A clip of several workers from essential professions in the UK reciting an anti-racism poem has gone viral, as the workers lament the fact that "you clap for me now".
The clip - which has been shared across the world in a short space of time - features workers from ethnic minority backgrounds reading lines of a poem.
With the opening line of "what the UK is most afraid of has come from overseas, taking our jobs and making it unsafe to walk the streets," the poem takes phrases often directed at immigrants and repurposes them.
6million views 40k RTs 24hrs 1 Hatie Kopkins enraged ?#YouClapForMeNow
Thank you to everyone who has shared this x https://t.co/zj5J4J8Cmg — Tez (@tezilyas) April 15, 2020
The response to the video - which promoted the spread of the #YouClapForMeNow hashtag - has received a positive response on the whole, with a tweet by entertainer Tez being retweeted over 49,000 times as of publication.
Speaking to the Guardian, the video’s producer, Sachini Imbuldeniya explained the inspiration behind the video. “The United Nations released a global brief to all creatives to spread messages of positivity, kindness and solidarity during these uncertain times. The brief was very open in terms of what content was created. My good friend and colleague Darren Smith wrote the poem. We both work together at Bridge Studio."
In the video's description on Vimeo Imbuldeniya further elaborates.
"You Clap for Me Now is a poem to remind us all that the large majority of ‘key workers’ are from Black and Minority Ethnic families. It is read out line-by-line by first, second and third-generation immigrants including doctors, nurses, teachers, shopkeepers, dentists, social workers, delivery drivers, broadcasters and more."
"Because we know – and they know – that it doesn’t matter where you come from. During this pandemic we are all humans together, fighting a common enemy," she adds.
The Brussels Times
