After Sunday’s one-sided race riot, Middlesbrough turned up on Monday for a Mother of All Counter-Protests: a nice clear-up. Where on Sunday the troublemakers had gathered at the Cenotaph at Albert Park’s entrance, an 8am start the following day saw hundreds of volunteers brandishing brushes and bin bags, descending onto nearby Parliament Road and other side streets. They streamed from all directions: the park, Linthorpe Village, downtown.
The sun had his hat on as they set to work.
The call to action came in a Facebook post from Amal Project Teesside, together with Middlesbrough Methodist Church and Jamia Masjid Al-Madina mosque, and backing from the police.
The post received over 300 comments. Local eateries and the Tees Futsal League offered free tea and coffee to the cleaners. Participants from further afield offered car lifts. Rainbow Auto Services Ltd closed their doors to turn up with their tools.
Some brought drills and wood panelling to board up broken windows.
There were comments about the details:
“It’s not much but I have a pair of old gardening gloves that should do the trick for picking stuff up safely. I don’t really have anything in the way of tools but I’d be happy to help where I can.”
Another:
“Can we turn up earlier, at 7am, please? We need to drive down south later on in the morning! I’ve got a trip to the tip booked as it is so am happy to fill the car up with rubbish from the clear up if that would help.”
An optimist posted:
“I’ve just had surgery so currently bedbound, if I’m feeling any better I’ll be there tomorrow”
You might ask why the rioters targeted the multicultural Parliament Road area. It is home to a couple of mosques. While the suspect in the 29 July murder of three children in Southport – the supposed trigger for these highly co-ordinated attacks- is neither a muslim nor a migrant, the rioters were hellbent on a race-hate conflagration and any brown skin would do. Although conflict with muslims fits the narrative of the rioters’ faceless organisers.
After three hours of hard graft on the streets, Amal called a halt on their Facebook page. There were over 50 comments to the post: happy, tired and most of all proud.
“Thank you so much for organising this. This was more than just about cleaning up our town. It sent a message of united good to all those communities who must have been terrified yesterday. Thank you.”
“Thank you for organising this. It was amazing to see everyone come together and support the community.”
“I will be honest, I didn’t even want to go home after the Clean up. I felt so much comfort being amongst all the lovely people that came to help. The way the community came together today and stood up for what is right was amazing well done everyone ❤️”
“It was a pleasure to join you from Durham. Thank you for organising the clean up. I met some wonderful Teessiders.”
“Thanks so much for organising this. It was a joy to see such a big crowd at the cenotaph all with shovels and brushes ready to get stuck in.”
“Fantastic to see the good side of a community, showing how the vast majority want the community to be – united, accepting, respectful, and considerate.”
A post on Twitter summed it up:
“Heroes don’t always wear capes…they show love to others, and know how to use a brush and bin bag.”
A gofundme has been set up to help pay for the riot damage.
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/BoroUnites?utm_term=ZKdJW9YyZ
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