Black Lives Matter 'not just a fleeting moment'

Malaika Gangooly and three friends organised the Chelmsford protest in just 10 days after realising it would be difficult to travel to London

The death of George Floyd in the US sparked a raft of protests across the world. However, it came at a time when millions were in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, making some people nervous about attending street demonstrations.

Nineteen-year-old journalism student Malaika Gangooly, from Essex, together with three friends, decided to set up their own local Black Lives Matter protest in Chelmsford rather than risk travelling to London. A month on, she tells us in her own words why she feels it has created a legacy.

'I was the only pupil of colour'

Protest co-organiser Malaika Gangooly said people were overwhelmed by the turnout at the Chelmsford march

My parents are both from Calcutta in India, but they always moved around - my dad had a shipping business, so they moved to Suffolk. I was born in Ipswich and brought up in Felixstowe and then we moved to Chelmsford when I was 11.

At primary school I was the only person of colour and had a different sounding surname. I think when you are eight or nine, you have such a thick skin and you don't realise you are being discriminated against.

Some of the other kids would try to pinch my nose and cover my mouth - I realised then it was bullying but I didn't know why.

My parents have always supported me and I can tell they are proud of me. My dad has always been very motivated - he has always worked through whatever has come his way and he has fought a lot of battles.

'The truth was on camera'

Miss Gangooly says she wanted the protest to spark conversations about tackling racism

George Floyd's death shook me up massively and the reason why it has caused one of the biggest civil rights movements is because it was filmed. People know it happens, but they never see it. This was the truth on camera for the entire world to see.

Although I've been to marches before, I have never organised one. I was messaging my friend one night and we were gutted we couldn't go to London because of coronavirus so we decided to organise a socially distanced protest in Chelmsford.

We put out messages on our own social media accounts and had just 10 days to organise it in. We created a Chelmsford for Black Lives Instagram account and got nearly 2,000 followers.

It was a massive challenge as we wanted to keep as safe as possible.

We warned everyone multiple times before and during the event to wear PPE and made it clear they had to keep socially distanced.

People were sent out in small groups of six.

I also made a speech at the start about the heightened coronavirus risk to the black community.

'I am getting a lot of hate online'

"I am a very passionate person and I want to make a difference"

The main thing was that it was completely peaceful - we always knew we'd have threats. During the march there were about 15 men outside a pub who started shouting "Go back to Africa" but the police formed a barricade.

Some random men telling me to go back to where I came from - it doesn't affect me. I was born here, I belong here.

I think I am a very passionate person and I want to make a difference - you are never going to please everyone. I try to keep politics out of it - when people say BLM is to do with leftist ideology, I say it's just to do with basic human rights.

The backlash I have received personally has been awful. I was the one doing the interviews and it was my face being seen and I received so much racism. Some of the comments have been ridiculous, but it has just motivated me.

The fact that I am getting a lot of hate online purely for fighting for equality shows why change has to happen.

When people ask 'Why are you doing this and why now?', all I'd have to do is show them the comments I've got on social media.

'We knew we had done the right thing'

People marched across Chelmsford on 13 June

I think we were always conscious the march wouldn't be enough. We all did a kneel and a few guys started crying. They were so overwhelmed as they had been waiting for this moment to come in Chelmsford for so long - that's when we knew we had done the right thing.

We really wanted to make sure it wasn't just a fleeting moment - I want it to have had a lasting impact on Essex, so we have many more things planned.

You might also be interested in:

• Tackling racism in the East of England

• 'It's time the voices of the voiceless are heard'

• 'Why we stood up for George Floyd in the UK'

The mission will never be over in Chelmsford and we are hoping to make the protest an annual event.

My biggest ambition is simply for it to have sparked up a conversation across generations of people about black history and racism in general.

It is often so difficult for older generations to understand that they are part of the problem, it is all about acceptance and moving on and fighting for change.

Malaika Gangooly said she and her friends intend the Chelmsford protest to be an annual event

I've been asked to speak at an Amnesty International conference in November on organising the protest and about the Black Lives Matter movement as one of their inspirational speakers.

I am working alongside the mayor of Chelmsford as we are thinking of starting an anti-racism campaign and putting on events to make Chelmsford a really racially inclusive city.

We are also putting together educational resources to hand out in schools - so many teachers from around the country have been DM'ing us. We've also been asked to do a talk at our old sixth form at Moulsham High School and a lot of our teachers came to the protest and had a chat with us and we'll be distributing resources there. It's the nicest feeling.

I am also working on a video project, interviewing owners of black-owned businesses in Chelmsford.

They are so often overlooked and I want people to realise how hard they have to work just to be equal to everyone else.

'Children asked to have their photos taken with us'

Something that really moved me was when at the end of the march all these children started running up to me and the other organisers.

They asked to have their photos taken with us - it was so cute and good to know that we are inspiring the younger generation.

Another thing that has really resonated is that so many of my old teachers have messaged me, saying "you're my hero".

My old English teacher told me I was a role model and said if there had been more voices like mine out there when he was growing up there would be fewer problems now.

As told to Zoe Applegate

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