Birmingham Riots 2011

Participating as a contributor to a debate on the riots and social media right now for The Guardian - take a look and feel free to comment!

Hey all, how are you? Hope everyone is well and successful with your endeavours, whatever they might be.

As some of you saw/heard, I attended the Radio 4 Today Programme’s riots debate last week at Birmingham Town Hall. The following day, the I Am Birmingham blog asked me to do a writeup on it, so I thought I’d post the link here for anyone that missed it.

http://thisisbirmingham.wordpress.com/2011/09/06/birmingham-riots-under-the-spotlight-in-public-debate/

Enjoy. Oh - and for the record - I am a professional writer on the side from being a signed and touring vocalist and songwriter, so if any blog, magazine, newspaper or media organisation would like to offer me some work or see a resume, feel free to get in touch on Twitter or send me an email - the address is reinkarnal(at)gmail(dot)com

Thanks…

Casey x

P.S - It seems that a few bigger blogs and newspapers have mentioned this blog and the coverage I did, over the past few weeks. If you happen to see this blog mentioned, please submit the link to let me know… Thanks!! :)

Lots of you messaging me on various platforms asking, or suggesting to others, something that you could do to show your appreciation for me and this blog.

I want it to make it very clear that I didn’t do this for any recognition or appreciation and I certainly wouldn’t dream of trying in any way to capitalize on it (some people suggested I put an advert on here, others suggested I should be charging the big media outlets that have been interviewing me, or be promoting my music on here). Everybody has different opinions of what is acceptable and what isn’t, but I personally find those sort of suggestions to be in bad taste. 

I am, however, very grateful for the businesses that have offered me something free to show their appreciation. And also for the people that have done things like submitting this blog to the bloggers awards, nominating me to carry the Olympic flag, suggesting to various big blogs that they should mention me, and many more things besides. I am truly humbled, but more than anything I’m just glad I was able to help and inform so many people.

To all the others who have been asking how they can show their appreciation…

1) Please consider making a donation to Retail Trust.

The people who truly deserve support are the many people who have had their very livelihoods damaged and in some cases completely destroyed. These people will be picking up the pieces long after the mainstream media has forgotten about this whole affair and moved on to something else. 

and… if you really want to do something for me specifically…

2) I’d really appreciate a follow on Twitter, if you’re not already.

This would undoubtedly be the best way for you to keep in touch with me and support the various things that I do. As some of you already know, I’m a professional musician, a songwriter and vocalist in a band called Swami, and we’ve just finished recording our new album, “Upgrade”, from which we hope to release the first single within the next few months, with the album to follow later this year or early next year. I also present and produce documentaries, and have recently been working on the “25” series for XFM, covering classic albums that turned 25 this year, like Prince & The Revolution’s “Parade” and The Smiths’ “The Queen Is Dead”. I always tweet about the projects I’m working on, and a lot more besides, and I really enjoying talking to people on Twitter, so get in touch :)

Peace…

@CaseyRain

Well, this list is overdue. My apologies. I had to have a break and some time to myself after the events of the last few days. Also, this list is far from complete. There may even be something or someone obvious missing, I apologize if so! At some point there will either be another list or I may simply add to this one. So, if you know anyone that you think should be added to it, please let me know using the submit link at the top of the page, or on Twitter. Thanks.

Inspirational People:

1. Tariq Jahan

For the courage and humanity you have shown despite the tragedy of losing your son as a result of all of this. Despite your extreme grief, you chose not to look for revenge, but to make a call for peace - amongst all sects and races in our community. Inspirational. 

2. Upinder Randhawa and Sangat TV

A few people asked why I haven’t mentioned them on here before. Truth is, I was inundated trying to maintain this blog and sort through all the info I was receiving as it was all happening. I simply didn’t have time to watch Sangat TV during the riots and initial aftermath. I barely found the time to sleep or eat! But now that everything has calmed down somewhat, I was able to catch up. Serious bravery was shown by going right into the heart of the riots and reporting from the scene. Inspirational.

3. All participants in #RiotCleanup

By the simple use of a Twitter hashtag, people all around the country were able to congregate and combine their efforts to clean up all the mess in the aftermath of all the vandalism. Inspirational. 

4. Riot Repairs on MyBuilder.com - link

Hundreds of qualified tradesmen have offered their services for free to business that have been vandalized and damaged by rioters and looters. Inspirational.

5. Killer5 Interiors - link

This Midlands-based Interior design firm reached out to me on Twitter. They are willing to offer their services free of charge to any business damaged by riots, and to provide furniture and fittings at trade cost. Inspirational.

6. You :)

Over the past few days, thousands upon thousands of you have submitted tips, photos, videos and information. This blog wouldn’t have been possible without you. Thousands more of you have reached out here and on Twitter to say thanks. You gave me the motivation to keep going even running on little sleep. Inspirational.

No serious reports coming in at this stage. There has been rain, and there are twice as many police on the streets. Hopefully all this has dissuaded any would-be troublemakers from causing more problems. Understandably there is still tension particularly amongst the community where the murders occurred last night, but for the moment, all is calm. Let’s all hope things stay that way.

In other news, mainstream media have been on my tail! In the last 48 hours I’ve been on BBC WM radio twice (once yesterday morning and once earlier tonight), I was on BBC Midlands Today TV yesterday, did an interview for a French-Canadian newspaper earlier tonight, CNN and the Online News Association in the US have been in touch, The Guardian mentioned me in their blog, I pre-recorded an interview for BRMB which I think is going out imminently on Caroline Martin’s show, I was just live on the FRICTION show on BBC Asian Network, and I have another interview tomorrow morning with a French national newspaper. My head is spinning, so hopefully I didn’t miss any of them. If any of you see or hear any of them, let me know. If I can record back any of the audio or video, I may repost if there’s interest, so follow me on Twitter for updates on that regard.

