As the SKWAWKBOX has covered, Canary editor-in-chief Kerry-Anne Mendoza was abysmally discriminated against and harassed by a group of mostly white, elitist journalists at the Guardian/Observer – and the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) broke democratic principles and went over the heads of its black members to cancel Mendoza’s invitation to deliver a landmark memorial lecture for Black History Month.

Mendoza, with the support of the Canary, black NUJ members and other left media outlets and in keeping with the barrier-breaking spirit of the woman in whose memory the event began, organised the inaugural Alternative Claudia Jones Lecture.

It was delivered last night to a full house and Ms Mendoza drew on Claudia Jones’ life story and achievements to illustrate the differences between activism and liberalism – and talked about the importance of independent media and honest story-telling in building a world that works for everyone.

It was a gripping, moving and at times devastating lecture and can be watched below in full – beginning at 24 minutes:

What she has done and achieved on her own initiative and with the support of other activists puts to shame the mostly-cossetted mainstream journalists who think they can look down on her.

Congratulations to Kerry-Anne Mendoza and all concerned.

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