"We, the Arabs and the Blacks,
are not here by chance. Every arrival has its departure," Mamadou hums along to
his favourite rapper on his motorbike, speeding from Stepney Green to Croydon. Whatever
the distance, he delivers. Whether in normal times amidst the bustle, or during
a pandemic when the metropolis shuts down into a ghost town, Mamdadou is there,
on his bike. The steady trickle of rewards will eventually grow into the resources
needed for his dream in the near future, he hopes. But the dream remains
deferred, as the promised outcome of the job can never be delivered. In fact,
it displays itself as a deceitful illusion.
Mamadou's diary encapsulates the
story of tens of thousands of delivery riders working to make ends meet, only
to make their employers richer. At the core we see a system that masks the
relentless pursuit of profit under the guise of individual choice and freedom. A
system that racialises those who cross borders to work, who make up the
majority of this workforce.
Encouragingly, Mamadou's diary reveals fantasies of
resistance and identifies ways for the workers to challenge the injustices of
their everyday working lives. It invites us to imagine ways to fight back.
