Black British activist gives riots a viral voice (VIDEO)
theGRIO VIDEO - Darcus Howe, a 68-year-old writer and broadcaster, has lived in London for nearly 50 years...
The London riots have dominated the news since violence erupted late Saturday.
Those who have taken to the streets destroying property and in some cases stealing and looting stores, have so far lacked a clear voice defining what has fueled the some of the rage.
Until now.
Darcus Howe, a 68-year-old writer and broadcaster, has lived in London for nearly 50 years. In a recent interview with BBC TV, Howe’s perspective on why the chaos had erupted has gone viral.
The video interview, uploaded on Tuesday by YouTube user mYcHeMiCaLrOmAnCeGaL, has already topped one million views.
Howe made clear he didn’t get on BBC to ‘condone’ the rioting and violence.
“There is a young man called Mark Duggan. He has parents. He has brothers. He has sisters. And a few yards away from where he lives, a police officer blew his head off.”
The BBC News anchor, Fiona Armstrong, interrupted Howe cautioning him to make those statements before an official inquiry had made by police.
”[Police] have been stopping and searching young blacks for no reason at all,” Howe cried.
Howe continued, revealing a personal tale of his grandson being stopped by police. He asked his grandson how many times he had encountered police:
“Papa, I can’t count, there’s so many times.”
Howe, who is West Indian, concludes with a booming rebuke of Armstrong who had implied Howe had been involved in riots in the past.
“Have some respect for an old West Indian negro and stop accusing me of being a rioter,” Howe shot back.
On Wednesday, BBC apologized for “any offense caused” by Armstrong’s questions, according to The Daily Telegraph.
Follow theGrio’s Todd Johnson on Twitter at @rantoddj
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