As the title of this final instalment of the Small Axe series would imply, Education seems laser-focused on bringing attention to a highly specific issue casting a very long and ominous shadow over Britain’s relationship with what is commonly referred to as systemic racial discrimination. Even though the story Steve McQueen uses as the vehicle for this conversation isn’t directly tied to a historical figure, the problem at hand is real and tactile. Kingsley Smith, the young boy at the epicentre of the narrative, is likely a compound character meant to symbolize the plight of thousands (if not more) of kids from ethnic backgrounds who have been let down by the system and openly disadvantaged by a covertly racist policy of moving children from such backgrounds – who may also be struggling with the curriculum – to special needs schools, thus ruining their chances to have a successful life or a career.  

It’s great that films like Mangrove exist. However, I would like to wake up in a world where they are no longer needed, a world where Martin Luther King’s dream has become reality. Yet, his dream for his four little children to live in a world where they are judged not by the colour of their skin but the content of their character remains just that – a dream. To make it a reality the world needs all the help it can afford: activists, leaders, martyrs… and storytellers who will use their talents to help us focus and contextualize the values we want to – and must – fight for.