YouSaid · the spoken record

Marcus Ryder

lines on the record: 52
first: 2021-11-16
most recent: 2021-11-16
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“As the other perspectives in them, you know, and then we can have a reasoned debate and make sure that it is, and it's the power dynamic between those different ideas that matter and the different people proposing those things. You want equality. And it sounds like so idealistic, but you basically just want equality.”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So my view on that is the black historian's perspective, for example matters and they need to have a seat at that table. You know, whichever element of culture you're talking about, there needs to be black people, there needs to be trans people, there needs to be women, there needs to be disabled people, you know, you name the group, you know, LGBTQ, people from all over regional. They need to be represented. So I'm not for one second trying to say that I want everybody to have my perspective, nor would I ask for as amazing as he is, everyone to have David Olasoka's perspective or to have, I don't know, Kit Duval's perspective, amazing as she is, you know, but what I do want is I want to make sure that those perspectives are heard with equal power and have equal power.”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, what I would say to use your example or experience, then we're missing out on a really important perspective, issues of quote-unquote objectivity, disproportionately affect people from underrepresented groups normally. And they don't have to. They absolutely don't have to. But for them not to disproportionately affect people from underrepresented groups, management needs to be clever, they need to be aware of those issues. and they also need to send out clear signals to different people working in the organization of how they actually champion the idea of equal pay and therefore they actively embrace the WhatsApp group because that will help them achieve their goal of equal pay. They must want that. They actively embrace the employee network group.”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, what is happening right now when I speak privately to employees at the BBC is they are unsure where that line is of being an objective and impartial journalist, especially when it comes to public pronouncements on social media. They think they can't go to Black Lives Matter marches, but can they tweet something about Black Lives Matter? For example, if they tweeted pictures of the England players taking the knee, would that possibly count against perceptions of their objectivity and impartiality? So I think there's a very serious issue for a need for better clarity. Issue of which there's been some kind of clarity”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And stated values side with me, and I'm very careful with all the things that I tweet and whatever to make sure that they're not party political and that I do stay within, even though I'm not in the BBC. And so I shouldn't really matter that much, but I was at the BBC for almost 25 years. I find it hard to get out of my bones. And so the stuff that I tweet, I still try and maintain the same kind of impartiality and guidelines of the BBC, to be honest with you. And people say, why do you do that? I just can't help it. So that's the debate. That's where the allegations are.”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Balanced when it comes to racism. We can be anti racist. We are our values are that racism is wrong. And so it's whether things which I have said about diversity and inclusion, whether that is due impartiality, but the impression and the fear or the allegation rather that people think that the BBC denied me the job or I was blocked from having the job is whether talking against racism is seen as compromising my objectivity. And the argument is no it doesn't because it falls, that's like arguing for the right to vote or is diversity and anti-racism not seen and accepted norm and value that BBC journalists should have. So there's an important debate on that. Now publicly the BBC value”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It would be the BBC editorial guidelines. They're absolutely brilliant. And so the BBC editorial guidelines talk about the fact that what journalists are trying to achieve is due impartiality and due impartiality is the different from impartiality. It doesn't mean that you need to be objective and balanced on absolutely everything. So you do not need to be balanced and objective on the right to vote. We believe and BBC journalists believe in the right to vote. They believe in the principles of democracy. So having impartiality does not mean that every time that you talk about democracy, that you need to have somebody else saying actually democracy is evil. So due impartiality is recognizing that there are certain values that we have, that don't need to be balanced. And so one of the aspects of due impartiality, which the outgoing Director General talked about, is that we do not need to be”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I don't know the truth about that, but they say both newspapers say they've got it from reliable sources, from multiple sources. The Daily Mail print the story. And then the other newspaper, along with others, then also print versions of the story. The BBC have denied that that has happened, I hasten to add. So this actually goes to the heart of the diversity debate and being a journalist. So the BBC editorial guidelines, I love the BBC editorial guidelines. I'm not a