Education is the final episode of the Small Axe anthology series. The episode follows the realities of a young boy named Kingsley showing the racism within the British school system and the experience of West Indian children who were left the victims by it.
West Indian children were discriminated against and ultimately segregated from their schoolmates and sent off to “special” schools also known as schools for the educationally subnormal. The story of Kingsley reflects the harsh history of the British school system and the realities for many West Indian children in the 70s. Kingsley is a bright young boy who thrives in math and science however, struggles to read instead of providing Kingsley with a diagnosis and giving him the tools needed to understand his learning disability his school uses it as an opportunity to separate him into an ESN school(educationally subnormal). The school is integrated however, it is clear that the reasoning behind the children being admitted into the ESN school are different.With the lack of resources and caring teachers the design of the school leads to many children falling through the cracks and due to racial biases West Indian children were greatly affected.
For Kenyah Sandy his portrayal of Kingsley gave him the opportunity to learn about Black British history while simultaneously reflecting on the evolution of the British school system and the increase of educational opportunities for Black children of school age. For Kenyah being a part of the Small Axe films gave him but also the world an opportunity to see the history of Black Britain and West Indians in Britain.
The Small Axe series created by Steve McQueen will be able to build the diasporic bridge by showing not only Black history on a global scale but by also connecting Black experiences around the world.
