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a samba day out resisting bush 19th november

rikki | 22.11.2003 19:29 | Bush 2003 | Indymedia | London | Sheffield

rhythms of resistance samba band swelled by members from sheffield, barking and amsterdam bands took part in a day of action against bush on wednesday 19th november - report and pics›

start of street party in malet street
start of street party in malet street

setting off towards tottenham court road
setting off towards tottenham court road

cordoned in by police
cordoned in by police

goodge street cordon and vans
goodge street cordon and vans

another shot of goodge street
another shot of goodge street

road block at the top of shaftesbury avenue
road block at the top of shaftesbury avenue

the clown army arrives
the clown army arrives

women's o-i-l demo in trafalgar square
women's o-i-l demo in trafalgar square

the fountain runs red
the fountain runs red

some pushy police at trafalgar square
some pushy police at trafalgar square

samba in whitehall
samba in whitehall

dancing in the street at whitehall
dancing in the street at whitehall

ch 4 news vidcap of samba at the palace
ch 4 news vidcap of samba at the palace

another ch 4 vidcap
another ch 4 vidcap

burning us flags at the palace
burning us flags at the palace


around fifteen sambaistas and a crowd of up to a hundred supporters set off from malet street in the early afternoon for a roaming street party around london. police accompanied the procession as it set off down tottenham court road, but soon they had cordoned off the main road and pushed the demonstrators into a side road where they were held for a while. after some tense negotiation, the march was allowed to continue down goodge street, by now ringed by police and accompanied by more than a dozen police vans.

some of the demonstrators attempted to break the police lines at the top of shaftesbury avenue, but soon the procession was ringed and once again accompanied as it made its way down the avenue towards trafalgar square. the samba rhythms attracted passers by who tagged along outside the police cordon, and roads were effectively disrupted equally as well if not better than the original street party would have managed on its own!

just north of trafalgar square, a group from the clown army arrived and joined in the march. at the square the silent o-i-l protest by women had just finished, the fountains were blood red and police photographers were busy getting everyone's shots.

after a short break, an attempt by the band to break out at the south side of the square was foiled by some pushing and shoving from police, although the fact that media cameramen were filming prevented them from getting too violent. after more negotiation, the police surprisingly agreed the march could continue towards victoria along whitehall.

outside downing street, samba and dancing reclaimed half the road for a while and the carnival atmosphere was electric. by about five o clock, the revellers arrived at parliament square, where further negotiations led to a new route along birdcage walk and to buckingham palace. people hung out the windows of various government buildings including the foreign office and waved and cheered the band on.

outside buckingham palace, the police had set up barricades and some scuffles occured when one of these went missing and some of the band spilled out into the road. there were several hundred protestors already at the palace and the atmosphere was fantastic as a huge crowd gathered round the band and danced for nearly an hour. a small group of protestors were burning american flags, and the noise from the band must have been clearly heard within the palace. channel four covered this demo in its report on the day.

rhythms had once again been the focus of successful demonstrations throughout the afternoon in central london.

rikki