Newham Monitoring Project (NMP) was formed 25 years ago out of local campaigns against the racist murder of teenager Akhtar Ali Baig in East Ham, after statutory agencies failed to respond adequately. NMP's founding aim was to monitor both racist attacks and statutory response to them in order to campaign effectively around the resultant issues for justice and change.
The harassment of the black community by the police meant that before long the issue of police racism and the criminalisation of black people also became central to our agenda. The friends and family of Akhtar Ali Baig had no organisation to turn to at the time, but in the many cases since 1980, NMP has been a concrete and durable source of advice and support. Since 1983, NMP has provided a 24-hour Emergency Service for victims of racist violence and police harassment.
NMP's roots
NMP's agenda is directed by its roots in the black community. We believe that the everyday experiences of self defence against racism equips the community with the tools to defend itself. NMP works closely with community campaigns that have a real base within the black community and are able to mobilise support in a way that high profile media campaigns or other initiatives cannot. Although this is central to our agenda, we involve and work closely with principled white anti-racists that respect the black experience, for NMP has never seen the fight against racism in isolation from wider demands for social justice.
We believe that racism remains rooted in the very fabric of British society, as shown by recent anti-terrorism legislation and stop and search powers, disproportionately affecting working class black communities. We believe in fighting police and state racism and therefore fascism, rather than divorcing anti-fascist struggles from the experiences and self-organisation of the black community.
A brief history of NMP
1980
NMP formed in 1980 as a culmination of the struggles of the local community throughout the 1970's
NMP formed because there is no organised agency or group that people who were racially attacked could turn to for help, advice and support.
NMP's brief to also monitor racist attacks and the response of the police and the local authority and act as a pressure group.
NMP is first group of its kind and is built up from scratch by the local community relying solely on volunteers.
1981
NMP undertakes casework; it becomes obvious that the project could not fight racial harassment without also
tackling the problem of police racism and police harassment.
1982
NMP sets up 24 hour Emergency Volunteer Service giving practical legal advice and support to victims of racist
attacks and police harassment
Present
The challenges for our organisation are great - they always have been - but with the vehement escalation of naked
racism, particularly towards asylum seekers and refugees, the work that NMP undertakes remains crucial.