Former Dragons ace and adventurer Richard Parks is used to challenging the norm and battling stereotypes and tonight (Tuesday, 27 October – 8.00pm on ITV Wales) his latest project will be aired.
‘Richard Parks: Can I Be Welsh And Black?’ is a programme that coincides with the final week of Black History Month.
It is a powerful, personal and at times poignant look at what it means to be Welsh and Black in today’s Wales.
The special hour long film features Dragons wing Ashton Hewitt, Wales football manager Ryan Giggs, Prof Charlotte Williams, an expert in Welsh identity, and some of Wales brightest creative artists, including actor Mali Ann Rees and musicians Sonny Double 1 and Mace the Great. The current Welsh minister for health and social services, Vaughan Gething, also takes part.
The documentary is a story of national pride and belonging in which Parks courageously shares his experiences and vulnerabilities as a successful black man and recent father who has flown the Welsh flag his whole life.
“As a passion project, it has been an emotional journey. I’ve felt a heavy weight to produce something robust and balanced that people of colour can see themselves reflected in, whilst engaging a largely white audience into this conversation,” said Parks.
“Since becoming a dad to Fred in recent years, I’ve been reflecting on my life, career and experience. This has been accelerated by the forced introspection during lockdown and the global ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement.
“As a father, I hope that my son doesn’t bear the conflicted identity of being a mixed heritage Welshman, like his dad. Not white enough, not black enough and not Welsh enough for some.
“I’m not suggesting that Wales is more racist than anywhere else, but racism in Wales definitely exists and needs addressing. And you can’t fix anything without fully understanding the problem.
“I talked to a variety of brilliant black and mixed race Welsh people to try to better understand our place in Wales’ past, present and future.”
Like Parks, Hewitt plays for the Dragons and has spoken out on the topic of racial abuse. In doing so he has become a beacon of anti-racism and education on social media.
“Somebody sent me a video of a black man getting burnt alive. And there’s probably some, you know, 12, 13, 14 year olds, on their phone, looking through Twitter and that’s come up and they’re thinking that, you know, that’s what people think of them in this country,” explains Hewitt in the programme.
As well as playing for the Dragons, Newport, Pontypridd, Celtic Warriors, Leeds and Perpignan as a rampaging flanker, Parks also won four caps for Wales.
Since retiring he has become an iconic adventurer who holds numerous records from his expeditions to Antarctica.
Parks has never been daunted by any challenge in his life. He has always faced up to adversity and met it head on, whether on the rugby field or tackling the highest mountains in the world or the bleakest and most hostile environments at the North and South Poles.
But he admits in the hour long special that he is “taking on the most daunting journey of my life. I’m staying here in Wales and asking a very simple question.
“The title of the show is ‘Can I be Welsh and Black’ and the answer to that was always ‘yes’ and it still is. I just hope the Wales my son Fred, and indeed all our children, grow up in is one where their Welshness isn’t questioned because of the colour of their skin.”
Richard Parks: Can I Be Welsh And Black? ITV Cymru Wales, 8pm, Tuesday 27 October then online at itv.com/walesprogrammes
