‘Let’s Not Forget’: 56 Black Men updates OOH campaign

56 Black Men, the long-running campaign to challenge negative racial stereotypes, has launched a new nationwide out-of-home campaign in collaboration with Clear Channel.

This week, billboards across the UK have been updated to display the message ‘Let’s Not Forget’ in the wake of protests against systemic racism and police brutality in the US that have gone on to resonate with communities in dozens of other countries.

The campaign’s founder, Cephas Williams, said he aims to explore the global impact on black communities following the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery in the US which sparked the unrest.

“This has been a watershed moment surrounding racism and the black community,” Williams said.

“By creating the ‘Let’s Not Forget’ campaign, I am trying to harness some of this rise in the level of consciousness and awareness and use 56 Black Men as a vehicle to further inform people and usher in the much-needed change. Let’s Not Forget is just the start.”

The 56 Black Men campaign, which launched in 2018 and features the strap-line ‘I am not my stereotype’, seeks to change the narrative around how black men have been portrayed in the media.

Clear Channel has supported Williams and the 56 Black Men campaign since 2019 and is now displaying the ‘Let’s Not Forget’ campaign across digital billboards nationwide.

“We have the opportunity and indeed responsibility to use our very public medium to talk about difficult subjects – the things people don’t want to get wrong, so often avoid,” said Richard Bon, joint managing director at Clear Channel.

“By joining forces with 56 Black Men again and amplifying the ‘Let’s Not Forget’ message, we want to play a positive part in the fight against racism and driving for a more equal world.”