religious person, but if I did have religious piece of text,”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“In my own words, okay. So what happened was that I was approached by the BBC about a possible job and it was to do with Radio One and the Asian Network. And I think one extra's move from London to Birmingham because I've got a history of being able to establish regional diversity hubs, which is what I did in Scotland, even if I say so myself, I'm a relatively, there's a few people with that skill set and I'm one of them. So it doesn't come as a massive shock that they approached me on that. Long story short, they didn't give me the job and I didn't really think anything of it. But at the same time, so a few weeks later, I get phone calls from two newspapers and they say they've got this story that I was blocked by Tim Davey. General of the BBC.”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, and that's why it resonated with so many people. And it's also why it resonated with the quality of that is so many people pushed against it. Because what that advertisement was saying or what that advertisement did is that it centered black people. And in a way, going right back to Black British Lives Matter, what we're trying to do is center the black experience, center black people. Why are black people so important and how do we center black people when it comes to AI? How do we center the black experience and make sure that black people are so important when it comes to the charity sector? How do we center the black experience when it comes to etc etc?”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Black communities, Korean communities, Indian communities, etc. are still seen as dysfunctional. And so I think that's the next diversity battlefield, which is why in a funny way, and I'll just mention it in passing, you know, the Sainsbury's advert of last year, where they had a black family celebrating Christmas was so powerful. Because what that advert said was black people, you can actually have fun. Black people have fun. Black people have nice lives. Black people enjoy themselves. And you know what? They don't need white people to do that. That doesn't mean white people necessarily stop them having nice slides or that they couldn't, that you couldn't have a nice life and have joy within an interracial family. Not saying that at all, but black people can and a black community. Or what have you, so I think that”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“She is working in a career restaurant, in a kitchen, right? And the message that that sends out is, yes, you can be a positive Korean. Person who can, you know, be an amazing superhero can kill people, can kill who you like, you can kiss who you like, you can have sex with who you like, which she does and she can, you know, whatever, whatever, whatever. But as long as you do it within a white framework. And when everything goes wrong, that's when you go back to your ethnic community. You know, and ethnic communities are still portrayed as, you know, if you're talking about Indian subcontinent, Asian communities, they're still portrayed as the communities have got problems. The communities are still portrayed as places of forced marriages or potential terrorists, etc. Black communities are still portrayed as places where there is infested with drugs, you know, and gangsters and etc. So the progress that we talk about for on-screen is invariably about individual atomized progress, whereas the community”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Are still portrayed as dysfunctional. So I'll use Sandra O because I say this as somebody who loves killing Eve. I think it's one of the best programs out there. So, you know, you can criticize things that you still love. But with killing Eve, there is almost no reference at all to Sandra O's Korean heritage. And she is, for the most part, you know, in a functioning white world. Her employer is and her bosses are white. Her husband, without spoiler alert, something happens to her husband, but her husband is white. So she's living in a functioning white world. It's only when everything goes wrong in her life where she loses her job. Don't worry people. Something else happens. I'm not completely spoiling it for you. You haven't seen it. Where something goes wrong in her marriage, where something goes wrong in her work and everything's gone wrong, that you finally see her in a Korean community. And at that point, she is taking the most.”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, I would question the progress, I guess, because there has been progress in certain areas, such as certain elements of on-screen representation. So you do get Idris Elba in Luther. You do get Sandra O in Killing Eve. And that's wonderful. But there's two things. I'm going to talk about on-screen representation and then I'm going to talk about behind the camera representation. So with the on-screen representation, the thing about Sandra O in Killing Eve, the thing about Luther, and people have pointed this out before, is there's a real dearth of, and you can look at, you can see lots of examples of quote-unquote positive individuals. But these positive individuals invariably dwell in functioning white worlds, right? Whereas the ethnic communities are seen as an”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And I hadn't really thought of it as being a reaction, but yeah, in some ways it's a reaction to that kind of, why is there another black person in my Christmas advert?”