This film, commissioned by Southwark Council and made in 1984, looks at the experience of being Black and living in Southwark in the 1980s.
Narrated by Trevor MacDonald, the film explores the difficulties faced by Black people who make up 20% of Southwark's population including barriers to employment and housing, as a result of racist attitudes.
The Education Authority regarded racism as so "serious and complex" that it was to be watched for "in every aspect of school life". However, those teaching in one school said that the children occasionally had "brushes, but usually it's nothing to do with the racial issue although the names might be racial...it's a way of getting rid of frustration and that's one way they find they can use words".
The film goes on to explore issues in housing and employment and looks at the work of organisations set up to promote ethnic traditions and culture and interviews the key figures in Southwark's Race Equality Committee, the Ex- Mayor of Southwark, Sam King, Councillor Aubyn Graham and a rare interview with the Black female editors of the Capital News Agency offering a different perspective on journalism.
28 mins / ©London Borough of Southwark / Blackrod Productions
