History

The Political readjustment of the world means that those who are not sufficiently able, sufficiently prepared, will be at the mercy of he organised classes for another one or two hundred years. Marcus Garvey

In October 2009 following on from a number of meetings and discussions by friends who felt passionate about the underrepresentation of African Heritage people in Leicester and Leicestershire, in the political arena, a non-partisan political initiative; “The Clarion Group” was established. The aim was to promote political literacy amongst the said people. We felt - and some of us still do – that the sentiments expressed by Marcus Garvey almost a hundred years ago is still very apt today, post the millennium.

It is perhaps important to state here that All-Party Speakers conference in late 2009 recommended that a short list of under represented groups is drawn-up concerning parliamentary and local elections until the under representation is eliminated. Arguably, any real progress in relation to this recommendation will heavily depend on the identified communities to participate actively, in the political process. Hence the African Heritage communities in the UK and Leicester & Leicestershire in particular are amongst those greatly underrepresented. Lack of interest, apathy and low African Heritage voter turnout are well documented as a result there are very few elected member from African Heritage communities as Councillors, Members of Parliament (MP) or any other influential political forum.

The fact is today the 21ST Century, for very many of us African Heritage people, our everyday life experiences have influenced some of us so much so, that we believe the myth that our full involvement in the democratic process is not something with which we are capable.

It is with this knowledge coupled with Marcus Garvey’s sentiments “The Clarion Voice” aims to inspire present and future generations of African Heritage people to proactively engage politically.

For African Heritage people, to be sufficiently able, sufficiently prepared they must be politically organised.

What can we do

• Civic Responsibilities
• Political Literacy
• Political Engagement
• Political Representation
• Shadowing and Mentorship
• Identifying Facilitators and future Leaders
• Capacity and skills development of African Heritage people in relation to political participation and representation.
• Professional Networking.

How we work

• Political education
• Formal and informal and research
• Networking
• Form alliances with other groups/organisations

Who can join

• Individuals
• Groups
• Organizations interested in furthering the aims and objectives of ‘The Clarion Voice’