On Friday the 11th of October, an audience gathered in Bristol’s Hydra Books to explore life at the intersection of structural racism and endemic sexism. The evening saw the debut viewing of the End Racism campaign’s new short film, When Racism and Sexism Collide. The audience watched three short films before hearing from a panel of speakers, including Dr Jude Smith Rachele, who organised the London premiere of US film Dark Girls, writer Reni Eddo-Lodge, Nimco Ali, co-founder of Bristol based organisation Daughters of Eve, and Lia Latchford from black feminist organisation Imkaan.
The rest of the films screened at the evening are available to watch online – Shadeism, and BME female unemployment.
On the panel, Nimco Ali, spoke about her work advocating for the rights of young women who suffer from the practice of female genital mutilation. She explained that the maze of advocacy often involves dealing with schools who dismiss the practice as cultural rather than violent, this implicit racism often hindering the rights of women and girls who undergo this abuse.
Lia Latchford detailed the specifics of Imkaan’s latest project, Rewind and Reframe. She discussed how the organisation aids young women to challenge the content of racist and sexist music videos. Lia spoke about equipping young women with the tools to critically asses the content of popular culture that routinely objectifies black women, and called on the audience to question the profitable nature of racist and sexist discrimination in music.
With contributions from both the panel and the floor focusing heavily on popular culture, Dr Jude Smith Rachele reminded the room that it was not just in the arts that black women should demand fair representation. Speaking from decades of experience consulting on business ethics and corporate responsibility as CEO of Abundant Sun, Jude spoke of the scarcity of black talent in business, the barriers to progress and how to change the landscape.
A lively discussion and debate saw the topics of race and gender based discrimination cover cultural appropriation, class, aspiration black unemployment, internalised racism and lots more. Have you ever felt discriminated against because of your race and gender? How do racialised, gendered stereotypes affect your day to day life?
See more videos at: http://www.end-racism.org/film/
Find out more and pledge your support at End Racism.