‘It is day 2 for you. And it is day 11,608 for me.’ This was the opening to a statement that I posted on my Instagram earlier this week, which has since gone viral.
This statement was a 6am response to the idea of a social media blackout that initially sought to raise awareness to the Black Lives Matter movement by encouraging everyone who isn’t black to post a black square, using the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter.
In doing so, what should have happened is that the voices of black content creators were amplified. But something got lost in translation, and everyone decided to do it thinking that it was the only way to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matters movement. And I think it has had the opposite effect as this social media blackout not only meant that black voices were still silenced but it also meant that valuable information shared using the Black Lives Matter hashtag has now been drowned in a sea of darkness.
This fight is not new to me. I’ve been dealing with the UK’s insidious version of racism ever since I was in school.
When I scrolled through my feed that morning, I was enraged. Having always used my Instagram platform to help highlight the racial and social injustices both at home in the UK and overseas, I didn’t hesitate to post a black square with a difference. Since the very public lynching of George Floyd at the hands, or rather knee, of another emboldened white police officer, it seems as if the entire world is exhausted, and it is only with slight sarcasm that I say, 'Well, thank heavens for that'. Watching protests happen across the globe, it finally begins to feel as though the idea that we all have a part to play in stamping out racism is not a foreign one.
I think the primary reason for my exhaustion is because this fight is not new to me. I’ve been dealing with the UK’s insidious version of racism ever since I was in school. Just last week, on what should have been a joyous day when my debut book was published, the occasion was marred by micro-aggression.
I went to the local supermarket to purchase some champagne. I was the only black woman there but, especially since moving out of London, I’ve become accustomed to being one of one as I go about monotonous daily tasks. As I exited amongst other customers, the security guard honed in on me and questioned whether I had paid because he hadn’t seen me at the checkout. I politely stood my ground and made my way to the car where my husband and children were waiting. Moments later another security guard appeared at the front of the car sheepishly asking for my receipt. I stayed silent whilst my husband walked him away from the ears of the children to give him a telling off.
I was used to it, the daily micro-aggressions that can chip away at a Black British person’s existence. But I shouldn’t have to be. So to perhaps finally have the entire world start to understand that the life of a black person is equal to that all other human lives, fills me with slight optimism. But, like I said, I’m 11,681 days in and I don’t quite foresee myself getting any days off just yet.
READ MORE: Black Lives Matter: How To Protest In The UK Safely
READ MORE: Candice Brathwaite: Clemmie Hooper Scandal Was 'A Bitter Pill To Swallow'
What to watch to educate yourself about racism
1 of 23Dear White People
A Netflix series following several Black college students at a largely white Ivy League school – based on the film of the same name (which can be rented on Amazon Prime).
2 of 23Fruitvale Station
Michael B Jordan stars in this biographical film about the events leading to the death of Oscar Grant, who was killed in 2009 by a BART police officer, Johannes Mehserle. Available to watch on Netflix.
3 of 23Malcolm X
A biographical film of activist Malcolm X, directed and co-written by Spike Lee and starring Denzel Washington. Available to rent on Amazon.
4 of 23Hidden Figures
The true story of three African-American women working at NASA as mathematicians, starring Taraji P. Henson as Katherine Johnson. Available to rent on Amazon Prime.
5 of 23Dark Girls
A documentary about the prejudices and cultural bias dark-skinned women face around the world. Available to rent on Amazon.
6 of 23Get Out
A horror film written and directed by Jordan Peele starring Daniel Kaluuya as a man who uncovers a disturbing secret when he meets the family of his white girlfriend. Available to rent on Amazon.
7 of 23Just Mercy
The true story of lawyer, Bryan Stevenson, battling to overturn the wrongful murder conviction of Walter McMillian. Available to rent on Amazon.
8 of 23Selma
This Ava DuVernay-directed film is based around Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) and his followers' historic march from Selma to Montgomery. Available to rent on Amazon Prime.
9 of 23Mudbound
Two Mississippi families – one Black, one white – confront the brutal realities of prejudice, farming and friendship in this Netflix series.
10 of 23The Color Purple
Based on the Pulitzer-winning book by Alice Walker, the film follows Celie, a black woman growing up in the early 1900s. Available to rent on Amazon.
11 of 23The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975
Many of the interviews that have been shared on social media this week feature in this film – a documentary about the Black Power movement through the eyes of Swedish journalists and filmmakers who'd travelled to report on it. You can buy the film on DVD.
12 of 23The Hate U Give
This movie, based on the book of the same name by Angie Thomas, tells the story of Starr Carter, who witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend by police. Available to buy on Amazon.
13 of 23I Am Not Your Negro
Told in the words of James Baldwin, through personal appearances and the text of his final unfinished book, I Am Not Your Negro touches on the lives and assassinations of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr and Medgar Evans to discuss how the image and reality of Black people in America today is fabricated and enforced. Available on Amazon.
14 of 23King In The Wilderness
An HBO documentary chronicling the final 18 months of Martin Luther King Jr's life. Available to stream on Amazon.
15 of 23American Son
Kerry Washington stars in this film about an estranged interracial couple awaiting news on their missing teenage son in a Florida police station. Available on Netflix.
16 of 23When They See Us
A series created, co-written and directed by Ava DuVernay about the events of a 1989 rape case, and the Central Park 5, who were wrongly imprisoned for a violent rape and assault. The series is available on Netflix.
17 of 2313th
This documentary by Ava DuVernay includes scholars, activists and politicians, analysing the criminalisation of African-Americans and the US prison boom. Available on Netflix.
18 of 23See You Yesterday
This sci-fi film sees two teen prodigies trying to master time travel, as a tragic police shooting sends them on a series of dangerous trips to the past. Available on Netflix.
19 of 23If Beale Street Could Talk
Barry Jenkins wrote and directed this film, based on James Baldwin's 1974 novel about a Harlem couple torn apart by a wrongful arrest. Available to watch on Amazon Prime.
20 of 23Belle
Amma Asante's film is inspired by the 1779 painting of Dido Elizabeth Belle – the illegitimate mixed-race child of Sir John Lindsay – alongside her cousin, Lady Elizabeth Murray, which hangs in Kenwood House, London. The fictional story centres on Dido's relationships within her family and wider society, amidst the reactions to the Zong massacre, where slaves were thrown overboard from a slave ship and the owner filed for the losses with his insurance company. You can hire Belle on Amazon Prime.
21 of 23Reggie Yates: Life and Death in Chicago
Many of Reggie Yates' ongoing documentaries and Extreme series for BBC Three are important watches. This documentary, which saw him travel to Chicago to examine gun crime in 2016, is available on iPlayer now.
22 of 23This Is England
The Shane Meadows film that spawned the Channel 4 series shows the development of skinhead culture in the 1980s in the UK and how it became hijacked by racist voices. The film is available on Amazon Prime.
23 of 23Shame In The Game: Racism In Football
This BBC Three documentary, still available on iPlayer, examines the devastating impact of football racism in the UK, as incidents soar and players at every level of the game call for drastic action.