“Live-tweeting the Cardiff Riots of 1919” – Polyniki Katrantsioti

An important factor concerning the work of Kyle Legall, Cardiff 1919: Riots Redrawn is that they were never extensively covered in history, despite the fact that they had a detrimental effect on the Welsh population. To further reinforce this lack of historical appreciation comes the fact that the Cardiff Riots are not taught in schools, as of the end of 2020. Continuing the dynamic content of Cardiff 1919: Riots Redrawn, which can help the reader envision the events completely through the detailed maps and drawings, I discovered a Twitter account that “role-plays” in live-tweeting the Cardiff Riots.

Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez. “Protesting Safely” Instagram. May 30th, 2020. Accessed January 8th, 2021.

The Twitter account 1919raceriots is run by “Yasmin Begum, Laolu Alatise and Mymuna Soleman [and they] “are trying to paint a modern-day picture [of the events], live-tweeting the events from 100 years ago” (BBC 2019). The main goal of the account is to highlight the importance of the riots but also underline the shock effect these events would have on the people had they happened today. Additionally, they are trying to reach out to the government and demand the inclusion of the Cardiff Riots in school history books thus creating a poll that had a resounding 98.2% percentage of votes in favor of teaching the 1919 riots in schools (1919raceriots 2020). Among the achievements they have managed to reach during the amount of time that the Twitter account has existed is having their tweets being part of the National Archive of Wales  (1919raceriots 2020). But why is live-tweeting important?  Since we all live in the era of social media, raising awareness has been hugely interconnected to social media. Looking into the events of earlier in the year, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests, there are numerous examples of people on social media not only highlighting the importance of the protests and the unrest of the people involved but also working as a platform for the people to organize the protests and spreading tips on how to handle any emergency situations while protesting. Similar to the posts of the @1919raceriots account, the social media posts during the BLM protests managed to educate the people involved on the history of prejudice against people of color, inform them about POC-run businesses they could support, and use their platform for a cause that matters.

As a collective endeavor, the 1919raceriots Twitter account along with all the works coming out concerning the Cardiff Riots can shed light on the issue and educate people on matters that have significant importance not only to the people of Wales but also to any protesters that fight for justice in the Black Lives Matter movement. Covering the stories of the seamen in Wales in history books could educate the people on their heritage and eliminate feelings of prejudice against people of color. Using a platform like Twitter or creating a digital novel like Cardiff 1919: Riots Redrawn makes history easily accessible in a familiar environment to young people that is easy to use and focus on.

References

• 1919 Race Riots (@1919raceriots). 2020. “Do you think the 1919 race riots should be taught in #Welsh schools?” Twitter post, February 13, 2020. https://twitter.com/1919raceriots/status/1227950241263112194
• 1919 Race Riots (@1919raceriots). 2020. “safe, we’re going into the national archive of wales: or, better put, our tweets are going into the national archive of wales. we’re stunned. thanks to everyone for your support.” Twitter post, February 3, 2020. https://twitter.com/1919raceriots/status/1224396034417229827
• BBC News. 2019. “Cardiff race riots of 1919: What would they look like today?” Wales. Last Modified June 12, 2019. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-48611603