Yesterday I took the train to Brighton for a British International Studies Association group workshop on Colonial/Postcolonial/Decolonial Studies (BISA-CPD). An... unexpected period bleed on the train meant I was forced to go looking for sanitary napkins and new knickers. After that hassle (why can't someone make emergency period kits), with stomach cramps and in pain, I bought a cup of coffee and was on my way to the venue, when I experienced the worst racist assault of my life. A huge blonde-haired middle-aged white man, over six feet tall, in combat trousers and hoodie started abusing me very loudly as I passed by. I've never heard such a tirade of utterly unprovoked vicious speech. From 'Paki cunt' to 'beheading' to 'cut your head off' to 'Eastern countries' and on and on. He didn't just use words, he got up and came to within a few inches of me more than once, threatening physical assault. He was not drunk nor did he seem particularly dishevelled. I was caught between him and a road with passing cars. In spite of backing off several times, I could not step onto the road in front of cars, and it was only when I could step onto the road and when someone on the other side challenged him to stop, that I could take out my phone camera with my numb hands. When I directed the camera at him, he continued (the video below is last few seconds of the several minutes of abuse). The mere fact of my non-white existence was enough for him to verbally abuse and threaten physical assault. If the Good Samaritans had not intervened, he was on course to hit me. I cannot thank enough the people who comforted me after I was on the other side and who waited with me as witnesses while the police arrived. The abusive racist man had left by then, and the police took details and said they would first try and find him and then take my statement. I hope that happens because this man is a threat to people and he is clearly capable of extreme hate and much violence. He needs treatment. I am especially grateful to the amazing young man who saved me, the kind woman who comforted me, and to all who gave their contact to the police as witnesses. In the last 24 hours, I've had flashes of the incident, the abuse, the entire sequence. Ironically, I had in my bag, along with the readings on subaltern studies, on gender and coloniality, the novel 'Meursault investigation' by Kamel Daoud (which takes The Stranger by Albert Camus as a starting point).
#Racism #HateCrime #Brighton #GoodSamaritans #intersectionality

On this day in 1977, South London residents and anti-fascists staged running battles with police and National Front front members to stop a fascist demonstratio...n in what would come to be known as ‘the Battle of Lewisham’. This is a short account of the riot: https://libcom.org/history/1977-the-battle-of-lewisham