GET UP, STAND UP (UPRISING)

Last year Steve McQueen brought the experience of Black Britons in the 1980s to BBC1 primetime drama with five films known as the 'Small Axe' anthology.

A co-production with Amazon Prime, 'Mangrove,' 'Lovers Rock,' 'Red, White and Blue,' 'Alex Wheatle' and Education' were technically brilliant, absorbing tales.

But more importantly, they shone a light for other communities on the institutional prejudice Britons of Afro Carribbean origin have faced.

In 2021, McQueen has waded back into this territory along with James Rogan to create 'Uprising' - a stirring three part documentary series about seminal events in the black community's struggle against racism in 1981.

The events covered are the New Cross fire which claimed the lives of 13 teenagers in January 1989,  the Black People's Day of Action two months later and the Brixton riots that April.

For fans of 'Small Axe,' 'Uprising' is a wonderful insight into the events that shaped McQueen's groundbreaking drama series.

However 'Uprising' also features jaw dropping accounts of how the events of 1981 unfolded from the perspectives of the Carribbean community and the Metropolitan Police officers who found themselves facing the full force of their anger.

At times, it's a hard watch and listen but listen we must.

Like all great documentary series, 'Uprising' weaves a compelling narrative of personal stories and major events.

McQueen and Rogan blend personal testimony with archive footage that casts a disturbing light on institutional racism in the police, in government, the media and even the playground.

Time is taken to explain the events leading up to the New Cross fire which, to this day, the authorities have been unable to determine whether it was a racist attack or not.

A pattern of far right arson attacks on entertainment venues is established, as the National Front sought to assert its dominance over some communities in London.

A march by the fascist party resulted in the Battle of Lewisham in 1977, with anti-racism protesters confronting the far right on the streets.

George Rhoden, a black police officer, candidly talks about the criticism he faced from his own community about protecting the marchers as a Metropolitan Police officer.

He also discusses how deeply ingrained racism was among some of his white colleagues - including one officer who proudly showed colleagues a National Front badge pinned to the inside of his coat while he was about to police a demonstration.

Comments by Margaret Thatcher prior to being elected Prime Minister that "people are really rather afraid that this country might be rather swamped by people with a different culture" are unearthed and inspire a police search and stop campaign in Brixton known as Operation Swamp, fuelled by newspaper reports of black men mugging elderly white women.

Wayne Haynes, one of three DJs at the birthday party where the New Cross tragedy occurred, is a powerful voice throughout the series - explaining the context of the fire, the preparations for the party, the horrific events that unfolded and the consequences for him and the community .

Badly burned and with his legs twisted after jumping to safety, he vividly describes the pain of physiotherapy while his skin was shredding and also the psychological blow of losing his fellow DJs and other friends.

Mr Haynes captures the anger of the community as the police focused on exaggerated rumours of a fracas inside the party, as a way of explaining how the fire might have started.

Andrew Hastings, a white friend of Paul Ruddock who bonded over the music they played at work, also gives a stirring eyewitness account of the blaze and the anger generated by the Metropolitan Police's handling of it.

He alleges surveillance was carried out of Paul's funeral, with police later pressing him to know why he had put his arm around the shoulder of his friend's mum.

The aftermath of the fire is covered in detail in the second episode, with McQueen and Rogan detailing the build-up to the Black People's Day of Action which empowered a community tired of encountering racial harassment.

The filmmakers brilliantly connect the political awakening occurring in the Caribbean community with the stirring lyrics of Bob Marley and the Wailers and Steel Pulse.

Anger is stoked when the Queen and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher express condolences to the Irish Government over the Stardust Fire which claimed the lives of 48 people in Dublin, with community leaders noting no such expressions of sympathy were issued to the New Cross families.

The third episode covering the Brixton Riots and subsequent disturbances in Afro Carribbean neighbourhoods across Britain hammers home the chasm that developed between the Metropolitan Police and the community.

As well as containing searing accounts from members of the community about what it was like to be on the frontline of the riots, the testimony of police officers is equally powerful as they reflect on how it was a wake-up call to them and their colleagues to tackle institutionally racist attitudes.

Former PC Peter Bleksley vividly.recalls bring driven through the riots with his head down and a truncheon out the window - not sure if he was striking people or objects.

He also reveals his dismay at seeing the Met become "the enemy of the people," realising they were not helping a community they were meant to serve.

That leads him to conclude "I have got to get out of this uniform."

One of the most disturbing moments in the third episode comes in the form of an interview with Lee Curtis, a Police Federation chairman, who refuses to accept that officers should be dismissed for calling person "a ni**ger".

Asked on camera if the term is offensive, he replies that's a matter of opinion.

Society, thankfully, has come a significant way since then.

Such a comment would spark outrage today and would result in a person in a position of authority having to resign.

While that is undoubtedly progress, the question begs: has society and particularly the police travelled far enough?

Evidence presented in Parliament and the accounts of police ex-officers about racism in the force would indicate thar there's still a long, long way to go.

However programmes like 'Uprising' are a necessary reminder of a problem we all need to address and the wounds that racism in all its forms leaves. 

('Uprising' was broadcast on BBC1 from July 20-22, 2021)