This Ngozi Fulani situation has been nauseating from start to finish. Fulani was invited to Buckingham Palace two weeks ago for a big palace reception honoring people who work in and around domestic violence issues and gender-violence issues. Fulani was there representing Sistah Space, which she co-founded. Sistah Space is a non-profit specifically for Black women who have experienced domestic violence or abuse. It was at Buckingham Palace where QEII’s former lady-in-waiting Susan Hussey began her racist interrogation of Fulani. The interrogation was witnessed and overheard by others. When Fulani reported the Hussey incident the next day, she was overwhelmingly believed and platformed on British TV shows and in British media outlets. Hussey was relieved of her emeritus position in BP, and statements were issued, although the palace lied when they said they had already contacted Fulani. All of that happened in the first 48 hours.
After the first flurry of activity, the news just keeps getting worse and worse. Fulani has faced a torrent of abuse online and in real life. Racists have attacked her personally and professionally. Fulani has said – correctly – that this happens to most Black women who report racism and abuse. It just keeps getting worse. Then, over the weekend, we heard that Fulani is temporarily shutting down Sistah Space because of the abuse she’s getting and the fears for her safety and the safety of other Sistah Space employees. Still not a f–king peep from Queen Camilla or anyone else in that racism emporium. And now this: the British charity commission is investigating Sistah Space because some anonymous person on the internet made some claims about how Sistah Space uses their money.
The Charity Commission is examining a series of allegations over the running of Sistah Space, the organisation whose founder was at the centre of the Buckingham Palace race row. In a statement the watchdog said it was “assessing material” posted on social media questioning the charity’s finances and organisation. The Greater London Assembly’s finance chief has also been asked to ensure that grants to Sistah Space “have been used as intended”.
The charity has come under public scrutiny after its founder, Ngozi Fulani, was repeatedly asked where she was “really” from at a palace event hosted by the Queen Consort. Her “interrogator” Lady Susan Hussey, 83, the late Queen Elizabeth’s lady-in-waiting and a godmother to Prince William, was forced to step aside from all royal duties after years of public service. The backlash against Ms Fulani – including vitriolic abuse on social media – prompted the charity to announce last week it had temporarily ceased working over safety fears for its staff and clients.
A lengthy analysis of Sistah Space’s operations, posted on Twitter by an anonymous user, has led to the charity watchdog beginning a preliminary examination. The social media posts – more than 200 in total – have been widely circulated in a sign that the Buckingham Palace race row, which was deeply embarrassing to the Royal household, continues to attract huge interest.
In the posts, allegations are made concerning the running of Sistah Space, a domestic violence charity for black women and their families. The charity was formed in 2015, a year after the murder of a black woman and her daughter by an abusive ex-partner amid criticism of police for their “inaction” in response to earlier threats. The charity provides advice and advocacy to women and girls from the African and Afro-Caribbean communities.
The charity’s latest yearly accounts to March 31 2021 show it received a little over £357,000 in grants, project funding and donations, an increase from £50,000 in 2018-19. Funding has come from a variety of sources including the Greater London Assembly (GLA), the Department for Culture, Media, Digital and Sport, and Comic Relief, which gave Sistah Space £60,000 to improve its website and online support. A Charity Commission spokesman said: “We are assessing material posted on social media about the charity Sistah Space to determine whether it raises matters that fall within the Charity Commission’s remit.”
The watchdog stressed it had not opened any regulatory compliance case or statutory inquiry and declined to comment further.
£357,000 in grant money is pretty paltry, all things considered, and now Sistah Space will have to waste even more time and resources defending every penny they used, all because some wackjob posted a bunch of sh-t online. Do we know if Susan Hussey is online? Does the Charity Commission regularly base their investigations on “random threads on the internet”? Does the entire British establishment understand that they are working in concert to destroy a Black woman’s life and life’s work all because she publicly reported an incident of racist harassment at Buckingham Palace? The thing is, I believe the British establishment wants exactly that. They not only want to see Fulani destroyed for having the “arrogance” to report Hussey’s behavior, they want the destruction to be public, to show other Black women that this is what the establishment will do to you if you ever report abuse. It’s sickening. It’s immoral. And still, the palace has nothing to say, nothing to add, no protection to offer. Repugnant.
Photos courtesy of Sky News, GMB and Sistah Space.
The royal family and the Institution are monsters. I hope somehow this comes back around on them.
The fact that Camilla claims violence against women as her chief area of concern/interest/charity work, and is allowing this women to be abused online AND abused by the institution through this investigation, says everything we need to know about how little Camilla *actually* cares about issues surrounding violence against women.
Not at all.
