British Nigerian Artist Jumps Red Light in View of Policeman, and Lives to Tell Tales of Africa Rising
Sept. 5, 2023
“What do red lights mean?” asked the young white police officer a few days ago. The flashing lights and siren had left me in no doubt that I was his target. Fed up of waiting for the green light while no pedestrians were crossing and cars all around were stationary, I was practically asking for trouble.
The policeman’s condescension was ignored, calmness prevailed, and after a civil conversation, officer and citizen eventually proceeded in our various directions: I on my bicycle, he in a few-hundred-pounds’ worth of taxpayer-funded auto-engineering. If I had been in the United States, it might have been another tragic story. If I had been in a car I owned, the crime database may have alerted the officer to the fact that he had just let a convict slip through his fingers – one who had, with accomplices, committed the grave crime of shutting down an arms factory for a whole day, over a year ago, in solidarity with Palestinian people: some of the targets and victims of the factory’s main clients. The same database may or may not exist in the Embassy of the Israeli government in London, but if it does, it would not be a surprise, as this recent revelation posits: Documents suggest Israel tried to influence courts against pro-Palestine activists.
Photo: British Police protecting war criminals UAV Tactical Systems, Leicester, UK. May 2023
www.palestineaction.org
Also carried in The Guardian (but not the BBC as far as I can tell), the story came out while I was in Edinburgh performing both Call Mr. Robeson and Just An Ordinary Lawyer at the world’s largest arts festival, the Edinburgh Fringe, for two straight weeks. As usual, I used my programme notes to link my plays’ subjects to contemporary news: Niger, Palestine, Fossil Fuel Profits; Brown faces in high places, and Gangsters-in-Charge. Days before going to Edinburgh, I had performed Lawyer at the EB Fringe in Eastbourne, and the topics were Ecocide, Imperial Genocide, Grenfell Fire.
Photo: Flyering at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Two recent bits of writing: A book review of Race to the Bottom: Reclaiming Antiracism, and a monologue I wrote for a celebration last week of the 10th anniversary of 4Wings, a wonderful women’s organisation in Liverpool that I have the privilege of working with. I have recorded it and you can listen to it here. I call it Listening to Women.
My recent police encounter reminds me of a much more dangerous one that happened in New York City eleven years ago. That is retold in a monologue I’ll be performing again in Liverpool soon, titled Dodging Bullets, as part of #BlackBoyJoyGone-Realise, and part of this year’s BlackFest. Before that, I’m excited to be sharing for the first time, a script-in-hand reading of my newest play, Coleridge-Taylor of Freetown. I also have performances of both existing plays coming up. So, here’s the current list of
Forthcoming Appearances:
21 September: Coleridge-Taylor of Freetown (a reading/sharing) Liverpool Lighthouse, Anfield, Liverpool (possible streaming details on my website in due course)
26 September: Dodging Bullets @ #BlackBoyJoyGone. Blackfest @ Unity Theatre, Liverpool
29 September: Call Mr. Robeson (private, for UNISON NW Black Workers’ Conference) Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester.
14 October: Just An Ordinary Lawyer @ Tullynessle & Forbes Hall, Aberdeenshire
20 October: Just An Ordinary Lawyer @ St. George’s Hall, Liverpool
25 October: Words Behind 4Wings @10. Performance by 4Wings members and staff of a drama written by Tayo Aluko, inspired by stories shared by the women. St. George’s Hall, Liverpool
7 November: Call Mr. Robeson @ St. Ives Library, Cambs.
8 November: Call Mr. Robeson @ St. Neots Library, Cambs.
More bookings welcome. Four trailers here.
Parting Shots
ALL Lives Matter, but Only White History Matters (Unless...)
There is - sorry, was – one single postgraduate course in History of Africa and the African Diaspora, and one solitary full professor of African History in the UK until last week. Now the course is no more, and the professor has been made redundant, by the stroke of some expensive corporate pens at University of Chichester, in defiance of huge publicity and thousands signing a petition against the decision. The students are now mounting a legal challenge, and in this short video, Professor Hakim Adi appeals for support for the campaign.
Some have it easier than others… Antoinette Sandbach & Hakim Adi
By contrast, here is a piece of white history that there has been a rather inelegant attempt to suppress recently. A friend of mine here in Liverpool, a PhD student at Cambridge University, has caused a descendant of slave-owners to threaten to sue the university for her being named in his research. It seems to have backfired, with much unwelcome publicity for her instead. I note that the lady has also said more recently that she was unaware of her family’s slaving history until some three months ago. A rather good metaphor for people remaining ignorant about how the West is so wealthy compared to Africa and other regions: just the natural order of things. Well, it’s never too late to learn, I say.
Some good news: my wrongly-convicted friend on Death Row in the US, Keith LaMar, has been granted a reprieve, moving his proposed execution date from November this year to January 2027. Here is his statement. I also happen to know that unlike most inmates in his position, Keith’s relentless fight has recently resulted in some powerful law firms agreeing to take on his case, pro bono. With the extra time now granted him, it must surely result in his acquittal, hopefully with positive repercussions for several other victims of the injustice system. Fingers crossed.
More Parting Shots
US & African Politics & Media, Nigerian Inventions
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