London’s Mayor Promises Police Reform After Months of Unrest

In London, Mayor Sadiq Khan promises police reform after months of Black Lives Matter protests. By committing to hiring diverse police officers, Khan sets the precedent for other major cities to follow. 

The Metropolitan Police Service at Trafalgar Square in London. CGP Grey. CC BY 2.0.

On Nov. 13, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, announced that by 2022, at least 40% of new recruits will be from minority backgrounds. Like many police forces around the world, London’s police have come under criticism in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests that began in the United States. London’s action in reforming its police force sets the precedent for other communities to follow. 

The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) is Britain’s largest police force. Also known as Scotland Yard and colloquially called the Met, MPS employs over 44,000 police officers and receives over 25% of the police budget for England and Wales. Along with most other police forces, the Met has come under criticism in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests and demands for police brutality reform. London’s record with police brutality is quite different than that of America’s, but it and racial inequality are still common across the United Kingdom. In the U.K., Black people are more than nine times more likely to be stopped and searched by the police than White people. Though people of color make up 13% of the population in England and Wales, 48% of minors in custody belong to the group. 

While London is an incredibly diverse city, in 2017 an overwhelming 87% of MPS officers were White, with just 13.3% of officers identifying as Black and Minority Ethnic. These statistics have come under fire recently, with Black Lives Matter protesters taking to the streets of London demanding reform. Protesters turned out in thousands throughout the summer of 2020, with protest numbers spiking after Prime Minister Boris Johnson declared the U.K. as “not a racist country” and designating protesters’ behavior as “thuggery.” 

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. Steve Punter. CC BY 2.0. 

Despite Prime Minister Johnson’s wavering views toward protests, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, acknowledged the institutional racism that he believes inflicts the country. In a statement from the mayor’s office, Khan said: “To the thousands of Londoners who protested peacefully today: I stand with you and I share your anger and your pain. George Floyd’s brutal killing must be a catalyst for change worldwide. No country, city, police service or institution can absolve itself of the responsibility to do better. We must stand together and root out racism wherever it is found. Black Lives Matter.” Khan’s acknowledgment of racism and discrimination is groundbreaking compared to American political leaders’ relative lack of action regarding this issue. 

On Nov. 13, Sadiq Khan announced that by 2022, at least 40% of new recruits in the MPS will be from minority backgrounds. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick released a rare public statement acknowledging that the Met “is not free of discrimination, racism or bias.” Commissioner Dick also announced that her “job is to continue to try to eliminate any such racism and discrimination, however it appears.” London’s active anti-racist stance will set the precedent for other communities and cities to follow. This commitment to diversity is evidence of tangible and long-lasting change within potentially racist institutions. 



Sarah Leidich

Sarah is currently an English and Film major at Barnard College of Columbia University. Sarah is inspired by global art in every form, and hopes to explore the intersection of activism, art, and storytelling through her writing.





How the BLM Movement Blossomed in the UK

As voices of the Black Lives Matter movement flooded American streets, British proponents alike rushed to rally. The seeds of the movement germinated in the U.K., but problems soon sprung up alongside them. 

Black Lives Matter protest in Bristol, England. KSAG Photography. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. 

In late May, the death of George Floyd ignited outrage in nations across the world, including in the United Kingdom. In the early summer months, the pages of social media and eager British ralliers mirrored the zeal of the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States. However, over the course of a few short months, the unmatched vigor of the movement in Britain quickly dropped off; neither the media channels nor the once fiery minds of residents continued active coverage and support. 

What had started as weekly protests in Britain’s largest cities had dissolved into a deferred dream for a few young activists. As more racial inequalities surfaced, less and less government engagement was found. 

Regardless of this obstacle, the young remaining supporters continue their fight with the unbattered zeal of seasoned activists. A few such activists are the founders of All Black Lives U.K., which is a movement started this past May by a group of students. The group organized protests for 10 weeks this summer and has since made substantial headway; its outreach, primarily made through social media and hosted panels, has garnered enough engagement to establish posts in other urban areas such as Bristol and Manchester. 

The movement pushes for a list of demands to be met by the government, which includes the removal of the highly scrutinized “gangs matrix.” 

The gangs matrix is a database that has been run by the Metropolitan Police since 2012 following the 2011 London riots. The database contains the names of “gang nominals,” or people whose online activity has been flagged for suspected gang affiliation. The Metropolitan Police advertised the database as a tool to combat violence in London, but many studies found that its standards have resulted in the disproportionate representation of young Black males. Thus, All Black Lives U.K. believes that the abolition of this database will remove a racist stronghold in the government. 

