Letitia Wright is urging everyone around the world to ‘get it together’ when it comes to overcoming racial injustice, as she claims right now the weight of the situation across the globe is ‘too much to bear’.
The Black Panther star, 27, has been one of the stars calling for change when it comes to systemic racism – especially after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked anti-racism protests in support of Black Lives Matter all over.
Wanting the momentum to continue, Letitia addressed the need for change all while flaunting her modelling credentials in a stunning retro-inspired cover shoot for Dazed magazine.
The shoot sees Letitia looking every inch the fashionista in a number of layered looks, with the publication’s minimalistic cover featuring the movie talent as she grabs attention in a black and red checked coat.
Inside the issue, she addresses the need to tackle systemic racism within society, while admitting: ‘I’m just really tired of constantly having to say the same things.
‘We said it beforehand for years, and then you say it again, and then you say it again, and then you say it again, and then you’re in Mangrove, and then you’re in the street demonstrating,’ Letitia said.
‘You say it again, you say it again, and then you have Stephen Lawrence, and then you’re saying it again. I don’t know what else to say,’ she continued. ‘Around the world, we really have to get it together. It’s too much to bear.’
Sharing her hopes for the future, Letitia added: ‘I hope it moves us forward to that place where you don’t have to wake up an see a police officer put his foot on someone’s throat. To never have to go back there again. That would be hope.’
Floyd’s death at the end of May caused outrage and sparked demonstrations across the US and the rest of the world. He died following his arrest where a white police officer knelt on his neck for over eight minutes, despite Floyd pleas that he ‘couldn’t breathe’.
Floyd’s death at the end of May caused outrage and sparked demonstrations across the US and the rest of the world. He died following his arrest where a white police officer knelt on his neck for over eight minutes, despite Floyd pleas that he ‘couldn’t breathe’.
Letitia’s comments come as her latest project, Mangrove, a short film in the Small Axe series on BBC One directed by Steve McQueen, is now available to stream.
It follows the Mangrove nine, a group of British Black activists who have gone down in history. The group, that got the name from the Mangrove restaurant in London’s Notting Hill, started protests after the restaurant was unfairly targeted by the Metropolitan Police.
It was a meeting place for the Black community and continually subjected to drug raids, despite no drugs being found. The Mangrove Nine led an organised protest that saw 150 people march to the police station.
Arrests were made and the case was thrown out, but the charges were later reinstated and the Mangrove Nine were re-arrested. They were eventually acquitted of the most serious charges following a 55-day trial – which became the first judicial acknowledgement of behaviour motivated by racial hatred within the Met police.
Letitia stars alongside Shaun Parker, Malachi Kirby, Rochenda Sandall and Gershwyn Eustache Jnr in the episode, while Star Wars actor John Boyega leads the cast in a different episode in the series titled Red, White and Blue.
The Small Axe series is made up of five short films following the trials and tribulations of the West Indian community in London between the 1960s and 1980s.
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