Previous Next

Even as new reports of riots continue from London, local neighborhoods are organizing cleanup efforts. Please follow: #Londoncleanup.

THIS IMAGE was just posted to twitter by @stu_bradley with the caption “faith restored a little bit.” This should be the defining image of the riots, along with the voice of this West Indian woman who tells it like it is:

[Aside: this woman's speech has already been remixed over jungle breaks / riot footage.]

People are attempting to draw parallels, seek connections, or compare recent riots and protests in Egypt and London.

Meanwhile, others, like Flea, are asking more relevant questions.

World Events

 

About The Author

David Miller

David Miller is Senior Editor of Matador (winner of 2010 and 2011 Lowell Thomas awards for travel journalism) and Director of Curricula at MatadorU. Follow him @dahveed_miller.

Archived Responses to The image of London we should be broadcasting around the world

  1. Anonymous says:

    In answer to Flea’s question: yes. See also: Soweto.

  2. Karen Dion says:

    The woman made me cry. Hackney: my old neighbourhood.

  3. T.C. says:

    You’re right. What good is mass protest? We should stay home and blog about it instead.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Great images and there are many more undocumented examples here on the ground in London. And in answer to Flea’s question, sadly yes, as Eva14 has pointed out. In the UK also. 1 million people demonstrated peacefully against the Iraq War and were ignored. Students have demonstrated, largely peacefully, against tuition fees and have been ignored. But in 1990 there was a large demonstration against the poll tax. It escalated into a riot and plans to introduce the unfair tax were dropped. It also contributed to the resignation of the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, which many saw as a positive. Those not in the UK or able to help with the physical cleanup can follow #operationcupoftea and show their support in a light-hearted British way.

  5. alschiele says:

    Personally, I wouldn’t take issue if Parliament or the City had been damaged but to hurt your own already deprived area is something I can’t agree with no matter the result it brings. The video on BBC of rioters pretending to help an injured guy get on his feet only to reach into his backpack and mug him was atrocious. Go #londoncleanup!

  6. Anonymous says:

    I love this. It’s a group of people coming together to say, “Hey, let’s each grab a broom and clean up after thise dummies who trashed it all.”

    Humanity is a great big dysfunctional family. Occasionally we have to clean up after our idiot younger brothers.

  7. Just to let you know that the virgin mobile fitness center in the south-side purchasing hub in wands-worth has been removed and all the stores in the purchasing hub have shut and they have removed the whole hub.

Snow has transformative power and can itself be transformed into art.
Santa gets around. Merry Christmas, Matador!
From Filipino pig roasts to Portuguese pastries.
Here are some wedding rituals from different cultures.
The objective for retreat goers is for them to "Relax, Release, Receive and Renew."
Editor at large Eileen Smith brings us 10 more hot drinks from around the world, even...
Celebrate Library Lovers' Month with these 15 photos of extraordinary design.
From the moka to the sock, here are six different ways to brew your morning pick-me-up.
Urban explorer Steve Duncan shares pics from his out-of-bounds expeditions.
When linguists refer to "untranslatable" words, the idea is not that a word cannot...
These sculptures range from fun to freaky and might just make you look twice.