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The Black Lives Matters protests around the world have sparked a number of important conversations among young people.

Many have spoken out about supporting the movement - but say they still want to know more about race inequality and how it has affected the lives of black people.

Classic works by artists, filmmakers and writers can be a great place to start. Recently, some TV shows, films and books have looked at the issue of inequality and, more generally, at the personal experiences of what it’s like to be a black young person or family.

We’ve picked out just a few examples from the worlds of literature, TV and film that got people talking, with the help of writer, poet and founder of Nottingham Black Archive, Panya Banjoko.

Noughts and Crosses

British writer Malorie Blackman explored social and ethical issues of race in her most notable work Noughts and Crosses. Her novel is set in a reimagined 21st Century Britain and describes an alternative history in the aftermath of the colonisation of European people, known as Noughts, by native Africans known as Crosses.

The book is written from two different perspectives – Persephone, also known as Sephy, who is from the ruling class the Crosses and is black, rich and powerful, and Callum from the Noughts.

He's white, from a poorer background than Sephy and experiences brutal policing and repeated discrimination. The book used to be on the KS3 English curriculum in England and was recently adapted for television on 91�ȱ� One.

Actors Masali Baduza and Jack Rowan played Sephy and Callum on screen. Masali said she connected with the role of Sephy immediately.

She said: "I knew that I really wanted to play Sephy and I could just tell from this book that this is going to be an iconic character."

Children of Blood and Bone

Young American writer Tomi Adeyemi received critical acclaim in 2018 for her debut novel, Children of Blood and Bone. The first in a planned fantasy trilogy, the book is set in the kingdom of Orïsha, which is inhabited by two groups: diviners, who have the ability to become magical ‘magi’, and the oppressive ruling-class, the non-magical kosidán.

Children of Blood and Bone examines oppression, racism and slavery, with the kosidán and maji serving as stand-ins for real-world groups. It is also a coming of age story as the characters discover their abilities to help shape the world through their own actions.Adeyemi began writing after feeling hopeless in the aftermath of police shootings of black Americans – she wanted to make a difference by producing something that would show the generally unseen rich heritage of black culture.

Adeyemi felt it was important to tell a story about a black Goddess.

She said: "We don't have these stories yet. You pick up this book and you see a magical, dark-skinned black girl on the cover. You see us celebrated as the hero."

Step Sisters

2018 dance comedy film Step Sisters, directed by Charles Stone III, stars Megalyn Echikunwoke as Jamilah, an ambitious college student and black sorority girl.

Jamilah agrees to teach the art of Stepping to a house of party-obsessed white sorority sisters. She's tasked with not only teaching them how to step, but also helping them to win a competitive dance competition.

The film explores the grey areas of cultural crossing and racial stereotypes of both black and white people using satire to talk about race relations. It also addresses, and indeed sparked several conversations about the controversial issue of cultural appropriation - the adoption of elements of one culture by another group, which is shown when Jamilah's white boyfriend adopts black culture and from the reclaiming of Stepping by college sororities, given the dance's rich African heritage.

Black-ish

Black-ish, created by Kenya Barris, is an American television series which first hit screens in 2014. The show follows the Johnsons, an upper middle-class African American family and revolves around the family’s lives as they manage personal, social, and political issues with their blackness being central.

The show has received critical acclaim for putting race front and centre of its storylines as it tackles the racism that the Johnsons encounter and the patriarch Dre’s fears that his children - including daughter Diane, played by Marsai Martin - are losing their ties with black culture. The family’s father, Dre, also feels as if he has only received a big promotion at work in order to be in charge of ‘black stuff’.

Crongton Knights

Author Alex Wheatle grew up in Brixton, London – where several of his books are set. His early works draw on his experiences of living in social services’ care and of the race riots in Brixton.

His award-winning novel Crongton Knights mixes humour with the challenges some young people and their families face in inner city council estates – with the fictional South London area of Crongton showing parallels with many urban areas across the country.