Race Equality Week: The Christopher Alder story

Documentary makers Bacary Mundoba, left, and Chiedu Oraka

A hard-hitting documentary exploring the death of Christopher Alder and the Black Lives Matter movement will premiere online tonight at 8pm.

The film is the second episode in the Black Kings Upon Hull series by Hull musicians Bacary Mundoba and Chiedu Oraka, which was commissioned by Creative People and Places Project Back to Ours.

The first episode was shared as part of Black History Month 2020, and tonight’s as part of Race Equality Week 2021.

Christopher, 37, a former paratrooper from Hull, died in police custody in the city in April 1998. A coroner's jury decided he was unlawfully killed.

Misconduct and manslaughter charges were later brought against five Humberside Police officers. They were acquitted of all criminal charges in 2002.

In November 2011, his family were further hit by the news that they had buried the wrong body at Christopher’s funeral in Hull 2000.

Grace Kamara, a 77-year-old woman from Nigeria, had been buried in his plot in Northern Cemetery, while Christopher’s body lay in a mortuary for over a decade.

In tonight’s episode, Bacary and Chiedu speak to Christopher’s sister Janet Alder about her ongoing fight for justice.

Janet Alder

Chiedu said: “This episode of Black Kings hold a very special place in my heart and I feel very privileged being able to interview Janet, understand her story and be able to take into account everything she’s had to encounter in her life.

“The Christopher story is one I’ve known about intensely from a very young age and I think it had a massive effect on my growing up, being a young Black kid growing up in the city getting in trouble with the law and being aware that I might not be treated the same as my white counterparts.

“I feel it’s a message young kids – not just Black kids, but everyone – need to know about. It’s one of the biggest injustices in the UK ever, and it’s crazy we’re still fighting for justice 25 years on.”

Bacary said: “Hearing from Janet was really eye-opening, not only the strength and conviction in talking about the injustice against her brother, but also in finding out about her own background - her traumatic time in the care system, and her experiences as a young Black adult living in Hull.”

“This is such a huge and important story, and one that needs to be listened to,” said Louise Yates, director of Back to Ours.

The film will be screened on the Facebook and YouTube channels of Back to Ours.