A NEW film is set to mark the 40th anniversary of the St Paul’s riots in Bristol.
A collective of poets artists and filmmakers based in the city known as CARGO have commemorated the event in a short documentary released this month.
The riots, which began on April 2, 1980, have been described as among the worst civil disturbances ever seen in Bristol.
Pivotal moment
However several prominent race equality campaigners have said in the years since that they were a pivotal moment for black people in the UK.
The following year, 1981, Brixton in south London witnessed four nights of rioting and then in July of the same year Toxteth in Liverpool also saw tensions between the police and the black community erupt into rioting.
Trouble began in Bristol when police officers raided the Black and White Cafe, in the city’s Grosvenor Road.
They were quickly driven out of the area by a large crowd throwing missiles.
‘Racist police force’
Officers who carried out the raid said they were just trying to prevent crime but local people described the raid as the actions of a racist police force.
Over 140 people were arrested and 16, picked out as ringleaders, and subsequently faced court trials.
But thanks to a well-organised defence, all 16 were acquitted.
Now CARGO, have recounted the events that began on April 2 1980 in a film called UPRISING 2020.
The CARGO team have used a combination of archive, animation, typography and specially shot material to create a sequence which explores some first-hand perspectives of people who lived in the St Pauls area at the time and saw what happened.
Lawrence Hoo, writer, executive producer and published poet said: “I thought it was really important to remember the people who stood up against incredible oppression in the face of just out right racism and said ‘no more’.”
Fight against injustice
He said he would use the term “riot”, rather than “uprising”, to describe the events because “it was a riot”, where people fought against injustice which they were facing.
“We didn’t know what we were doing, other than reacting to the aggression against the system who were trying to destroy us” Hoo said. “I think it just felt like the only plan we had was that we weren’t taking it no more.
“It’s turned into an uprising now but I always felt that at the time, it was just an explosion of frustration and rage.”
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