Reclaim Brixton was, as Jose says in the comments below, a largely peaceful event that united residents and community groups across Brixton in a protest against gentrification which pushes people out of the local area in favour of big money. Save Cressingham Gardens, Save Brixton Arches, and the Guinness Trust campaign marched alongside groups such as the Brixton Rec User Group, ASC artists and many passionate Brixtonites to collect in Windrush Square for music and speeches. Over at the arches, there was a moving moment as the businesses closed their shutters and supporters joined hands around the block to protest against Network Rail’s eviction plans. The London Black Revs had organised a separate march in Brixton Village, but soon all joined together in chants of “Whose streets? Our streets. Whose Brixton? Our Brixton.” It was a morning to be savoured, when everyone came together to defend the area we love and shout about the many injustices happening here, from evictions at Guinness Trust Estate to the uncertain future of the arches.
In the afternoon, the town hall was stormed and Foxtons windows broken. Those arrested by the police did not come from Lambeth, or even London. You can read about that here. Below is a set of photos from the morning march and event in Windrush Sq, more of which you can find on our Flickr.
UPDATE: This post was updated on April 30 to remove the word ‘halves’ which was meant to simply denote the morning/afternoon but caused some debate among readers
[…] anger on the streets of Brixton, squatters occupying the 12-Bar Club, the closure of some of Soho’s best-loved haunts, plans […]
Still love the photos (sorry i was too busy marching with the drummers to talk to you properly Z) and prefer the report without the two halves ref.
Hi all – just an update, I have removed the ‘halves’ analogy as this was simply meant to denote morning and afternoon, rather than the interpretations others have taken from it. Thanks for all your comments, lots of interesting points here!
Like, Caroline i LOVE the images you show and had you included one of Foxtons shopfront or one from either of the incidents from the townhall or Police Station it would be representative of events that day, 90% peaceful.
The event, organised by a collective of different communities within Lambeth who share the same sense of frustration with their Council and how it is failing to Listen & represent the communities it is serving, is overwhelmingly regarded as a major success and to quote Lib Peck ” For a demo labelled ‘Reclaim Brixton’, it’s significant that the six arrests made on the day, were not Brixton residents, or even residents from other parts of London…”
Like Maths i find it difficult to reconcile the use of the terminology ‘halves’ in any context to the events of Saturday.
Hi Jose – see update. It wasn’t a term really meant to cause concern so I’ve changed it to reflect more what I meant. thanks for comment
some lovely photos!
[…] Reclaim Brixton anti-gentrification protest attracted several thousand protesters on Saturday 25th April. Under the […]
Rumour has it that the criminal damage to the estate agent’s windows was made via an undercover policeman. No surprise if true…
https://diasp.eu/posts/3060084
What a load of rubbish. The problem is that there were people there that were hell bent on enforcing their views through intimidation. As a Brixton resident of 20 years this is also my community and the protesters on Saturday do not represent me or the close Brixton community I live in. I had abuse hurled at me because I was white and dressed smartly. What the hell is going on Brixton!!! This is not the Brixton I know and love. It makes it hard to sympathise with the protesters when this is how they treat people.
No further comment on a rumour.
What’s so special about you that you and your community deserve representation?
Then all protestors are disregarded because of abuse by (how many?) people?
Compared to the notorious “sus” laws, barely nothing happened at the weekend!
Your use of the words “two halves” is misleading. Such terms indicates an equal number on either side. This was far from the case during reclaim brixton. Individuals peacefully protesting outweighed non-peaceful protesters by at least 30:1.
Hi bob – not saying that it the two crowds were totally different, just that we shouldn’t forget what that first positive moment felt like. Best, Zoe
Don’t think you can separate out the day into two halves so easily as if the crowds were different. What made the day more mixed up was that the crowds at each moment were very much made up of people who had come to the event and were just taking part in what was happening. It’s a bit divisive to make up that later more aggressive actions had nothing to do with earlier Reclaim Brixton crowds and happenings.
I have updated the post though to reflect your point. Zoe