The 1981 Brixton uprising was a war between Black British youth and oppressive white police.
But inside this historic rebellion is also the story of 18-year-old Alex Wheatle and a Rastafarian man named Simeon who forged an unforgettable friendship.
That June, Wheatle watched the families of other arrested youth come to support them in court. Having grown up in foster care, he’d never had that. And he figured he never would. In his loneliness, he wondered about ending his life.
But later, in their tiny cell, Simeon demanded that Wheatle tell him his life story.
From CLR James and James Baldwin, to African civilizations and civil rights movements across the diaspora, Simeon shared rich Black stories with him, too. He showed Wheatle how the system creates struggle.
And how love is our counter-attack.
If you’ve ever felt like Wheatle and someone nurtured you to keep going, you know love is more than a feeling. And Wheatle grew to continue its liberating cycle.
He reconnected with his Jamaican parents. He became a father with his own family. And today, Wheatle is a storyteller, publishing award-winning novels for youth harboring the same rage and loneliness he once did.
“The stories are already there,” he says, “sometimes going unnoticed, ignored or rejected. All I do is try to make them important."