Written by Janice North

 

 

When freedom calls to us we must answer. So when today’s Freedom march was announced I was determined to go, having missed the last one.. And there is so much to protest about! We were beginning to wonder how much difference these protests make. But once I arrived, (having made my posters on the tube) you realise that every person counts – the more of us the better.

Every generation has to fight for freedom all over again – and this is our time. If we don’t we will end up in never-ending lockdowns, tracked and traced, socially credit scored, PCR tested, regularly vaccinated, not allowed to protest or use cash, bullied by the green agenda, and blocked by road closures and bike lanes everywhere (some of which is already happening). We must protest now while we still can.

I was late arriving and joined the back of the march, meandering out of Hyde Park  Corner. I wasn’t sure how many were there today. Was it less? I walked faster for a while and then looked back. The crowd behind me was immense, as was that in front. We had done ourselves proud again!

We marched along to the beat of a drum. We sang, we chanted, some danced, some even carried icons and some played music. Most of us had posters including one I saw which simply said “I’ve got the Freedom Variant”.

The smell was heady – a mix of flare smoke, incense, and some err “herbal mixtures “?. Sometimes the air was blue from a flare giving it a surreal effect. Cars beeped in agreement. It was uplifting. I was glad to be there.

As we went under a bridge suddenly everyone broke into a freedom chant, I joined in, carried along by the feeling of the crowd. There was a comfort and familiarity – we have done this many times before now of course.

We were heading south. It was a warm day but as we walked over the river suddenly a breeze and freshness from the water wafted in and refreshed me. The sky and the river looked beautiful. I felt proud of my city. These marches are a lesson in appreciating our city as well for freedom -beautiful buildings everywhere, the river never far away, history at every turn. How wonderful to be a Londoner! My heart heaved with pride.

By now we were in Brixton. It has improved a lot. Been “hipsterised “ perhaps or regenerated – a word for the rich trying to make cash out of what was once a working-class area… sigh. People stared, some joined in, some not. Hey, perhaps we were the nearest thing to a carnival this year ?!

Some wandered to the pub by then but most of us marched on to Clapham. Once there the police made a show of force. You could say to stop people wandering on the road or maybe because there was now less of us they could push a few people around. Who knows. But the march was peaceful, colourful, positive, exuberant and wonderful. We are old hands at this now. The media may ignore us but the people SEE us!

Fight for our freedom we must!
See you at the next one!

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