Hi everyone, Not long to go for the launch of 'Untold Covid Stories' exhibition and 'Covid Crisis - the BritBangla Response' book launch. I just want to give you an overview of the day: 6:00 - Exhibition opening - you can check out the art corridors, speak to me (the author), speak to editors (Barney and Miranda Snow) and curator (Doug Haywood) and others who are like-minded like you and me. Feel free to purchase the limited editions of the book and T-towels - I genuinely mean limited! 7:00 - 7:30 - Free snacks provided by Oitijjo - everything halal and vegan - tea too. First £150 is free to drink from the bar - so hurry! 😘 7:30 - 8:00 - five-minute speeches by each campaigner, academic and me - just don't cringe!🙂 8:30 - The End, but feel free to party among yourself. The photographer will take photos of you: don't forget to say: 'cheese!' Registration here: https://lnkd.in/ege4JpQM Ripon Ray Founder BritBanglaCovid

  He came to the UK in 1962. At the time, he felt the UK was pretty peaceful and safe. There was no rivalry, conflict or tension among many communities. He stayed with Bengali seamen. There were thousands of seamen. All of them were Bengalis from India. They came on a ship, and many married English women and stayed in the UK permanently. We are not speaking about just a few Bengalis. During the global pandemic, many Bangladeshis in Bangladesh lost their lives. If more die in Bangladesh, there may be a call for a national lockdown, according to Badsha Khan. He wanted to go to Bangladesh for Eid to sacrifice a cow. All the flights from the UK to Bangladesh were on hold. Instead, those who lived there shared the cow meat with others. He spent a few hours walking about. It was terrifying for him.

A local campaigner encourages community vaccination. Onupom Rahman, who  gave up being an Uber driver because he could not survive on nil income during the pandemic, is now working as vaccination worker in the East End of London to get his community members vaccinated and save lives.  Onupum lost two aunts to Covid-19. He  also felt insecure about working as Uber driver because passengers who he was  serving may be carrier of Covid-19. He then completely abandoned the trade as he was getting no income. Once Covid-19 vaccination was  underway, Onupom quickly joined Tower Hamlets Council's vaccination team to make sure he was saving lives of his community members. He is BritBanglaCovid's hero!

It was such a joy to hear from a diverse range of women's experience of British Bangladeshi origin as part of the International Women's History Month in Britain. Ripon Ray, founder of BritBanglaCovid would especially like to thank her Honour Judge Khatun Sapnara for stewarding the public meeting in such a delicate manner as Julie Begum, Jusna Begum, Ummul Chowdhury, Rukeya Miah, Rezna Khatun, Hasina Momtaz and Meghna Uddin and Tanzila Zaman shared their sensitive life experiences to the wider communities in Britain and beyond. It was no doubt a privilege and an honour to have listened to such experiences as BritBanglaCovid comes to the end of its campaign against Covid-19 in order to support the Bangladeshi community in Britain from the pandemic. I hope British Bangladeshi women feel proud of what they have achieved so far in Britain in order for the future generation of Bangladeshi women to gain confidence recognising the solidarity in their struggles.

Register here:  link This event is brought to you by BritBanglaCovid and supported by Oxford University and Swadhinata Trust to get British Bangladeshi women talk about issues that matter to them. There are misconceptions about Bangladeshi women linked with force marriages, oppressed, and being submissive to men among so many different stereo types. Also, how did the pandemic impact Bangladeshi women? Let's find out about it as part of the Women's History Month from the point of view of British Bangladeshi women (in English). As part of this meeting on 13 March 2022 at 3pm on Zoom, Bangladeshi women practitioners, writers and and community leaders are to share their experience as never done before. This event is co-hosted by Her Honour Judge Khatun Sapnara and Ripon Ray. Thank you for listening to the voices of British Bangladeshi women during the pandemic! The event is open to everyone regardless of your race, and gender Register here:  link

What a lovely group of passionate people attended the 7th Zoom public meeting organised by  BritBanglaCovid ,  since beginning of the pandemic, on 9th January at 3pm when we could easily have left everything for a day of sunshine! As usual, we covered Covid-19 in a very intelligent way and for which I am so grateful to my panelists:  Professor Patrick Vernon OBE FrHistS , Rokhsana Fiaz (Mayor of Newham)  Chris Tang ,  Rachel Blake ,  Shirina Ali  and others. We have covered from health, community, local authority, and most importantly, from the perspective of structural inequality that had already existed in our community when it comes to the question of Bangladeshis and other minority communities in London. It was such a pleasure to hear from everyone. There would not have been  BritBanglaCovid   without your support and belief in BritBanglaCovid! Thank you for being part of   BritBanglaCovid  world! ‘'Bangladeshi group was th...

