‘Marcus Rashford abuse inspired me to write a positive children’s book’ says Manchester barrister Sally Penni

A mum from Manchester has written a children’s book celebrating black history, after being spurred on to do something positive following racist abuse targeted at Marcus Rashford.
By Jessica Hay
Published 28th Sep 2021, 08:42 BST

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Author and barrister, Sally Penni, created her book ‘Where Are You From?’ to coincide with Black History Month in October.

Salli says she was stunned when Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho were targeted with racist abuse after they missed penalties in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley this summer.

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A mural honouring Rashford in Withington, Manchester was also defaced with graffiti before thousands of messages of solidarity were left for the England footballer.

The racist abuse left Sally appalled, however the response from the people of Manchester and beyond inspired Sally to feature the England footballer in her book.

The book includes 31 figures - one for each day of October when Black History Month is marked.

Sally believes that it is important for children to learn about important people in all of history and hopes the book will be a “catalyst” to talk more about racism.

Sally’s book is available from Amazon here.

Related topics:Marcus RashfordManchesterWembleyBukayo SakaJadon Sancho

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