30th Anniversary of the Brixton Riots
Commenting on the occasion of the Black Cultural Archives’ Uprising event to mark the 30th anniversary of the Brixton Riots this weekend, Chuka Umunna MP, Member of Parliament for the Streatham constituency (which covers part of Brixton) said today:
“One spring day in April 1981 my mother popped down to Brixton with her little toddlers to do a spot of shopping. Little did she know what was about to unfold; as the tension mounted and the violence started, she literally sprinted to our car with her two bundles of joy – my sister in her pushchair and me on foot – and fled the unrest.
“The Briton riots 30 years ago were a product of many things – a community that had had enough. Police brutality and prejudice yes, but also poverty, unemployment and a lack of opportunities. We’ve come a long way since then and things are far better for my generation than my father’s who arrived in this country in the 1950s and 60s.
“Yet, we still have our challenges – there is still prejudice, though it might also take on different forms. It is for these reasons that we should remember and never forget what happened – that way we fend off complacency and keep striving to be a better place to live for all our communities.”
