The Specials star Lynval Golding says seeing BLM protests felt ‘great’
Seeing Edward Colston’s statue come down in Bristol brought ‘so much joy’, he added.
The Specials guitarist Lynval Golding has said it felt “great” to see so many young people out supporting the Black Lives Matter protests.
The guitarist told The Big Issue magazine it gave him “so much joy” to see the statue of slave trader Edward Colston torn down in Bristol and thrown in the harbour.
He added that he has been fighting against racism for his whole life.
“When you look back at the marches led by Martin Luther King, the majority of people marching were black with a small group of white supporters,” he said.
“But this time, the majority are white. At long last, they are getting it right.
“Change is only going to happen if whites change it. They have the key.”
Golding said the protests have shown that love is stronger than hatred, adding: “So when all the kids were out protesting and were all shouting Black Lives Matter that felt so good.
“Because I have fought all my life, battled all my life, to say my life matters.”
Golding said he had been left “so mad” after the Windrush scandal, which resulted in thousands of Commonwealth immigrants who came to Britain in the decades following the Second World War being wrongly denied rights, losing their jobs, and in some cases being deported to places they barely knew.
He added that Windrush Day, which is being celebrated on Monday, was “long overdue to show respect for the sweat, blood and tears West Indians put into this country”.
“It took 70 years to get recognition for my father’s generation for the work they did,” Golding said.
“And after all that, people were threatened with deportation.”
The musician said he accepts “the apology and the fact there is Windrush Day now to show respect and celebrate that generation”.
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