Tears were shed today in Windrush Square, Brixton, at the ceremony to unveil a memorial to honour black soldiers who fought for Britain in the First and Second World Wars. From where I was standing I could see quite a lot of discreet eye dabbing going on, when I wasn’t busy dabbing my own.
I suspect the main emotion on display was pride. Pride that the huge contribution of black servicemen and women was finally being honoured. It was also certainly an occasion that made me proud to be a Londoner and just being there to witness the coming together of communities in a spirit of love and harmony was a truly uplifting experience. As long as we stick together, Londoners will never bow to those who mindlessly attack us.
As one of the presenters said near the end ‘only in Brixton could you see the pomp and circumstance of a military marching band / masquerade mash up’. It summed up the whole quirky event in a nutshell.
I hadn’t realised quite how high profile this was going to be, big name speakers included: Sadiq Khan (Mayor of London); Michael Fallon (Defence Secretary); and Lord Herman Ouseley. Rousing though many of the speeches were (even Michael Fallon spoke powerfully and with conviction), it was ‘lesser lights’ who stole the show: the children from a local primary school who sung their hearts out at the end (a memorable day for them as well as for their audience); the singers of the Pegasus Opera company; the drummers and dancers from Gahu Dramatic Arts. And let’s not forget the 100 doves of peace released at the end (we were there to commemorate those who gave their lives in wars that were not of their making), who did a quick formation flight over Windrush Square before being lost among the local pigeon population (a flying, flapping metaphor for integration if ever I saw one!).
Historycal Roots took lots of photos and even tried to film the doves (to no avail, have you ever tried filming birds in flight on an i-phone?!) but will go back for a proper photo of the memorial when it’s a bit less crowded!
A very good afternoon and congratulations to everyone involved in making it happen.
The event featured on local BBC news. With apologies for the picture and sound quality (our daughter filmed the TV screen) you can see the item by clicking here (the cameraman [or woman] succeeded in filming the doves where I failed): ATT00002