THE UN International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is marked every year on March 21 to remember the Sharpeville Massacre, when police opened fire on peaceful protesters against the apartheid regime of “pass books” for black people, killing 69.

As a student, I campaigned against apartheid by organising boycotts — and that power of solidarity and unity in action has stayed with me.

Today I am a trustee of the Action for Southern Africa (Actsa) charity, which is the successor organisation of the anti-apartheid movement, and fortunate to have met and worked with people who fought the brutal apartheid regime.

The power of ordinary people giving solidarity has always inspired me, like the Dunnes Stores workers in Dublin in the 1980s — and I would encourage readers to book their tickets for a powerful new play, Strike, by the Ardent Theatre Company (Ardenttheatre.co.uk).

The 2023 theme of March 21 focuses on the urgency of combatting racism and racial discrimination 75 years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

This year also marks the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush, and there will be a range of commemorative events organised across Britain for this double 75th anniversary, including one I am performing poetry at in Newham, at the Old Town Hall Stratford, from 6pm today.

As the curator of the TUC Roots Culture Identity Art Exhibition, our theme for this year is “Windrush 75.” The exhibition is hosted by the TUC Race Relations Committee and opens to coincide with TUC Black Workers Conference. More information for artists interested in taking part can be found at bit.ly/Zitaroots.

We are still fighting for racial justice, equality and equity in all aspects of life 75 years on — including at work where we as black workers face the adverse impacts of over 10 years of austerity, the pandemic and also institutional racism meaning we are discriminated against, harassed and bullied and victimised disproportionately by our employers, held back in the lowest jobs, on the lowest pay.

To tackle this, I recommend going to tuc.org.uk/AntiRacismTaskForce and reading more about the work of the task force, which I played a role in on the collective bargaining stream. Black workers are encouraged to join the new TUC Black Network and be part of a bigger movement at bit.ly/tucBN23.

Earlier this year I spoke at the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent symposium, on the discrimination faced by black people and the double impacts on black women in the labour market and at work. Some of what I said is captured in the damning interim findings as reported by the Guardian at bit.ly/racereport23.

The injustice we face as black and brown people impacts us globally, with the most vulnerable facing the most inhumane acts of brutality and systemic racism: those who are fleeing persecution, conflict and climate-change-based displacement, which disproportionately impacts people in the global South.

Following collective actions including legal action by the PCS union, my organisation Barac UK and others, we successfully challenged the government’s “pushback” policy on small boat crossings in the Channel — but they have now introduced a draconian and inhumane Illegal Immigration Bill 2023, which disproportionately targets black and brown refugees once again.

We must come together to oppose this Bill, which breaches human rights law. Barac UK is among over 300 organisations which have signed this letter to the Prime Minister — read it at bit.ly/RefugeeBill23.

I believe in practical solidarity — and that is why for over the years I have been fundraising for and co-ordinating humanitarian aid missions to bring food and essentials to our sisters and brothers who are refugees stranded in northern France. Readers can support our next mission in a few weeks by going to bit.ly/BaracFood.

It's essential that we not only raise our voices to speak against racism but that we also take action to combat it. This means decolonising institutions, challenging workplace discrimination and victimisation, and creating and supporting spaces and structures for black and brown people to organise and recognise our lived experience and agency.

It means checking those who are not on the receiving end of racism — checking and recognising their privileges and how that benefits them when it comes to systems of oppression and structural racism. It means practical as well as symbolic solidarity. It means examining our practices and structures and listening.

The anti-refugee Bill is racist but also seeks to violate the human rights of people who have no choice but to flee for their lives. It seeks to make inhumane actions legal and give the government power to act with impunity in putting the lives of the most vulnerable, disproportionately black and brown people, at risk.

This succession of racist laws introduced in recent times did not happen in a vacuum: it happened because racist ideals and scapegoating of black and brown people have been allowed to thrive and grow.

This is why all of us who believe in equality, justice and human rights for all, must challenge all forms of racism and stand together against these oppressions, like those shop workers at Dunnes and why we must never forget the Sharpeville Massacre — and what can happen when those in power are allowed to pass laws that make racism, brutality and human rights abuses legal.

Zita Holbourne is national co-chair of the Artists’ Union England and national chair of Black Activists Rising Against Cuts — @Baracuk.