Leroy Cooper
BACK IN THE DAY VOL. 1
Liverpool 8 Social History 1984–89 CAPSTONE MEDIA
Leroy Cooper
BACK IN THE DAY VOL. 1 Liverpool 8 Social History 1984–89 LIMITED FIRST EDITION
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FOREWORD BY BRYAN BIGGS A photo in The Guardian in 1989 showed Lord Gifford QC, briefcase in hand, positioned at the junction of Upper Parliament Street and Princes Avenue. He was conducting his study into policies and community relations in Liverpool 8, the area in the city’s South End that had witnessed an uprising in 1981, dubbed by the national media, the ‘Toxteth riots.’ When Gifford’s report ‘Loosen the shackles: first report of the Liverpool 8 inquiry into race relations in Liverpool’, written with Wally Brown and Ruth Bundey, was published it revealed systemic and ‘uniquely horrific’ racism. What may not be evident in this black and white press photo is that the Toxteth street sign behind Gifford had been painted in three bands of colour, like a tricolour: the red, gold and green of Rastafari. This inspired piece of graffiti was one of several that appeared on street signs throughout L8 during 1985/86, delineating a neighbourhood, in particular Granby, that had for generations been the heart of Liverpool’s multicultural community. It took many years for the aerosol colours to fade, a reminder of the slow progress in terms of investment, job opportunities, or in any other sort of improvement of the area. The person responsible for the painted signs was artist and local resident Leroy Cooper, whose street art was part of a creative practice that also encompasses poetry, photography, painting and music, playing in bands like The Blood Group, and DJing with his Cosmic Ambassador Hi-Fi sound system. All these initiatives were interlinked, but it was as a poet that I invited Leroy to participate in 1987 in 2nd Site, a collaborative project at the city’s contemporary arts centre, Bluecoat, in which four poets and four sculptors worked together in the gallery with local schools over ten-days to create an installation of words and structures, reflecting the sort of urban environment the children envisaged living in. The resulting installation, open to the public, was a sort of utopian vision, an imagined world that transcended the reality experienced by the young participants. Leroy, too, in his photographic work, was turning his attention to his own environment,
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the streets and people of L8. Part of the Windrush generation and with relatives already in Liverpool, his parents had come from Jamaica to settle in this area of the city, which would provide Leroy with his canvas. A training course in black and white photography at Open Eye Gallery introduced him to the possibilities of the medium, and the camera quickly became his ‘weapon of choice’. Documenting daily life in L8, the majority of the images presented here are from 1985–88 and capture that period, before the area was allowed to ‘disintegrate’ through a policy of ‘managed decline.’ Over the following decade unity became fractured, there was a mass exodus of people heading to London and further afield, hard drugs flooded the city. One photograph, Do Not Trust The Media (Granby Street), captures this atmosphere, as two presumably out-of-town reporters are observed standing in front of a graffitied wall: ‘NEWSFLASH! THIS IS TOXTETH NOT CROXTETH. STRICTLY GANJA’ – a reference to the heroin epidemic in the city’s North End estates and, in contrast, the South End’s predilection for weed. In the 1980s and 90s, the national media found Liverpool a convenient scapegoat, a symbol for all that was wrong in post-industrial Britain and the declining fortunes of its Northern cities – a negative characterisation that included striking workers, football hooligans, high crime, militant councillors, even a television soap opera, Brookside. Post the 1981 riots, L8 was paid particular media attention, and vilification. How instructive, then, particularly for viewers coming to the work for the first time, to revisit Leroy’s images from the 1980s, which paint an alternative picture of the area and help, by connecting place, people and time, to construct a richer geography of it. While using familiar settings of street corners, rows of terraces, local shops and boarded-up windows, the photographs aim to get under the surface and suggest a different narrative: the “street” considered, not as a site for confrontation, but as “the neighbourhood”, community, a place that people take pride in and have made their own, often through decades of family roots that go deep. BACK IN THE DAY | 5
In contrast to being portrayed by mainstream media as ‘the other’, there is empathy and a respect for Leroy’s subjects, who appear for the most part at ease: a group of older men (The Bojangles) jam outdoors in Granby Street, evoking rural American blues musicians playing on a porch; an Asian mother and her daughters relax on a wall; lads on improvised seating attend a community meeting at Toxteth Sports Centre; a pensioner enjoys the sun at her front door; three determined-looking school girls pose in uniform; a small boy smiles; at St John’s Market in the city centre, a group of teenagers pose; a young female student in ‘vintage chic’ clothes, shoulders a Liver Laundry washing bag; an ‘urban Madonna’ holds a baby girl; young Rastas at Sefton Park’s free summer music festival, Larks in the Park. This is long before mobile phones made us all into both photographers and photographic subjects. Leroy’s photography reveals his personal connection to the subjects. They trust him and do not show any apparent mistrust of photographer or imperative to ‘fake perform’ for the camera. Capturing a sense of communal solidarity, different L8 generations are portrayed through a range of expression, from childhood innocence to parental pride, and in many of the portraits cultural and political awareness is to the fore. Something of the politics of the time is reflected, from the local – the poster in Frontline Carlos for a Granby independent ward council candidate, campaigning under the slogan ‘Black and White Unite and Fight’, to the global – a man sporting a Nelson Mandela motif on his jumper and a Bob Marley pin on his hat. Alignment to international struggles of oppressed peoples is further referenced in this image by a poster for a march in Liverpool against Apartheid in South Africa. The period’s domestic political turbulence is alluded to more overtly in photographs of demonstrations showing the L8 community protesting against Margaret Thatcher’s punitive policies against the miners, people in poverty facing further cuts, or those forced into the government’s new cheap labour schemes. In AntiPoverty/Anti-Tory Marchers on Granby Street, alongside trades union banners, one homemade placard declares ‘No More Bondage Not by Sam or Maggie’, a clever reference to the controversial appointment by Liverpool’s Militant Labour
