Contribution: “God Save The Queen” A Short Film by Martyn Ewoma. [@MartynEwoma]

Contribution by Martyn Ewoma.

I made this film because we’re entering a new decade under a new leader. We need to be honest with ourselves about what the last decade was actually like. It was shaped by the fallout from the 2008 economic crash and the subsequent austerity that saw the most vulnerable really suffer. As is always the case with economic downturn, it facilitated a breeding ground for racism to rear it’s ugly head more flagrantly than in the decade before. Unfortunately due to the Corona Virus another economic collapse seems inevitable. As such it seems likely that we’re going to see a continuation of ethnic minorities being scapegoated for the inequality that has always shaped British society. What I find mind blowing is the denial from everyone from politicians, to entertainers to even private conversations.

When people talk about the loveliness and tolerance of Britain it makes me wonder if my adolescence was some sort of fever dream, and I wasn’t in fact racially abused in public more times than I can count. Or that people like Nick Griffin and Tommy Robinson were given platforms on the BBC to spread their bile. The Britain as described at the start of the film from a range of people is unfamiliar to me, and I’d love to live there. But that place will never exist if we don’t start being honest with ourselves about where we are now. Racism is a disease that permeates Britain and like any disease, it has to be diagnosed before it can be cured. I hope to some extent this film goes some way towards doing that.

Contribution by Martyn Ewoma.

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