A FATHER and daughter from Bolton have collaborated on a moving song inspired by the killing of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matters protests.

Thousands of people marched over the weekend in the UK to protest over the death of George Floyd, who died in police custody in the US two weeks ago.

The protests comes after days of protest in the US over police brutality towards black Americans.

Maddy Erzan-Essian, 18, and her dad Ato Erzan-Essian,51, of Bradshaw, have now made their voices heard by writing their song Crows which they have also uploaded to YouTube in the hope it can continue the conversation about equality.

It hopeful song includes a plea for people to 'listen, taste and see our story'.

“The lyrics that my dad and I have written are not only about the current tragedies, but about the centuries of struggles that black communities have had to go through from colonial slavery to current racial injustices,” said Maddy, who is a student at Pendleton Sixth Form College.

“Seeing everything in the news brought up so many things that have been happening for a long time here in the UK but I have always struggled to put into words how it impacted on me which is why we thought about writing a song.”

Ato, a former Bolton News journalist and editor of the Big Issue in the North, who is now a lecturer in journalism at the University of Chester said: “I didn’t want my children to have the same sense of powerlessness that I had when I was growing up,” he said. “They were very affected by what happened to George Floyd but what stood out for me was that they felt there was nothing they could do or say to try and make a difference. They were very hurt and bewildered and by writing this song and having conversations with them I’m hoping they will be a bit wiser about it.”

Maddy added: “This topic might be uncomfortable, but unless we confront it, we can never move towards being better people tomorrow than we are today.”