Black History Month: Kelvin Hall hosting 'After Sheku' screening

A documentary will be shown which follows Sheku Bayoh's family as they search for answers after his death in police custody

Published 1st Oct 2019

A screening of a BBC documentary 'After Sheku' is being shown at Glasgow Club Kelvin Hall on Thursday as part of Black History Month.

Sheku Bayoh, a 32-year-old trainee gas engineer, died in police custody in 2015 in Kirkcaldy, whilst a group of officers tried to restrain him.

His family have been campaiging for those involved to be prosecuted over the death and are currently appealing against a 2018 decision not to do so.

They believe that had Sheku been a white man, he would still be alive today.

Speakers at the event will include Sheku's sister Kadi Johnson, the families lawyer Aamer Anwar and Uzma Mir-Young, producer and director of the documentary.

Mr Anwar said:

"It shouldn't really matter whether Sheku was black or white, any use of force by the police has to be legitimate, reasonable and proportionate and his family believe that his race ahad a role to play in that."

Speaking about Black History Month, Mr Anwar said:

"It celebrates the presence of the black community, it celebrates our history, it celebrates the contributions that were made to society sometimes which are forgotten.

"I think more importantly with the rise of the far-right, with the rise of racism whether it be in the United States or across Europe it really is important that we remember our history because if we don't remember our history we can't change our present and we can't change our future."

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