Small Axe: The Mangrove at the BBC

The Real Mangrove NIne

Imagine you are sitting in a local Caribbean cafe, enjoying a meal with your friends and loved ones, and the police come in and smash the place up.  I heard about the Mangrove  many years ago.  

 

This is the first of four films which The BBC will be screening on the BBC under the heading of "Small Axe".  

These films by Steve McQueen, who directed Twelve Years a Slave, will explore the experience of Black people in Britain.  

All the proprietor, Frank Crichlow, wanted was to run a Caribbean restaurant which reflected his culture and that of his local community.  But the racism of the police turned it into a battleground.  They are shown brutally trying to close down the Mangrove and even assaulting Frank Crichlow in the courtroom. 

This film, The Mangrove, is still available on iplayer.  This article about the Mangrove and the Mangrove Nine contains footage of the events described.  It also gives background information, including the fact that drugs, which apparently came from a police lab, were found on the premises.  

Black activists, including Darcus Howe, got involved in the struggle around the Mangrove.  This was an education for many people, not least Frank Crichlow.  

If you have not seen this film, you definitely need to see it.  I hope it will be shown internationally.  

Plus journalist Peter Kellner talks about giving evidence at the Old Bailey trial of the Mangrove Nine. 

See also:  Injustice:  The Film the Police Tried to Ban.  

Plus, we discussed television showing films about the Black experience here.  

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