Small Axe - Lovers Rock How One Episode Divided Black Britain

How One Episode in a Mini-Series Divided Black Britain

We are here putting together reflections of food and experiences growing up as a blend of Caribbean & British cultures, why not share yours too. Send your stories to info @ radiatefesitval.com

There are so few films, documentaries and moving picture productions of Black British history. So when one comes along that is funded by big money and written by a big name director, it is definitely a big deal. Needless to say the expectations rocketed across the community with everyone vowing to tune in to the prime time broadcast on BBC One.

Telling the story of Lovers Rock needed sensitive recounting & accuracy, because in the past opportunities like this have not been plentiful for us in the Black community. We’ve always struggled to have our story told in Britain, but with everything 2020 has thrown at us it was our time to shine.

For 80 minutes we watched a ‘version’ of our story being retold and it was just that, a version. Our community sat there and longed to connect with this moment in time, so why for so many did it totally miss the beat?

Our Community is one of secrets and mystery due to so many decades of oppression, exclusion and cultural judgement. The creativity that comes out of our ‘gathering together’ is rich and has inspired so much of the multicultural development in Britain with little recognition, accolade or compensation. For me, as a 80’s born child of immigrant parents, the blues dance, the house party, the shubeen was a real coming of age space of our community. It was somewhere that children went to play games and socialise upstairs whilst parents were downstairs in the dark, bass filled room in their own euphoric connection. But no parent was ever too far away from the pulling clothes tail of a child trying to get some unwanted attention, as they interrupted the slow whine. 

Some of the most divisive scenes from Lovers Rock were interesting and universally felt. The dub music scene with Rastas chanting, writhing and stamping down Babylon raised more than a few pulses. Many across the community complained that it was inaccurate and degrading to the Lovers Rock scene due to grown men being on the floor and contorting like they were subject to demon possession. So much of this speaks more about our indoctrination to Christian principles and ideals of genteel ‘Mother England’ society than this scene being an offensive stretch on creative licence. In reality the issue isn’t that a scene like this didn’t happen in our community, but it was misplaced and misrepresented in the particular story being told. It’s moments like these which created highly emotive criticisms distancing us from ‘our story’ to simply feel like we were watching ‘a story’.

Moving on, another mouth opening cultural moment of despair was watching a Black woman dropping her bare ‘batty’ down on a stranger’s toilet seat. We knew this was a no-no since stooping was the generational to generational standard taught to girls from young. Again, seeing a woman walking the streets alone in the middle of the night was definitely not reflective of the times we endured on the streets of Britain. We can't ignore the reality of abuse by the NF waiting on corners ready to show you what time it is. Even as far into the late 90's the streets of Bermondsey was sketchy for both brown skinned men and women.

Finally the camel, straw and back came with the 20 minute version of a popular Lover's Rock track 'Silly Games', a song without even one pull-up rewind. When in truth we all know that DJ's and Selectors never had that kind of patience for any one record since there was so much vinyl in the box to draw from which would have been fresh from the studios both inna 'Ingland' and from 'Yard'.

However, despite the storyline being looser than loose, there were some delightful moments that made a British born kid of Caribbean heritage smile. Cue the initial singing acapella in unison, all outta tune but with one tune. Ordinarily it would have been accompanied by wall banging and foot stamping as you feel the riddim but the moment was appreciated all the same. The stringing up of massive speaker boxes from the sound system early in the day, whilst the cooking pots were bubbling away in the kitchen. Oooh weee and that really slow connected dancing with barely moving hips so in sync that the magnetic energy of 2 people was impenetrable whilst the lights would have been totally off with the room in complete darkness.

We have been yearning for our story to be told under bright lights for a long time. This is why we need more than ever to be the storytellers, curators, creators and deliverers of our own history. We cannot get trapped in the only room for one mentality and it’s more than only rooting for the most established directors, writers and producers where they get all the opportunities. It’s about supporting and ensuring access to the lesser known creators who for years have been knocking on locked doors, along with those who have found recent inspiration to pen a tale or two. Let’s spread the love with opportunities for the Black Community to tell its story from its own perspective, without the need to bundle up lazy inaccuracies for fear of missing the spotlight or only getting one shot.

Giving space to Steve McQueen and Courttia Newland for the entertainment value of Lovers Rock is a must. But more importantly we need to recognise the contributions of film makers like Menelik Shabazz who has been independently creating accurate and reflective productions of the Black British and Caribbean British story for many unwavering decades. When Menelik produces cinematic content we should seek it out to support it as part of the legacy of our own history.

For over 70 years we've been creating this concept of multi-culturalism being Black and British, it’s time we stopped waiting for others to do it for us. This is why the Radiate Festival series was created and continues to make space for the Black expression in Britain.

Signing Off: Wendy XOX

Explore Windrush Festival