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council of its Race Relations Officer, Sam Bond, a Londoner, who was subsequently boycotted by many in the Black community. Often in the background of the photographs, such small but telling details – remains of posters from past demonstrations or music gigs, Leroy’s own distinctive ‘Life Force’ graffiti – are the ‘writing on the wall’ that invites closer scrutiny. Now, three decades old, these images provide a vivid picture of a place at a particular time, opening up a way into thinking about the past in context: what was happening in Liverpool, but also in the wider world, in South Africa, in America, in Palestine – the local and the global. The photographs also compel us to compare the times and the area then with how things are now – in some respects, Liverpool 8 is still facing institutional racism. Little on the surface appears to have really changed, but at the same time everything is different. A row of houses has disappeared, three teenagers are shown eating chips on the Falkner Estate, long since demolished and replaced by the Women’s Hospital, and the former Hope Street Police Station, very much the ‘front line’ then, is now at the hub of a gentrified ‘Georgian Quarter.’ The significance of photographs like this series is the way in which they reveal narratives – of people and places – that are in danger of being purposely forgotten and conveniently overlooked. They help to reclaim a history. It is a relatively recent history, but for Leroy the imperative to document the changing terrain of the area he knows so well comes from much further back. He sees ‘Liverpool still stained by the lash of slavery,’ and it is the port’s pivotal role in the Transatlantic Slave Trade and a failure to adequately confront its ongoing legacy, that has driven much of this work. Liverpool 8 matters and Leroy’s photography will become to be seen as a significant Social Heritage legacy. Bryan Biggs is Artistic Director of Bluecoat Arts Centre, Liverpool
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Dating to the 1730s, the Black community of Liverpool is Britain’s oldest, with some Liverpudlians being able to trace their family roots and Black heritage for as many as ten generations. The community dates back to the American Revolutionary War with Black Loyalists settling in the city. From early in its appearance the community was mixed, with Blacks and Whites living alongside each other. Despite facing racism, the ‘mixed heritage’ family became the normal face of the community.
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My street photography is to remind us and the world that history isn’t just composed of monumental events, fame hungry celebrities and the grubby goings on of dirty, corrupt, selfish politicians but also of ‘the people’ like US, the everyday down to earth people.
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Normally we are the ignored and the forgotten of history, and our stories, our existence, seldom even told of, or more importantly represented by us and told by … us. “Of The People, By The People, To The People”
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Liverpool has one of Europe’s oldest Black and ethnically diverse communities. My motivitation is to document the history of our struggles, our survival and the overcoming of the trials and tribulations, the hurdles that mainstream society has placed before us that were meant to trip us up, to put us down and to keep us in ‘our place’, in a place that it had been decided we belonged.
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This history has been told by others through exploitative TV documentaries and negative, sensationalized reporting by local and national newspapers but rarely by us, the people. 15
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I’ve captured candid shots of real life and real individuals partaking in relatable, mundane activities: shopping, walking, talking, at the hairdressers or the barbers, playing sports or performing as musicians in bands and gathering on the street, drinking in the pubs and bars, dancing in nightclubs, marching on protest marches, against injustice, against inequality, against right wing Nazi movements, marching against police brutality.
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Across race, gender, religion, class and age, the myriad subjects of my street photography offer a study of what it’s been like to live at particular moments in time in an economically depressed Liverpool, in Toxteth, in Britain, in the parochial North away from the cosmopolitan-ness of London and the economically thriving South. BACK IN THE DAY | 21
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Fashions and infrastructures change, but at the core of my photography are human emotions, relationships and social rituals. I could not photograph everyone, so the people in my work are symbolic representations of the people.
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I don’t list names of the people that I have documented. If you are from Liverpool or from Toxteth, you may recognize some of the people in my photography, you may even see yourself in the work and in so doing see yourself and Liverpool in a new light.