I too hope this comes back to haunt them terribly. That would be the least they deserve after destroying Fulani, her organization – and all the people who rely on her organization for help and support. FFS.
I gather that the British media has not done breathless reports on how this is essentially a “war” against Ms. Fulani. Unless they get involved, neither Camilla nor anyone else in that family will say anything. I just hope that this episode will give other people of color pause before appearing anywhere with members of the RF, because they are only there to be used as props. It couldn’t be any clearer.
People of Color will still allow themselves to be used as props by the members of the Royal Family and the Royal Family will have no shame in doing so 🤢
The British definitely do racism on another scale! here in Canada it’s pretty bad against the aboriginal people who live here! I see it everyday people being followed in stores who are of color! But you guys are savages and ruin whole careers and lives over it! things need to change! Lol seriously nowadays! We all bleed the same!
Yes, monsters. I don’t know why the public puts up with that family and the way racism is apparently spread throughout many british institutions. When will they investigate why William spent 12 million of earthshot money? When will they investigate where Andrew got his money from? When will they investigate the literal bags of cash Charles receives from Russian oligarchs and bin Laden’s family. When will they investigate William’s mysterious trips to Saudi Arabia? When will they investigate the royals hoarding stolen jewels? When will they investigate who leaked the Sussexes’ location in Vancouver right when Charles was pulling their security, putting their lives at risk? When will the British people snap out of their apathy and see how this family makes the whole country look bad on the world stage?
Yes, can we please get an audit of Royal charities?
The RF is big on ” punishment”. This inquiry is no coincidence. She is being used as an example of what happens when you speak up.
/\/\ THIS
Didn’t they do the exact same thing to…MEGHAN? Prior to the Oprah doc, because she was about to speak up? They are so transparent, lol. The monarchy needs to be dismantled and reparations paid NOW.
ALSO: Distract and delegitimize. It doesn’t matter if the accusations were made in good faith; what matters is that the narrative is being changed so that Fulani is essentially delegitimized in the eyes of those who were biased against her anyway.
THIS as well.
This part!
Exactly @Julia K – they are trying to intimidate others into silence. Reminds me of De Santis trotting out those Black people for “voter fraud” right before the elections.
@SquiddusMaximus I agree with everything you just said. This is all so infuriating.
THIS!!!!
It was so obvious they do this to shut her up and to set precedence for others who thinking about standing up against them/their people
From the Harry and Meghan doc:
‘It’s like symbolic annihilation. If you can destroy people who are symbols of social justice, then you can scare people to not want to be public. It is a signal to the rest of us to stand down.’
Here it is, in real time.
You said it.
I thought of Fulani when she said it. After Fulani spoke more people came forward to talk about awkward or unpleasant social interactions with the royal family. There was public discourse of microaggressions and racism. So now the media and probably the family as well want to publicly destroy Fulani as an example to everyone else.
Tyler Perry was right to say he would turn down the role of Godfather to Lily if it meant being around the royal family and the firm. People of color need to learn that the firm and that family see them as props and ultimately only cause them harm in the long run.
IIRC, wasn’t one of the arguments that the RF used against H&M was that they had to vet all of the charities they did business with so as not to sully the RF’s reputation?! Presumably someone from BP did a background check of Sistah Space then, no?
Sully the royal family’s reputation? What reputation? For raping underage girls, discrimination, accepting suitcases of cash from other questionable folks… and that’s just in modern days.
What I would love to see is Black people rise up and protest in the streets there.
They are only 3.5% of the population. It is a much different dynamic than in the US.
True. Very true. That’s still almost 2 mill. What if 1% of that protested and others joined in? It’s a fantasy. I know. Just how I’m feeling this morning. Totally agree with @bananapanda below.
Better yet, flood their website with donations. That’s what Americans do, but it’s not as common in the UK.
That’s what I did today. I donated what I could to them. This is a really important thing that especially wyt people can do. It can’t all be on Black shoulders.
Thank you for the idea. I’m in the US but this is horrifying to me. I donated them what I could. I hope many others do the same. it’s not just a UK issue, it’s a racism issue which should be important to everyone, no matter where they live.
I don’t know- continuing to ask Black people to carry the burden to fight the systems that oppress us is a lot. This is where allies, particularly white ones need to step up. I mean, Black people were just in the streets of the UK/London this fall protesting police violence and the death of Chris Kaba. Generally having to carry the work to dismantle these systems all the time is exhausting.
This situation is horrible and I hope Sistah Space makes it through this nightmare. I also hope people donate to this org to help it survive.
