Features / protest
Bristol’s reputation for resistance
Bristol is a city littered with treasures of revolution. Cracks in the windows of Bridewell Police Station stand over passers-by and unknowing seagulls perch on an empty plinth down the road.
Pero’s Bridge hosts a turnstile of buskers while the bricks of famous structures such as the Clifton Suspension Bridge and Wills Memorial Building often come up in public discussions surrounding the legacies of the slave trade.
In 1831, Queen’s Square was overrun with rioters seeking out a local magistrate. His opposition to a second Reform Bill aiming to grant industrial towns like Bristol more representation in the House of Commons led him to running over rooftops away from angry citizens’ pitchforks
is needed now More than ever
In 1932, the city was enthralled with similar chaos when the National Unemployed Workers Movement chose Old Market as stage to protest the government’s reduction of unemployment benefit. The riot climaxed with a heavy use of police force, causing injury to bystanders outside of a nearby police station.
Paul Stephenson defined the British Civil Rights Movement – photo: Sarah Koury KoLAB Studios
In 1963, Paul Stephenson defined the British Civil Rights Movement by leading a citywide protest fighting the discrimination against non-white candidates for jobs on Bristol’s buses. A four-month boycott of bus services ensued from Bristol’s West-Indian population, with backing from white residents.
The twentieth century was marked by a series of uprisings in St Paul’s spanning the ’80s. Tensions between the police and the Black community derived from racially motivated drug arrests, as well as by civil unrest felt towards the sus law and widespread poverty.
June 7, 2020 – for a few unwavering hours, the world’s eyes turned to Bristol, as protesters tore down the statue of Edward Colston, a 17th century slave trader who left much of his wealth to his home city.
The statue of Edward Colston which was pulled down in June 2020 made global headlines – photo: Rufus Atkins
In March 2021 residents reacted to what they saw as a threat to their right to protest by a newly proposed Crime & Policing Bill. The ‘kill the bill’ movement became synonymous with Bristol. The country watched peaceful protests escalate to clashes with the police over multiple nights.
Main photo: Rufus Atkins
Read more: Unmissable events
Listen to the latest Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast:
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
