When I heard about this film, I immediately resonated with the title, “Blacks Can’t Swim”.
Is it true? Well, in the UK it is….to a point, it’s more that “Blacks DON’T Swim” in my opinion, it’s like an unspoken cultural choice – I, personally, since childhood,definitely don’t enjoy being submerged in water, especially cold water.
But as a woman of colour the wider issues concerning the whole experience of even just going swimming in a leisure centre or a local swimming centre, starts within the changing rooms, with body shape, skin & hair issues, and this film documents some of the many concerns that are high in the minds of black women in particular.
I remember as a teenager being very happy when swimming was taken off the secondary school curriculum, due to a lack of funding I think, but I’ve always excelled at other sports, such as netball, hockey and athletics – long jump, 100 metre sprint etc… The type of sports that are reflected at an elite level that black people in general are good at, are the sports that I myself, naturally enjoyed and excelled.
The Synopsis
This film is a sequel documentary film, following Ed Accura‘s film last year that examined the reasons why 95% of Black Adults & 80% of Black Children in the UK don’t swim.
This film follows mentor Frank trying to change the attitude to swimming, of young people of colour in the UK to a more positive one.
Have a look at the trailer…
My Thoughts
This film can be watched as a standalone to the original film.
It follows Layla and K-Frost, 2 black teenagers from South London, who are embarking on a programme to enrich disadvantaged and underrepresented young people, but a part of this scheme involves swimming and the reluctance to participate is explored, from body Image and hair styling issues, to a lack of role models within this candid and honest documentary by Ed Accura.
If you’re a black person living in the UK, this film will really resonate, you’ll find yourself nodding in agreement at the many points of views expressed in this film, as well as some views you may not have even considered.
Even if you’re not a black British person, this fim offers some eye-opening facts about the perspective of swimming from the eyes of a black person in the UK that you may not have even realised was an issue.
The film examines how we can make swimming more appealing to a new generation of British black and maybe produce an Olympic champion or 2 for the future!
Ed Accura runs the fantastic project (Black Swimming Association) and this film may just get a few more black people into a pool this summer, even me….you never know ?
Blacks Can’t Swim Film is out from Monday 10th May 2021on Digital Download.
Platforms: iTunes, Google Play (YouTube), Sky Store, Microsoft (Xbox), Rakuten and Amazon (tbc)
Enjoy & Thanks for reading!
Chanel x
Chanel Williams