Amstelveen, January 28, 2021 – The Dam Protest against institutional racism organized by Caitlin Schaap, Naomie Pieter, Elvin Rigters, Mitchell Esajas and Jerry Afriyie has won the Issue Award 2021. The Issue Award has been presented every year since 2010 to the person or organization that managed to put a social and political issue on the agenda in a striking, effective way in the past year.

On June 1, 2020, Caitlin Schaap, Naomie Pieter, Elvin Rigters, Mitchell Esajas and Jerry Afriyie (KOZP) organized a Black Lives Matter NL protest on Dam Square against institutional racism in the Netherlands, in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement that emerged in America. had come.
According to the jury, led by Reint Jan Renes, the way in which the initiators led the conversation meant that this protest - with an attendance of an estimated 15,000 participants - grew into the largest agenda setter and issue maker in the past year.

Renes: “The jury noticed that in addition to mass actions, the protest also led to conversations and training in social, political and administrative circles. As a result, not only has the public debate started in the Netherlands, but the issue has been translated remarkably quickly at multiple levels of society. The subject was put on the agenda in a sharp and sometimes abrasive manner. A stream of discomfort, which has been looking for a way out for some time, found a channel, with all the uncertainty that comes with a subject that so deeply affects feelings and experiences in the country. The jury therefore awards the Black Lives Matter Netherlands demonstration the Issue Award 2021.”

Caitlin Schaap, one of the organizers of the Dam Protest, is very happy with the Issue Award: “Giving this award to Black Lives Matter in the Netherlands is a great recognition that more attention should also be paid to institutional racism in the private sectors. The structural exclusion of black, indigenous, people of color and women is counterproductive to a company's innovation and therefore also to the development of society. Despite structural disadvantage, movement and change have been initiated by the creativity, intelligence and perseverance of people from black communities. It starts with the choice you make to be anti-racist and choose innovation and development. With the Issue Award on the mantelpiece, we are happy to take these steps together in 2021.”

Nominees

The other two nominees were the petition against the (consumer) fireworks ban, an initiative of the Fireworks Manifesto, and the communication approach of Diederik Gommers (chairman of the Dutch Association for Intensive Care and head of department of the Erasmus Medical Center).

The Fireworks Manifesto was founded in 2014 by ophthalmologists Tjeerd de Faber and Jan Keunen, former nurse Marjolijn Snouck-Hurgonje, youth doctor Willemien Boland and communications advisor Maaike van Zuilen with the aim of achieving a ban on consumer fireworks by 2020. Their call developed from an urgent appeal to embrace by politics and government.

During the corona crisis, Diederik Gommers showed the ability to confront opinion makers, citizens and authorities in understandable language with the facts about IC capacity, the measures and corona. He successfully went beyond his initial task of advising the government. Gommers was also given a major role in interpreting current events and continued to engage in impactful dialogue.

Jury

The professional jury of the Issue Award consists of chairman Reint Jan Renes (lecturer at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences), André Manning (director of Logeion, the professional organization for communication professionals), Guido Rijnja (communication policy advisor at the Government Information Service), Lecyca Curiel (generation Z expert), Maria van der Heijden (director MVO-Nederland), Mieke Ansems (director of communication and marketing at VNO-NCW and MKB-Nederland) and Rob de Lange (author and general reporter at the Financieel Dagblad).

Previous winners

Last year, the Issue Award went to Bart Kemp (Agractie Nederland) for his organization of the farmers' protest of October 2019. In 2019, Tim Hofman won the Issue Award for his initiative to petition for a broader child pardon. In addition, Arjen Lubach received an Oeuvre award with his program “Sunday with Lubach” in which Lubach highlights social issues. In 2018, educational action group PO in Actie won the award for the way in which workload and salary problems in primary education are put on the agenda, in 2017 the prize went to Hugo Borst and Carin Gaemers for the issue 'Quality of elderly care'. The Issue Award has existed since 2010.