How many times in your life have you heard the idea ‘black people don’t swim’?
A casual quasi-truth that’s been going on for generations, the thought of black people and swimming being an uncommon is part of many people’s casual understanding – and while there are plenty of black people worldwide who buck this trend, there are still many who know it to be true.
Recently, R&B star John Legend has been documenting his swimming lessons, capturing himself floating through his pool and posting on Instagram. And while it’s great to see a famous person engaging themselves in a new skill, it brings it into even closer focus that across the black diaspora, there are plenty of people who make it to adulthood without learning how to swim.
Ed Accura’s film, A Film Called Blacks Can’t Swim tackles this head on. Written, produced and starring himself, it tells the story of a grown man who’s plagued by his inability to swim.
Interestingly, the idea for the project was first sparked when he went to Barbados with an extended group of friends, and discovered that he, being the only black man present, was the only one in need of a life jacket.
‘We got on the catamaran, and they offered us life jackets – and I was the only person sitting there with a life jacket on.’
Faced with the stark difference between himself, and his friends when it came to attitudes towards water, Accura began to think about how he could look into this further, and portray this through art. A musician by trade, he first made this into a song, which then transformed into an idea for a short film. Having never learned to swim as a child, Accura gives the reason behind this being that his mum never saw it as a priority.
‘My mum wasn’t thinking about swimming,’ Accura explained to Pride. ‘What was a priority, was making sure that I got my education.’
However, Accura found that though he’d been content with not being able to swim and finding the joke in the fact that so many black people can share in this struggle, after some time he realised what a risk it could be to not possess such a valuable skill. As the father of a young daughter, he realised that should she come into any trouble with water (they live close to the River Thames), he wouldn’t be able to save her.
‘If anything happens and I am with my daughter, if anything happens to her if she fell in the water or something, I would be totally helpless,’ he admits. ‘That alone scares me.’
So, he’s started learning now, and is already feeling its benefits, a mere six lessons in. While his daughter is a strong swimmer, courtesy of her mother’s insistence, it’s rare for a child of non-swimmers to be able to swim: only 13% of children of non-swimmers learn how to swim. And even having a foundational knowledge of how to survive in water can make all the difference. In September 2018, a ferry in Lake Victoria, Tanzania, capsized and resulted in the drowning of at least 136 people, with feared casualties going up to 200 people. Sadly, the boat was only 50 metres away from the shore.
‘If your life depends on it, a swimmer could swim 50 metres to safety, but if can’t swim, you can’t swim,’ says Accura.
Combining a scripted story with real-life interviews, A Film Called Blacks Can’t Swim shows different black people expressing their personal relationships with swimming and whether their ability to swim, or lack thereof, has had an effect on their lives. Above all, Accura’s aim for the film is to trying to get more black people to see the benefits in swimming, and to encourage the skill to be passed on from a younger age.
‘It’s a life skill, and there’s also been articles saying that it’s good for mental health,’ he explains. ‘There are a lot of years lost not enjoying swimming, and I wish I’d started earlier: but I’m enjoying it now.
‘I’m trying to use this film to raise the awareness and to get lots of people – mainly blacks, but not just us, swimming. It’s a great benefit to the human being.’
To watch A Film Called Blacks Can’t Swim, click on the special link here: https://indee.tv/screener/view/RY51V7dpY7bBbr9BvS6e1kLZInUAqLRU/
