First They Came

Marianne Jean-Baptiste was interviewed recently by Simon Hattenstone for the Guardian and at the end of the interview she quotes this wonderful poem. I thought the interview was intriguing and insightful. If you think so too, leave a comment below.

First They Came

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me - Martin Niemoller 

Read full interview - http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/jun/15/marianne-jean-baptiste-secrets-and-lies-british-movies

""It’s not this sob story. I had a choice. I could have stayed and fought it out, but I thought you know what, this is madness, it’s like fishing in a river and seeing people grabbing fishes upstream and you’re still down there going, ‘This is where I need to be, this is my spot.’ You fucking walk up stream and you catch your fish. I’m a member of the African diaspora, my parents left the Caribbean and came to London for a better life. We moved. And you print that, with the expletives.

"I ask if she suffered because she wasn’t a conventional dolly bird.

“How dare you! ‘I’m not not a bloody dolly bird!’ I am!”"