On The Rack this week I have thought leader, educator, and consultant, Lee Jasper. He was an advisor in government to five consecutive Home Secretaries up until 2010, the Senior Political Advisor to former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone for eight years (2000-2008) and is the co-founder of Operation Black Vote. He is a veteran racial justice campaigner and strategist who I first met fourteen years ago.
You can also listen to this episode on Spotify, YouTube and Apple Podcasts
In our conversation we discussed his role as the current chair of the Alliance of Police Accountability (APA), the rise of far-right movements in the UK, the role of religion in social movements, and the decline of traditional neoliberal politics.
We got a bit heated about the current state of trade unions, which Lee believes have retreated from their social mandate and are beholden to the Labour Party who themselves are corporately captured.
We went on to talk about the "Unite the Kingdom" rally that attracted 150,000-200,000 people last month.
During the rally, Lee, as part of his work at APA was coordinating community groups from a high vantage point in central London, monitoring and surveilling the march to both prevent any outbreak of violence and warn if the march seemed to be veering towards other areas such as Tower Hamlets. Does the rise of the far right demand a need for increased counter-protest participation, especially from white people?
We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings.
— Ursula K. Le Guin
We discussed the historical context of the Union Jack being corrupted by the extreme right and the visceral reaction it evokes among certain communities.
Lee told me about the three reports into the Met Police that the Mayor and the commissioner have tried to bury. Both before and since the BBC Panorama documentary, Undercover in the Police exposed evidence of racism, misogyny and officers revelling in the use of force in Charing Cross Police station.
The reports all address the fundamental weaknesses in the architecture of police accountability in London. And a breakdown of moral authority from top to bottom.
We started with Jamaica, Lee's motherland, their economic ties with the U.S., it’s wealth distribution, and the impact of climate change on rural farmers.
And we ended as always with a round of Mad Geniuses! Lee has dedicated his life to advancing social justice, equity, and community empowerment and the mad geniuses he chose tells you why.
You can find the Alliance for Police Accountability on Instagram here.
Follow and read Lee’s articles on Substack here
And find out more about his consultancy work here.
Have a good weekend! I'll hopefully be back with another On the Rack episode soon. In the meantime if you haven’t read them already, check out some of my favourite articles from last year (I won’t be writing anymore anytime soon):
The Guilty Men (and Women)
Why I’ll Never Write Off The White Working Class, Even Those Who Are Racist
On Violence and The Wretched of the Earth
Sally Rooney Has Paid Her Rent
The Journalism Paradox: Class origins and proximity to power
🎧 Jazz’s Favourite Son | Plurality and Dissonance with Alex Hitchcock
