Day of Action
Day of Action was a devised play about the Black communities response to the New Cross Massacre on Sunday 18th January 1981, where thirteen young Black people died at a birthday party in a fire at 439 New Cross Road, southeast London. The far right National Front were active in the area, so it was believed by many in the Black community to be a racist arson attack. But when no arrests were made, the Black community were enraged by the apparent cover up by the London Metropolitan Police and the indifference of the mainstream media and British government.
Leaflet for the play Day of Action.
Ensuing protests led to the mobilisation of political activism in the Black communities and the creation of the New Cross Massacre Committee. This led to The Black People’s Day of Action on 2nd March 1981, where an estimated 20,000 Black people (including McMillan) and their supporters marched in protest from New Cross through the City to Hyde Park, Central London.
A month later in April, the police Operation Swamp 81 campaign that targeted young Black men in Lambeth with the SUS Laws (Stop and Search) ignited riots/uprisings in Britain and eventually spread to inner city areas across the UK, where disenfranchised Black and white youth revolted.
Day of Action was produced as an ensemble by the Brent Black Theatre Project at the Carlton Community Centre, Kilburn, London in August 1981, and was directed by Michael Hamilton.