Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Acknowledgements
- Foreword
- Introduction
- Immigration has completely changed the city. There’s a thriving community of Asian people.
- If you say Easterhouse to someone, the first thing they think of is normally gangs, violence and drugs.
- There was a family on my floor: a mum, dad, sister and two brothers. None of them made it out.
- The land was just sitting there and the idea came up about making an allotment on the bog land, so that the people in the community could grow their own fresh food.
- Living a life that is affected by austerity feels like a judgement from a Tory government of who I am. I don’t feel that there’s anybody looking out for my interests as a human being.
- When I first found out I had MND, Steph had just given birth to Ralphie, so we went from that amazing high to being told that I’d got something that could potentially kill me in two years.
- I felt like a little invisible shadow. People knew, but I couldn’t tell anyone, as I was so scared that my child would be taken away. I thought if I kept my mouth shut, then at least I had my daughter.
- Even as a kid going to school, I felt like teachers had a handbook on how to deal with particular kids when it came to race. They’re so quick to kick us out of school.
- Campaigning with DPAC – Disabled People Against Cuts – gave me direction. It kept me going when I would’ve given up.
- The cranes are like big guns aimed in on us. We are surrounded.
- I feel the country is more divided. Maybe because of Brexit, but it feels like the gap has widened between left and right.
- Emergency accommodation is supposed to mean anything from a week to six months. But I ended up being there for over a year.
- I think we are a great example that you can start your life over again at any age.
- A supervisor was bullying me, and when I confronted him he told me women are only here for having children, and called me a donkey.
- I think the EU got blamed for things it wasn’t responsible for, not that it was perfect. Some farmers saw the referendum as an opportunity to have change.
- There were nine of us, all musicians. I was the only one who could speak English, not good, but better than the others, so I volunteered to speak about asylum.
- It always seems to come down to money nowadays. And actually, what should be more important is what children need.
- I’ve been in trouble quite a lot in my life. Nothing too serious, and somehow I’ve only been to prison once.
- We don’t have to accept this attack on our living standards, we don’t have to accept the demonisation of the various minorities, be they disabled, poor, single parents, immigrants or refugees.
- I try and bring a sense of love, belonging and family to the women. I believe in every one of them and I will never stop.
- I’m passionate about young people knowing that everything is political.
- I just couldn’t move. I was on that many different opiates, my body couldn’t cope with it.
- The biggest thing for me about being a single parent is the fact that people do seem to think that it defines you in some way.
- Being a trans woman in the 70s was exceedingly difficult. We weren’t breaking Queen’s Regulations by being transgendered, but the military police thought that it could be used against us.
- Am I accepted because I’m the token black woman to make up a percentage of black artists, or for my hard work and talent?
- When I was selling drugs I was always thinking about the money. I didn’t actually see the effect it has on the users.
- Some people even say we might need a third referendum. What they really mean is we should keep voting until they get the answer they want.
- We need to look more widely at the contribution that black people have historically made to British society.
- The word ‘Islamophobia’ was something I learnt sometime after 9/11. Until then, I didn’t know what it was. I didn’t know that it was called Islamophobia until it formed into this thing that had a name.
- The state of the country is terrible. Don’t even get me started. Theresa May, she gets on my nerves when she goes on.
- I struggle every day. I struggle to get up and even make myself food, and so I skip meals quite often.
- At first I thought it was a good thing to go on strike, but it became clear that Maggie Thatcher was going to close us down all the same.
- We’re still dealing with feudal law when it comes to housing, so we’re really up against it.
- I’ve heard it described as a battle, but for a battle both sides had to be armed. They had riot gear, helmets, padding, gauntlets, shields, three-foot batons. There was only one side armed.
- At the Edinburgh Festival they did a play set in Govanhill called ‘Govanhell’. Why would people in Edinburgh even know about Govanhill?
- The recession started again, hitting the building trade, and there was lots of pressure trying to keep everything together for the family. Things started to go wrong.
- I think applying for benefits is made really hard just to put people off. It can be the most stressful, soul-destroying thing ever in your life.
- People here don’t want a border back because of all the trouble there was. There were a lot of bombs, over at the garage. The windows of this pub would be put in from the bang of the bombs.
- In my first week at the London School of Economics a student told me I was part of the underclass because my family received benefits, and a lecturer said ‘Poor people don’t come to LSE’.
- Mental illness isn’t universal. You can’t just give somebody one thing and they feel better. Everybody has their own way of coping.
- When you’re an immigrant you feel like an invisible part of Britain. Until you’re ingrained in the culture, you’re not seen or heard.
- Photographers’ Biographies
I’ve heard it described as a battle, but for a battle both sides had to be armed. They had riot gear, helmets, padding, gauntlets, shields, three-foot batons. There was only one side armed.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 April 2023
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Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Acknowledgements
- Foreword
- Introduction
- Immigration has completely changed the city. There’s a thriving community of Asian people.
- If you say Easterhouse to someone, the first thing they think of is normally gangs, violence and drugs.
- There was a family on my floor: a mum, dad, sister and two brothers. None of them made it out.
- The land was just sitting there and the idea came up about making an allotment on the bog land, so that the people in the community could grow their own fresh food.
- Living a life that is affected by austerity feels like a judgement from a Tory government of who I am. I don’t feel that there’s anybody looking out for my interests as a human being.
- When I first found out I had MND, Steph had just given birth to Ralphie, so we went from that amazing high to being told that I’d got something that could potentially kill me in two years.
