Over 30,000 people gathered in London’s Trafalgar Square in honour of former Cambridge professor, Jason Arday, who died last Friday.
MPs, friends, and campaigners gave emotional speeches during the vigil organised by Stand Up to Racism. Mourners held a minute of silence in tribute of Arday’s life and legacy, and flowers were left beneath Nelson’s column. Many wore black, as well as carrying placards reading “Rest in power” and “Stop racist media now”.
MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy asked people to respect the privacy of Arday’s family, who did not attend the vigil. They “lost their son, their brother. Not a professor, not a headline, not a symbol”. She then read their statement, noting their gratitude for the public support and grief. However, they called it bittersweet that kindness comes after his death.
British singer Beverley Knight sang her song “Keep This Fire Burning”. Followed by Jermain Jackman, The Voice winner in 2014, performed a cover of Coldplay’s “Fix You”, requested by Arday’s family. Zack Polanski and Jeremy Corbyn also attended.
Jason Arday and the Media
Arday was 41 when he was found dead in his home in South London on Friday by emergency services. After scrutiny on the legitimacy of his career, Arday resigned from professor of sociology of education at Cambridge. However, there was still widespread coverage of accusations of plagiarism, which he rejected, and questions on his achievements.
A common theme throughout was the role of the media in Arday’s death. According to MP Diana Abbot, there were 249 articles about him within three weeks. His resignation aimed to stop the attacks, but they got worse, as she called out the media for their “vicious campaign”.
A media analysis organisation, NewsCord, declares there were 188 articles published in the final 9 days after his resignation.
Mourners were asked to not speak to reporters and attitudes towards the media were hostile throughout the evening.
A Chance to Reflect
Arday was visited by his Cambridge mentor Simon Woolley shortly before his death. Woolley spoke at the vigil, “We knew he was suffering [and feeling] hounded… We had told him he was loved.” He described Arday as a wonderful who never stole a bag of chips, urging for “some reckoning”.
Patrick Vernon, Windrush campaigner, described the evening as a time to pay respects and stand in solidarity with Adam’s grieving family. Equally important, it is a time to reflect on the role of institutional responsibility, accountability, and the treatment of black people. Furthermore, he called a potential for a public inquiry into why the “duty of care” had failed Arday, as a man diagnosed with autism as a child.
Weeks earlier, Simon Baron-Cohen, director of Cambridge’s Autism Research Centre, based concerns on the effects of relentless bullying of a vulnerable autistic man.
A statement from a close friend and colleague of Arday was read by Samira Ali, an organiser at Stand Up to Racism. “[Arday] worked tirelessly to inspire all students from marginalised backgrounds to believe that academia could also belong to them. He did not inspire one or two people to do a PhD; there are dozens of us over generations who have dreamed and are now doctors and soon-to-be professors because of him.”
Sources: The Guardian, Al-Jazeera
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Written by Ejemen
