Ashley Banjo has had a tough life.

He grew up in east London; with his two parents. His dad was a boxer and his mother was in the Royal Ballet.

Truly a tough and difficult life, made even harder when he was sent to private school, St John's in Billericay.

Fees there are *only* £4,900 a term. He struggled as a black kid in Essex, this is evidenced by the fact he was head boy and his sporting talents at the school are still remembered.

Britain, as a systemically racist country, was so inflexible in its approach toward him...

...he was unable to pursue his prodigious dancing talents. I guess? No, wait he took time out of school and pursued it.

After that his struggles continued. He was admitted to Queen Mary, University of London to study Physics & Biology. A Russell Group University. Hard done by.

He was already on course to studying his Masters at the age of 20 by some media reports. If Britain were less racist, maybe he could have got a degree in all three sciences. There's no way we can know.

But that was when fame kicked in! He got on a reality show in his second year at uni with his dance troupe. They WON, beating Susan Boyle, but surely, without systemic racism he would have won with an even larger share of the vote.

The racism continued when he went on to earn a reported £736,000 during the years following Britain's Got Talent though endorsements & touring. In the intervening years, he was able to form a really lovely looking family. My heart bleeds. We have let this black man down.

The parallels with the early civil rights icons like Martin Luther King; and indeed, Nelson Mandela are apparent.

It's very obvious as to why he has more solidarity with George Floyd than his White compatriots.

His life story couldn't be further from being an uplifting one about what BME people can achieve in Britain.

It was so brave of him to speak out about his life story. Ashley Banjo: Thank You.

And to my White British followers: shame on you.

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