The 10 October Palestine protest and the attacks on us from the police and the media reminded me how I became radicalised in the first place. My first involvement in politics was during the 2010 student protests against the rise in tuition fees.
Me and my school friends went down to those protests out of a deep sense of injustice at the likes of David Cameron, who were forcing the youth who weren’t even able to vote, to pay for the crisis and bad management of their system.
The only way to make our voices heard was to get onto the streets and protest. And what were we met with? The snarling attack dogs of the British state, who kettled us and charged us on horseback. I still remember the utter disdain on their faces, the hatred they had for school children who had the audacity to try and make their voices heard. Me and my friends sat and burned our homework to stay warm, as we were surrounded and kettled late into the night.
I remember getting home and turning on the news, and seeing the BBC painting us as violent, unruly, and out of control. I learned a lot that day about the nature of the state, and how they would close ranks to protect their interests, truth or justice be damned.
On Saturday, when the police attacked our peaceful demonstration, all those memories came flooding back to me. We were presented with the same violent cowards. I almost wondered if any of the police were the same ones that assaulted me and my school friends 16 years ago. And the media were immediately spinning their own lies that contradicted everything I saw with my own two eyes.
But this time there was a qualitative difference. I had the organised party to stand side by side with. I had a leadership with decades of experience to help make sense of these events and coordinate our fightback as the events rapidly unfolded.
Sat in the park surrounded by comrades as we debriefed from the day’s events was deeply inspiring for me. The feeling of defiance was such a stark contrast from trudging home in the middle of the night all those years ago, nursing my bruises and feeling defeated.
If I was presented with the organisation and explanations of the RCP back when I was a teenager, I would have joined on the spot. Instead, I had a decade of searching for answers, until I was lucky enough to meet party members 10 years later. That is our task now: to take the deep sense of injustice that many young people feel, and present them with patient explanations and a real plan of action.
Every young person who is left with any confusion or pessimism after events such as these is a historic opportunity to change the world wasted!
‘I realised that this is my purpose in life’
Before the march on Saturday I was losing hope and motivation for our fight against imperialism. But sometime between emptying my lungs screaming “tout le monde déteste la police” and linking arms with strangers that share my beliefs, I realised that this is my purpose in life.
These strangers are my comrades that would serve their life for me, and I would do the same for them. Our work, effort, and study aren’t for nought. Other protestors left London talking about us. People saw our banners, papers, posters, and stickers, and heard our voices echo down the streets. I felt like my voice had power and meaning, because it was used for my true passion and beliefs.
Alfie, 17, Bolton
