Hosted by PDA Organiser and Equalities Lead, Dr Jayne Love, the session highlighted how false and divisive narratives increasingly target marginalised communities, and emphasised the vital role civil society must play in countering them.
The PDA is proudly anti‑racist and recently joined the Together Alliance, a coalition of more than 50 organisations working to oppose division and promote solidarity.
Attendees heard powerful contributions from four speakers: Lola Dabiri, President of the PDA BAME Network; Sarah Woolley, General Secretary of the Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU); Roger McKenzie, International Editor of the Morning Star; and Kathryn Lum, Brazil‑based feminist activist.
Lola Dabiri highlighted the importance of equality and solidarity, noting that 54% of pharmacists come from Black, Asian, or minority ethnic backgrounds and are increasingly affected by the polarisation in society, expressed via discrimination at work. PDA members report experiences ranging from microaggressions to serious racist incidents that undermine their personal safety as well as their potential in their pharmacy careers.
Lola said, “Pharmacists see the consequences of hatred and division in the communities we serve and in the impact on our patients. As health professionals, we have influence to ensure equality of care, and as part of civil society we must also play our part in delivering inclusion more widely.”
Lola reassured members that the PDA BAME Network and the wider PDA provide vital support by listening, signposting, creating safe spaces, developing anti‑racist resources, organising events, and pursuing legal action where needed. Lola stressed that “ongoing conversation, connection, and solidarity enable members to show up as their best selves, knowing a supportive community stands with them.”
Sarah Woolley emphasised that growing division in society is rooted not in culture, but in economic insecurity and years of austerity, which leave working‑class communities vulnerable to narratives that scapegoat marginalised groups. She argued that trade unions are vital spaces for building solidarity, collective identity, and material improvements that counter division.
Roger McKenzie reflected on how assumptions based on names and appearance can lead to discrimination, drawing on his personal experience of racism as a young jobseeker. He stressed that while hostility from extremist groups is real, our focus should be on building confidence, unity, and collective strength within communities and the trade union movement. Rather than only confronting those who spread hate, he argued that unions should actively bring people together, emphasising shared interests, solidarity, and positive collective identity.
Kathryn Lum offered a perspective from outside the UK, where political, social, and cultural polarisation driven by a well‑organised extremist movement has deeply affected everyday life and democratic stability. Drawing on examples such as having to leave social groups due to racist or sexist messages, and widespread coordinated attacks on democratic institutions, Kathryn explained how these divisions permeate daily interactions. However, she highlighted the strength of Brazil’s grassroots resistance: unions, feminist groups, social movements and community organisations regularly mobilise across the country on the same day, building solidarity and successfully blocking anti‑democratic and anti‑rights measures.
Kathryn said, “It was an honour to participate in the PDA event on standing up for equality. Living in a country which has experienced the darkness of military dictatorship, and more recently, a far-right, pro-military, anti-women regime that almost succeeded in overturning the democratic order in Brazil, has made me more conscious than ever of how democracy, women´s and minority rights can never be taken for granted. Unions, advocacy groups, and social movements must come together, as they are doing in the UK, to resist hate speech and divisive messages, celebrate our diversity, and strengthen workers´ and human rights.”
The event concluded with a call to action, encouraging participants to stand together, challenge hate, and join the upcoming Together Alliance demonstration in London on Saturday 28 March.
Nadira Mehjabin, medicines optimisation pharmacist and co-opted member of the PDA NAWP Network said, “This was an inspiring online event, I came away feeling hopeful and optimistic. It was an important reminder of the power of collaboration when different organisations, activists, and professional networks including PDA representatives and EDI Networks come together around a shared aim of challenging voices of division.”
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