Mel B 'lucky' kids know about BLM after Phoenix's friends targeted by cops

01 October 2023 , 13:43

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Melanie Brown has opened up about white privilege and raising three children (Image: Getty Images)

Melanie Brown MBE knows all too well about suffering racism but her three children are also aware of the challenges faced by the Black community.

The Spice Girls singer has been very open about the racism she experienced growing up in the Hyde Park area of Leeds, West Yorks. Speaking previously, the 48-year-old opened up about her life as a young woman in the area, explaining that vile abuse was often hurled at her, with some calling her a "P**i". While others used the horrific N-word directed at her.

She even experienced her dad, Martin, hailing from Saint Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean being turned away from a working man's club at the end of their road due to him being black. Melanie said that her mother, Andrea, was allowed to join – but Martin wasn't. Now, Melanie is the mother to Phoenix, 24, Angel, 16, and Madison, 12, and the family openly have discussions about race.

Mel B has opened up about the Black Lives Matter movement and raising three children (Dave Benett/Getty Images)

Speaking to the Mirror as part of our Belonging Project, the music icon said: "I consider myself lucky to have my three children of an age where they were fully aware of the Black Lives Matter movement and everything that followed - from documentaries of important black activists to discussion programmes, the concept of white privilege and most importantly making it a subject people could openly discuss.

"We are very open as a family, my kids can talk to me about anything and they do." But her eldest, Phoenix, has seen first-hand the racial prejudices and injustices members of the Black community face on a regular basis. Melanie added: "Phoenix has experienced situations herself where her friends in Los Angeles have been targeted more by the police because of their colour so it's not really something you have to sit down and make them aware of. They are always aware of it because it's all around them."

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Mel is mum to three children who are well aware of white privilege (officialmelb / Instagram)

A report by The Washington Post claimed that Black people are killed by police forces across America at a higher rate than other communities. It was claimed that cops shot and killed around 1,055 people across the states last year – the highest number since the outlet started tracking shootings by law enforcement since 2015. Black people who make up 13 per cent of the US population accounted for 27 per cent of those fatally shot and killed by police in the US.

Meanwhile, in the UK, research carried out by INQUEST discovered that 16 per cent of deaths in police custody, or after coming in contact with the police since 1990 are people within the Black, Asian and Minoritised Ethnicities communities. Their research suggests that since 1990, there have been over 200 deaths in England and Wales, with 22 of those being from members of the BAME community being shot, while over 180 were as a result of being in custody.

Daniel Bird