Mangrove promo marks 50th anniversary of ‘harassment protest’

BBC One release trailer for Small Axe film, Mangrove.

“Sunday, August 9th, is 50 years since the Mangrove March, which led to nine innocent Black women and men being arrested. It was a march necessitated by relentless police brutality in Notting Hill.” – Filmmaker Steve McQueen

Tomorrow, (Sunday 9 August) marks the 50th anniversary of the march of 150 protesters of West Indian, African and South Asian heritage in Notting Hill, West London who marched to local police stations in protest of police harassment in their communities including the Mangrove restaurant.

Nine protest leaders were arrested and charged with incitement to riot: Frank Crichlow, Darcus Howe, Altheia Jones-LeCointe, Barbara Beese, Rupert Boyce, Rhodan Gordon, Anthony Innis, Rothwell Kentish and Godfrey Millett. The group later became known as the Mangrove 9.

Mangrove tells the true story of the Mangrove 9, the group of Black activists who clashed with London police during a protest march in 1970, and their highly publicised trial that followed. The trial was the first judicial acknowledgment of behaviour motivated by racial hatred within the Metropolitan Police.

Mangrove is one of five films from Small Axe, a drama anthology which comprises five original films by Academy Award, Bafta, and Golden Globe-winning filmmaker Steve McQueen. The dramas will premiere on BBC One and iPlayer this autumn and air on Amazon Prime Video in the US.

“To commemorate the bravery of these community activists and the nine who went on to be acquitted of incitement to riot with the judge citing ‘evidence of racial hatred’, I am sharing the trailer of Mangrove, one of five films to be released under the banner Small Axe.” – Filmmaker Steve McQueen