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White theatre director who scooped chunk of £400k arts funding meant for 'people of colour' says he classes himself as a 'born again African' and proclaims he 'has gone through the struggles of a black man'
- Anthony Ekundayo Lennon has benefited from taxpayer support
- When he started his career he found it difficult to find roles in the arts
- He adopted the identity of a black man and chose a new name out of a book
An art director who admits his parents are white has said he chose his new identity from an African name book as he felt his given name 'didn't fullfill' him anymore.
Anthony Ekundayo Lennon has benefited from taxpayer support to propel his career as a black, Asian and minority ethnic (Bame) leader in the arts.
When he started out his acting career he found it difficult to find roles and eventually adopted the identity of a black man and once he felt he had fully adopted his identity he referred to himself as an 'African born again'.
However last week some black thespians expressed disquiet that a supposed white man had taken funding meant for a black person.
Just last year Lennon was named as one of the four 'theatre practitioners of colour' who had been awarded a part of a £406,500 grant, as part of a two-year residential traineeship on a Arts Council England-funded programme.
Arts Council England provided a £406,500 grant to a consortium of theatres to 'deliver a comprehensive programme of talent development for future Bame leaders'.
He started as trainee artistic director at Talawa, a black-led theatre company in Shoreditch, east London. The scheme was advertised as 'open to people of colour' and Lennon applied as a 'mixed heritage individual'.
One black actor said: 'When I discovered his background I thought it was unfair that a white man had taken a black person's place on a Bame scheme.'
The consortium that awarded the funding said: 'We received 113 applications . . . and 29 were appointed to the ADLP. Talawa were satisfied Anthony was eligible for the opportunity as a result of a relationship with him over a number years, in which he has identified as a mixed-heritage individual.'
Arts Council England said: 'Talawa raised their wish to support Anthony with us. In responding we took into account the law in relation to race and ethnicity. This is a very unusual case and we do not think it undermines the support we provide to black and minority ethnic people within the theatre sector.'
He was recently an assistant director on Britain's first all-black production of Guys and Dolls, however the west-London born man had previously revealed that his racial identity is not all it seems.
The Sunday Times has unearthed an ebook he wrote a decade ago, in which he argued: 'Everybody on the planet is African. It's your choice as to whether you accept it.'
This contrasted with the account of his heritage he gave in 1990 when he stated: 'My parents are white and so are their parents, and so are their parents, and so are their parents.'
In the book Photo ID, it is revealed that Lennon was actually born Anthony David Lennon in Paddington, west London, in 1965 to white Irish parents.
His curly hair set off gossip in the area that his mother had had an affair, but when his brothers, Vincent and David, developed similar features, it became clear it was a family trait.
However Lennon was exposed to jibes in the street from people who saw him as mixed race. He says his school caretaker called him 'n*****' and threatened to attack him with a dog.
but I thought mixed people weren't black in UK?
