Black History Month webinar: Being Black and British in the 21st Century

October marks Black History Month which has been widely celebrated for many years.

This month, we have been sharing articles that aim to educate and inspire and on 21 October, we will be hosting our webinar on ‘Being Black and British in the 21st Century’ with guest speakers from the legal profession: Kizzy Augustin, Isaac Eloi and Hashi Mohamed.

The webinar will explore various topics including:

the Black Lives Matter movement, and why the ‘All Lives Matter’ slogan not only misses the point but is problematic;
issues that black Britons face in terms of entry into the legal progression, and retention thereafter;
micro-aggressions in the workplace, how these feel to the recipient and how these can be avoided by the aggressor.

Find out more details about the speakers and our recent articles below.

To register your attendance, please click on the ‘Register interest’ button.

Please note: this webinar will be held using Zoom and a link will be sent to you in your registration confirmation email.

We hope you can join us.

Kizzy Augustin

Kizzy Augustin is a Partner in Russell-Cooke’s fraud and criminal litigation team, specialising in health and safety, having previously spent many years leading the London health and safety team at international firm Pinsent Masons.

As a solicitor advocate with Higher Rights of Audience, she appears regularly as an advocate in court proceedings and Coroner’s inquests. Kizzy has significant experience in defending companies, senior directors and employees in corporate manslaughter and serious fire/health and safety prosecutions, and regularly speaks on expert panels relating to health and safety/corporate manslaughter issues.

She is a staunch supporter for true equality and diversity in the law – she has been recognised as a Next Generation Partner in the Legal 500 (2020-21) and won an award for ‘Outstanding Women in Professional Services’ at the Precious Awards 2019 in recognition of her legal work and efforts in championing the success of black women within the legal industry and attracting black students to the law. She is a professional mentor for young black and ethnic minority students through channels such as WCAN and BSN Creating Pathways and provides work experience opportunities for those that are interested in the legal profession, while recognising the struggles that still exist in the UK to obtain parity and equality.

Isaac Eloi

Isaac Eloi is a Solicitor and is the Co-Founder of the Black Men In Law Network. He has been active in BME and LGBT spaces for 9 years, from his time at Sheffield University through to the present day. He has been open about his experiences as a Black LGBT professional, writing for the Times Student Supplement and The Lawyer and is also the 2018 recipient of the Black Solicitors’ Network Rising Star (Entrepreneurship) Award for his work with Urban Lawyers, Freeths, and aiding Black and LGBT students at large.

He is passionate about increasing access and opportunities within the legal profession for Black students and decreasing attrition rates out of the legal profession.

Hashi Mohamed

Hashi Mohamed is a Barrister, public speaker and broadcaster. He came to the UK when he was nine years old as an unaccompanied child refugee from Kenya after the death of his father.

Despite attending a struggling comprehensive school and being brought up exclusively on state benefits, Hashi secured a place at the University of Hertfordshire to study law and French, and thereafter was awarded a postgraduate scholarship at the University of Oxford. He subsequently gained a position at No. 5 Chambers where he practises environmental and planning law, and has been consistently rated as one of the top junior barristers in planning law in the Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners.

As a broadcaster, Hashi has made two documentaries for BBC Radio 4 discussing social mobility and his journey from being a child refugee to becoming a top rated barrister. He is also author of the well-received book, People Like Us, which discusses the barriers to social mobility in the UK.

Hashi is always keen to share what he has learned from his personal journey and to use his voice to advocate for those who suffer from all types of inequality.