A klezmer group, a brass band playing ‘Bella Ciao’ a gospel choir, a Ukrainian folk choir, Abba ‘Gimme Gimme, A man after Midnight’, Jungle, Drum and Bass, Junior Murvin’s Police and Thieves, a home made sound system blasting Acid House.…Just some of the music to be heard walking around the huge Together March Against the Far Right, London March 28th as people came from all over Britain and beyond to attend this day of celebration, joy and unity, with a serious message raising our voices and standing against racism and bigotry.
This post is partly influenced by conversations and reflections with friends, discussing the event on Saturday. It also contains documentation of racist abuse people we know have faced.
We travelled up with a crowd from Brighton. Over a hundred signed up to the official local transport, plus many more travelled independently with mates and family.
I decided to make a soundscape recording, asking people their thoughts on why they’d travelled. One group had come as part of a convoy of 7 coaches from Dorset, others from Wales, Teeside, the Midlands and some nearer home in Sussex.
Having experienced a lot of marches in London, this felt like a big one. On the day the organisers said half a million attended. The Met Police said 50000. I’d say the Met were considerably underplaying numbers. We arrived at Hyde Park around 11.30, meeting time was 12.00, the intended start time being 1.00. Situated near the back, a good hour and a half after the start and still at a standstill, stewards announced that the front of the march had already reached the end point 2.5 km away. Regardless of the exact numbers, it was busy and diverse in every way possible.
The day was a response to the rise of far right hate crime and rhetoric in Britain and also to the ‘Tommy Robinson’ (real name Stephen Yaxley Lennon) ’Unite the Kingdom’ demo last September. Attendance figures for both events are disputed, but as a friend pointed out, the TR event was backed and funded by some of the Worlds richest most powerful men (Elon Musk to name one). Whereas this was backed by most British workers Trade Unions, a long list of charities and community organisations and a very diverse crowd. There was no violence, no excessive drinking, no urinating in the streets, no racist, homophobic chanting, all of which were on display at the Robinson march. The TR march was also predominantly attended by white men, many of whom were happy to threaten and sometimes assault counter protesters (I went on the counter protest and witnessed all the above)
The soundscape here includes comments from people. The first 3 voices are in Brighton as we waited for the train, the rest are in London. I asked 2 questions; How far have you travelled and what’s your reason for being here? The second half of the recording is made of music clips heard on the protest.
There are a lot of reasons people march. In the current climate of increasing hostility toward minoritised groups, especially Muslims, refugees and asylum seekers and Black and Brown people, which has sadly been on the rise since the EU referendum campaign, it’s good to know that there are many of us who stand together, against the hate.
Last September at an anti racism demo in Southampton, standing next to an Asian guy, as he reflected ‘I’m in my 60’s, I grew up here, and it feels like we’re fighting the same people who used to chase us in the street in the 1970’s’. The same summer, while visiting East Yorkshire, Laila was racially abused by a taxi driver. She was travelling alone. A couple of years previous, we had a guy from the electric company come to fix our boiler, he complained about migrants and Muslims, again she was on her own (I wonder if he’d have said what he did if I’d been home). Elsewhere in Brighton friends have been racially abused in the street. In February this year a 12 year old Brown girl had to seek safety in a local shop, after white men with St George flags told her to ‘go back where she came from’. In October last year, in nearby Peacehaven a Mosque was deliberately set on fire in a hate crime, which ought to be classed as an act of terrorism. At the time (and ongoing) people from Operation Raise the Colours, which has well documented links to far right extremists, had been illegally hoisting St George and Union Jacks in the streets. People taking them down have been threatened with violence, and on Facebook, a local group threatened to go ‘hunt for places migrants are’ on the same day as a drop in music session facilitated by Music Action International with people seeking safety in Britain.
This has all happened in an increasingly hostile environment to people who have come to live in Britain, or those who do not fit into the racist ethnonationalist view of ‘British’ or ‘English’. Both Labour and the Tories, in desperate efforts to reclaim votes they appear to be losing to Reform have further scapegoated people seeking safety from war and persecution with increasingly punitive policies. Farage, many Reform members and candidates have well documented histories of racist or otherwise bigoted comments and behaviours, all while being given increasing amounts of airtime.
Walking around the march on Saturday, these stories were repeated and reflected by many I chatted with, and many had come for the same reasons. There is of course a social element to attending a demonstration, it’s a good chance to chat, meet like minded people, and have a bit of a laugh. Overall, although the cause is serious, the day also felt celebratory, there was a lot of music and people danced as they marched, it was all very friendly.
Unfortunately some of those who attend the far right marches will have the same social experience, it’s a day out and a laugh with mates. No excuse for the racism and hate behind those marches, but how many are fully aware of the beliefs of Robinson, Farage and those who fund them? Reform have links with Putin and Russia, Robinson has help from the US and the Israeli state, currently committing genocide and war crimes across Palestine, Lebanon, Iran and the rest of the region.
In stark contrast, to the Tommy Robinson march, the Together demo had no super rich, tax dodging financial backers, or a figurehead currently living abroad to avoid legal issues in Britain. Together was organised, managed and attended collectively. There’s a lead organisation, but a significant part was played by grassroots organisations and individuals, standing against racism.
Some people we met on the march and main Together web. There is a full list of participating orgs on the Together website, these are just a few we me on the day.
Hromada Collective (Ukrainian Choir)
Vahavtauk (Jews Against the far right)
Anti Fascist International (UK)