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, it turns out. If you see diversity as a minority issue, then every time you see the disabled person, you're thinking, oh, there's another one of the minority that we're seeing. Every time you see an Asian person, you think, oh, it's an overrepresentation of that minority. And so we're saying, let's not think of it as the minority. Let's think of it as the majority when we see them. In many ways, we were trying to address the idea of an over-representation of the minority. If you view diversity as a minority issue, then what you're looking at every time you see that black person is, or are we up to the 14% BAME target now? Are we up to the 12% disability target now or whatever it is? Whereas when you frame it as the majority, you don't see it. You view it through different”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And she was like, It doesn't come close. And she wasn't just talking about Channel 4, just trying to point the finger at channel four. Or similarly, I don't want to just point the finger at BBC or any broadcaster. But every walk of life, I talked to my brother who's a lawyer, you know, and he's walking into meetings all the time with barristers. And we're worried, Lenny and I were worried at one point that we're going to sound like some kind of labor slogan of for the many. I can't remember what the Corbyn slogan was. Because we were saying, are you part of the 97%? Are you part of the 96.9%? Because we are. Obviously, I was about to say the vast majority of us are, yeah, 96.9% of us are.”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Exactly. And that's when you just realize that when you're watching television, when you look at your courtrooms, when you look at almost every aspect of life, and what was really nice is that I was talking to a Channel 4 executive and she said that she started doing the counting because she was thinking she was walking into meetings and she was saying every white heterosexual, non-disabled man I see who's from London, there should be 30 odd non-people that can't fit that description. You know, for everyone, there should be 30 if Channel 4 is being representative.”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“In the original, this was told to us by somebody who works in a museum who looks at immigration. And we thought that can't be right, even though she broke down the figures and she was an economist in a previous life. She'd been an economist for the treasury. We're like, that can't be right. And she gave us that 3.6. We're like, you know, that's mad. So then we went to the ONS. And the ONS were like, yeah, I'm afraid she got it wrong. And it's 3.1%. And we're like, my goodness. That was”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Lenny's originally from Dudley from the Midlands. And so there's also the issue of regional diversity because so much of what we look at is, and we look at positions of power is”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, if you think of, but I'll give you a bigger statistic in a second or a more shocking one for me. So only 29.5% of the UK population is white, non-disabled, heterosexual. And when you think about that, that means that for every white non-disabled heterosexual man, sorry, man that you see, you should see at least two women or to a woman and a black person or a black person and a disabled person or a mixture of or a gay person and a woman or a mixture of intersectionality of that. And you don't even vaguely see that. And so you reframe it and you just realize just how distorted our images of the world, you know. So then the other stat that follows on from that is that I worked in Scotland for eight years.”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And that's the idea that diversity inclusion is a minority issue. And what we showed with it is that it is a majority issue. I haven't got the stats because I wrote it. It was published almost a year ago. So the stats are a little Fuzzy, but”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, with access to all areas, again, written with Lenny, it has a narrative thread of how Lenny and I met and I think it's about seven years of campaigning, about seven years of campaigning for better representation, better diversity, better inclusion in the media industry. And so it charts our journey and our attempt to do that from speaking at BAFTA to speaking in parliament to going to Downing Street, etc. So that's the kind of narrative arc and finishes with us setting up the Seleni Henry Center for Media Diversity so that we can always analyze and have a foundation for analyzing diversity and inclusion in the media. So that's the narrative arc. But the overall message that we wanted to get across was to reframe the debate around diversity and inclusion.”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Came along. You know, if he tried to the people that were complaining about the English footballers taking the knee, I don't think that they had really looked into the issues of defund the police, the policy analysis of that. I doubt that very much. The people that were booing on the terraces when the footballers were taking the knee. So I'm not so sure that we need to get too wrapped up in thinking that, oh, if only we didn't talk about defund the police or if only we didn't talk about this policy or that policy, then Black Lives Matter would have been fully supported by the masses or whatever. So I'm not so sure that's the correct approach.”