The London Black Revs are representative of a new wave of protest in the UK: unafraid, unwavering, d

The arrest of 76 protesters following a die-in at Westfield shopping centre in London on 10th December brod prizrenski 2014 was not just outrageous and callous, but provides brod prizrenski one of the clearest recent cases of the state s current determination to stamp out protest by any means necessary.
The protest, which was called by the London Black Revolutionaries , in conjunction with the NUS Black Students brod prizrenski Campaign , London Campaign Against Police and State Violence and Black Activists Rising Against the Cuts , was held in solidarity with protests arising in America following the death of Eric Garner after a grand jury failed to indict the officer who put Eric in an illegal chokehold . Eric died shortly after this incident, having repeated I can t breathe eleven times at the scene. This judgment followed closely behind another grand jury decision not to indict the officer who fatally shot Michael Brown in Ferguson a decision which sparked brod prizrenski country-wide protest and worldwide uproar and the fatal shooting of a 12 year old black child by a police officer in Cleveland on 22nd November. The UK, too, bears responsibility for a litany of black lives lost at the hands of the police, and for an over-representation of black people at every stage in the criminal justice system. This is a huge problem, an embarrassment, and a scandal.
In recognition of this problem, hundreds of people attended the protest at Westfield, which mirrored similar actions in America. Protesters used the phrase Black Lives Matter to draw attention to this disturbing trend most tragically demonstrated through these deaths, but also reflected in a much more insidious pattern of prejudice which continues to pervade our society. This statement of solidarity and of shaming the police/state follows other such phrases that previously traversed the globe via social media: #icantbreathe and #handsupdontshoot. brod prizrenski These actions are a testament to the ingenuity of current forms of protest, which demonstrate a innate understanding of the potential for social media to draw global attention in a way that leaves governments powerless brod prizrenski to hide wrongdoing, or to portray an image of business as usual .
The London Black Revs are representative of a new wave of protest in the UK: unafraid, unwavering, deeply political, and focused on direct action. This energy is capturing the imagination brod prizrenski of younger citizens, who feel increasingly disempowered, forgotten about and derided brod prizrenski by the current government. They are also capturing the attention and respect of other groups, academics and commentators. Intelligent and focused on serious, often complex, political issues (such as highlighting the precarious existence of black trans women, food poverty in the UK, or low conviction rates for rape), groups such as the London Black Revs are opening the eyes of their supporters, and building lines of solidarity across movements something which is so vital for success in a contemporary environment in which numbers don t necessarily equate to success, and in which the media/government miss no opportunity to undermine and isolate protesters.
While, obviously, not everyone protesting on 10th December brod prizrenski was young or new to protest, there is a notable contingent of newcomers when compared to many other movements. This cohort which also draws from a wider range of social backgrounds than often found at protests, with working class and BME groups better represented brings brod prizrenski young voices and black voices to the fore in a country which so often pays little heed to their needs; with little political power, they are convenient scapegoats and some of austerity s biggest losers (along with immigrants and the disabled).
These young people may well be the next wave of individuals engaged in lifelong resistance and, if so, it s not hard to see why those in power are concerned. At a time in their lives where they are forming brod prizrenski ideas about what the world they want to live in looks like, and are about to face the challenges of adulthood and/or going to higher brod prizrenski education (where a great deal of political organising takes place), these individuals are connecting, developing ideas, and organising disrupting the status quo rather than blindly following it. They are also experiencing first-hand how the state deals with dissenters and critics.
The issues raised by the London brod prizrenski Black Revs and others are reaching brod prizrenski a varied, frustrated audience, and the potential for their calls to spread and develop is vast. The government and police are placed directly in the firing line, and with little defence for their actions they will seemingly go to huge lengths to minimise the potential for these calls to proliferate.
It seems likely that the heavy-handed police response on 10th December was indeed due to the increasing threat these groups cause to the status quo. In part this response was to gather intelligence on the main organisers, and participants, from the outset, as the movement gather