- I felt like a little invisible shadow. People knew, but I couldn’t tell anyone, as I was so scared that my child would be taken away. I thought if I kept my mouth shut, then at least I had my daughter.
- Even as a kid going to school, I felt like teachers had a handbook on how to deal with particular kids when it came to race. They’re so quick to kick us out of school.
- Campaigning with DPAC – Disabled People Against Cuts – gave me direction. It kept me going when I would’ve given up.
- The cranes are like big guns aimed in on us. We are surrounded.
- I feel the country is more divided. Maybe because of Brexit, but it feels like the gap has widened between left and right.
- Emergency accommodation is supposed to mean anything from a week to six months. But I ended up being there for over a year.
- I think we are a great example that you can start your life over again at any age.
- A supervisor was bullying me, and when I confronted him he told me women are only here for having children, and called me a donkey.
- I think the EU got blamed for things it wasn’t responsible for, not that it was perfect. Some farmers saw the referendum as an opportunity to have change.
- There were nine of us, all musicians. I was the only one who could speak English, not good, but better than the others, so I volunteered to speak about asylum.
- It always seems to come down to money nowadays. And actually, what should be more important is what children need.
- I’ve been in trouble quite a lot in my life. Nothing too serious, and somehow I’ve only been to prison once.
- We don’t have to accept this attack on our living standards, we don’t have to accept the demonisation of the various minorities, be they disabled, poor, single parents, immigrants or refugees.
- I try and bring a sense of love, belonging and family to the women. I believe in every one of them and I will never stop.
- I’m passionate about young people knowing that everything is political.
- I just couldn’t move. I was on that many different opiates, my body couldn’t cope with it.
- The biggest thing for me about being a single parent is the fact that people do seem to think that it defines you in some way.
- Being a trans woman in the 70s was exceedingly difficult. We weren’t breaking Queen’s Regulations by being transgendered, but the military police thought that it could be used against us.
- Am I accepted because I’m the token black woman to make up a percentage of black artists, or for my hard work and talent?
- When I was selling drugs I was always thinking about the money. I didn’t actually see the effect it has on the users.
- Some people even say we might need a third referendum. What they really mean is we should keep voting until they get the answer they want.
- We need to look more widely at the contribution that black people have historically made to British society.
- The word ‘Islamophobia’ was something I learnt sometime after 9/11. Until then, I didn’t know what it was. I didn’t know that it was called Islamophobia until it formed into this thing that had a name.
- The state of the country is terrible. Don’t even get me started. Theresa May, she gets on my nerves when she goes on.
- I struggle every day. I struggle to get up and even make myself food, and so I skip meals quite often.
- At first I thought it was a good thing to go on strike, but it became clear that Maggie Thatcher was going to close us down all the same.
- We’re still dealing with feudal law when it comes to housing, so we’re really up against it.
- I’ve heard it described as a battle, but for a battle both sides had to be armed. They had riot gear, helmets, padding, gauntlets, shields, three-foot batons. There was only one side armed.
- At the Edinburgh Festival they did a play set in Govanhill called ‘Govanhell’. Why would people in Edinburgh even know about Govanhill?
- The recession started again, hitting the building trade, and there was lots of pressure trying to keep everything together for the family. Things started to go wrong.
- I think applying for benefits is made really hard just to put people off. It can be the most stressful, soul-destroying thing ever in your life.
- People here don’t want a border back because of all the trouble there was. There were a lot of bombs, over at the garage. The windows of this pub would be put in from the bang of the bombs.
- In my first week at the London School of Economics a student told me I was part of the underclass because my family received benefits, and a lecturer said ‘Poor people don’t come to LSE’.
- Mental illness isn’t universal. You can’t just give somebody one thing and they feel better. Everybody has their own way of coping.
- When you’re an immigrant you feel like an invisible part of Britain. Until you’re ingrained in the culture, you’re not seen or heard.
- Photographers’ Biographies
Summary
When the miners’ strike started in March 1984, I was 35 and had been working at Barnburgh colliery for seven years. My arrest at the Battle of Orgreave on 18th June that year has led me and my family to not trust the law ever since.
At Orgreave there must’ve been five or six thousand police marching up and down in ranks. As we got closer we could see lots of police without numbers. My mate said to me, ‘That’s army’, and I said, ‘How do you know?’ He replied, ‘Because I’ve just come out of the army.’
I’ve heard it described as a battle, but for a battle both sides had to be armed. They had riot gear, helmets, padding, gauntlets, shields, three-foot batons. There was only one side armed.
We were locked up in Snig Hill police station in Sheffield and then transferred to Rotherham later in the day. That’s when we saw all the injuries. There were so many policemen wearing overalls and no numbers. Some were wearing overcoats and that day was probably the hottest day of the year. The pickets were shirtless and the police had overcoats on – what’s all that about?
At the Orgreave Truth and Justice campaign, we’ve had photographs sent to us and testimony from people who think they saw their sons on the picket line who were in the army, or miners that saw their brothers. Although there were 18 police forces there, we don’t think they could’ve accumulated that many police. We think the soldiers were there and some of the police were army people dressed up.
There’s a lot of questions that need answering. Who was in charge? Why were there police without numbers? Why did they let us in that day? I know that the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) files are in the University of Hull library and they’re embargoed until 2066.
Now, every miner will be well dead by then. We need to get to the bottom of it while some of the miners are still alive.
We were criminalised. There were 11,000 men arrested; these men who have never had a blemish on their police record suddenly became criminals.
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- Information
- Invisible BritainPortraits of Hope and Resilience, pp. 81 - 83Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2018