Mosa'ab Elshamy/AP/Press Association. All rights reserved.The face of the Egyptian revolt is that of thousands of protestors occupying Tahrir Square in central Cairo, chanting for the fall of Mubarak, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forced (SCAF), and the Muslim Brotherhood – all over the course of three years.
The narrative revolved around young, middle class, technology-literate activists who used social media to galvanize the masses against the regime of the day. However, this narrative ignores another side of the Egyptian revolt; the role of the urban poor whose participation was key in the early successes of the revolt, especially in the clashes that followed with SCAF and the Muslim Brotherhood.
The success of the first “Friday of Anger” came after the police force collapsed, which was not prompted by the protestors storming the Square, but by the attacks on police stations by the urban poor. Ninety-nine police stations were set alight that day as the urban poor exacted revenge against their tormentors.
