Say it loud. Say it proud.
So the past few weeks have been a bit crazy with the whole Brexit debacle, England out of the Euros (even though I've been rooting for Wales anyway, and wow! They have done me proud), endless news updates of suicide bombings and shootings and much more...so, yesterday brought a with it a breath of fresh air.
There had been information flying about that groups of Neo-Nazi Fascists would be heading to Southampton to spread their message of hate against immigrants and spew endless amounts of racism. The news of their presence in Southampton soon spread fast on social media and a group/event was created to encourage anyone who was against these morons to join in a peaceful protest and help to keep the streets of Southampton tidy and racist-free.
I had assumed that a fair amount of people would join in solidarity for such an occasion, but yesterday I was truly humbled when I arrived at the Bargate in the city centre to see hundreds of people ready to tell these heinous beings where to go.
The so called Pie and Mash crew and South Coast Resistance were said to be arriving at 11am, so there we were ready and waiting...to a point where I started to feel on edge not knowing who to trust or what might happen. Alas, and hour and more passed and there was still no sign, so the wonderful group of peaceful protestors marched up and down the high street of Southampton making it very clear that we would not and will not stand for any sort of racism in our city.
Myself and my friend quickly nipped in to a shop we soon lost the huge group of people, which baffled us as we could not work out how the hell hundreds of people could just disappear so quickly. It turns out everyone had headed towards the train station where the merry band of far right wing hooligans were making their entrance. However, around 13 or so of them turned up, only to be faced with hundreds of us and were soon told by Police and a few (slightly angry) protestors where to go. And with that, they were gone.
They are still posting on their groups of their "great achievements" but we all know that this is not the case and due to the love and greatness of the people of Southampton we were able to keep these vile, morons out of our wonderful city.
I am so proud, and was honoured to be marching with such a wonderful community. Southampton, you have done myself and hundreds of others very proud.
You can find out more about this subject and the great work every one did on the Southampton Antifascists Facebook group.