Death of Colin Roach - Pop Culture

Pop Culture

In August 1983 The Special AKA reached number 60 in the charts with "Racist Friend" / "Brightlights". The latter song features lyrics that mention Roach: "I got down to London and what did I see? One thousand policemen all over the street, The people were shouting and looking at me, They say 'the Colin Roach family demand an enquiry'"

In Sinéad O'Connor's I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got album sleeve, there is a picture of what appears to be Colin Roach's parents holding vigil by his picture, suggesting O'Connor's song "Black Boys on Mopeds" was inspired by Roach's murder. However, the lyrics refer to "police who kill Black boys on mopeds". Although she writes 'black boys' indicating plural, the song references a incident involving a single black youth, Nicholas Bramble. On 17 May 1989, police pursued Bramble apparently under the suspicion he had stolen the moped he was riding (it was his own). In the attempt to evade police, Bramble lost control and crashed. His death was ruled accidental. O'Connor's lyrics take the stance that police initially suspected Bramble only because he was black.

Benjamin Zephaniah composed a poem entitled "Who Killed Colin Roach?"

Colin Roach's death is also mention in a track by the Ragga Twins entitled "The Iron Lady"

The Colin Roach Centre, a community centre, was set up in Hackney to commemorate the death.

The lyrics to "License Fi Kill" by Linton Kweesi Johnson ask the question "You can't ask Colin Roach if he really shot himself"