Comfort food for thought.

When the riots in Birmingham began, Cyber Candy was one of the first businesses that suffered broken windows (though its tough glass prevented looting).  A shop specializing in foreign sweets, it isn't surprising that it was hit early as many of the looters were quite young--with some reports giving ages as low as eleven.

The next day, the manager of the store (who was inside when it was attacked) spray-painted this message onto the shop's new, temporary exterior.

Paraphrasing a British WWII poster which resurfaced a decade ago (and gained a popularity it never had in the past), he sought to soothe worried customers--and the city--with humor and the poster's wisdom:  Don't panic, and maintain the comfort of routine despite surrounding tensions.  It's good advice for anyone at any time.

So, keep calm and candy on, everyone.  Cheers.

At least, in the loo I was alone.... I think.

One day, while walking to work, an image came to mind.  It was a watercolor painting of the Birmingham City Council building with its flagpole placed on the dome and a CCTV security camera poised on top--in place of the flag--aiming down to Victoria Square.

There weren't many places in urban England where I felt unphotographed.  Especially in Birmingham--after walking the same streets and through the same buildings repeatedly, I began to spot the cameras more easily.

I felt watched and exposed but, surprisingly, it didn't bother me much.  Probably because I knew I had no option but to be filmed or to go nowhere other than between work and the hotel (where I was filmed in both buildings and on the street).  And probably more likely because I knew I wouldn't be in England for long.

When the riots began, I thought about those cameras (like the ones in the photo, on the front of a casino near the Arcadian Centre) and how they could do some good in terms of potentially capturing the people stealing and damaging the property of others.  Sure enough, the police began releasing online images of rioters.

12 Aug: Battening down the hatches

A common scene, especially days after the riots ended--businesses sheltering their unbroken windows and merchandise by shielding themselves in a coat of plywood.

Many had signs which said "Open as usual" or the like.  This post office did as well though not with the same eagerness it would seem--look close and you can see two handwritten signs on sheets of standard printer paper--one on each plywood wall.

14 Aug: "We must come together and ensure some good comes out of all this senselessness.”

Photo from the article, linked at the end of the post.

"When Tariq was announced to the crowd, they applauded and chanted for over a minute. Modestly he told them: 'I am no one special. Just one of you.

'I’m no speechmaker. I don’t really know what to say but to see this coming together gives me strength in my heart. Forget about me. It’s about the three young men who have sacrificed their lives for this community. I hope you remember them.'"

On the Sunday following the riots, various community groups worked together to quickly organize a peace rally in Birmingham.  The intention was to help strengthen the city, make a show of solidarity as a community and to pay homage to the three men murdered during the riots.

The father of one of the victims, Tariq Jahan, as well as a brother of the two others killed spoke along with community leaders both civic and religious but it was Tariq who served as a lighthouse of peace, for his plea for calm in the wake of his son's death is credited as being the greatest reason that the riots finally ended.

"The audience stood hanging on his every word, many clearly made emotional by his strength and humility in the face of such a terrible loss."

Read more from the Mirror article here.

9 Aug: A flurry of activity on Bromsgrove Street

Due to the quality once uploaded to the blog, it's hard to tell what's going on exactly. Here's an outline:

The cop cars and riot vans arrived to scatter the rioters breaking again into the Tesco on the corner to the right. The rioters then scurried down Bromsgrove Street (out of view due to the parking deck), then fled east up Pershore Street once they got to the intersection. At one point, you see a cop trying to block a rioter from passing, but the rioter throws a bottle or some such which bursts on the pavement. Other cops and the riot police then follow to the intersection. Once the sirens cease, at the end, the helicopter can be heard and I pan upward (you can see its spotlight in the sky).

10-14 Aug: Shuttered city

During the week after the riots, a shield of plywood covered Birmingham like a fad of homemade fake nails.

Cause and effect: a little information.

Birmingham has been known by nearly 150 permutations of the name we now recognize as that of England's second city.  "Brummagem" is likely the most popular and still occasionally in use today, but its shortened version--"Brum"--is by far more common.

The Birmingham riots began in the wake of the London riots, which began in one of its suburbs after a marching protest of the death of Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old shot dead by police attempting to arrest him.  The riots remained in London for two days before spreading to Birmingham and then to other cities.  While emotion--specifically anger over the shooting death--fueled the beginning of the riots in London, the Birmingham riots seemed largely a copycat excuse to loot, apparently devoid of emotion other than an angsty thirst for excitement and an anger towards society, police and life in general.

Whatever the reasons for those individuals involved in the Brum riots, the emotions manifested themselves largely in the destruction of other people's property--the breaking of windows, the looting of stores, the torching of vehicles, trash bins and some businesses, and the general damaging of much of what lie in the path of the rioters, whose chosen "uniform" was black hoodies.  Occasionally, however, there were greater shows of anger as in street fights, at least one incident of shooting at police, and the murder of three young men purposefully struck by a car while attempting to guard their property.

After the murders, there was much talk and expectation of a race riot ensuing on the third night due to the rioter(s) who had hit the three men being black and the victims being Pakistani.  For whatever reason, the riots in Birmingham ended before such a clash began.  There was a little activity that night but not much.  Most of the credit is given to the father of one of the murdered men who'd pleaded for peace.  Another factor might've been the fact that the police had been given greater power in their attempts to stop the riots.

But, for whatever reason, they stopped.  During the riots, however, I began this blog on the suggestion of a friend.  I've continued to post pictures, videos and stories since then but this, like the riots, will end.  Soon.  I've returned home from Birmingham now--its hard, grey face full of vigor and ragged-tooth charm still appearing before me occasionally wherever I go.  As it always will.