Yesterday as I sat on the train heading towards Russell Square for the student protests I found myself singing along to Whitney's -"The children are our future' In my head...somewhat cheesy but very apt I thought.
These children fighting for their right to a free and fair education system are our future, they are our Doctors, Scientists, Teachers, Architects and Engineers of tomorrow. Amongst these kids could be our future leader, but not if the coalition Government has it's own way. If it was up to them, the door of the old boys club would remain firmly shut tight.
Knowing that this much Unity and hunger for equality would have caused untold fear amongst the elite I was expecting a little trouble so I wrapped up warm and packed a sandwich for the kettle. But really I had no idea of what I was about to witness. I had no idea of the brute force that was just about to be unleashed onto these youngsters.
As I approached the back of the procession the mood was almost carnivalesque with steel bands and sound systems. Kids danced and cheered as they marched towards Parliament. I laughed and joked with strangers as we walked...the comradrie kept us in high spirits.
When we reached Parliament square I have to admit the scene in front of me was almost surreal...it was like something that I had seen on the TV or in a film. No I'm not talking about violence or anarchy just the fact that it felt so immense. Imagine walking into parliament square to see thousands of young people fighting for the same cause....groups of young people laughing and even singing, snippets of conversation mature in their wisdom reaching my ears. I admit I had to smile...the lions had finally woken up. Eyes open these kids were beginning to realise the truth of the system that chose to destroy them and any dreams and aspirations that they may have had.
I couldn't help but to feel proud and in awe of these young people...fighting for justice and their civil rights.
However one thing I certainly couldn't miss from the moment I entered Parliament square was the hostility emanating from the police. As I stood in front of parliament, in the front line, ,I stood eye to eye with BRITAIN'S FINEST...beneath the masks I hate to imagine the grimaces, but the hate and agitation shone out of their eyes as clear as day. In fact without sounding too cliche I'm sure some of them were actually enjoying the thought of the physical attack. Their hands and their weapons twitched if there even a slight movement in the crowd...they were like wild dogs just waiting for the signal to attack.
And attack they did.
After a couple of hours in parliament square the atmosphere began to change for the worse..the look in the policemen's eyes got a little crazier and mounted police seem to be appearing from all angles. I was right at the front taking pictures of the police and I have to admit the worst I saw at this point from the students was water guns..it was at this point, just childish rebellion. But unfortunately the police did not seem to understand that these were children in front of them and in a brief second everything changed. One minute I was clicking down on the camera button the next I saw the police surge toward us batons raised..indiscriminately lashing out into the crowd. The noise in my ears was a mixture of screams and panicked voices but also those who refused to back down and stood their ground insults spitting like venom out of their mouths...sickened by what they were witnessing. The crowd was surging in all directions trying to avoid being hit. At this moment I had no choice but to put my camera down and just try to get out of there. I couldn't breath, I was being knocked around and it really was a game of dodge the kosh with the police.
All I can say is a big thank you to the group of young Pakistani and bengali boys that I had been talking to earlier. They managed to get me to the side and then disappeared into the surge of bodies.
For a moment I caught my breath, heart pounding. Now I've been caught up in some madness in the past at the Palestinian demos outside the Israeli embassy but this attack was a lot fiercer then anything I had seen before.
After a brief moment I started to walk back towards the front line thinking things had calmed down a little only to be met with the sight of gigantic horse mounted by baton wielding maniacs racing towards where I stood. For a moment I froze...was I really seeing what I thought I was seeing. My mind couldn't comprehend the fact that these horses were about to bare down on us with all their might...then the ad-reline kicked in and I ran all thoughts of photo opportunities forgotten at the feet of the horses. An inner instinct has always told me to run to the side and I did climbing on a railing and holding on for dear life. All around me kids scrambled over railings, some screaming in fear others running in blind panic...around me kids were having panic and asthma attacks, young teenage girls cried in fear while boys who had barely reached man hood risked themselves to help them over walls and into safety. I can't forget the look on the faces around me, there was a look of shell shock. NOBODY in their wildest dreams had expected this . While mounted police rode into the crowd, foot police surged in with their batons hitting out at already frightened protesters. As I clung to the railing with one hand the other managed to get some shaky shots of the horses. Luckily for me and those around me they headed away from us towards a bigger group of protesters and it was all I could do to watch as the fear and adrenaline kicked in and these kids hurled anything that they could at the advancing police. Sticks, stone, fences went flying in the air.
