ARUN Blair-Mangat
I have spent my whole life treading on eggshells. As a black, bisexual man, I am constantly navigating spaces trying to accommodate for other people. But enough is enough. In the midst of a global pandemic and this moment of stillness, without the distractions of daily life, people are being forced to reflect. And when the news cycle and social media became inundated with harrowing images and violent and disturbing videos of a murder in broad daylight, people could no longer look away.
I suddenly found myself in endless conversations with friends who had “no idea that racism was so prevalent” and it hit me - where the fuck have they been? None of this is new. The narrative here in the UK is too often that “it’s an American problem”…. “we're not racist here”…”it’s not as bad”, but this could not be further from the truth. We are erased from history because they do not want us to know our history. I’m grateful that my parents taught me about my heritage and black history. They emphasised the importance of understanding our resilience and our strength, our beauty and our pain; so much so that I went to the London School of Economics to study History so that I could continue my quest for more truth, more life and a greater, deeper understanding.
Last week I could no longer sit alone with my thoughts and I was tired of having the same chats with people who were shocked and confused that racism is still so rife in this day and age. So...I woke myself up from the middle of a dream at 04.40am because I had to write. I grabbed my phone and typed a stream of consciousness. The result; unedited, unfiltered is what you see below..
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Thank you to iCARE for opening up the conversation.
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Arun Blair-Mangat is an actor, composer and writer, most recently performing in the West End musical &Juliet.
Arun Blair-Mangat is an actor, composer and writer, most recently performing in the West End musical &Juliet.
BRITAIN'T by Arun Blair-Mangat