Yesterday, Stortford Against Rhodes and Stand Up to Racism Harlow held a demonstration outside the Arts Centre. We repeated what we are calling for, namely for the Trust to:

• Immediately remove the Rhodes name from any current and future branding of their venues and organisations.
• Set out a timeline for the removal of the Rhodes name and branding.
• Commit to a campaign of education on the crimes of Cecil Rhodes that includes the voices of people of colour.

We note that in the Trust's statement, released yesterday, found here, they have finally committed to the first two of our demands, which is a welcome move. However, it has taken every push from us for them to get to this point, and the lack of acknowledgement for our third demand, and the most important one, in my opinion, means that we will be pushing further for change.

Linked is an ITV article, including the live coverage from ITV Anglia News we received at the demonstration, during which I was interviewed. I speak about this importance of education, as it is through education, an education of ourselves and through the education system, where we hope to bring together the centre, the community, and local schools, that we can fight racism, and fight the ideologies that led to the crimes of Cecil Rhodes; changing the Arts Centre's name will simply be an empty gesture without it.

Finally, I wish to thank all for supporting our campaign; we are still pushing for this change, and I would invite you to follow our Facebook page, as we will release information there first! We are continuing our campaign, and hopefully we will soon achieve real and lasting change in our community.

Solidarity!

Lukas Ruediger