Down to Electric Avenue: Brixton

Our last excursion with British Life and Culture was to Brixton, the cultural center of London's Caribbean population. It is also the birthplace of David Bowie, hence the mural which went up after his death. It is now covered in glass because so many started writing their names on it. According to our guide, the artist was fine with it until the writing spread to Bowie's actual face. There are plenty of opportunities to observe urban art here, but the tour itself covered a whole lot more with regard to the history of Black Brits' relationship to the police, the housing struggle for those who came to the UK from Jamaica on the Windrush to work after the Blitz, and the often unacknowledged contribution of Caribbean RAF soldiers in WWII. This was possibly the most informative tour we took as a class.

This is the Black Cultural Archives, which was built to collect, preserve and celebrate the history of British people of African and Caribbean descent. It was built in response to ways in which the UK failed its Black population such as the Police and Criminal Evidence Act of 1984 which reacted to the Brixton Uprising.

This mural under a bridge features imagery related to the culture and history of Brixton. This and other art featured on the tour might make this a good focus for Encounters in Humanities.

Did you know Eddie Grant's song "Electric Avenue" was about the uprising? I didn't, but now I do. (Frustratingly, the song is not on Spotify in its original version.) Of course now that I read the lyrics, it's pretty obvious.

Now in the street there is violence
And, and a lots of work to be done
No place to hang out our washing
And, and I can't blame all on the sun

Oh no we gonna rock down to electric avenue
And then we'll take it higher
Oh we gonna rock down to electric avenue
And then we'll take it higher

There are foxes all over London, such as the one pushing a cherry for some reason here. This is because the growing city displaced a lot of foxes. (In Ealing, they still run around at night.)

Workin' so hard like a soldier
Can't afford a thing on TV
Deep in my heart I am warrior
Can't get food for them kid

Good God we gonna rock down to electric avenue
And then we'll take it higher
Oh we gonna rock down to electric avenue
And then we'll take it higher

This is a monument to Cherry Groce, who was shot by police and paralyzed from the waist down. This incident, which occurred when cops came to her home looking for one of her sons, inspired the uprising. We got the full story from Cherry's (other) son, who actually happened to be there because it was her birthday. He was just a little kid when his mother was shot in front of him. Cherry Groce died in 2011.

Marcus Garvey Way.

This is the Brixton market. If we had more time, there was a lot here, but much of it has gone from local vendors to more cafes as the area starts to become more gentrified. It would be a good place to get drunk if we weren't in the middle of a tour.

This memorial honors the African and Caribbean men and women who served in WWI and WWII. Their contribution is often forgotten about in the typical historical representations.

This mural outside Brixton House, a theater in the center of Brixton, is called Nuclear Dawn. You can see Ronnie and Mags in the corner but our other guide is in front of it.

Street view of Brixton.

These arches housed local vendors for a long time, making this a thriving market area, but gentrification drove up rents, making the spaces no longer affordable, so most are shut up and empty like these.

Residential area, and our DMACC group from behind. 

Note to teachers: This tour was part of British Life and Culture, and I think it's a must for any study of Black History or Sociology. A lot of the same issues with racially-motivated housing discrimination and police brutality we have in the US exist also in the UK. Police practice was a huge aspect of this tour, which might make it good for Criminal Justice as well.