Small Axe (Steve McQueen mini-series)

[Puddy_Tat]

This last episode of the small axe series has brought up a lot for me- stuff around my ma who was a (black Jamaican) headteacher then inspector in ILEA from the late 60's through to the millennium.
I need to think about it and probably write some stuff down.

That must have been challenging for her! I didn't have any black teachers at school

yes, i was about to say something similar. i don't remember any black / ethnic minority teachers at primary school (outer edge of ILEA-land) and there was one (if i remember right he was south african and would at that time have been classed as 'coloured' by the apartheid regime) at secondary school.

 

[sim667]

Well this series of show has certainly got me buying some vinyl again.

I don't think I'll be affording Kunta Kinte Dub anytime soon though

 

[Jeff Robinson]

Watched “education” last night. Brilliant episode, one of the best of the series. All in all a pretty incredible series, essentially 5 cinema quality movies and all telling really important stories that most of the public probably don’t know about. Has something like that ever been achieved in TV before?

 

[Cloo]

Just watched Education - excellent film. Did a poweful job of communicating a lot of issues in relatively few brush strokes: how the trust of Kingsley's parents' generation that their kids would get a good education in the UK was betrayed, especially given how hard they were working, and the difficulty for some in fighting the system when they don't feel secure in their position in society; the casual writing off of black kids; the need for those kids to understand a history beyond 'we were slaves' and so on. And we can't pretend these problems have gone away.

 

[GarveyLives]

... All in all a pretty incredible series, essentially 5 cinema quality movies and ... Has something like that ever been achieved in TV before?

It may be more accurate to state:

"... all telling really important stories that most of the public probably don’t want to know about."

 

[GarveyLives]

yes, i was about to say something similar. i don't remember any black / ethnic minority teachers at primary school (outer edge of ILEA-land) and there was one (if i remember right he was south african and would at that time have been classed as 'coloured' by the apartheid regime) at secondary school.

Only last week ...: Tributes paid after death of London's first black female head teacher

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[alsoknownas]

Menelik Shabazz's 2011 documentary, 'The Story of Lovers Rock, is a more authentic account than anything that McQueen is likely to be able to produce:

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Argh, sadly Shabazz has died in Zims while filming there.

Menelik Shabazz, pioneering black British film-maker, dies aged 67

Burning an Illusion director and founder of Black Filmmaker Magazine died while working on a new film in Zimbabwe

www.theguardian.com

 

[ddraig]

Apparently the soundtrack is getting a vinyl release

Obviously a fair few will be on existing comps already

 

[alsoknownas]

The Story of Lovers Rock (recently departed Menelik Shabazz's doc) is showing soon at the Lexi.

The Lexi Cinema | Home

thelexicinema.co.uk

(screening 7th Aug)