But I want to point out that the reason I set up this blog was simple. To provide real-time and unbiased coverage. We may not have been 100% accurate, 100% of the time, but I think our accuracy level has been pretty high for the most part. The thousands of messages of support I’ve had from so many of you not only gave me the motivation to keep going but also showed that there was a real appreciation for the updates.

Sky News, BBC News and other media have been painfully slow on updates, and many of you have accused them of even being biased. Of course, they are far more liable, but in this day and age they simply must evolve or people will turn elsewhere, which the 1million+ page views this blog got yesterday would indicate. As for me, I have no agenda other than to keep the people informed and safe as quickly as possible. I’m not getting paid to do this, and so I am truly humbled at some of the messages I’ve received saying I’ve put the mainstream media to shame. A few of you have even called me a hero, but I’m not. I’m just someone that believes in the power of the internet and social media as a force for good. That’s all. And the truth is that I couldn’t have done it without the thousands of you helping, submitting information, pictures and more. We should all be proud of ourselves as a community - but the real work begins now. Not just to clean up our battered streets, but to all do as much as we can to ensure these kind of events don’t happen again. No matter what your job or background there are ways we can all help. I firmly believe that. 

The imminent threat of major violence may or may not be over. So we all need to stay vigilant, stay safe, and above all have compassion for each other. The unity that this has brought between us in response to these sickening acts of violence, might well be the silver lining to this incredibly dark cloud.  Thank you all.

Peace….

@CaseyRain

Understandably I’m now getting a lot of reports of racial tension connected to the deaths of the Pakistani guys last night on Dudley Rd. Every kind of report you can possibly imagine in my Tumblr inbox, but the common theme is that the Asian community are incensed and want revenge and that there’s a strong possibility of gangs coming to Birmingham from other cities like Leicester and Manchester in response to the deaths last night.

I’m fearful because this racial tension isn’t new - but this has undoubtedly exacerbated it. Some of you might remember the riots we had in Handsworth and Lozells a few years ago, where it was alleged that Asian guys had attacked a young black girl after she was caught shoplifting. It kicked off and there were deaths then too. As it turned out, when everything calmed down, the original story appeared to be nothing more than a rumor and nobody seemed quite sure that it had happened. 

The Gandhi quote about “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind” is so cliche at this point (although still relevant) that I feel many don’t even stop to really think about it. So allow me to quote one of my favorite authors, Ken Kesey who presents the same idea in a starker and more direct way:

“The man who seeks revenge digs two graves”

To all reading this - no matter your motive, original rioters/looters, anti rioters/looters protecting the area, gangs seeking revenge, proud brummies trying to defend our city, and even police - VIOLENCE IS NOT THE ANSWER. All different factions getting caught in a big mob mess isn’t going to help anything. Innocent people will get hurt and the whole situation will escalate. Where’s the community leaders? Not the self-important, self-appointed busybodies claiming to speak on behalf of the people, I mean the REAL community leaders who ARE actually in touch with all the people in the community on a grassroots level. Where are the gang leaders? You have a responsibility to try and calm this! It’s gone on long enough! 

Look, I can’t predict what’s going to happen tonight, but I’ve lived here in the inner city long enough to know that right now we’re on the brink of something potentially a lot more serious than anything we’ve seen so far. Please, calm yourselves. After all this is over, we ALL have to pick up the pieces, including you - the ones responsible for it. 

With reports of the EDL also travelling to Birmingham, and idiot racists like Nick Griffin using the situation to his advantage, now by continuing to cause trouble you are simply giving them what they want and worsening your own situation.

Please, just stop, take a few minutes and look at the bigger picture here. That’s all I’m asking. 

Peace….literally

@CaseyRain

Guys, it’s been a long day for all of us, full of anger, uncertainty, fear, and now it has also ended in tragedy with the reported deaths of Shazad Hussain and his brother who were simply trying to defend their community. As I said yesterday, we owe ourselves and each other at least a few minutes to think about why events like the ones that have taken place over the last few days all across the country happen. It’s perfectly normal to be very angry, but if that’s where it ends, but simply anger alone will not help the situation and more importantly, it will not prevent it happening again. 

I am almost too tired myself to form the coherent thoughts that I so badly wish to express right now, and yet simultaneously my mind races with a million of them at once. My thoughts are with the business owners picking up the pieces, the family of Shazad, the scared and vulnerable, and all of us across our once great city that has been literally torn apart in front of our eyes. All I can say is that even just from all the incredible messages of support I’ve had in the last 48 hours, I know that we will remain strong and we will fix this. Not just the superficial damage, but the underlying reasons as to why it had to get this far. I believe there has been widespread systematic failure on every level and because of that, these events were perhaps inevitable. Problems have been swept under the rug and real misgivings, particularly in the urban communities have been ignored by the people that are supposed to be in charge. Now they have no choice but to listen and act.

Once again, I can’t even began to express my gratitude at the thousands of messages of support and all the helpful information shared. It certainly hasn’t been an easy task trying to separate rumor from fact. I need to sleep now and I hope with all my heart that I won’t have to continue to update this blog tomorrow.

Please keep the people who are suffering the most, through loss of life or loss of livelihood, in your thoughts, keep the faith in yourselves and each other, and I have no doubt that our shared positivity will lead to a better day.

Goodnight all..

@CaseyRain