By Charlotte Ndupuechi.
Wow, well done Southampton and thank you. Tonight (7/8/24) you did us proud. Hundreds of you took to the streets in a counter protest to let the racists know that they are not welcome in our city. It’s been amazing to see photos of people, young and old, standing shoulder to shoulder with a loud and clear message- “not in our city, not on our streets!”
There was a very tense atmosphere today at work in the city, seeing an increased police presence and hearing that shops were closing early to keep their staff safe, there was certainly an eerie atmosphere. After hearing from friends and colleagues that they were scared to leave their house for fear of attack, it was truly amazing to see how the evening unfolded. Thank you to each and every one of you that made the effort to go along to support those who were in fear of doing so. You have sent a very proud message out to those people and to the whole city.
One of my favourite photos from the demo, a sign that reads ‘fascism belongs in the dustbin of history’ and my dad, who is almost 81 years old holding it with a couple of his very good friends and comrades.