To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Anti-Racist Alliance, a film screening and fundraiser are being held tomorrow evening at the Rio Cinema in Dalston.
Proceeds from the screening will go to the alliance’s successor organisation The Liberation Movement – a Black-led grassroots group that campaigns against racism, islamophobia and anti-Semitism.
The screenings will showcase a selection of films by acclaimed directors Zak Ové and Orson Nava. The films, The Protector, Wonderful World and Hackney’s Black Curriculum each display a unique reflection of black history and deal with the history of racism in the UK.
This will then be followed by a Q&A chaired by Dr Margaret Busby CBE, former chair of the Booker Prize.
One of the guests of the evening will be Councillor Anntoinette Bramble, Deputy Mayor of Hackney. She is also the cabinet member for education, young people and children’s social care for Hackney Council.
Bramble said in a statement: “I look forward to taking the time to reflect on this history and listening to what more we can do to truly support an anti-racist mindset for the younger generation and continue to influence wider society.”
Orson Nava, director of The Protector and Hackney’s Black Curriculum, spoke to Eastlondonlines about his thoughts on black history: “The situation has sadly not improved as much as we’d hope it would. The forms of racism that people might have thought that have gone into abatement have returned”. Nava highlighted how the films being shown map out the history of anti-racist struggles and how the issue is still alive today, saying: “It’s important for artists, politicians, local councillors to come together in Hackney to screen the historical work but also to discuss the situation then and the situation now.”
The screening is part of Hackney’s Black History in the Making Season, which started in September and will run through to December. The season extends Black History Month and has hosted a wide range of events that uplift the work of the Hackney community who acknowledge Black History all year round.
The event will take place tomorrow and will mark the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Anti-Racist Alliance. Founded by Marc Wadsworth in 1991 the ARA is a movement for racial equity and is the first Black-led coalition campaigning against racism, antisemitism, islamophobia and far right groups in Britain.
Wadsworth said in a statement: “Hackney had one of the most active ARA branches in the country, fighting racism in all its forms, which doubly makes it the right place for this screening of historically and culturally significant films associated with the campaign.”