Aside from more obvious racial discrimination, many protesters think that the U.K. suffers from a profound lack of diversity. The movement continues to fight for increased inclusion of Black voices in local councils, as well as diversity in the national school curriculum. Campaigns have been launched to modify what is included in the national curriculum, specifically in order to make learning Black history compulsory. Proponents intend for this modification to fairly represent the Black population while creating a more well-rounded picture of the nation’s history for all students. The education campaigns were met with immediate backlash, with claims by educators that this change is too closely tied to political extremism. 

With several months of tumult having reshaped the face of racial discussions in the U.K., there is little that the British government has changed to address the issue. However, the few brave faces trailblazing the movement keep pressing on, calling others to educate themselves in the meantime. 

To Get Involved

To sign up to volunteer for the Black Lives Matter movement in the UK, click here.

To find out more about the Black Lives Matter movement in the UK, click here.

To become a partner or sponsor for the movement in the UK, click here.



Ella Nguyen

Ella is an undergraduate student at Vassar College pursuing a degree in Hispanic Studies. She wants to assist in the field of immigration law and hopes to utilize Spanish in her future projects. In her free time she enjoys cooking, writing poetry, and learning about cosmetics.

Singapore’s Dying Dialects

Singapore is a tiny Southeast Asian country often celebrated for its diverse and multilingual population. Despite efforts to preserve its cultural heritage, the country is at risk of completely losing the speakers and history of its Chinese dialects. 

A street in Singapore’s Chinatown showcasing the four official languages of the country. Courtesy of Rhiannon Koh.

Singapore is an island nation located on the tip of the Malay Peninsula. This city-state is an international port known for its cleanliness, law and order, and neo-futuristic cityscapes. Under its sleek veneer of lights, however, Singapore also harbors an impressive heritage thanks to its multicultural populace.

The official story of Singapore begins in the third century. Early Chinese records show that this island was frequented by the Malays, the Javanese, the Indian Cholas and other passing tradesmen. According to legend, the 14th-century Srivijayan prince Sri Tri Buana stumbled upon the island, saw a tiger, and mistook it for a lion. He then named the island “Singapura,” or the “Lion City.” After nearly five centuries of obscurity, the island resurged into the spotlight when the British statesman Stamford Raffles founded what is now considered modern-day Singapore. Even before Raffles’ influence, the island was already home to an ethnically diverse mix of Chinese, Malays and Indians. 

Since its independence in 1965, Singapore has encoded multiculturalism and linguistic diversity into its constitution. Statute 153A states that Malay, Mandarin, Tamil and English shall be the four official languages in Singapore; no person shall be discriminated against for whichever they choose. Consequently, multilingual signs are considered the norm and it can cause a public uproar when signs fail to be inclusive. In recent years, however, English has dominated communication in many homes.

Singapore’s city plan emphasizes historical preservation, fostering an urbanscape of both old and new. Courtesy of Rhiannon Koh.

When Singapore’s first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, came to power, he believed that knowledge of dialects undermined the mastery of key languages. Since Singapore was a former British colony and was largely comprised of those of a Chinese background, Yew pushed for English and Mandarin education in schools, essentially cutting down a “thriving linguistic tropical rainforest.” Though these languages gave Singapore a competitive edge in global markets, many Singaporeans lost knowledge of their mother tongues—Hokkien, Teochew, Hakka and others—as well as their connection to grandparents and elders who spoke exclusively in those dialects. A 2015 Department of Statistics study found that in-home dialect use decreased from 18.2% in 2005 to 12.6%. In the wake of this reckoning, many youths are taking steps to reclaim their heritage. Students like Lee Xuan Jin came to understand that Hokkien and Teochew were his “true mother tongues” as opposed to mainland Mandarin. To rekindle the language and improve literacy, Lee launched a Facebook page called Writing in Hokkien.

Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay, a testament to the country’s endemic botany and the potential of its future. Courtesy of Rhiannon Koh.

In an op-ed piece for Rice, Natalie Tan questions Singapore’s Speak Mandarin Campaign—a program that effectively rendered dialects obsolete in favor of a unified but vague Chinese culture. Tan argues that Singaporeans lost a bridge to the past. If this trend continues, Singaporeans will lose their ability to translate interviews and other important historical documents. Locals will also lose the stories of their elders as well as the rich histories still bound up in fading languages. 

The demise of Chinese dialects taps into the overarching issue of dying languages across the globe. Some feel the dissolution of language is inevitable, citing cultural differences in value and multicultural diversity. Others argue that dying languages should be saved, referencing the invaluable knowledge Indigenous languages harbor. Many languages disappear each year; the difficult question is whether anything should be done to prevent this fate.

Rhiannon Koh

earned her B.A. in Urban Studies & Planning from UC San Diego. Her honors thesis was a speculative fiction piece exploring the aspects of surveillance technology, climate change, and the future of urbanized humanity. She is committed to expanding the stories we tell.