After the Storm - Aneela McKenna Rides over Racism in the Outer Hebrides

03 April 2023

Aneela McKenna shares her personal story of racial discrimination at her workplace and how she as has managed to overcome this trauma by finding her own voice with the power of mountain biking.

This film has touched me like no other for a very long time. With goose bumps all the way through. Because it's an ode: to mountain biking, to the beauty of the Outer Hebrides but first and foremost to the good in humanity. By telling her story Aneela McKenna invites us to open our hearts and minds and experience the impact racism and racial discrimination have on people's lives.

The Scottish-Asian diversity pioneer has experienced racism from a very young age: from being called a Paki* by other children at school to being racially discriminated at work by management - an unbearable situation that led Aneela to take a career break and embark on a solo mission with her mountain bike to heal her soul in her favourite place the Outer Hebrides.

*Mainly British Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. Used as an insulting and contemptuous term for an immigrant from Pakistan or those of South Asian descent.

Having spent a considerable time living in the UK I am very well aware that calling somebody a P* was somehow socially accepted. Nobody back then would have even bat an eyelid whenever this term came up in a conversation. And while much has changed in the last few years - a lot of things haven't. In fact sometimes it feels like we are moving backwards...

Racism can be found openly or hidden in our society: in talk shows, newspapers, when groups of people are spoken and written about in a condescending way. When searching for housing and apprenticeships, where people with western-sounding names are much more likely to get a accepted than others. In children's books, in the schoolyard or in racist memes on Facebook and Instagram. Racism doesn't actually fit into the worldview of a tolerant, modern society. And yet it is omnipresent. For many people this is still a sad part of everyday life.

If the film can engage even one person who would ordinarily have disengaged from this kind of story or argued that racism does not exist in 2021 – it’s done its job. We hope viewers are left with a sense of what discrimination can feel like, how it affects others, and to reflect upon what they can do to help enrich society and the world by making it a more diverse and inclusive space.

Aneela McKenna

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Following its critically acclaimed reception at film festivals and screening events around the world since its limited release in November 2021, now, in the lead up to the United Nations’ International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on March 21st, it’s a particularly relevant moment to unveil After the Storm film to the public.

Please watch this moving story and follow Aneela's work for the #RideOverRacism Campaign.

We all need to open our eyes, listen and actively stand up to racism in order to be the best, most enriched version of ourselves.

After the Storm I Official Communication

Credits

After the Storm was filmed by Andy McCandlish and directed, produced and edited by McCandlish and Andy McKenna.

The film was made with thanks to special film guests, MTB stars and diversity champions: Danny MacAskill, Eliot Jackson, Isla Short, Greg Minnaar, Nathan and Ruben de Vaux, Steve Peat, Emma Neale, Phil Young, Jenni Gwiazdowski, Manon Carpenter, Lloyd Grose, Frit Tam, Kerry MacPhee, Jo Shwe and Rob Warner.

Project partners: this film could not have been made without the financial and moral support of Santa Cruz Bicycles, Shimano, Endura, Wilderness Trail Bikes and Hotlines Europe.