BBC Documentaries

Wales' Black Miners (2020x181)

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This is the extraordinary story of Wales’ black miners, the unsung heroes of the coal industry who have been left out of the history books. In this film, former footballer Nathan Blake is on a mission to unearth the truth about these brave men of colour, who toiled shoulder-to-shoulder with white miners. Nathan wants to know who they were, and what kind of lives they led above and below ground. Travelling across South Wales, Nathan discovers that the history of Wales’ black miners stretches back further than he could ever imagine. Taking on the role of detective, Nathan meets surviving black miners and their families. What he uncovers is a world of difficult working conditions, unsettling incidents of racism, forbidden romances, unexpected camaraderie, and triumphs against all odds. For Nathan, this journey is personal. He wants his son to grow up in a country that knows about its black heroes, and celebrates them. Having experienced racism - both overtly and masked as ‘banter’ - his whole life, his encounters force him to reflect on what it means to be black and Welsh, both in the past and in the present, and what still needs to change.