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I don't think that there is an issue with it being coupled or decoupled. Be honest with you, you know, if you go on the marches, there are lots of people who went on the marches, there are lots of people who write in contributors to the book who I didn't ask them. But I doubt they have a view. And if they do have a view, it will be very varied as to what they think about defunding the police. For example, there is an essay by Nels Abbey. And I am pretty sure that he is not a socialist or definitely not a Marxist. He writes about black business, Black British business matters. I don't know that for certain, but I suspect that where he's coming from. But he has no problem. And so you're thinking, who does have a problem and who wants to make sure that those links discredit the very idea of Black Lives Matter? So I'm not so sure that if you try to decouple it, there wouldn't be something else that...”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“European import with communist and Marxist leanings, the black people championing it were too naive to properly understand and had been hoodwinked. And similarly, I think that with Black Lives Matter, you see massive parallels with that. Of course, there's going to be some policy demands. There's going to be policy demands for any movement that I agree with and some policy demands that I don't agree with. But that doesn't mean you then throw the baby out with the bathwater. And then you need to look at who is trying to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Who are the people that are trying to discredit it? So I, as a rule, try and make sure that we do not blame the victims for their victimhood, but we actually look at the people that are trying to discredit it. And we keep our eye on the prize and make sure that we're fully aware of who”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I keep just quoting all the people in the essay. So, David Olisoga addresses this absolutely beautifully. And that's with regards to knowing your history. And so he cites the example of black people, black African-American GIs coming back from World War I and demanding equality, saying that we fought for America, therefore we should have equality at home. And there was a pushback against that saying, no, no, no, you have been influenced and your whole idea have been influenced by some Russian commiist madness. So you're not being properly American. You've misunderstood African-American person. You're not intellectually sophisticated enough African American person. And that movement was discredited as being a”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Elements or policy arts from elements within those movements. Completely understand that. But you take a nuanced approach. And so what's interesting for me is if there are people that understand that nuance for pride, why they are being listened to or are they sitting around the table and being listened to? And if there were those people, those black people or people understood Black Lives Matter around the top table for the BBC either they didn't really understand the issues and the nuance around Black Lives Matter or they weren't being listened to. So it's how do we make sure that black peoples and that black lens and that black perspective is listened to? Because I don't think it's that complicated to be honest with you.”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Not publicly. I have spoken to people in the BBC privately about it. And so I said, what's interesting for me is that there are aspects of Black Lives Matter which directly relate to government policy. And so things like defund the police. And so I can completely understand that it would be difficult for journalists to be seen as being impartial if they are commenting directly on issues such as defund the police. But what was interesting for me was the fact that the BBC were able to take that nuanced approach when it came to Pride Marches, recognising that pride in and of itself was a universal, non-controversial issue. And Black Lives Matter, I think the idea that Black Lives Matter, if you take it at its most basic, is non-controversial. But that doesn't mean that there aren't some controversial policies.”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I don't know if you work for the BBC. It might be if you're a journalist or working news. So I'm not sure if it's blanket wall for all employees. It might just be within the news division.”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“protests because they were seen as being political and therefore compromising their objectivity and their impartiality. At the same time, those new guidelines or interpretation of the guidelines came out, there was a little media kerfuffle about whether that meant that BBC journalists should be allowed to go on Pride Marches. The BBC quickly clarified that BBC journalists should be allowed to go on Pride Marches, but there'll be some aspects which are directly related to policy, in particular when it comes to trans. That journalists should not be talking about particular policies which are seen as controversial. And what was interesting for me is that why didn't the BBC take the same nuanced approach when it comes to Black Lives Matter?”