Greenwich, London, 1920.

Mornings were meant to be peaceful and quiet. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case for Adeline Smith. Her jaws tightened as she read the headline of the newspaper again.

Bishop Gregory Hastings calls the Black and Asian Lives Matter movement (BALMM) an insignificant protest of ignorant fools.

The breeze blew past the window of the dining room, the floral curtains fluttering, Adeline's white day dress shuffling as she tapped her feet on the brown tiles. Her brown hands clenched as she read further.

On a Saturday evening, the Bishop was asked about his thoughts on BALMM. He claimed it was going to be a recurrence of the Black Chinks gang. He also said all the Black Britons and British Asians did were promote violence and foolery. He also added that Adeline Smith, the leader of this movement was a deluded young woman who should focus on her studies and leave political matters to the men.

A thread of rage ran through Adeline's soul. Her grey eyes flashed with anger and she blew out some afro curls shielding her view in frustration. How dare the Bishop compare her peaceful movement to the Black Chink gang?

The gang had been formed a year after the first world war. It consisted of some Black Britons and British Asians. They had enough of the racism against them and resorted to violent mediums of conveying their message.

It was wrong. They had killed over two thousand people in the process. At the end of the day, they were found and hanged on a rope as a sentence. Since then, the rate of racism against Black Britons and British Asians skyrocketed.

Some white Britons kept using that horrible incident as an excuse to be racist. What they were doing was taking a tiny substratum of crazy people and judging everyone else with it. What the Black Chink gang did was wrong. But that didn't mean the rest of the Blacks and Asians were the same.

"Adeline, you haven't touched your food," Adeline's mother, Mrs Smith said, drinking from her cup of tea. The beams of sunlight cascaded against her dark face, her greying dark hair packed into a kerchief.

"Mother, look at this," Adeline said, sliding the newspaper over to her mother. Mrs Smith picked it up, her brown eyes etched with curiosity.

"What is this?" She asked and read through the newspaper. Her eyes softened when she was done reading. Settling the newspaper on the table, she turned to look at Adeline. "Darling, you mustn't let things like this get into your head."

"Why wouldn't I mother?" She pointed furiously at the newspaper. "It's because of men like this that I'm fighting so desperately to protect the rights of the Blacks and Asians."

"It's not your war to fight," Mrs Smith said, sighing. "Dabbling in matters like this can be dangerous." She frowned, crossing her arms. "And I do remember asking you not to keep going after this. Why is your name on this newspaper?"

Adeline closed her eyes, her hands pressed into her temples. This was her war to fight. She didn't see anyone rising to the occasion to speak against racism. She could still remember that night when she was eight years old. The landlord had come to collect their rent. With her father gone, it was only her mother providing for them.

With her bartending job, they didn't have enough to even pay the light bill. The landlord had slapped her mother when she was unable to pay the rent. He called her all sorts of names like; Black monkey, Darkie, Negro, disgusting African. He said their kind were never meant to live on British soil. He delivered the final blow by asking her mother to go back to the African jungle and be a monkey like she's meant to be.

They were so ignorant that they didn't know Africa wasn't only filled with jungles. They had forgotten the first university was an African university formed in Egypt. All they did was ridicule the Black Britons with disgusting stereotypes.

For this reason, Adeline vowed to fight for the rights of victims like her mother and make sure no one had to pass through this. All she wanted was a better world for her mother and other victims of racism. That was why she started BALMM.

"Mother, have you forgotten what happened that day?" Adeline asked.

"We're better off now, Adeline. I have my own bar now and we're doing fine," Her mother said, looking around the room. The walls were covered in floral wallpaper, golden rimmed armchairs by the corner of the room. Surely her mother had become successful. That explained why she could afford to go to one of the best universities in London, Howard Lithstone Memorial University.

But that wasn't enough. All they had could be gone in a flash if she didn't fight for her rights. Even though she managed to have a three-square meal, there were other people out there who needed her help. They were people who needed to be protected against the claws of racism.

"Your father wouldn't have wanted you to do this, Adeline," Mrs Smith said, holding the bridge of her nose. "You have to promise me you would stop this movement of yours. It's dangerous. I don't want you to get hurt."

Adeline's late father was a footballer and strongly believed in being fair. At least that was what she could remember of him considering he died when she was five years old. Her father would want her to go after this goal. He would want her to fight for the rights of the victims of racism.

"I can save all the victims of racism if I try." Adeline smiled softly. "Think of it mother, we would finally be free. True freedom is all I'm fighting for."

"You can't save everyone! That's delusional!" Mrs Smith yelled, making Adeline wince. Her mother noticed the fear that was written on Adeline's grey eyes and she started sobbing.

"Mother," Adeline said, rounding the table to meet Mrs Smith. She sat next to her mother and held her dark hands. "Mother, what's the matter?"

Mrs Smith sniffed. "I'm sorry for the way I yelled. It's just..." she trailed off, the tears rolling down her ageing cheeks. "I've already lost your father. I don't want to lose you too."

Adeline's father died in his sleep. She didn't see that happening to her because of her fight against racism. But her mother was scared, and she could understand why.

She hugged her mother from behind and kissed her temple. "Don't worry mother, you won't lose me."

"You have to promise me you'll stop this," Mrs Smith said, her voice feeble.

"Mother--"

"Promise me."

Adeline sighed. "Alright, I promise."

"Thank you," Mrs Smith said and planted a soft kiss on Adeline's brown-skinned hand. Ever since Mr Smith died, her mother was all she had in this world. She wouldn't want to lose her. But the BALMM was one of the many ways she was going to fight for the rights of the victims of racism.

And whether her mother wanted to admit it or not, they were both victims too.

A honking car horn startled both of them.

"Who is that? Are you expecting someone?" Mrs Smith asked.

"Yes." And the person was right on time. Adeline sauntered to her plate of toasted bread and stuffed her mouth with the food. She kissed her mother on the forehead and headed to the doorway. "I'll be back by five in the evening."

"Wait, " Mrs Smith stood up, concern in her brown eyes. "Where are you going to?"

"I'm going to the University with Mei Lin."

"Your Chinese friend?"

"Yes." Adeline kept munching on the bread.

"Okay. Be back by five or we'll have a problem."

"Okay, mother," Adeline said and dashed out of the house. No one was going to the university. She was going to Mayfair with her friend. The supporters of BALMM were waiting for them and they couldn't afford to be late.

Adeline lied to her mother. But it was for a greater cause.

******

Author's note:

Good day my wonderful Victorians. A new story is about to begin. And I hope you've buckled up. Because this going to be one hell of a ride. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Vocabulary:

Black Briton: British people of African descent.

British Asians: British people of Asian descent. Most of the population were Chinese, Pakistani, Bangladesh and Indians.

White Britons: One of the earliest settlers of Britain and have the highest percentage of British population. They are descendants of the Anglo-Saxons. Anglo Saxons were Saxons who came into Britain centuries ago. They were a Germanic tribe of people

Yours truly,

Lord Victor Hastings.