besea.n (Britain's East and South East Asian Network)

We’re on a full shutdown following ESEA Heritage Month in the UK and won’t be monitoring emails or DMs until after the lunar new year. We’ll be using this time to reset, take some for our mental and physical health, and reflect before our annual AGM, where we’ll be shaping what the future of besea.n could look like. Please note, we’re not taking any speaking engagements or collaboration requests for Lunar New Year of any kind. In solidarity, Team besea.n

We want to inform everyone of a decision we've made regarding the Ajinomoto sponsorship of our upcoming event. After recently being informed about their investments in an Israeli company and confirming this with Ajinomoto, we have decided to withdraw their sponsorship. We take full responsibility on our part and are committed to changing course when information comes to our attention regarding our projects that do not align with our values. As a grassroots collective with a small team of volunteers and limited resources, we are grateful to the people who have offered their time to shape what we do and collaborate with us while we navigate this work. We are firmly with the people of Palestine and do not wish to continue as usual while the current genocide devastates Gaza, and Palestine remains under ongoing occupation, imprisonment, surveillance and apartheid. We urgently call for Ajinomoto to divest from Israeli companies and for immediate action to stop profiting from the oppression and ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people. Here's what we're doing next: -We are committed to ensuring that the event on 28th September still goes ahead to celebrate and support ESEA communities. We will cover all remaining costs ourselves to ensure that the event remains free. -We will be refunding Ajinomoto the full sponsorship fee. -Following this statement, all marketing materials related to Ajinomoto will be removed from our socials and website. In due course, we plan to review our processes and existing approach to sponsorships and services. We will discuss how we can engage meaningfully, effectively and sustainably with the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions campaign moving forward. We deeply value the support and involvement of our communities. We are committed to ensuring this event remains free so that it is accessible and we will be holding fundraising activities on the day. We would appreciate your support if you are able to make a contribution. We also welcome donations via ko-fi to make sure we can continue to hold these events in the future. Thank you for your understanding and continued support.

A message from besea.n: In light of the racist and Islamophobic violence that has seen attacks on racialised communities across the UK, we want to send a message of love and solidarity to all those impacted. Attacks have been carried out against Muslims, mosques, Filipino health workers, members of Black communities, South Asian owned homes and businesses, and against asylum seekers in hotels. In a climate where anyone racialised as not white is a target, there is widespread fear and anxiety among many communities in Britain.We reject categorisations of these incidents as ‘anti-immigration protests’ or ‘pro-UK marches’, as these ideas imply that the targeted communities are somehow not part of the UK and British society. We also recognise that these riots do not occur in a vacuum: racism is deeply embedded in our media and institutional policies. The different struggles of oppressed peoples are deeply interconnected, and we all have a responsibility to fight racism and colonialism on a global level, as well as at home. Our network and supporters have vastly diverse identities and experiences, and we recognise that many of us exist at the intersections of multiple forms of oppression and marginalisation.We stand in solidarity with all migrants, regardless of citizenship, and we urge our communities and allies to support each other through acts of love and community care.We encourage cross-community organising efforts such as attending counter-demos (if able to), sharing information and resources, challenging misinformation, engaging with mutual aid networks and funds, community rebuilding schemes, union organising, and applying pressure on local representatives to address systemic drivers of racism, rather than calling for increased policing measures, which may be applied to anti-fascist protestors trying to protect communities. There is no space for ableism or classism in resistance movements, and we should work hard to make sure our actions unite, rather than divide or exclude. We believe deeply in carving out space for community joy and for acts of radical love, and in the power of cross-community, intergenerational exchange. When we look out for each other, we carve out space to belong. All our solidarity, Team besea.n