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, I would say that expenses of overt racism are few and far between. The media is, especially the BBC is a liberal institution with a small L. And so, you know, there are some notable exceptions and they're often quite famous exceptions, but I'm not receiving overt racism. No one's calling me a name or anything like that. I think what often happens is the way that issues are framed can be in the interest of certain groups in power. And that invariably means white people in power, just the way the debates are framed. So, for example, more recently what's interesting is journalists at the BBC were not allowed to and still are, as far as I'm aware, still are not allowed to go on any black”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Sitting in Glasgow and if Scottish people are denied access to proper power or agencies they would see it, then getting a seat at that table is by definition political because they're coming with a different perspective. We'll have different needs and different desires.”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, Coame has a perspective on this, which I think is quite unique, or not unique, but made me think, rather. And he was saying that if you are going against the status quo, that is political. And black representation in all various fields, we are so underrepresented that to actually have our perspective valued and represented and have some agency, it's by definition political, whether we want to frame it that way or not. He feels, and I think I agree, that it's similar to if women are so underrepresented when they do get a seat at the table and they are able to articulate life through a female lens, then that by definition is political because it's going against the status quo. Similarly, I'm currently talking to you.”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Absolutely. So people talk about that. But what they don't talk about is the fact that photography or film, you know, if you're talking about the Vietnam War, photography was similar. Of the debate”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And I just hadn't thought of that. And all of a sudden, it comes out in Doreen's essay, because she's talking about the case of strong mothers. So in this case, she herself doesn't directly talk about technology. She's talking about how instrumental the mother was in pushing this case forward, which led to the importance of black mothers in achieving racial justice. So she's talking about that. But when you're reading it, you're thinking, wow, there's different technological things that occur.”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“In America and globally. So the links between his case and George Floyd's case are very, very clear. But the reason his case, Emmett's case, became such a course celeb was because his mother decided to photograph the open casket. And so photography at that point and the ability to distribute photography through newspapers at that point hadn't been utilized in that way previously.”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Equality and anti racist agendas. And so you've got the, obviously people talk now about the fact there's so many more mobile phones and people able to record this. And if we didn't have the mobile phone footage of George Floyd. Obviously, George Freud would have been another statistic. There is no doubt that it's the mobile phone footage. But similarly, do you know the story of Emmett Toll? So Emmett Toll was killed by a racist mob. He was lynched. This was in the South in the, I think I'm going to get it slightly wrong, but I think it was the 1950s. And he was a corsleb. He was the George Floyd of his day in terms of galvanizing the civil rights movement.”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The brave father or the campaign or everything, we are people, we are 300, our identities, I go to bed. So the quote at the start of her essay, I found just so powerful. And I think I'm going to misquote it now. I wish I should have had the book in front of me, but she says, I don't cry in public. I fight in public, but make no mistake about it. I do cry. And basically, yes, there's an expansion of that, of like, I have a public face, which you see, and I don't always show you my private face, but make no mistake about it. I'm a human being. Who cries? And sums it up in that quote so, so beautifully. So yeah, it's a really powerful. And then what's also incredibly powerful in that essay is that there's certain things that I hadn't realized, such as the use of technology historically in pushing.”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, what she's basically saying is I am a mother, and what has happened, and I know that's such an obvious statement of fact, but she's illustrating or she tries to push back against the fact that her humanity has often been dismissed and she has become an avatar, a campaigner. And so the whole essay is basically her reclaiming her humanity. And she does that through the links that black people and other people, the universal links that people feel through parenthood and motherhood. And so reclaiming of her humanity and it's reclaiming the humanity of the victims of racial violence and it's reclaiming the humanity of the parents of these victims who you often see for their kind of 15 seconds of fame as fitting Some kind of media or racial trope of the grieving mother or the”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And the commonality, so certain things which I thought, certain essays which I thought were going to be very similar weren't. And then other essays which I didn't think were going to have the same connections are very similar. So for example, Dawen Lawrence, it was amazing with her contributing an essay. I was like so flattered that she agreed. And so she contributes essay on Black British Mothers matter. Which I'll talk about that it's a fantastic essay. Tell us about it.”