I know that the media will portray this as violence on the protesters part but it was pure and simple self defence. It is a base human instinct to fight back when we are scared and being attacked. Around me children and teenagers sustained injuries, blows to the head and body. I have learnt since that Alfie a 20 year old protester from Middlesex Uni has had to have an brain operation. All I can say is thank God that he was not another Ian Tomlinson. In fact I am shocked after they way the police reacted that we didn't have a repeat of that horrendous act. But I thank God that this wasn't the case but it so easily could have been. How would the police have justified a teenage death..but then agin they always find a way.
I also learnt that my dear friend Jody McIntyre, Activist and all round super hero was dragged out of his wheel chair and beaten twice by police. What kind of Animal is capable of such actions, another friend of mine ended up in hospital with a head wound. Another bruises to his arms...the list is endless.
As night fell, the students battered and bruised, sat around small fires trying to keep warm. Some were still jovial despite the violence, others looked shocked and confused. Myself and a group of friends decided that now was the best time to leave. Past experience has shown me the demons really come out to play when the sun goes down. It was time to go.
Unfortunately that decision was also taken out of our hands. As we headed for Trafalgar square, laughing and joking trying to shrug off the negativity of the day I happened to look up and see that beyond the group in front of us were more mounted police. As I looked at them they suddenly surged towards us. They rained down on us as we tried to leave..we were heading away and they drove us back in. In blind panic the crowd dispersed in all direction. Then for a few moments it was calm, people looked around for loved ones and friends lost in the panic, and just as we caught our breath they surged forward again. So what choice did we have but to run back into the kettle.?
If the following wasn't a police tactic then i'll give up photography. They had left around 4/5 police vans in the middle of the road. The horses behind us herded us between a wall and the vans. We kept moving forward only to realise that there was nowhere to go as their were baton wielding officers in front. So there we were stuck between the horses and the foot soldiers, hemmed in between a wall and van. Yet they kept pushing forward. Panic rippled through the group all around me, there must have been over a hundred of us squashed into the space of an average hallway. The more they pushed the more we screamed that that we could breath. The more we screamed the more they pushed us. We were begging them that there were people with asthma and kids but instead they pushed us more. Out of frustration a few people started to push the van but the rest of the group stopped them. From what I can see any aggression or vandalism from the students was only in response to illegal police tactics. To make matters worse they penned us into this tiny spot and then rushed in. All to the left of me were baton and shield wearing officers who suddenly randomly hit out into the crowd. There were a couple of boys between me and the police and they were being hit but no one could help as we were hemmed in so tight we couldn't move our arms.
The only point shame kicked in was when in response to beating us our only retaliation was to scream peaceful protest over and over again. Imagine being hemmed into a tight spot, in front of you you can see police battering other protesters but you cant move, you cant run you cant fight, you cant even take pictures as you cant move. Are these the tactic you use on children and teenagers. But I have to say we held strong. The group I was in all held onto each other and slowly moved forward. As we literally crawled past I remember a police woman raising her baton and for no reason about to reign it down full force...somehow our eyes connected and I shouted,"they are scared, they are kids, please please don't hurt them" for a moment a look of humanity crossed her eyes and she let us pass...but when I looked back that humanity was gone as I saw her weapon smack into someone's shoulder. I don't know how we got out of there but somehow we did.
When the police then told us we could leave via the way we had just been chased we did wonder if it was a trick...but the thought of freedom way too good and we went along with it.
As we walked toward trafalgar square we wanted to laugh to feel relieved but we just couldn't. The fear of the unknown was too much. It took three sets of kettles till we were finally free.
But even then it was short lived as the police decided to chase all of those who had just left the kettle.
This is the point where they all ran through trafalgar square towards Oxford Street, you can blame the police for Charles and Camila car getting trashed. They chased these kids like animals and wondered why they ended up chanting such revolutionary lines as "off with their heads" at our monarchy. These kids have had enough...the revolution has started and theres nothing that the elite can do. It's too late. We have had enough of being pushed around and we are pushing back..these are our streets and we want them back.
I have a strong feeling that this is only the beginning, a generation brainwashed by mind numbing computer games and hollywood movies has just brushed away the oppressors tools and the truth is beginning to unfurl. They can beat us, try to destroy us but we will come back stronger each time.
Viva la revolution
