After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, many companies worldwide issued statements of solidarity and support and posted black squares on their websites and socials.
‘Legacy of the Black Square’ saw experts analyse the impact of that tumultuous time; on programming and commissioning, promises made, what has been delivered so far and what may be to come.
On the panel were:
On 25 May 2022, I held an online memorial to mark the second anniversary of the murder of George Floyd. In the public discourse, Floyd’s death has become much more than the death of one black man in police custody, something that happens far too often. The murder sparked global Black Lives Matter protests, symbolising structural racial inequalities across the world and the need to address them.
“Great fears of the Sicknesse here in the City, it being said that two or three houses are already shut up. God preserve us all.” The very first mention of the plague in The Diary of Samuel Pepys, on 30 April 1665. Fast forward 355 years and there’s this on 11 January on the ITV News site: “Health authorities in the central Chinese city of Wuhan are reporting the first death from a new type of coronavirus.”
In September, when dance troupe Diversity took to the stage for prime-time TV’s most controversial four minutes of 2020, one woman was watching especially intently – Ade Rawcliffe, ITV’s freshly promoted group director of diversity and inclusion.
“I was told they were going to do the dance. I thought it was incredibly moving, a wonderful creative expression,” she says of the group’s routine inspired by some of the year’s seminal events, not least the global Black Lives Matter protests.
I Don’t Want To Talk About This stars Joe Cole and Adelayo Adedayo as two exes who reconnect and look back at their relationship, and reflect on the impact racism played on their love and friendship.
Thea (Adedayo) is a successful middle-class black woman and bumps into an old boyfriend Tom (Cole) while at a party and the pair start to talk.
Here are some of our favourite series and documentaries that tell the stories of black people.
Created by, executive produced and starring Michaela Coel, I May Destroy You explores the intricacies of sexual consent, dating and relationships.
Fran Unsworth used her recent conversation with the RTS to support incoming Director-General Tim Davie’s statement of 5 June, when he stressed the need for impartiality across the organisation, regardless of whatever battles between the BBC and government might be going on behind the scenes. “The more valuable we are to audiences, the greater our standing is going to be with the Government,” the BBC’s director of news and current affairs said firmly.
Another day, another Black Lives Matter protest. Another day, another testimony by a black figure in the industry about all the direct and systemic racism they have faced working in the industry. Another day, another statement by a British broadcaster about how it is responding to the current crisis.
When I was first approached by Television to write this piece, the brief was simple: go through recent events, assess the different policy initiatives the industry has announced and offer a prediction as to whether this would lead to lasting change.
The five-part series explores race in contemporary Britain and why the need to challenge racism is a matter of urgency.
The films look at the systemic racism and injustice black people continue to face in Britain through testimony from comedians, politicians, nurses and doctors in the NHS, and members of the public who have experienced racial abuse.
