New Cross 13 Memorial March (2) (original) (raw)

Black People's Day of Action, held on 2nd March 1981, when 20, 000 people went on an anti-racism march through the centre of London in memory of the 13 young people who died at New Cross.

The New Cross Massacre Action Committee was formed within days of the firebombing of a house in Lewisham, south London, which killed 13 black youth and seriously injured 27 others in January 1981. The aims of the Committee were to protest at the bias and inadequacy of the police investigation and challenge the indifference of the media to the event. It also established a Fact-finding Commission to compile its own evidence through interviews with survivors and the bereaved. The Committee's other activities included the monitoring of inquest court proceedings resulting from the incident, the establishment of the New Cross Memorial Trust.

On the streets, the slogan:

'Dame Jill Knight Set The Fire Alight' became current as a result of the perception that a speech of hers in the previous week had seemed to justify direct action against noisy parties.

This definitely contributed to the anger which finally boiled over in the widespread inner city riots later in the year.