Last night I went to Black History event in a local, thankfully still-standing library. A storyteller was encouraging us to tell stories based on our own histories.
There were a few of us there from different backgrounds, including one white mother with her small child. At the end of the session, we were encouraged to share small stories about our lives. The white mother sat her child on her knee and the two of them told us a wonderful, obviously well-loved story about her Bajan grandfather who went AWOL from military duty in Hull, so he could have a sandwich.
It was a story that had been passed down through generations, connecting the young child to his Caribbean roots. Oral history at its best.
Of course, I also smiled at the assumptions we often make about people just by sight. I still hear tales of early years managers reluctant to understand how racism works, or to promote positive attitudes to people of different backgrounds, because no visible minority ethnic families attend. I won't waste blood pressure challenging that particular excuse at this moment, but I do wonder how many family trees are more diverse than appears on the surface.
People of Caribbean backgrounds often expect to find some European heritage - our histories left us no choice. But white families also find unexpected black relatives. The Guardian journalist Phil Hogan was surprised (and then surprised at his surprise) to find that his great-grandfather was an itinerant Antiguan musician. He invested considerable time and money trying to find more details.
A similar moment crops up in the Runnymede Trust's first fictional film 'Clench - What are you fighting for?' Filmed at the iconic - well, iconic if you're a Smiths fan - Salford Lads Club, 'Clench' is part of Runnymede's 3.0 Project, aiming to end racism in a generation.
A young woman of Pakistani and white heritage opts to learn boxing as part of a community rehab programme. The film touches on issues from overt racism to insidious stereotyping, including between different racialised groups. Does that make the film sound ponderous and heavy? I enjoyed it and it could be a really good resource to kick off discussions about racism as long as you don't mind some pretty realistic language.
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