Laula remembers we linked arms and sang, we shall overcome. She began walking through the streets shouting out to the women. Fill your prams with bread and milk. Children haven't gotten any food. The brits were standing with their helmets and their guns all ready. Their batons were out. We turned and went down the grosvenor road, singing and shouting. I remember seeing one brit standing there scratching his head going, what do we do with all these women? Do we go into riot situation here? Then we turned onto slate street, where the school was, my school, and the brits are there. They come flying out of the school
Malcolm has been writing about race and policing for a very long time, going back to the killing of Amadou Diallo in 1999. Sometimes, it is useful to take a step back and consider policing in a broader context. Here we present a chapter from Malcolm's book David and Goliath, which includes an analysis of a riot in Northern Ireland in 1970. Many miles and many years away. About divisions of religion and class and not divisions of race. But the core questions to be asked in 1970 and 1999 and today are the same: if you have power, what does it mean to use it, and use it wisely? And what are the consequences if you don't?
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants was published in 2013 by Little, Brown and Company. Audiobook production by Hachette Audio.
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