I don’t quite know how I feel about the Edward Colston statue which was torn down, dragged to Bristol docks and throw in today.
I’m slightly torn… only slightly
I am very proud to come from Bristol and for #Blacklivesmatter to be massively supported (5,000 people!) in a city with 15% people of colour. The protest looked from what I could see of the coverage. I have been aware of the Colston statue while growing up but the worst that ever happened was he ended up with a traffic cone on his head.
Bristol have been debating if it should be taken down for a while and theres been attempts to show the historic horror of the slave trade in the UK.
I’m with the protestors. But I also think about the democratic process and encouraging people to take things into their own hands. This is also what the establishment always wanted, a way to condemn the black lives matter movement on top of the public health risk. Priti Patel is just the start of the torrent of negative press coming. I also imagine other protests in other cities might consider similar?
Positive things to come from this…
- Bristol’s Mayor has issued a statement saying Banners and placards at the base of the toppled statue will be preserved
- Even better is there is a petition to put the Martin luther king of the UK (Paul Stephenson OBE) on the top.
“I believe that one candidate for his replacement would be Paul Stephenson. He led the 1963 Bristol Bus Boycott, started because Bristol Post announced in 1961 that black workers were refused work despite a worker shortage due to a resolution from the Transport and General Workers’ Union. The Boycott influenced the creation of the Race Relations Act.
- Its clear this time black lives matter is going to have some serious legacy with lots of good people and companies standing alongside.
- The calls to reform history education to include much more about the UK’s role in the slave trade, have been ignited once again.
Perhaps dear Auntie might like to follow in the steps of the good people of Brizzol!