Moussa Amine-Sylla (M.A-S.): “As Sharon Grant OBE (Chair of Public Voice CIC, Director of Bernie Grant Arts Centre, widow of Bernie Grant) commented to me recently, some of the strongest forms of solidarity are forged in situations of crisis. She gave the example of the relationships and movements formed at the time of the miners strike and how many of these ties still endure to this day in Tottenham.
When the UK ‘lockdown’ was initially put in place here in mid-March and the government really emphasised we were in the midst of a pandemic, the situation here felt really grave. The Prime Minister was telling everyone that people were going to die before their time and lots of people were, understandably, shocked and worried.
The government had clearly opted to pursue a certain strategy. By framing the situation as a public emergency, instructing people to go home and not leave unless absolutely essential and by ordering most shops and community services to close immediately and until further notice, the government set the scene for the UK to become a kind of war zone. Local authorities and local communities were caught off guard and the usual sense of community almost instantly disappeared, at least for a time.
