Chief Constable meets family of Sheku Bayoh

Chief Constable Jo Farrell today met with the family of Sheku Bayoh to underline Police Scotland’s support for his relatives and the wider Public Inquiry into his death.

The Chief Constable pledged that Police Scotland remained fully committed to assisting the Chair to discharge the Inquiry’s terms of reference and that the Service would address any recommendations made.

The private meeting in Glasgow was also a chance for the Chief Constable to build on Police Scotland’s relationship with the Bayoh family and highlight the anti-racism work being carried out to improve policing in Scotland.

Chief Constable Farrell said: “I very much welcomed the opportunity to meet with the family of Sheku Bayoh and listen to their concerns.

“I took the opportunity to express my personal condolences and reiterated those of the service. I am very aware of the significant impact his death had on his family, friends, the wider community of Kirkcaldy and beyond, and serving and retired officers.

“This meeting also allowed me to underline Police Scotland’s commitment to participate in every aspect of the Public Inquiry and to positively assist the Chair in discharging the terms of reference.

“Meeting directly with the family also allowed me the opportunity to highlight the extensive work ongoing under the Policing Together programme to drive a culture change towards becoming an anti-racist, anti-discriminatory service which better reflects and represents the communities we serve.”

“I repeated the assurances that both myself and the senior leadership of Police Scotland are absolutely committed to driving this work forward with a very clear determination to address any recommendations made by the Inquiry.”

Giant Usher Hall artwork joins BLM mural trail

Giant new artwork – Justice for Sheku Bayoh – at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall joins the rapidly expanding Mural Trail as Scotland’s artists and arts organisations combine their voices to support Black Lives Matter

Scotland’s Black Lives Matter Mural Trail is expanding rapidly. The addition this week of 5 new artworks at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall takes the total to 24 (across Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness) with over a dozen more planned in the coming weeks, in Stirling and Dundee, as well as Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The latest additions are by Kirkcaldy artist Abigail Mills aka Abz including an impressive 5.5 meter x 6.5 meter print on the Usher Hall’s Glass Wing, and a further 4 images next to Lothian Road.

Striking, colourful and thought provoking, Abz’s work reflects her regular job as a tattoo artist, but goes far beyond that, reflecting her Scottish/Jamaican heritage and self identifcation as a “queer artist”.

The Glass Wing artwork – Justice for Sheku Bayoh –  is inspired by the death in 2015, in police custody in Kirkcaldy, of Sheku Bayoh (now the subject of a recently announced public enquiry).

Aamer Anwar, lawyer for the Bayoh family, said: “The family of Sheku Bayoh & his partner Collette are deeply grateful to the artist for this mural which encapsulates for them their long struggle for justice & truth.

“It’s time that those who fly the banner of #BlackLivesMatter realised that there are also many George Floyds in the UK and their families need your support”

Abz’s work joins The Neon Requiem’s 3 portraits of female inspirations in his life – The Healer, The Nurturer and the Teacher, on display at the Lyceum Theatre, text contributions by Annie George at The Traverse Theatre, and a further 6 posters featuring words by some of Scotland’s leading BAME musicians including Emili Sande, Young Fathers and Findlay Quaye, making a remarkable cluster of creative activity by BAME artists/writers, at Edinburgh’s “theatre hub”.

This is hugely significant, and not just for art and culture” – Cllr Donald Wilson, Culture Convenor, City of Edinburgh Council

www.wezi.uk/scottish-bml-mural-trail/