Blacks Can’t Swim Producer Ed Accura Launches New Podcast ‘Why We Don’t Talk About SWIM’

Ed Accura, co-founder of the Black Swimming Association (BSA) and producer of the three-film Blacks Can’t Swim documentary series, is taking his franchise to the podcasting world.

Accura launched his new podcast series, “Why We Don’t Talk About SWIM,” last October on YouTube and Spotify with the goal of discussing aquatic issues within the African, Caribbean, and Haitian communities. The first episode featured a conversation about how to address the fact that people of ethnically diverse heritage are at an increased risk of drowning. A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found that Black children ages 10 to 14 drown in swimming pools nearly eight times more often than their white counterparts.

“I should really know about all of this, because I only just learned to swim,” said Accura, a British hip hop artist. “I did everything within reason to stay away from swimming all my life, so I know about the issues — I was one of the problems.”

The second episode released last week dug deeper into which stakeholders should be held accountable for creating change and how they can work together to create opportunities for disenfranchised youth. The podcast even has its own theme song with a music video:

You can hear both episodes released so far on Accura’s YouTube channel linked here.

Last February, Accura released a 380-page book that documented the four-year development of the Blacks Can’t Swim film series along with the creation of the BSA called A Visual Journey of Blacks Can’t Swim.

Accura first launched A Film Called Blacks Can’t Swim in 2020, and followed with Blacks Can’t Swim The Sequel” in 2021 before the third film, Blacks Can’t Swim: Rewind, was released in 2022.

In addition to the films, Accura co-founded the BSA alongside Seren Jones, Danielle Obe and Alice Dearing.