Together Against Racism: Niyi, 2020 Cohort

“I created the Together Against Racism slogan, and with the support of Unlocked, secured funding to roll this out across the prison service. I signed up 27 prisons nationwide who wanted to bring the ribbons to their establishment.”

Niyi, a participant from our 2020 cohort, joined the programme because he was looking for a meaningful opportunity. He wanted to counter the lack of representation of people from BAME backgrounds in positions in the prison service where they could make a difference.

After joining the Prison service he was inspired by the discussion around racial injustice, he decided to apply for funding from Unlocked Graduates IAP initiative to start an awareness project that attached ribbons on to prison officers’ epaulettes with the slogan ‘Together Against Racism.’

The aim of the ribbons was to open up discussions. He wanted to find a way to acknowledge that these racially motivated incidents exist in prisons, raising the issues in the spaces where they were happening so that that the prison service could look at addressing them.

This led to colleagues wearing the ribbons on their uniform to show support and a willingness to be a part of the conversation. To build on this awareness, he helped set-up staff awareness meetings and coffee days in his prison. Niyi states that he “felt that you always have to stand up against injustice, you have to speak out and challenge when you see things wrong, otherwise you are contributing to the problem yourself.”

Niyi outlines how he noticed the difference that breaking down barriers has made. By explaining the “Together Against Racism” idea to prisoners when they notice the ribbons, he has opened up opportunities for conversation around prisoners’ experiences around race and racism and received praise from prisoners for the work he has done to raise awareness and encourage discussion.

Niyi secured funding to roll this project out across the prison service. He has been able to work with the area manager for London prisons, Ian Bickers, and liaised with governors and deputy governors across the country to launch this national project. He signed up 27 prisons nationwide who wanted to bring the ribbons to their establishment. He briefed the Prisons Minister on his idea and she was supportive, stating that they were a great way to show support of BAME prisoners and staff. This resulted in Niyi starting work with the Race Action programme to roll this out nationally.

One prisoner told Niyi that he had never reported his experiences of racism before, because he never saw the point in it. But after noticing that he was wearing the ribbon, and his commitment to tackling racism, he asked that they put through a discrimination report together. That was the first report this prisoner had ever sent off. For Niyi this is an important movement – we can only tackle racism if we know when and how it is happening.