Remembering Joy Gardner: Black Lives Matter 1993

Joy Gardner was killed 28 July 1993 when Police raided her home. This film, talk, and Q&A reflects on her life and legacy 34 years later

20 years of African Odysseys monthly films. 61 years since the first Race Relations Act 1965

Rare public screening of Justice Denied (1995) on the anniversary of the death of Joy Gardner (July 1993) with the family of Joy Gardner, director Ken Fero and update about the Peoples Tribunal’s actions.

Link to People’s Tribunal on Police Killings HERE

On the 28th July 1993 Joy Gardner died when police and deportation officers used force to restrain her, tying her with a body belt and ankle straps and gagging her mouth with thirteen feet of tape. There was a national outcry when people heard how Joy had died. ‘Justice Denied ‘ hears from members of her family about Joy’s death, reports on the reactions to it in the Black community, examines two other deaths related to immigration control, that of Kwanele Siziba and Joseph Nnalue, and asks what are the political circumstances that allow these deaths to happen.

The film follows the struggle of Joy’s family in their fight for justice and for the truth to be exposed. The film examines how the media carried out a character assassination of Joy in order to justify the way in which she was killed and how this fed into a widespread cover-up.

The highly controversial programme asks why senior police officers and the immigration service did not face charges for their involvement in this controversial incident. Throughout ‘Justice Denied’ the families speak out to keep the memory of their loved ones alive, to demand justice and to challenge the climate of fear created by Britain’s enforcement of immigration controls.

“fresh and angry” – The Guardian “heartfelt” – The Independent

Deaths during deportation have not stopped and in 2013 an inquest jury found that Jimmy Mubenga had been ‘Unlawfully Killed’ during deportation. Time will tell if anybody is held to account for his death. Family run campaign against custody deaths continue and in June 2026 (Windrush month) there is a direct link to ‘Windrush’ deportations whereby at least 67 people died after being wrongfully deported to the Caribbean by the Home Office according to Professor Gus John HERE

The film will be followed by Q&A with the family of Joy Gardner director Ken Fero and the African Odysseys curators

Ken Fero is an award-winning British documentary filmmaker. His company Migrant Media has made many films on police brutality, Ultraviolence, Po Po, and Injustice which was banned. All of his films were championed by African Odysseys at BFI Southbank until 2025 when BFI ignored an audience of 18,350 people and cancelled the programme with no public consulation despite BFI management having promised a Race Equality Impact Assessment and a 20th anniversary programme for 2026.

Details and sign petition HERE

Other coming events ww.blackhistorywalks.co.uk HERE

• 60 years of Black British Civil Rights Professor Gus John
• Black history Bus tour/ Steam train trip/River cruise
• Frantz Fanon film and talk
• Black Women and Film Exhibition
• Graphic Novels: Publishing Black History and movies
• Mayfair, Hackney,Notting Hill, Southbank, Trafalgar Square, Regents Canal and Soho walks
• I fought the law and I won, a Black judge of 60 years of Equality legislation
• Champion Black Boxers and businessmen in 1800s London:
• South Africa’s London Recruits