We must not forget that according to the current government's report - Covid Disparities Report 2021- published on 3 December 2021 that 91.7% of Bangladeshis in London have already taken the vaccine. This group is therefore the highest vaccine taker compared to any other ethnic group in London. BritBanglaCovid would like to say thank you to everyone who have played their part. We still have a way long way to go. We just need to make sure we carry on with the campaign and call for the take up of the vaccine to everyone. There are still a million Londoners who have not yet taken the vaccine. We must not forget other minority communities too. MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We need to protect our community against a new wave. We've come a long way in Britain regardless of what mainstream media say about us Bangladeshis in Britain! Many of us live in overcrowded housing conditions  just like many Pakistanis.  We also work in public facing jobs just like many Afro- Caribbean communities.  Regardless of our challenges, according to the government's  Covid Disparities Report 2021 published on 3 December 2021: 'Bangladeshi group was the only ethnic group...the highest vaccine uptake at 91.7%.' We must not forget how far we, as a community, have come. We just need to push a bit more to protect ourselves from Omicron by getting a booster. -------------

 This winter is going to be a testing period for minority communities in the UK. We are front line workers, living in overcrowded conditions and in contact with Covid.  A public awareness campaign is crucial for this community.  BritBanglaCovid is to organise further campaigns to make sure minority community lives are saved. We also need to protect the NHS.

Daily Star writes about the work of BritBanglaCovid and how the pandemic may have developed Bangladeshi leadership in Britain, US and Australia. You can read more about our work by clicking below.

A chef from the East End fears for the future of the predominantly Bengali run 'Indian curry' trade. Covid-19 just made things worse for the industry.  A chef from the East End of London fears for the future of predominantly Bangladeshi run 'Indian curry'. Covid-19 just made things worse for the industry.  Atikur Rahman is a chef in Graam Bangla restaurant, Brick Lane. He reveals to BritBanglaCovid some of the challenges the curry sector is facing. The pandemic has just made things worse. 'Covid is killing us' he states. Tourists are not visiting Brick Lane and mostly Bengali owned restaurants are feeling the stress of lockdown and it's financial cost. He emphasises that there is also a confusion with the Indian variant of Covid-19 with Bangladeshi owned restaurants because these restaurants are 'Indian restaurants'. Younger Bangladeshi generations are also not interested in working hard to keep the sector moving forward due to late nights a...

  "I heard stories from people who'd lost their loved ones, who are made redundant and shielding." There are many reasons we're taking steps to protect our loved ones during COVID-19. Find out more about how you can protect your community: https://t.co/CsiJNdxIvp #ForOurFamilies pic.twitter.com/nKv9Jfwa1d — Tower Hamlets Council (@TowerHamletsNow) June 30, 2021

Mrs Nurun Nessa has been diagnosed with middle stage dementia during the pandemic. She is currently receiving informal support from her husband, adult daughters and a close friend. Her doctor said that her health is going to get worse as time goes on. She has accepted that her situation is going to get worse. She is waiting for a care package from Tower Hamlets Council. This film is brought to you by BritBanglaCovid. Filmmaker: Ripon Ray

Obie Matin was shunned for marrying a white man. Yet, she cared for her parents to their last moment.  BENGALI CULTURE & A NAME Obie Matin’s full name is a little bit complicated she says. In Bengali culture, people would know her by her nickname: Obie. But her  formal name  is actually Lubjana Matin. Nobody  calls her Lubjana except during graduation or in any formal occasions.  Everyone calls her by her nickname. There is complete separation between formal and informal life in Bengali culture. UPBRINGING AND RENT FREE ACCOMMODATION Obie was born was born in Britain.  When she was born there was seven years gap between Obie and her older sibling.  ‘I feel privileged of how I grew up, even though we never owned it. It was a massive house with a basement, a Victorian attic, beautiful house. And the terms and conditions were that my dad would have that home rent free, which is one part of the house for lodgings if he oversaw the r...

Julie Begum talks about her East End upbringing, passion for education  and campaign to vaccinate everyone. EAST END UPBRINGING She was born in the Mile End Hospital in 1968 when her parents were living in a temporary accommodation in Tower Hamlets. Her brother was born 18 months after. They were given a council flat in Globe Town, Bethnal Green, London. She remembers that:   ‘We live in a block of flats, with a lot of other working class people…   I think there was only one other Bengali family on the estate at the time. And a black family and majority was white. And there was one mixed race family…To be honest, the only safe place was at home. We heard about people being attacked in their homes by racists. So it was, I would say a climate of fear really for a lot of Bengalis at that time. My father was bottled and attacked.’ There was a difference in response between younger and older generation within the Bengali Community from Julie's account. ‘Young men…decided to fi...