I experienced racism every time I left Jamaica: Michael Holding

Michael Holding has been one of the staunchest advocates of the anti-racism movement. In recent times, the movement gathered pace after the killing of George Floyd in the United States of America.

Holding, who is coming with a book on racism titled: Why We Kneel, How We Rise, feels that he would have lost his life had he grown up in England.

“I don’t think I would be alive today. As a young man I was a bit fiery. I kicked a stump out of the ground in New Zealand (1980) so can you imagine me going through what Ebony went through,” Holding told The Telegraph.

Commenting further on the issue of racism, Holding said that growing up in Jamaica he did not face racism.

"Growing up in Jamaica, I didn't experience racism. I experienced it every time I left Jamaica. Each time I experienced it I just told myself 'this is not your life', I will soon be going back home.”

“And if I had made a stand my career would not have lasted as long as it did, I would not have had a long television career. We have seen through history that black people who stand up for their rights and call out injustice are victimized.

"Mercy, if I had spoken out they would have said ‘another angry young black man get rid of him.’ I would have been another person on the dung heap,” added Holding.

The 67-year-old revealed that when he shared one of the chapters of the book with his sister, it took a toll on her emotionally.

“I sent a chapter to my sister and she said she could not read it. The ones about lynchings and dehumanization, the picture of three black bodies hanging from the tree that was turned into a postcard,” he concluded.