Sunday, December 06, 2009

Why I march

Tomorrow we march, tomorrow we protest for those who have been lost and to make sure their sacrifice need not be repeated. To tell you the truth I'm scared, I'm sure that there will be clashes with the riot police who have adopted a zero- tolerance policy over the last few weeks.There are also keen to show that they are in charge here and that the streets belong to them and them alone,

So why do I go? That's a tough questions and I'm not sure I have a good answer to that but all I know is that not going is unthinkable. I still feel the the raw battery acid taste of rage in my mouth from when last year's events unfolded, that sense that something is fundamentally wrong with the way we live our lives if the cold blooded killing by the police of a teenager goes unremarked.

Last year I spent the better part of three weeks on the streets covering marches, sit-ins and riots in the hope that somehow the outside world would give a damn. I wanted to believe that what I photographed and wrote about helped changed perceptions about how the violent protests last December were seen by the rest of the world. How arrogant that sounds, but maybe, just maybe I was part of a wave that got out, a different message to the one that the mainstream media here were peddling, that of blind destruction and hooliganism, rather than revolt.

2 comments:

apas said...

You are saying it, damn right Craig. Well done. Hopefully, see you tomorrow in the streets. Peace.

Anonymous said...

While the intent may have been revolt, the destruction it brought was what allowed people to call it houliganism. People's (not corporations because they can rebuild easily) livelihood's were destroyed. Is that the way to stand up for the little guy? Be clear in your actions knowing that is where the masses will get the cues to judge. What exactly do you want changed? Because at times it feels as if the "revolution" is simply holding our cities hostage in an effort to memorialize a killing with sheer terror and destruction.