The Young’uns 2018
Told through the words of 16 year-old Stockton-born Johnny Longstaff who was one of an estimated 100,000 people who defied the police to stand in solidarity with the Jewish people of London’s East End, blocking the route of a British Union of Fascists march on October 4, 1936.
Young’uns: Cable Street
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnMrHQHUa1Y
On the fourth of October, nineteen thirty-six I was only a lad of sixteen But I stood beside men who were threescore and ten And every age in between We were dockers and teachers, busmen, engineers And those with no jobs to do We were women and children equal in union Atheists, Christians, and Jews And we had so much to lose For with Hitler in Germany, Franco in Spain We knew what fascism meant So when Mosley came trouncing, denouncing the Jews To the East End of London we went For I’d met refugees who had fled o’er the seas Germans, Italians, and Jews And I knew their despair for what they’d seen there And I couldn’t let them be abused We had so much to lose Now three thousand fascists, their uniforms black Had set out to march on that day And six thousand policemen intended to greet them By making clear the way But we were there ready, our nerves they were steady One hundred thousand en masse And we planted our feet along Cable Street And we sang, “they shall not pass!” We sang, “they shall not pass!” Then all us young lads, we were sent to the side streets To stop the police breaking through And with swift hands we made strong barricades Out of anything we could use And they came to charge us, but they couldn’t barge us With fists, batons, and hooves With as good as we got, we withstood the lot For we would not be moved We would not be moved And yes, there was violence, and yes, there was blood And I saw things a lad shouldn’t see But I’ll not regret the day I stood And London stood with me And when the news spread the day had been won And Mosley was limping away There were shouts, there were cheers There were songs, there were tears And I hear them all to this day And we all swore then we’d stand up again For as long as our legs could And that when we were gone, our daughters and sons Would stand where we stood Was the first time I’d heard two tiny words Said by every woman and man Now I say them still, and I always will: No pasar n!