So, if you follow me on twitter (#spon #soznotsoz) then you'll know about a fortnight ago I went to a protest! Yes, I was such a little rebel and became an activist. I didn't actually realise what I was marching for until I got there (v professional). But it was about David Cameron and anti-austerity, mixed with protesting about anti-islamphobia and the whole conservative party.
I learnt a lot when I was there and now Im here to tell you all about what happened and what to expect if you go to a march.
Disclaimer- I'm not an expert in this field and it was a march which was regulated and organised. No one caused any harm and I definitely don't condone violence or extreme rioting. Like I said, everyone was safe and police were everywhere to ensure people's safety.
On the Friday I had slept over at my friend's -lets call her Clifford- as her dad works for one of the people who organised the march and they invited me. I've only been to London once before so I jumped at the chance to go again. After many laughs and fun at Clifford's house, we woke up at 6 in the morning. I was dead inside. We rushed to get ready and then drove to town where we met the coach. The drivers were pretty chill and and Clifford and I sat at the back. The coach took about 2 and a half hours in which we spent listening to music, playing mario competition on my DSs and playing inappropriate hangman (you dont wanna know). The ride wasn't actually that bad and went surprisingly fast.
Once we were in London we met up with a few of Clifford's dad's friends. Everyone was preparing and getting their stuff ready (shout out to the guy who made the pig head on a stick). To my surprise there were some really young children and their parents joining it. It was so cool to see so much diversity before we even started.
Everyone seemed incredibly happy to be there and it was so interesting to see people wanting to fight for what they believe it. Normally when you think of a protest/march you think of the stereotypical image of crowds screaming and throwing molotovs. I will contradict that by saying that is was really pleasant. People were cheering and making people passing by smile and laugh. There was even a massive float which people came up and spoke some inspirational stuff.
After an hour or so of waiting for the march to start, we were off! I did get anxious when I was in the middle of a huge crowd for ages but I managed to calm myself down. My back has never hurt that much though, lowkey wanted to murk the people sitting down because I envied them. Music started playing and it was actually really positive, apart from the really annoying drummers behind us like please re-think your lives (jk).
The march itself was really fun, we were holding a banner so we ended up having lots of photos taken by professional news people. We took a stroll into Trafalgar square chanting and being watched by Londoners who of course were snapchatting it (fun fact, I made it into a split second of london's snapchat story). Clifford and I also had a fangirling moment when we passed Forbidden Planet I'm nerd and phan trash.
So all in all, I recommend going to fight for something you believe in. Just please make sure you are safe and avoid people getting harmed. The last thing I want is for you to be involved in something that can get you in serious trouble or seriously hurt.
But tell me, have any of you been involved in a march/protest? Do you identify as an activist? Tell me below!
Take care.
Little Old Me, logging off my Litlle Old World. Xxx
