Black people are entitled to be respected and included across society.

However, progress towards Black people being represented in the halls of power and across the breadth of British culture is slow. This affects the ability of our wider society to understand and respond to the aspirations and concerns of Black communities and, crucially, impacts the ability of Black people to effect the change they want and need.

• Just 17 of 1099 leadership roles across British society are held by Black people – just 1.5% compared to a 3.6% proportion of the national population.⁴⁰
• Black women in journalism and politics are 84% more likely than White women to be mentioned in abusive tweets. This includes sexual and physical threats, misogyny and racial slurs.⁴¹
• 85% of Black people agree Black role models are needed across all levels of society, not just in sport and music.⁴²
• Two thirds of Black people say the media portrays them unfairly.⁴³
• Across influential and pervasive areas of media like the creative arts, representation of Black people remains low. Black actors are twice as likely to be cast in a supporting role rather than a lead in British TV shows and films.⁴⁴
• 4 in 5 Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic respondents to UK Black Pride’s We Will be Heard survey do not feel represented by LGBTQI+ media in the UK.⁴⁵
• Only 25% of respondents felt their local LGBTQI+ spaces are welcoming for Black people and people of colour. This is far less than the 67% of White LGBT people, surveyed by LGBT in Britain, who found their local LGBT community welcoming.⁴⁶
• The Black population is young, which makes culture as a medium of raising awareness of Black identity even more important and significant.⁴⁷