Ibibio Sound Machine "Color in Your Cheeks"

Today is the UK's fourth #clapforcarers, and while I heartily support the campaign, it is proving logistically difficult for me to join in.

This old Victorian house is converted into six flats, ie, six different households. We have shared entrances, a staircase, garden and basement. But, because we are six different households, we can't - under social distancing rules - all stand at the front door, facing out onto the main road, and clap. Because that would be the equivalent of holding a party or barbecue: Big no no. I mean, we could go outside and try and stand two feet away from each other while we clapped, but that would be logistically difficult and probably attract the attention of various neighbours who, in turn, might well call the police so, again, no.

I could clap from within my flat but, because I'm at the back of the house and my windows are high up the wall, this would involve standing on a chair, leaning out of the window, clapping in solitude. Which feels a bit weird to be honest.

As such, I haven't got very far with the actual clapping yet. People are doing it around here but I can't actually see them doing it, just hear them vaguely in the distance.

Last week I posted a video of the Florence + The Machine version of 'Take Care' because I felt it fit the spirit of #clapforcarers, and I thought I'd try and continue the video posting tradition this week as well.

Ibibio Sound Machine's 'Color in your cheeks' might seem an odd choice, but I've been struck this week by another hashtag: #YouClapForMeNow, which reflects on both the hostile environment immigrants face in the UK, and the key worker roles many immigrants are filling in the UK. As well as being on the front line, there is some statistical evidence (I think there will more research done on this soon, or already being done on this) that BAME people may have a higher mortality rate than caucasian people when infected with Covid-19. An anonymous doctor wrote about these issues much more eloquently than I am able to this morning over on HuffPost.

There has been talk, much of it surface talk, that perhaps the UK government will re-evaluate what it considers to be a key worker when drawing up immigration laws in a post Brexit, but even if that is the case, a shift in attitude on behalf of the public would also be needed. #YouClapForMeNow taps into that need.