We need to talk about race

Black lives matter, and we all have a part to play

One of the most moving pieces of television recently was This Morning star Alison Hammond talking about the awful death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. He was the – already handcuffed – black man who died after a police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes.

An act that triggered peaceful protests and shocking looting and rioting across America and also saw marches in the UK.

It took the usually bubbly and jolly Alison though to articulate exactly why black lives matter – the movement and the fact – to a mostly white, female morning telly audience.

‘I am a mother to a 15-year-old black boy,’ she said through tears. ‘So when I saw that image of George Floyd I saw my brothers, saw my father, I saw my son, I saw anybody’s son and I was disgusted to my core. It hurt me to the pit of my stomach to think this is 2020 and we’re seeing that.’