Bristol Reggae Orchestra

2025 marks the centenary of Malcolm X. The words of this extraordinary figure can still make us gasp in shock and recognition today. The story of oppressed people gaining a voice and of those who still seek to oppress it, or simply refuse to listen, is told through the spoken text of Malcolm’s incendiary speeches, through reggae music and song.

Shipwrecks and Dreams productions and Bristol Reggae Orchestra present a thought-provoking, ultimately hopeful journey through Malcolm’s words and asks how they resonate through the era of Black Lives Matter and Bristol’s reckoning with its past. Music includes songs by Jimmy Cliff and Bob Marley as well as some original compositions from the orchestra.

Trigger warning: This show contains verbal descriptions of racism, slavery and racially-motivated violence. It contains, for educational purposes, quotations from Malcolm X’s autobiography and his speeches which, out of respect, we have not changed. We hope that the content of the show will give rise to meaningful debate and fuel the ongoing discussion about equality and the place of protest in our world. These words used do not necessarily reflect the views of the Bristol Reggae Orchestra, the spoken word artists, or St George’s Bristol.