On Monday in Dalston, shoppers at Sainsburys were evacuated in the middle of the afternoon as the Kingsland Shopping Centre shut its early doors; by dusk, a bank's windows had been unashamedly smashed, and as darkness fell, a bus was set alight on Shacklewell Lane. As I walked to my front door that night, I passed masked teenagers screaming at a man for filming them on his digital camera, accusing him of being in line with the police, smashing empty bottles on the ground, overturning bins and letting their angry looking dogs fight in the street. Policemen, who were massively outnumbered, stood still, surrounded by rioters, in the middle of the road. A girl drank tequila straight from the bottle outside the Rio cinema, her eyes never leaving the scene in front of her - a front row ticket to the show of the year, with refreshments. I double locked the door when I got home, and waited for the worst... But to my surprise, it didn't come.
In comparison to the numerous other places affected by the riots, Dalston emerged from the three days of rioting relatively unscathed, its high street cosmetically damaged, maybe, yet largely intact; its people twitchy, but unhurt. Why? Because the Turkish and Kurdish communities, who run a plethora of shops on Kingsland High Street, came out in force to protect their patch, chasing away rioters with a force that the police simply did not have. In turn, they protected us - other residents of Dalston and Stoke Newington. It is an extraordinary story of communal bravery that should, and no doubt does, bring some comfort to those who are despairing of their country at present. What the Turkish community did for Dalston on Monday night with their incredible courage is extremely humbling, and there is a collective feeling, amongst residents of the area, that we must, in some way, say thank you.
It is for this reason that Nick Horne, a Dalston resident, has set up a Facebook Event entitled 'Thank Turk It's Saturday', asking locals to 'turn out to support the Turkish and Kurdish owned businesses in and around Dalston.' There are over 6,000 confirmed attendees, the main message being that 'this is pay back time!' Horne suggests that we make a nice little Saturday of it; wake up in the morning, buy a paper from the corner shop; have a shave, or maybe even a haircut at the barber; pitch up for breakfast or lunch at a Turkish café and end the day with drinks in a local bar. The great thing about this is not only that it's an excellent way of thanking the wonderful men and women who protected our high street and its residents from what could have been carnage, but also that it gets the community back out of their houses, encouraging those who at present feel less confident on their own streets to get back to their daily business, just in time for the weekend. I expect that on Saturday, Kingsland High Street will be swarming with people, eager to pay their respect to the shopkeepers and families whose bravery is fast becoming East London legend. On that note - anyone for baklava? I know a great little place...