Who are the Forever Family Force protesters who marched through London yesterday?
WEARING what appeared to be stab vests under paramilitary-style black uniforms, demonstrators marched through London yesterday demanding Britain make amends for generations of African slavery.
The protest saw a number of small action groups come together to bring Brixton to a standstill, but it was the little known Forever Family Force that made the most striking impact.
As the group marched, its members resembled the Black Panther revolutionary activists of 1960s America. At least one wore a balaclava, while others carried black flags and walkie-talkies.
The Forever Family Force’s aims are unclear but the group gathered with others including Rhodes Must Fall and Extinction Rebellion in Windrush Square i n Brixton to demand r e parat i o ns from t he UK Government.
Extinction Rebellion said the event was held to promote the necessity of stopping the genocide and ecocide of
African people and their environments. A number of demonstrators temporarily blocked streets in Brixton, forcing cars and buses to stop and turn around.
The Afrikan Emancipation Day event marked the passing of the 1833 Abolition of Slavery Act, which came into force on August 1, 1834.
Campaigners argue that the millions of pounds in compensation paid to former slaveholders as a result of the Act, without similar recompense for freed slaves, increased racial injustices that are still felt today.
Police said they feared ‘ serious disruption’ if protesters blocked the road and they ordered the event to finish at 8pm.