photography
St ry behind the
picture Seeing history made as Colston was dethroned By Mark Simmons
The events of the Black Lives Matter march in Bristol seemed portentous and historic even as they were happening. A procession of Bristolians from all walks of life made their way purposefully to the city centre. I arrived at College Green to find a sea of socially distanced protesters and
placards, sober and focused, all facing towards City Hall. It was eerily calm and quiet. There was an air of anticipation before the power of the speeches took the event to another level of seriousness and understanding of what this demonstration was about and what it meant for the black speakers, who had our ears and our hearts. After the speeches, my plan to get to the front to shoot the march from a
vantage point dissolved as I relaxed into and followed the mood of the crowd. At the bottom of Park Street, I was fortuitously guided by a friendly face to the foot of the statue of Edward Colston, where a ritual unveiling of the covered monument was beginning. Eggs were thrown then an older demonstrator processed around the infamous landmark, anticlockwise, in a deliberate fashion, untying the rope that kept the black shroud secured at the base. People waited in curious expectation, but the placard positioned on the plinth declared ‘Colston must fall’. A small group climbed the statue, removed the cloak and manoeuvred a rope around Colston’s neck and scuttled back down. The crowd were excited. I was snapping everything but didn’t quite expect to see Colston begin to move and lean. I grabbed a shot and then it was down, history was made and I was there. I got some nice shots of the diverse emotions of the people jumping on and reclaiming the cultural space of our city centre. After much celebrating, a small group started rolling the dethroned and defaced Colston. He was going back to the sea, where so many poor souls had perished in this shameful and inhuman trade.
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