was killed by members of the Nation of Islam after he left). Another is Dr Umar Johnson, who has been invited to Birmingham by Andrews more than once. Dr Johnson has previously claimed that homosexuality is “cancer on the Black community”, says that abortion and interracial marriage are tools to dismantle the black race, and calls black people “the Sun People”; he claims they lived in Edenic conditions in Africa until “the Ice People” (whites), who were cannibals, arrived. Johnson has been criticised for a lack of transparency about the fundraising he has done for an academy for African-American children and for calling himself a doctor for years before he completed his PhD.
In 2015 Andrews held a discussion about Malcolm X titled “The Ballot or the Bullet: Does Your Vote Count?” at Birmingham City University (the location is mentioned at 2:45). During the discussion, at 23:10, Tamara Kush Darta (a member of OBU) claims violence against the police is a “natural reaction”, adding that “sometimes I feel like going out there and shooting some police”. Later, at 24:45, she says “I don’t condone violence but…by any means necessary, that’s what I say” before laughing. That phrase is taken from Malcolm X. She also, from 47:20 onwards, says that, “I’m not interested in integration. Segregation for me is excellent”, to which Labour Birmingham councillor Paulette Hamilton replies, “well that’s fair enough”. Darta once again reiterates this, saying at 56:14, “We don’t need to integrate with them. There has never been any advantage [sic] to integrating with them”.
Councillor Paulette Hamilton arrives late to the talk, around 28:10. She is a councillor for the Holyhead ward, where Andrews wants to establish his Marcus Garvey nursery. At 34:30 she describes the 2011 riots in England as a “really interesting time”, and from 36:28 adds that, “Although I believe in the vote...I’m not sure that we will get what we really deserve in this country using the vote. But I don’t know if we are a strong enough group to get what we want to get if we have an uprising. I think that we would be quashed in such a way that we would lose a generation of our young people. So I am torn”. Later, at 43:20, she says, “If [the establishment] want to destroy a race of people, you destroy the males...they are over-represented in the criminal justice system...the mental health system...unemployment”.
From 58:54 on, Paulette Hamilton approvingly explains how their “Muslim brothers and sisters...ensure[d] that their teachings got into the system” through the so-called ‘Trojan Horse’ infiltration of schools in Birmingham. She compares the situation of blacks in Birmingham negatively to the Muslims, saying “we’re not even on the map”, and suggests that black liberation work should be done through the Labour party. At 1:00:35 she looks at Darta and says, “Do it your way, because you know I respect you guys, but also some of us have to go into that system and try to change it”. From 1:19:00, she tells a story about how the Sikh community in her ward attempted to deselect her as a council candidate. Following on from this, at 1:21:20, she says, “I know that we want something of our own, but sometimes you have to infiltrate other systems if you want to get change”. At 1:33:00 she describes how “some ethnic minorities” utilise postal votes to provide block voting. She then complains that, “our community, we’re not even engaged, we’re not registered to vote”.
At about 1:03:00 onwards, a self-described employee of stop-and-search watchdog StopWatch offers his views on UK politics. At 1:04:09 he says that, “the only time these people seem to listen is when a riot kicks off”. He adds, “If we are organised to such an extent that every time something goes down, a riot kicks off...and if that happens consistently, organised [and] in such a way, then we can make all sorts of concessions in this country”. Throughout, Andrews fails to challenge any of these statements.
The same year Andrews organised the Malcolm X Youth Conference, at Birmingham City University. In an interview, Andrews explains that he got the venue for free from the university (at 4:35) and expresses surprise that he was allowed to hold the event by the university (at 5:40). The interview was broadcast by gotKush TV, a black nationalist YouTube channel, whose interviewer bizarrely claims, at 9:50 that David Beckham and LeBron James don’t do anything with their money until they have consulted a rabbi, whilst Kehinde and his family nod. Amusingly rapper Swiss from group So Solid Crew, who was behind Black Pound Day, was due to speak but had to be dropped after he demanded he be paid £200 and expenses for the free event.
Amongst the speakers at the conference is Raspect Fyanbinghi, who has previously claimed that homosexuality is the work of “Shaitan” (Satan, at 0:15 in). At 37:40 he states, to audience applause, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable. And we have to come to terms with this, and understand that when the youth takes to streets and riot, it’s something that needs to be done”. At 38:05 he says, “Justice is what stops the next officer from shooting down a black youth. So ‘justice’ would be the officers being punished. But that doesn’t happen. So what stops an officer from shooting down the next black youth? It should be the response of the black community, a political response. But they care not for our peaceful protests. So what stops an officer from shooting a black youth? The fear of the whole place burning down. That’s just the honest truth”.
Another Malcolm X event from the same year is a talk by Andrews called What Would Malcom X Say? At 10:00 he says, “It’s not Islam that causes people to [commit terror attacks]. It’s colonialism, it’s racism, it’s the West”. He then gives a series of examples of terror attacks and calls them “chickens coming home to roost”, echoing Malcolm X’s description of the assassination of JFK. At 12:00, he explains that black men are attracted to Islamic terrorism because, “They have a hatred for the society, which is perfectly legitimate. It’s perfectly legitimate to hate the West”. He then adds that jihadism is a counter-productive way of channeling hatred for the West, which should be channelled into black radicalism instead. At 1:40:30 he adds, “Part of the reason the West survives is because we allow it to survive - we’re part of it. Let’s stop it and do something different”.
In Malcolm X and Marshall Street, Andrews says at 53:30, “Revolutionary violence is more part of Malcolm X post-1964 than it is pre-1964, because pre-1964 he’s not a revolutionary….Post-1964, when he’s embracing revolution, he’s actually talking about revolutionary violence. Listen to Malcolm talking about the Congo. He’s not saying you need to go there holding hands, he says you need to go there with weapons and guns. He’s actually talking about revolution. Revolution is violent, revolution is bloody. He doesn’t back away from that”.
Finally, the OBU produced a music video “tribute to women of the Black liberation movement”, which features Angela Davis (a communist who bought the gun used to murder a US judge during a hostage-taking), Assata Shakur (a terrorist with the Black Liberation Army who fled to Cuba after taking part in the murder of a state trooper), and Winnie Mandela (the ex-wife of Nelson Mandela, whose organisation in South Africa executed and tortured many young black men).
Comment
The videos of the events organised by or featuring Kehinde Andrews show that he is willing to platform extremists and conspiracy theorists, that he is happy to defend the use of violence, that he hates the West, and that he is unwilling to contradict - or is in agreement with - speakers who suggest infiltrating the school system or introducing racial segregation to Britain. All of these suggest that he should not be in a position of responsibility, teaching students. Nor should the media provide him with a platform. It is hard to imagine that a white professor willing to express or platform comparably extreme views would still be employed.
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