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| David Olusoga (photo Des Willie BBC) |
This spring brings interesting news about Black Britons in the the arts and culture arenas: in television, movies, and books.
David Olusoga, producer, documentarian, and presenter, created a
BBC series "Black and British: A Forgotten History" and an accompanying book, reviewed
here. His interests and concerns grew out of his personal experience growing up as an immigrant in Britain and realizing, with growing frustration, how little of the
history of Black Britons was visible, going all the way back to Roman times (please note, this blog presented a small feature on an aspect of this topic
here).
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| Naomi Ackie as Lady Macbeth |
A similar concern about limited acting opportunities in period dramas or film productions has pushed actors, producers, and directors to investigate the presence of people of color as part of British history. The
most recent example of this is the casting of Naomi Ackie as Lady Macbeth in
Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, a play by Nikolai Leskov. Producer William Oldroyd set the play in Northumberland in the 1860's. Oldroyd's research revealed that, in poring over old photographs from northeast England, there were not only many working class black families, but also aspiring middle class black people as well.
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| Reni Eddo-Lodge |
If you have not yet read or heard of
Reni Eddo-Lodge, you are in for a treat. Her blog post/book/this essay,
Why I'm No Longer Talk to White People About Racism, puts the responsibility, the onus, the issue/problem squarely on the shoulders of white people. Her discussion of feminism, structural racism (an interesting distinction from institutional racism) is important, instructive, and a burden to be shouldered by white people.
