Fire, film, and resistance: exploring the new cross massacre through <i>Blood Ah Go Run</i> (1982) and <i>Jus Soli</i> (2015)

This article examines the cultural and political significance of the New Cross Fire of 1981 in Deptford (London) and its aftermath, focusing on its representation in two key documentaries produced by two film collectives: Blood Ah Go Run (1982) by Menelik Shabazz and Imruh Bakari and Jus Soli (2015) by Somebody Nobody. Drawing on postcolonial theory, memory studies, and Black British cultural studies, I explore how these films act as sites of remembrance and resistance. The analysis demonstrates that through distinct aesthetic and narrative strategies, both works challenge the historical erasure of this Black British memory, which subsequently sparked episodes of struggle and resilience rooted in questions of (non)belonging and identity dislocation. This article also considers the transgenerational impact of the fire, linking it to broader experiences of displacement, structural racism and community mobilisation, culminating in the 1981 riots. In doing so, it positions these documentaries as interventions in the cultural memory of Britain’s Black diaspora, framing the fire as a pivotal event that catalysed a new cultural and political direction for Black British communities.“Blood Ah Go Run….Unless justice come” (Blood Ah Go Run 1982).