11/04/81: Brixton riots

On Saturday 11 April 1981 fierce fighting and rioting broke out in the London suburb of Brixton. At approx. 4:45pm two police officers searched and arrested a young black taxi driver, taking him away.  Missiles were thrown at the police van as it left. This led to more police reinforcements and led to the worst day of the rioting.  The rioters were mostly young black men but they were now joined by young whites.  Looting began, police vans were overturned and bricks, bottles, and petrol bombs were thrown, setting fire to both police and private cars. There were also a number of attacks on retail and commercial premises and bars.

pic.: Peter Murphy

pic: PA

text source: blackpast.org

for various eye-witness accounts see: Remembering the riots (theguardian.com)

10/04/81: Michael Bailey stabbed in Brixton

On Friday 10 April 1981 at around 5 p.m. a young black man, Michael Bailey, was stabbed in a fight in the Brixton area of suburban London. While running for help he was stopped by police officers who were then accused by other residents of having stabbed Bailey themselves and furthermore hindering medical assistance.

The incident is said to have been the spark that started the ensuing 'Brixton Riots' over the following weekend.

pic: guardian

Police harassment increased tension in Brixton when Operation Swamp ’81 was launched  in early April 1981. Police used the hated “sus” laws, which allowed them to search anyone they suspected of having committed a crime. In just five days, police stopped and searched almost 950 people, arresting 150. Black people made up just 6 percent of London’s population in the late 1970s. But 44 percent of those arrested under sus were black. Unemployment in the area stood at 13 per cent overall, and 25 per cent among the West Indian community. Half of young black men were jobless.

Flyer calling for an end to 'Sus' laws, 1981

sources: wikipedia, dailymail.co.uk
flyer pic: irr.org.uk

2/3/81: Black People's Day of Action

On Monday 2 March 1981 several thousand people took to the streets of London to protest the New Cross Massacre on 18 January, where a suspected racist fire-bomb attack killed thirteen black youths (aged 15-22) at 439 New Cross Rd, London SE14. The march went from Deptford, scene of the fire, to Fleet Street, home to many of the UK's national newspapers, and then to Downing St.

The protest was against the alleged brutal police treatment of survivors, racist media reporting, ongoing racial attacks and the silence of the British government and Queen resulting in the slogan, “13 dead and nothing said!”. The London Black People's Day of Action demonstration in 1981 began a year of uprisings that would set the streets of Britain ablaze as Black communities in London, Birmingham, Leeds and Liverpool rose up in revolt against prejudice and oppression.

source: The Blacklist Pub, obv.org.uk





Also on this day.... two new asteroids were discovered by Dr. Schelte J. “Bobby” Bus, astronomer at the University of Hawaii Astronomy Institute.

The two asteroids were both named after science-fiction writers:  4923 Clarke, after Arthur C. Clarke, and 5020 Asimov after Isaac Asimov.