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Dispatches from the eye of the storm
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Last week, the mayhem of the London riots engulfed the East London borough in which community leader Krazie from our Talking About Relationships board lives. Here, she shares her story...
I’ve never been easily scared. I’ve seen and been through so much in my life that it’s very rare that I get scared. But with the events of last week… I have to admit, I was very scared.
On Monday 8 August at around 12:30pm, I heard rumours that something was going to happen; I’d obviously heard about the carnage in Tottenham, and I’d seen the aftermath on television. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, but I hadn’t seen anything yet.
At 3pm, I heard that a riot had started on Mare Street in Hackney (East London), so I turned on Sky News because I didn’t believe what I was hearing. Imagine my horror when I saw a street on the television which is five minutes away from my house, swarming with police, riot vans and mindless thugs causing havoc; then imagine how I felt when I realised the riot was happening outside the building where my brother was working!
I called him and almost cheered when he answered; he said they were fine, they were staying inside the Hackney Empire (where he works) until it passed. I then called my Mum and told her to come home as she works too close and it was only a matter of time before it reached her road too.
Then there was nothing I could do but watch as the horrors got worse; after making sure my family were all accounted for and safe, I called friends to make sure they were okay as I could see that the rioters were being pushed on to nearby Clarence Road.
I don’t think I can adequately describe what I was feeling, I just remember thinking that this is the kind of thing you expect to see in Iraq coverage, not in your neighbourhood; but most of all I wondered why this was happening, what they could possibly hope to gain from all this… and when I saw people walking out of JD Sports with tracksuits and trainers, I knew what it was about. It wasn’t political, it wasn’t for a cause or for justice: it was pure, unadulterated greed.
I called my cousin to see where she was, and she was making her way to my Aunt’s house so I told her to come to my house as it was closer. Ten minutes after she arrived, she got a call saying she had to go to work. I wasn’t about to let her go anywhere by herself, so I dropped her off in the car. I came back up Lower Clapton Road to go home and saw about 100 youths on both sides of the road. Slightly further up were police, riot vans and policemen on horses; I had literally driven straight into the eye of the storm. And at that moment, I was scared because I was already aware of what this mob was capable of, aware of their total lack of conscience, respect or morals – and aware that I was in a car.
While contemplating the situation, I tried to remember the alternative route home; in a moment of clarity I remembered, and turned the car around only to be faced by a marked police car and two undercover cars with sirens blazing and tearing down the road towards me. Oh hell.
As the cars were blocking the street I had no choice but to stop in the middle of the road because I couldn’t go anywhere – police in front, police behind and youths wearing bandanas on both sides. Just great.
Thankfully, at that moment, the police cars pulled over and the youths ran for it; I didn’t think twice, I hit the accelerator and sped out of there, burning rubber. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to get inside my house.
After that, it was more waiting, more watching and more fear. I could hear the sirens getting closer, hear the choppers overhead, and I was getting Facebook updates every second. My brother reached home safely and we all gathered around the television as we watched history unfold; no one gave a second thought to Eastenders or Emmerdale or anything else, all we were concerned about was happening practically in our backyard.
Then after a while we didn’t want to know what was happening anymore, we couldn’t watch the horror that felt like a movie but was completely and utterly real.
For two days, I did not leave my house. I was in constant contact with family and friends, including some online friends who were in cities which suffered in the coming days; not people in Iraq, or America, people in the United Kingdom. What on earth has this country come to? In the past week, we’ve lost landmarks, buildings, homes and lives, and for what? A few flat screens and trainers?
Someday, there will be children in schools studying the riots of 2011 and there will be many questions asked…when someone comes up with answers, please let me know.
By Cl-Krazie
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