A GROUP of young Londoners embroiled in a race row with West End night club DSTRKT remain intent on holding the venue with a peaceful protest tonight.
The incident in which four young black women were turned away at a club door for allegedly being "too dark" and "too fat" has galvanised a strong social media following supported by the hashtag #DoILookDstrkt, challenging the criteria standard to enter the high end venue.
Read the background to the story here.
Ahead of tonight's event, hosted by R&B singer Chris Brown's former girlfriend Karruche Tran who is scheduled to make an appearance, protesters have urged the celebrity to snub the event in solidarity with their campaign.
@karrueche You must cancel you DSTRKT appearance. Forget about the paper. This more than that.
— Aki omoshaybi (@aki_oooo)
September 29, 2015
Zalika Miller, one of the spokeswomen for the group, issued an open invite on social media to other people to join the protest.
She said: "Come and peacefully make a stand with us [on September 29] along the 'rejects wall' outside Dstrkt Nightclub at 10pm. Let us unite. All the so called 'uglies' and 'fatties' come dressed to kill. Bring banners/sheets, write on anything #doilookdstrkt."
Miller, a 26-year-old actress and presenter continued to write: “This has become a lot bigger than we expected, and some may ask why? But if it wasn't for the people in the past making a stand, we'd still be seated at the back of the bus.”
Speaking to The Voice race relations activist Lee Jasper said: "I’m looking to start to raise these complaints formally with Westminster city council vis-à-vis these clubs licensing arrangements. I think that's what we need to do.”
The vocal figure added that the volume of similar incidents in West End nightclubs was something that was worth investigating and suggested that the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) should conduct an enquiry.
The young women will head to the nightclub tonight with the intention of shaming the establishment they have accused of racism and door discrimination.
The Voice have reached out to DSTRKT for a formal statement three times in the past 24 hours and are still awaiting a response.
Rejected clubgoers plan protest against West End nightclub