Banksy Debuts Video Showing Support For Protesters In Trial For Toppling Statue
About a week ago, Banksy released limited-edition T-shirts showing his solidarity with four people who toppled a statue of slave trader Edward Colston during a Black Lives Matter protest in June 2020. Now, the anonymous street artist has posted a video chronicling the stunt, as well as offered some context on the group’s motivations.
In the clip, Banksy documents the moment the T-shirts were announced by the Ujima Radio breakfast show, and showcases the snaking lines outside the mom-and-pop shops that were engaged to exclusively sell the tees, which were branded with the text “Bristol” and portrayed the base that once held the statue.
Shortly after the T-shirt sales, Rhian Graham, Sage Willoughby, Milo Ponsford, and Jake Skuse—collectively known as the Colston Four—stood trial.
For the uninitiated, the video also addresses one pressing question: “Who the hell is Edward Colston?” It says that the 17th-century sea merchant was the main person who oversaw the kidnap of over 80,000 people for the slave trade. More than 20,000 abducted people died during the journal, with some of them being thrown overboard.
“This is not about erasing history,” described Banksy. “It is about confronting it.”
View this post on Instagram
[via Banksy]
