Kids of Colour

@kidsofcolourhq.bsky.social

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An anti-racist youth work organisation, committed to racial justice for young people of colour in Greater Manchester. #FreeTheMcr10

EMERGENCY FUND SUPPORTING ONE OF THE MANCHESTER 10 FAMILIES Hostile immigration policies linked to criminal injustice system outcomes are harming a family we support. We need emergency funds to prevent homelessness. KEE THE _BOYS JUSTICE FOR THE MANCHESTER 10, FREE THE Bes
ONE YEAR ON: REMEMBERING THEO VUCKY NTHOBATSANG Yesterday marked one year since the tragic death of 19 year old Theo. On the 7th June 2025, Theo died from his injuries that were a result of his fall from a 5th floor balcony. Police had arrived at the front door of a flat he was in, and he attempted to flee. In the week's after Theo's death, his mother received no updates from the police, and tried to piece together what had happened from news articles, and a social media video of his fall. It was only this video that enabled us to figure out where he fell, which allowed us to take his mother there. After Theo's death, we were able to obtain information that showed in July 2024, the Home Office concluded that there were positive grounds to accept Theo as a victim of modern slavery, a result of 'child criminal exploitation'.
One day, there will be an end to police violating our young people in life and death. The far right do not care about the lives of young people. They care about opportunities to be racist. Their approach, as always, is to weaponise tragedies surrounding children and young people to mobilise hatred, and ignore the much needed justice fights that children and young people require of us long term. Those who actually care about young people have long fought for their justice in communities. That justice may be fights to improve education systems, to end police violence, to end child poverty, to ensure children live in safe housing, to address children's worsening mental health, and so on. And those who fight for young people who are most oppressed - often racialised young people across the board - from the position of genuinely caring for young people's collective justice, by default fight for all young people. Because the improvement in the lives of those most oppressed, justice in their lives, liberation in their lives, would mean every young person's life has improved. When we fight for young people experiencing racist oppression, particularly by the state, we never fight to make specific young people's live's better or worse than others. That is the narrative and work of fascists. It is what we of course now see emerging from from their tired playbook following the devastating death of a young person, whose life was met with the state violence that racialised communities have long been fighting against. We are thinking of Henry Nowak and his loved ones. We hope they find the incredible support and justice networks we know exist, who hold families with these shared experiences of state violence. And we hope one day, there will be an end to police violating our young people in life and death.
'This is not going to lead anywhere right, because he's not mentally, he's not right, he's not speaking to anybody, he's muting us, he's mentally not doing okay, every other day he has an outburst where he says, I don't want to live' there's literally hundreds of signs to say it's an emergency. He needs to be taken. He needs to be taken and taken care of by professionals.'
In Manchester, a child killed another child in community. Through a Joint Enterprise trial, he received a sentence longer than he has lived. His family told us they begged for help for him for years. On the next slides are quotes from a call that was recorded and shared with us, between a family member and social services, relating to their child. It is one of many efforts made to find support, support they did not receive. Although this is the family's information, unrelated to trial, it all remains anonymous to not reveal identities in light of reporting restrictions. This family wants to fight, but we cannot share more about this family, and they cannot identify themselves.
"IF THIS IS THE WAY IT GOES ON, HE'LL LITERALLY END UP GOING TO JAIL OR HE'LL END UP DEAD." THE CALLS FOR HELP BEING MADE BY PARENTS IN MANCHESTER, AHEAD OF HARM THEY PREDICT. We ask you to read this, and share. We ask you to remember that behind each local news headline that demonises children and blames families, there are many stories just like this.
Today marks 4 years since a jury found The Manchester 10 guilty, and sadly, collective punishment trials have continued to send children and young people to prison in Greater Manchester. It is often difficult to build widespread public outrage for children who are sent to prison. Children have lived short lives, lives that are beautiful and rich in their own right, but they may not have the compelling positions in society that allow many (especially adults) to connect, to feel rage, or to see injustice. A child loving swimming may not be a story that makes you feel as shocked or enraged by that child's imprisonment in the same way that knowing someone's role in society, what they do for work, or how they are not who you expect to see imprisoned, does. Children should not be in cages, but for Black children, it is often where the public expects them to be, and they become disposable and forgotten to much of society. For Black children, their prominence in Joint Enterprise trials and in the prison system, is political. Their imprisonment is part of a war on Black youth that has grown in its violent infrastructure decade after decade. You cannot remove politics from criminal trials when, like in this case, Black, Muslim children are in the dock. You cannot remove politics from life before the dock, from why and how they are there in the first place, from court narratives, from how 'fair' a process they receive, or from juries decision making. Particularly not in a country where fascism is gaining support rapidly.
RETURNED TO GMP In February 2025 the IOPC upheld our application for review, but frustratingly, returned it to GMP to re-investigate. In October 2025, GMP rejected the complaint points again (providing no evidence of the alleged robberies but repeated that the taking of photographs was unacceptable. This response added to the farce of the complaints process, as GMP left their own comments attached in their complaint outcome letter: Sep 26 Do we know what happened to the photos? Would be useful to know if they were deleted / destroyed?
COMPLAINT In January 2023, 3 boys aged between 12-14 were on their way home. GMP stopped them on the basis of a 'series of robberies in the area', and that they 'matched the description' in the same black coats many would be wearing on a winter evening. The stop was violent. One child was held face down in the snow, the others pushed up against fences, and when a community member tried to support with rights information, the police threatened him with arrest. As soon as the children expressed their anger, blame was further put onto them by the officers: can you see why the cuffs are on you? Because of this. "Look at your attitude'.
3 YEARS ON: WHAT HAPPENED TO PHOTOS GMP TOOK OF THESE CHILDREN? THE ENRAGING PROCESS OF POLICE COMPLAINTS. Picture of child face down in snow with black hood up. Screenshot of GMP comment Do we know what happened to the photos? Would be useful to know if they were deleted / destroyed?