While I agree 100% with what you said, Black people have to keep doing it and get the allies to join in. I hesitate to make broad strokes, but what movement for change with regards to any population discriminated against was started and headed up by allies? I would posit that allies wait for the signal as to not step on toes. We recently saw that with white people (yes, I know many did) not initially calling out Kanye’s anti-Semitic bs. Many said they didn’t know if it was their place to call out a black person because they were told to stay out of “black folks” business. It’s complicated for sure, but seems to be where we are right now. It’s my turn to take the mantle from my parents to be exhausted for the cause. If not me, then who?
@Popped Bubble: you make a really good and sobering point. But man, am I tired. Like you said, it’s a generational tired. I had to inherit this from my parents? It’s in our blood at this point? Deeply unfair. And it’d be great if other groups and people could see that something is wrong and just say hey that feels wrong to me. Not wait for me to do it first. And I guess that’s the part about being surrounded by cowardice that stings so much.
It not that they are only 3.5 percent of percent of population. Blacks in America is estimated at 12 percent of population. We are continuing having to fight injustices here.
So once again, Black people have to do all the work? Such a protest would be vastly more effective if others stepped up and pointed out this is unacceptable (and not simply do so while standing BEHIND a black person)
And please, this is not a criticism directed specifically at you – just pointing out that saying “Black people should protest this” implies that no one else needs to speak up, which I think we would all agree is an unfair burden.
First of all, that operating budget is barely two salaries in London. I guess UK employers don’t have to pay for health insurance but your employees need to pay for rent and food. Are they also providing women housing and other services? The only reason to investigate a budget that small is to learn valuable economic skills. All this because one woman spoke up? 🤬🤬🤬
Once again: the royals won’t protect their own supposed family. No way in hell are they going to “stand up for” or protect this woman.
Hussey is very much a part of the RF inner circle – THAT’S who they’re protecting right now, Don’t believe otherwise.
DISGUSTING
Oh, my, I did hear she accepted bags of cash from the Bin Ladens…
The whack job is probably a royalist. The same thing was done to Harry and Meghan in 2020. The royalists wanted the Charity Commission to investigate Harry and Meghan’s old UK foundation and they convinced Republic to lodge a complaint. Only thing Republic dragged William and Kate into it as well. It’s really terrible what’s happening to Ngozi and Sistah Space and it only proves that Camilla is a fraud when it comes to domestic violence.
Someone needs to investigate Earshot for its misappropriation of funds. Now that’s a charity that is embezzling and misappropriating funds. This whole thing is white supremacy incarnate.
Who will investigate Royal Foundation??
So they’ll investigate this but not money bags Charles? This is a really bad look. Really bad.
But not Prince Charles and his Suitcases of cash ?
This is what the UK now stands for and as a Brit I am so angry and ashamed.
The right wing takeover is complete.
This is the same “charity commission” which waved off serious allegations about Charles Windsor laundering money for Quatari royals. That pretty much tells you all you need to know about The Charity Commission. It’s just a cover for the corrupt, racist royals.
As is always the case, when the commission finds no wrongdoing there will be no splashy headlines about their vindication.
THIS is what actual cancel culture looks like. Poor people, racialised, trans, vulnerable – THEY are the ones the establishment actually tries to cancel, ruin, and destroy. Not protected powerful people being held accountable. Fuck. This is so hard to watch.
This. The same anti-woke, Daily Fail loving culture warriors (along with JK Rowling and her brigade) came after Mermaids via the Charity Commission too, which is a great UK charity that supports trans kids: they really helped my friend and her son when he first came out and there was nowhere else to go. The lengths they will go to cancel anyone different and not suitably deferential to the hierarchy is sickening.
One would hope that similar UK charities refuse any future invites from members of the RF in solidarity and with the concern that it could be hazardous to the health of their charity if they “put a foot wrong”.
These people are worse than terrible. And they want to call Diana crazy and Meghan a liar.
This is laughable. Now how the hell are the Windsors going to step up and say “Commonwealth blah blah blah”. There’s no such thing as the Commonwealth. Like Afua Hirsh (sp?) said, it’s just Empire 2.0.
I feel sorry for Black Brits, I really do. (I’m a black American and yes, I know we have our problems, but we can talk about them openly, and address them loudly.) Any black Briton who goes to the palace now will be a stooge for the royals. I would be highly uncomfortable setting foot in a royal event after all of this mess, knowing that the royals would use my presence as “compliance” to enable their racist BS. It’s too bad that all civic engagement has to go through that family. How do they benefit with anyone other than racists by making themselves histile to POC?
Comms teams are asleep at the wheel. No, they’re in a coma.
WHAT!???
