London, 2.25pm. we are at Hackney Central, between the local tesco and Hackney Empire, in a small street called morning lane. a sambaband is playing playing playing. Maybe 30 Sambas and 60, 80 other people, surrounded by about the same number of met police, surrounded in turn by people with cameras taking pics and swinging. Bizarre. I can't see a fit team, but they have been around earlier. seems to be a section 60. One man has been arrested - pushed to the ground by police, and taken away, so i guess he was arrested.
I had a txt msg this morning, just before noon, inviting me to come to highbury and islington tube station. which i did, then passed a few met police and 2 of their vans and found a bunch of euromaydayers in highbury fields, walking back to the tube. Suddenly there were many more police, i guess roughly 100, 150 maydayers and maybe 50 police ??. It wasn't that easy to get on the tube, one person was held back by police, and at the platform, there was a scuffle, seems that someone had wrapped a scarf round his mouth, and was forced to take it off. pushing, hitting, suddenly a gang of about 40 met police storming down the platform.
about 1pm, the tube arrived, we went in, the wagon was full but of course the met plc had to squeeze in. Quite brutal, shouting at people to move down the overcrowded tube, pushing.
we arrived in hackney central, running over the street, making our way to the tesco, running, followed by more police.
Tesco. The door resembled the entrance to a high security building. lots of police guarding the entrance, but against who and what?
samba sounds from inside, only few could get in. At the entrance, a big banner was put up: "all we have to loose is our chainstores!"
The sambaband was chased out of the aisles of the market where they had been playing for a little while, to the pleasure of customers and staff, people at the tills relaxed for a moment...
Now the crowd is stuck in morning lane, playing samba. some people made it out of the strict police circle which seems to be a section 60 but was not announced as such. and where promptly caught by some met police, and forcefully pushed back into the circle. I saw this happening to 4 people, but since I am in this internet caf overlooking the action, I didn't see everything.
A woman passing by, hackney local, said: this is disgraceful, such a waste of time and money. I presume she meant the police action.
I had a txt msg this morning, just before noon, inviting me to come to highbury and islington tube station. which i did, then passed a few met police and 2 of their vans and found a bunch of euromaydayers in highbury fields, walking back to the tube. Suddenly there were many more police, i guess roughly 100, 150 maydayers and maybe 50 police ??. It wasn't that easy to get on the tube, one person was held back by police, and at the platform, there was a scuffle, seems that someone had wrapped a scarf round his mouth, and was forced to take it off. pushing, hitting, suddenly a gang of about 40 met police storming down the platform.
about 1pm, the tube arrived, we went in, the wagon was full but of course the met plc had to squeeze in. Quite brutal, shouting at people to move down the overcrowded tube, pushing.
we arrived in hackney central, running over the street, making our way to the tesco, running, followed by more police.
Tesco. The door resembled the entrance to a high security building. lots of police guarding the entrance, but against who and what?
samba sounds from inside, only few could get in. At the entrance, a big banner was put up: "all we have to loose is our chainstores!"
The sambaband was chased out of the aisles of the market where they had been playing for a little while, to the pleasure of customers and staff, people at the tills relaxed for a moment...
Now the crowd is stuck in morning lane, playing samba. some people made it out of the strict police circle which seems to be a section 60 but was not announced as such. and where promptly caught by some met police, and forcefully pushed back into the circle. I saw this happening to 4 people, but since I am in this internet caf overlooking the action, I didn't see everything.
A woman passing by, hackney local, said: this is disgraceful, such a waste of time and money. I presume she meant the police action.
Comments
Hide the following 9 comments
What can we do?
01.05.2005 18:34
At least bullets are more truthfull and internationally accountable than spin.
Doug.
without the backing of the people you are nothing
02.05.2005 12:37
But that's okay, just keep smashing the windows of McDonald's people (you won't scare anyone because they have buggered off, and their mega-profits can easily fit the glazier's bill), just remember, four legs good, two legs bad, four legs good, two legs bad.....
the middle finger
Violent protest?
02.05.2005 13:36
Thee Nymphomation
there was definately violence in 2000
02.05.2005 15:12
Of course if there was violent protesting this year the people involved in it will probably be disguising it as some "triumph agianst capitalism", rather than what it really is, a bunch of mindless thugs causing distress to everyone outside the "protest".
I am sure the people shopping in Tesco (people on low incomes buying cheap food from a supermarket - what a crime!) must really LOOOOVE you - not.
the middle finger
Well done sambistas
05.05.2005 16:48
It always pains me to read the reactionary comments about "mindless violence" etc, even though I have learned to expect them. Violence is inherrent in the system as our taxes fund arms fairs, weapons of mass destruction and general military madness. The State of course wants to maintain a monopoly on violence, arresting us and locking us up for victimless crimes like the use of marijuana. In contrast, the action of the protestors on Mayday seems to have basically followed Nonviolence principles.
In a system where we are all treated as cogs in a vast market machine and our freedom is strictly limited I consider any Nonviolent attempt to break out of the straight-jacket a good thing. Actions like this are a sign of hope - like seeing a flower growing out of a crack in the concrete - it is a shame that so many people are so brainwashed that they failied to see it as such.
Ian
Homepage:
http://www.zenatode.org.uk/ian/
Well....
06.05.2005 16:29
"If you want to save the world, KILL YOUR FUCKING SELF." - Bill Hicks
the middle finger
Bill Hicks
10.05.2005 02:53
"I'm not talking about the reasons that the government tells us 'cause I hope you know this - I think you do - all governments are lying cocksuckers." -- Bill Hicks
Ian
Homepage:
http://www.zenatode.org.uk/ian/
Frothy Man
17.05.2005 15:40
He is being ridiculous to suggest that capitalism is natural although I would agree that it exploits natural qualities of human beings to achieve its goal - the repression of a majority (poor) by a minority (rich) - indeed the balance of that ratio is very carefully monitored to maintain the status quo. The poor people of Hackney live in a completely unnatural, constructed environment. Of course it is natural to do what ever it takes to survive, and in an unnatural situation that would mean unnatural measures - like towing the line.
I don’t believe the success of the demo was just to get Middle Finger frothing. People do notice and think and then change. They have to; Tony Blair isn’t going to help them. I suspect Middle Finger enjoys the notion of him being better than the slaves in the developing world or poor of Hackney – this is capitalism exploiting his own natural insecurity.
You don’t need to be a professor of history to know empires come and empires go. In the modern (global) context they are much short lived than those of say, the classical period. I have no doubt the USA will not always be the head of the Capitalist world, and indeed in my own life time, without protesters even getting out of bed!
But it is Middle Finger who inspires protest; just because you can’t change the world in one day’s protest, you can get middle finger flapping and flailing and frothing and spitting.
Jon
e-mail:
jonsampol@yahoo.com
so it got me "frothing"
21.05.2005 14:21
Oh, and please, no "agent of the State" bollocks, please.
the middle finger