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, most surprised me, and I almost hesitate when you say what is a black British lens? That its nineteen essays, and they're all very different. And I was saying this to Lenny the other day, and Lenny goes, why does this surprise you? We are all different people. And I know that in theory, but when you read the essays in succession, you realize that there is no single black British identity. It really illustrates the heterogeneity of our perspectives.”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And then he tells the story of he was asked to open an event many years ago in the Black Country, so he's holding a Black Country flag. And the flag that he was holding that was celebrating, I can't remember which aspect of the black country. It's in the book. So read the book, has got chains because they're famous for making chains because it was a steel making part of the world. And he's holding that and it suddenly dawns on him. These are the chains that held my ancestors who were slaves. I am holding a flag which tangentially is celebrating the very shackles which enslaved me, you know. And so you view the flag differently. That's not to say that you burn the flag or that you have to topple the statue. You're just viewing the different connections differently. And so you're viewing the world differently.”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“But you do look at the sugar consumption quite differently, and then you look at the, for example, once you then know about Scotland's connection with the slave trade, you then look at things such as Bob Marley and the whalers and all of, you know, you've got Bob Marley, you've got Peter Tosh, and they all have Scottish surnames. So there's a massive Scottish link. And so then you actually view culture differently. And what are the cultural links? And so then you're viewing the world differently, even from the kind of different music you're listening to to the different food you're eating.”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You see different connections. So David Olasoga, for example, he gives the example of you see different connections with regards to because he spent a lot of his childhood in Scotland. So he says that he now sees Scotland differently because he used to enjoy Scottish toffee. And then when you realise that Scotland played such an instrumental role in the slave trade and if you're talking about the Caribbean, you're then really talking about sugar plantations. You then look at Scotland's sweet tooth. It consumes per capita some insane amounts of sugar. And you look at that quite differently when you actually...”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No. And then they were talking about what were the female gaze look like, and how might this differ from the traditional male gaze of interpreting this play? And that was wonderful, you know. But I want to also make sure that we look through what does the Black British gaze look like. So just as we can look through a female gaze and not think that it has to be within the framework of sexism, we should be able to look through a black British gaze and it doesn't have to necessarily be through the framework of racism.”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Oh, it's great. It's such a highlight of the role when I'm not having to go through the minutes of the last council meeting and everything, you know, it's an absolute joy to interact with students and stuff. Yeah, it's brilliant. But they were going through, I'm trying to remember which play right it was. It was a Russian playwright. Anyway, so they were going through that. And the drama teacher was talking about gender and how the players traditionally viewed through a male gaze.”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, what's interesting, you said at the start that I've recently taken on the position of chair of Rada. And so I sat in on a drama class about two weeks ago.”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Short answer is no. Our contribution is not fully recognised. Again, invariably when it comes to black history month, we're hearing stories and they are very important stories. I don't want to try and undermine the importance of stories of us overcoming racism. But invariably our stories are framed as such. Whereas the David Olisoga essay, for example, he speaks how his black British identity means that he is seeing the world through a black British lens and that informs the way he approaches history. And not just black history, but how his framing makes him view his analysis of World War II differently, how his framing informs every aspect of how he looks at history. And so it's really making sure that we have a different perspective.”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“His architecture, he has so much more. His black identity is so much more than the tale of, oh my God, I didn't get the commission because I was black. That's how it sometimes felt with regards to Black Lives Matter framing, you know? So David Ajay can speak very eloquently about the racism which he faces and has overcome and continues to face and continues attempts to overcome. But he can also talk very eloquently as to how his black British identity shapes and forms his architecture and his outlook on life. And so we wanted to make sure that that latter part was also covered. And so that's why we say Black British lives matter, not just in terms of the racism we face, but in terms of the entire 360 degrees of our identity.”
2021-11-16 · Intelligence Squared · Black British Lives Matter, with Marcus Ryder MBE · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source