I am freaking livid. And if Charles had any sense he would shut this mess down, invite her to the Place, apologize, and move on. This crap happened because the RR and those freaking Royalists went after her for weeks and kept claiming this wasn’t even a real charity. JFC!!!!
Exactly, IF the BRF wanted to they could come out and show vocal support but we all know they won’t because they would far rather remove the ‘irritation’ to their supremacy without visibly getting their hands dirty. They close ranks every time one of their own has an issue.
WHAT?!? is all I’ve got. I’m so angry reading this and I feel very small and helpless to change it. SO, so angry
ABOLISH THE MONARCHY.
Return the stolen art. Return the stolen jewels.
Go away.
I deeply admire Ngozi Fulani’s bravery in speaking out about Hussey’s deplorable behavior. She knew the tremendous risk she was taking, and she did it anyway. That’s real courage.
At her age I guess we are not going to see the effects of Camilla’s karma on her in this lifetime, but with her record she is going to be reincarnated into an existence that is truly awful.
How is all this being tolerated and ok in British public? Are all of them so deeply racist??
The answer is YES. Charles running around town with millions in shopping bags does not warrant an investigation but a hearsay posting on social media, which the palace originated does.
Black Americans marched, and fought, and spoke up. It cost a lot of people their lives, their livelihoods but they did it. Black Brits seems to just take it. Where is the fighting spirit?
The world needs to boycott England the same way the it once boycotted South Africa.
Oh, this is such horse****! Based on some looney thing “someone” posted, they’re going to ruin a woman’s life and work? Because she spoke up about her treatment at the hands of some old dried-up buzzard who’s a royal favorite? Perhaps ALL the people of color should start speaking up about their past treatment at these types of functions.
THIS – They are going to try to ruin a woman’s life and work because she had the audacity to speak about her treatment. What a disgrace. The Royal family makes me vomit 🤢
Wow, this is scary stuff. Really really terrifying. I don’t know what else to say, but that I hope Ms. Fulani has lots of personal support and people in her life to protect her.
This story is truly sad and disgusting.
Are the British people really like this? Because, even if this is something done by the Palace or the media, this is a true reflection of how vile and ugly the British people are! Someone needs to come in there and clean house. Truly disgusting!
This very obviously reeks of payback, and Upchuck, Camzilla and KP are no doubt behind it. How dare a black woman push back at a racist attack, we’ll show her. The arrogance is unconscionable. I’m sure the anonymous source of this scurrilous attack is a palace source.
Attacking Ms. Fulani, her historical reclamation of multiple African heritages, attacking her charity to the point that they cannot function to intervene in harm to other Black women and children. Man that’s violent.
The RF and their toadies are garbage, pure ans simple.
The thing that jumped out at me were the words “is deeply embarrassing to the royal family”. Always about how they look and how they feel. These are public servants. They are there to serve. Not the other way around.
Everyone, especially Black and Brown people need to stop accepting invites and setting up photo ops with this clowns. Just say no and let them drag. White people really need to get the memo and stop as well bc they very well will be next. There is nothing to gain from this. Charities have literally closed down of they are involved. Unless those clowns are bringing you a big check, don’t bother.
Everything you just said @TIFFANY.
I’m so so angry about this. The commentor who said to flood the site with donations is right. It’s the best, most helpful thing we can do for her right now, in addition to giving our voices too of course.
I mean, if being born, raised, and living in Britain, doesn’t make you British, what does??
It’s happening all over again, I can’t believe we’re still at this point but I also do.. How embarrassing and pathetic is the institution and all the fcking racist monarchists who instead of recognizing the issue – widely spread at that- they attack yet another black woman.
What an awful situation!
For all the ugly, corrupt, lying politicians the world is full of and yet here is a person starts and runs a charity to help DV victims, and instead of going after and investigating actual crooked gov’t officials, this woman is targeted?
Baloney!
Jesus fucking Christ. I didn’t read anything today, because I didn’t want my opinion to be altered before I finished Harry and Meghan, and by that I thought there would be BS from the British media, and I’m uninterested.
THIS is something other. They are just punching at all Black people, at this point, to make Meghan look worse?
Hi. If you live in England, perhaps ask your overlords to present their yearly budget that you pay for with your fucking taxes.
I can’t even form another sentence, the word “dog” is there in the article, they conveniently missed the whistle part, because of course they did, they are British.
Every single person of color living in England deserves better than this.
What a bunch of racist a**h***s. I’m not surprised at all. It’s beginning to look a lot like traditional Christmas is coming early for the people who literally feed on the pain from the cruelty and systemic injustice /racial harm they perpetuate on people of color. Where’s Krampus when you need him?