Rudimental member Leon "Locksmith" Rolle has hailed Arsenal and England legend Ian Wright as one of his greatest inspirations.
The 35-year-old spoke to Mirror Sport to share his thoughts on Black History Month and the importance of black history being taught in schools.
Prior to becoming a MOBO and Brit Award winner, the musician was a keen footballer and revealed a Premier League Hall of Famer and Arsenal great as his ultimate role model. "In sports I was inspired by Ian Wright. I had a poster up of him on my wall. He instilled something in me that has never ever left me,” Locksmith shared.
"He came from an inner city borough and against all odds, especially when he probably had it harder than any of us would have had it today, because of the colour of skin. He pushed through those barriers, he had doors shut in his face, and he kept going and he made it against all the odds.
"That always made me believe that anything is possible or nothing is impossible, as long as you're dedicated, focused and you've got that hunger like no other.”
Wright had a brilliant football career, winning the Premier League and FA Cup, and was also the recipient of the 1991/92 First Division Golden Boot. He is now a successful pundit and regularly features on BBC Sport's Match of the Day.
Locksmith was motivated by Wright's journey from a young age and has now written a book in an attempt to inspire the next generation.
"I truly believe his story has helped me get into the position that I'm at right now,” the 2020 Celebrity SAS star said. “All I've ever wanted to do is to inspire and motivate young people to feel like they can achieve the impossible.
"I wrote a book inspired by my 12-year-old son at the time. I wanted to write something to him that would help advise him if he did face any obstacles. It was a body of work to help young people who look at it and think 'he's going through the same issues that I'm going through. He looks like me and he's still gone on to achieve amazing things', I'm just so proud of it.”
Another of Locksmith’s motivations came after hearing a devastating comment from one of his teachers at secondary school. "When I left secondary school my teacher whispered into my ear when I got my results that I would never amount to anything,” Locksmith revealed. “He's probably rolling around in his classroom now, thinking 'what did I say?'."
As part of Rudimental, Locksmith went on to win multiple awards and secured three number one singles - These Days, Waiting All Night and Feel The Love. On winning a MOBO award for album 'Home' in 2013, Locksmith said: "To win that album was a great achievement and it paved the way for the rest of the success that we had over the next 10 years.
"We worked so hard and we had so many knockbacks, especially being a black man from Hackney. There's not many of us that had the heights and success that we have managed to reach. It was a proud moment not just for me but my family as well. It paved the way for a lot of black artists when they were coming through. Seeing such a diverse band like ourselves, made a lot of young people think 'you know what, if they can do it, we can do it as well'. I like to think we had a nice little landmark moment in history."
On the topic of Black History Month, Locksmith, whose grandmother is a member of the Windrush Generation, is proud of the opportunity to reflect on the accomplishments and contributions of black people to British society. "Black History Month is an important month. Not only for black people and young children to understand the impact that black British people have had on Britain, but I feel like it's an acknowledgement of what we go through on a day-to-day basis," he explained.
"And also what we've been going through to get to this point where we're speaking about it a lot more freely and having these sort of conversations which wouldn't necessarily have happened ages ago. For me, it's amazing that we're talking about it. I don't think I would have had this interview five years ago, or even 10 years ago. It's equally amazing to see schools committed to this national celebration of Black History Month.”
While he is pleased society has moved forward, Locksmith stressed there remains a need for black history to be more present within the education system all year round. "Personally I still don't think it's enough. When I was growing up I didn't learn about black history through my teachers, I learnt it through family members,” he added.
"I learnt about how my grandmother came over in the UK and how they helped the society we now live in. I truly believe that black history should be made part of a syllabus or curriculum. It should be taught throughout the year rather than just one month. Having honest conversations within a classroom where kids can engage with what black people have done, I think that's the most important thing.
"There's more to British culture and black people and black history has a main input in that, and we can't keep hiding that. No matter where we're from we've all got to want to know the truths and sharing information on Black History Month will go a long way towards that."
Read more of our stories about Black history at www.blackhistoryisourhistory.com
Sign our petition in a bid to make the history of Black Britons a mandatory part of the National Curriculum here.
