In May 2021, a U.K. Home Office dawn raid triggers one of the most spontaneous and successful acts of civil resistance in recent memory. In Scotland’s most diverse neighborhood, hundreds of residents rush to the streets to stop the deportation of their neighbors.
The morning in Glasgow, the first day of Eid, started as any other. However, when neighbors heard through community message networks that two local men were snatched up for deportation, hundreds of people left their breakfast tables, work Zoom calls, and daily lives to rush down to Kenmure Street to save them by putting their bodies on the line. Though mostly strangers, and with almost no planning, this extremely diverse group organized themselves, taking on essential roles to allow the collective to achieve their goal: protecting their own from government forces going after the weakest among them. An inspiring and profoundly moving portrait of what “normal” citizens are capable of in the face of injustice, Everybody To Kenmure Street reminds us of the power that is always inherent in the people.
This film has been shown at film festivals and small screenings for a while now but it is finally available to the public. Find a copy and give it a watch. It’s a great example, with primary source material, of how to organise, protest, and protect our communities from government overreach.