📍SAVE AND SHARE! ⏰ Join us for a mouth-watering collaboration between besea.n and Ajinomoto Co., Inc. at Peckham Levels on 28th September 2024 from 12-7pm. Free tickets available via the link in bio! besea.n is thrilled to present our annual flagship event, sponsored by Ajinomoto. For the first time ever, we are welcoming ESEA guests not just from the UK, but across France, and Germany to celebrate this year’s ESEA Heritage Month theme, Changing Seasons, reflecting the cyclical nature of life, cultures, and identities. Highlights include exciting panel discussions on ‘The Flavour of Prejudice Food Racism in ESEA European contexts’, and ‘Cultivating Community through Creativity’ with guests Angela Hui, Julie Hamaïde, Linda Nguon 🎙,  Caro Knihar & Vian Nguyen of🎙kaputt agency, MiMi Aye, Sophia Luu, Jing Chen and more to be announced! What’s more, we have a stellar workshop on ESEA Food Colonialism by writer Grace Ly and will be ending the day by honouring domestic and migrant workers. Throughout the day, enjoy delicious ESEA food caterers, meet amazing grassroots orgs, shop from small ESEA-owned businesses (stallholders who want to take part, keep on reading), enjoy fun, family-friendly activities and exciting surprises along the way. There are also free goodie bags for the first 180 guests! Peckham Levels is our fantastic host, creating a vibrant community space in South London. Free tickets via @eventbriteuk - link in comments. If you would like to join as a stallholder, you can apply via the short form in the comments. #ESEAHM #ESEAHM2024 #ChangingSeasons #ESEAJoy #ESEAEats

Would you like to learn from our experts how to deliver our #activebystander training to others in your workplace or community group? It can be difficult to know what to do when we encounter prejudice, harassment, or identity-based violence such as a racist attack in a supermarket or an inappropriate comment from a colleague or friend. Protection Approaches and besea.n (Britain's East and South East Asian Network) have developed an innovative and proven training that helps everyone to understand what they can do to reduce harm whenever they encounter such situations. We are recruiting volunteer facilitators who will be trained by our team and provided with all the resources they need to deliver these trainings in their workplaces and elsewhere. This free programme is open to anybody but it may be particularly interesting to people working in #HR, #JEDI or #Safeguarding. It may also be of particular interest in you are in an active leadership role within a local community or faith group or a school or university. You can find out more, and apply for the training, at the link below: https://lnkd.in/e59Pr5h7

This is brilliant. We look forward to hearing more about the programme! 👏🏼👏🏼

🍂🌸☀️⛈️ESEA Heritage Month Theme Announcement! 🍂🌸☀️⛈️ We’re so thrilled to announce this year’s ESEA Heritage Month theme, Changing Seasons. This theme offers a reflection on the cyclical nature of life. Just as the seasons transition, so too do our experiences, cultures, and identities within the ESEA communities and beyond. From the tangible shifts in weather to the evolving cultural zeitgeist, this theme encapsulates our collective journey towards new beginnings and growth. We extend a warm invitation to all to join us in celebrating, observing Changing Seasons. Whether through the lens of seasonal cuisines, developing trends, discussions on evolving identities, the great outdoors or reflections on our political landscape, we look forward to commemorating this year’s ESEA Heritage Month with you. What’s more, event registrations are also officially open! Head to eseaheritagemonth.co.uk to register your event today! #eseahm2024 #eseaheritagemonth #changingseasons #eseajoy Illustrations: @eyillustrations 

🧧🌕🐲 Free Lunar New Year Resource Packs 🐲🌕🧧 Happy Lunar New Year! Have you got Lunar New Year planned? Celebrate this Lunar New Year with our FREE to download 2024 resource packs, available now! This updated resource pack has been created with education experts with a combined 43 years of experience in the education sector. It was designed for ease of use for all practitioners irrespective of their level of confidence and knowledge of East and South East Asian (ESEA) cultures. Through the use of this pack, we hope that educators will feel empowered to teach young people in the UK the topic of Lunar New Year. Save this post and download the resource pack via link in comments! 🔗 #lunarnewyear #yearofthedragon #eyfs #eyfsideas #eyfsteacher #eyfsinspiration #primaryschool #ks1 #ks2 #ks3 #ks4 #ks5 #freeresourcesforteachers #freeteachingresources1w