Everybody to Kenmure Street

Over the weekend, my husband and I saw a beautiful documentary, Everybody to Kenmure Street, at a screening hosted by East End Acts. The film tracks a pivotal day in Glasgow in 2021. On the morning of Eid al-fitr, a dawn raid was carried out by UK Immigration Enforcement on Kenmure Street. What started as a handful of neighbours blocking the enforcement van from moving two Muslim men to immigration detention turned into 2,000 Glaswegians standing down the Scottish police who were protecting UK immigration enforcement, despite them having no legal mandate forcing them to.

I remember this story hitting my Twitter/X feed during Covid. I remember the visuals of this small sleepy suburban street that looked very similar to London’s Rodney Road, where I lived during my Master’s degree, being taken over by residents. I remember a Palestinian flag looming over the scene. And I remember the diversity that showed up that day (in age, race, gender, religion, and every other metric). This wasn’t just about the Muslim community coming together on Eid. It wasn’t just about a visible minority immigrant community coming together for humane immigration policies. It wasn’t even about activists coming together to oppose the government. It was neighbours protecting neighbours by saying “this isn’t right, and I’m not going to stand aside”. It was regular people getting ready for Eid prayers and grocery shopping and lunch with their grandparents who just decided to sit down in the street and not allow a van to move (along with one brave individual who got underneath the van!).