Ed Accura, co-founder of the Black Swimming Association (BSA) and producer of the three-film Blacks Can’t Swim documentary series, is turning his attention to his next documentary. On February 12th, Accura launched the crowd-funding campaign for his next documentary “Changing the Narrative”.
“The objective of this documentary is to delve into the five-year journey of the Blacks Can’t Swim campaign and explore its impact on the current state of diversity and equity in swimming,” said Accura.
Accura and his team are hoping to meet a goal of £30,000 through the crowdfunding campaign. They aim to have the documentary completed and ready for broadcast in October 2024 as October is Black History Month in the United Kingdom.
The link to donate and the rewards tiers went live at midnight (GMT).
The documentary will explore what progress has been made in their mission of making aquatics more accessible to Black and ethnic minority communities. They are planning to feature “individuals from the communities impacted by the campaign, as well as various stakeholders including community organizations, the education board, national governing bodies, corporate sector organizations, not-for profit charities, and the media,” said Accura.
Accura notes that some findings will only become clear after filming. However, the team wants to highlight achievements like the “heightened emphasis on diversity and inclusion and the broader audience engagement, extensive research, increased investments in swimming and water safety programs, and enhanced awareness at the policy level.”
The goal is that the documentary will highlight the progress that has been made but also the work that still needs to be done. This will help with “shaping future actions and strategies for the next five years.”
The areas that Accura expects there will be shortcomings are the “restricted impact on policy changes, challenges in sustaining engagement, a lack of accountability, limited outreach to underrepresented communities, insufficient resources, a dearth of comprehensive policies and initiatives addressing disparities at the [sic[ grassroots level, and…the inadequacy of diversity in leadership role within the aquatic sector.”
Accura first launched A Film Called Blacks Can’t Swim in 2020, and followed with Blacks Can’t Swim The Sequel” in 2021 before the third film, Blacks Can’t Swim: Rewind, was released in 2022. In February 2023, Accura released a released a book that documented the four-year development of the Blacks Can’t Swim film series along with the creation of the BSA called A Visual Journey of Blacks Can’t Swim. He launched a new podcast series, “Why We Don’t Talk About SWIM” in October.
Accura co-founded the BSA alongside Seren Jones, Danielle Obe and Alice Dearing.
Ed … You’re a man that won’t rest until the statistics don’t read so appallingly and the narrative changes. A once upon a time swimming outsider recognised the problem and is willing those within the fold to wake up
AN AMAZING CONTRIBUTION TO THE HISTORY OF SWIMMING!