About the movement

Letter to Zion

Although we’ve reached our target of £100k we welcome more support as this will enable us to do more. Please see our overview for more info

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by Cephas Williams

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Latest messages of support

MH

mark Hudson 23rd November 2021

Carry on the great work from all at Gallows Tesco

TL

Tony Lawrence 15th November 2021

Part of our support for Black History month

S

Sian 12th November 2021

Basildon mayflower tesco

SD

Sally Dixon 5th November 2021

Fantastic time raising money from all at Tesco Langdon Hills 2082

A

Angela.f.evans 4th November 2021

From Rainham Tesco 3086

AO

Ayo Owolabi 7th August 2021

Thanks for doing a great job to change the world for better. A new world where no one will be judged by the colour of their skin or the tone of their voice or the name they are called, but by the content of their character.

PM

PS Marmion 9th July 2021

Great idea

BD

Barb Dix 2nd July 2021

Thank you for your sacrifices. Thank you for giving your time, voice, energy, creativity, persistence, networks .... for what you do for us now and for all our futures 🙏🏽

EN

Ekua Nyarko Brown 22nd May 2021

Brother I honour everything that you are doing for the community and the world. On behalf of your son we thank you for the beginning of this mighty legacy. May God guide and support you on your path.❤🙏🏾

TG

Tamara Giltsoff 6th May 2021

Massive respect to you. It's time. And you are a big part of the change. Your approach is elegant and inspiring. I have hope we will achieve the systemic and cultural shifts required but it is up to many of us, mostly/particularly white people, to take responsibility and to drive the change.

Nick Finnemore 1st May 2021

Fully committed to help

JP

Johanne Penney 25th April 2021

This is a movement not a moment. Cephas your words and action are going to shift the dial. As a Black woman working in this space I speak and move exactly the same as you, which meant your words in your letter resonated so deeply. I do this for our kids growing up to really know what it means to be equal regardless of the colour of their skin. But we have work to do!

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The BBN is part of Cephas Williams commitment as seen in his Letter to Zion. The BBN is initially launching as an organising body which will allow Black British professionals and the wider Black community to have a united voice regarding business and economic advancement in the UK. In response to recent events, many companies have put out statements, action plans and manifestos indicating where they need to change and address a race or 'diversity' issue. The BBN wants to champion a more reflective response as opposed to a reactive one.

The BBN will initially focus its efforts on bringing both executives, decision makers and the wider Black community together, to construct a uniquely positioned and unified proposition for systemic change. The proposition will be informed by both Black people and industry leading companies. We will collectively formulate targeted actions and measurable outputs with all our ally companies. The BBN will also be a body that can hold everyone accountable as time passes. Allying with the BBN is not to say you are perfect, but to appreciate that nobody is, that we have not got it right yet and to make a commitment to work together to create a better landscape for this generation and generations to come.

Please see our 4 deliverables for year 1 below.

4 Key Deliverables

Roundtable Conversations

For each meeting, we aim to walk away with tangible actions to change our collective thinking, processes, approach and understanding of the Black community. To build a better system we must deconstruct the existing framework and understand where it has failed the Black community, only then can we have a reflective response as opposed to a reactive response; and use the learning we extract from each meeting to build a better framework/eco system within our organisations and society.

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Black Paper

Informed by the RoundTable Conversation, we will work with each company signed up, their Black staff and thought leaders in the Black community to create a document that can be used as a resource for companies to focus and develop efforts on how to better serve the Black community at all levels. We will look at many things including the employee life cycle, the areas that currently fail the Black community and practical steps we need to take to make it better.

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Black British Stories

Video series of Black people in the community + Black employees in ally companies sharing their stories and thoughts on the Black experience, past, present and hopes for the future. This will also be informed by the discussions had at the Roundtable Conversations and will serve as a way for us to create a library of stories that can educate people and reinforce information that can support change.

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Portrait of Black Britain

Cephas Williams has an aim to take a portrait series of Black people from across the various ally companies we have on board, as well as Black people in the community, in a bid to make more Black people visible across the country. The interest is to crystallize and amplify the contributions of Black British people in today's society and for this to serve as a creative method to not only make more Black people visible but give the next generation and the wider society a holistic picture of Black achievements in the UK in the 21st century.

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Supporting & Allied companies

Founding members

Alfa systems

Clear Channel

Lucky Generals

O2 (Telefónica UK)

EY

Tesco

Media Partners

Talon Outdoor

Clear Channel

JCDecaux

Ocean Outdoor

Blow Up Media

Maxx Media

Open Media

Smart Outdoor

Supporting companies

CPG Photography

Casey took the letter to Zion campaign image

Stolen Picture

Supporting the production of Black British Stories

Crowdfunder

Letter to Zion website - Powered by Crowdfunder

Cellar Door

Letter to Zion Trailer

Manchester International Festival

Supporting Portrait of Black Britain

Associated Organisations

Advertising Association

Join the movement

Whether you're an executive or not, sign up to keep in touch with what Cephas Williams is doing moving forward and to be the first to hear about the progress of the Black British Network, the release of the Black Paper, Black British Stories, Portrait of Black Britain and companies we sign up as we grow.

Understanding that together we are stronger

This is a call for both the black community and our non black allies to stand together in our mission to eradicate systemic racism and contribute to the economic advancement of the black community in the UK. Sign up to keep up with progress and find out other ways you can support our mission as we grow.

In light of everything surrounding the Black community and the wider world, I released 'Letter to Zion' on my birthday, 9th of October. My birthday wish is that you read the letter and support my aims and re-post this website if it connects with you.