A Court of Common Councillor has written to the City of London Corporation urging the authority to make a contribution to Black charities in the UK and US in the wake of the death of George Floyd.
Mr Floyd, who was in police custody at the time, suffered cardiopulmonary arrest after officer Derek Chauvin knelt down on his neck for as many as nine minutes in an video-recorded incident that has sparked civil unrest in the States.
Labour’s William Pimlott called on the City Corporation to support organisations fighting back against racist police violence, including Black Visions Collective and The National Bail Fund Network in the US, and Southall Black Sisters and the Gofundme page for Belly Mujinga in the UK.
Mr Pimlott said: “The City of London has a Disaster Relief Fund which is specifically for international disaster appeals.
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“So far this financial year it has already given £60 000 to efforts to tackle the Covid pandemic, and in March it gave £15 000 to Australian wildfire relief.
“In 2017 it gave £25,000 towards the We Love Manchester Appeal to Manchester City Council following the devastating terror attack in the City in May. An intervention from the fund to help Black communities in the US and UK would be both timely and deeply helpful.
“I have also written to the chair and deputy chair of the City of London Police Committee to try and make sure that the City is doing everything it possibly can to reduce racism and discrimination in its policing, and to urge the police to avoid the use of violence when policing forthcoming protests.”
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