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Just know that every person in my photography is coping with, dealing with and overcoming issues that may relate to race and racism, unemployment and poverty, broken dysfunctional family life, bad housing, police profiling and harrassment, alcoholism, sexual harassment and abuse, drug addiction, domestic violence, mental health issues, gender inequality, gang culture, educational disadvantage, the list goes on.
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You may not see all of this at first, but look closely for every picture tells a story for posterity. Remember these are all human beings with talents and potential that were often denied opportunities to make progress and develop for whatever reason. 32 | BACK IN THE DAY
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They never lost their Humanity and the ability to care for each other, to comfort each other in times of difficulties, they never lost their ability to love each other and they never lost the ability to stand up in solidarity for justice and equality.
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I realized the global importance and significance of Liverpool and its connection to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and to the story of Humanity and its quest for equality, liberty, justice and the breaking of the chains of Imperialism and the racist oppression that have forged the last 500 years of human history.
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THIS UNIQUE COMMUNITY WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN OR IGNORED ON MY WATCH. TIME IS THE MASTER. 38
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Through no wish or desire of my own the hand of destiny touched me and pointed at me to represent for all the people that had been taken into bondage and suffered the hellish injustice of White Supremacy and for those working class Liverpudlians that had also suffered under Capitalism’s cosh.
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I realized that the 1981 UPRISING that had inspired me to begin the photographic documentation of my community and my city (warts and all) was only part of a greater global political history and that I had been ‘chosen’ to make a positive contribution in that historical story.
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I have worked hard, quietly and consistently to create a photographic archive that is my legacy to Liverpool, Britain and the World, so that one day the people of the world will know that we existed and that we overcame racism and oppression to thrive and go forward, despite the hatred we faced. Know that our community is a ‘beacon of solidarity’ of resistance against that hate and bigotry, against that racial injustice and religious intolerance that some would have divide us in their satanic plan to conquer, dominate and control us forever like cattle.
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I had faith knowing that the real human beings would stand up, speak out and represent for Humanity. I feel I am one of those blessed individuals with the heart and strength to be able to be part of that representation for Humanity.
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You may see my work, my community, my city and my mission in a completely different way. On that I could not possibly comment. This is my legacy. This is my gift to the future. TIME IS THE MASTER.
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LEROY COOPER: ARTISTIC LEGACY BY I B THOMPSON I think I am an ‘illustrator’ but you Leroy are an ‘Artist’ and it is something you have to do or you might drown, or let yourself drown. Paintings, poems, stories, photography, creating slideshows and short films on Youtube, your dj-ing performance art/installation pieces, creating a media company and publishing your (and soon to be other creative artists’ works) photographic booklets, anthologies and compilations: whatever you do, it shows.
The Lovers by Leroy Cooper
Some people paint pictures… on canvas, in words, with music, in films or through photography. They may be painters, film makers, writers or photographers... some do it as a hobby or pastime, others because they have to, it’s an inner drive, they have to paint, write, express - they ‘see’, they have insight and vision. Leroy’s paintings are not just good, they are outstanding, “Picasso, Van Gogh, Jean Michel”… kind of outstanding In fact I recall an evening a couple of years ago when you showed me canvas after canvas. I was humbled by your work and output.
You and your output are a treasure and there is a great legacy in what you will eventually leave behind. I think you should find a curator you can trust who will promote you and your work. Someone who is also multi-talented as an artist, with stature and connections to ‘hook you up’ for the recognition you deserve, someone such as Steve McQueen. Once you reach a wider audience, I think you will be very surprised about how much your work, is and will, be appreciated and very much loved. It was you who said to me that ”Pioneers of Individuality and Personal Freedom have historically had to pay a heavy price to be free”, but also that “Nothing worth attaining in life comes cheaply” Leroy Cooper, your creative energy and all the hard work done out of sight has been worth it, you’ve paid the price and you deserve your success and the freedom to keep pursuing your artistic career and creating the legacy. I B Thompson is a former Teacher & ‘Race Relations Artist’ at Liverpool City Council
PHOTOGRAPHS 1. Don’t Trust The Media, circa 1985 2. She Watches Over 3. Liverpool Black History: Heritage & Legacy 4. Strong Women Are The Foundation of The Community, circa 1984/85 5. Urban Madonna and Child, circa 1986/87 6. Three Teenagers in Falkner Estate by The Red Duster Pub, circa 1985/86 7. Teenagers at Sam Bond Meeting at Toxteth Sports Centre, circa 1985 8. North Hill Street: Kids by Wall, circa 1984/85 9. Young Father with Daughter, circa 1985/86 10. Young Mother with Son, circa 1987/88 11. School Girls with A Hockey Stick, circa 1987/88 12. School Girl with Short Dreadlocks, circa 1987/88 13. Teenagers on Saturday Afternoon at St Johns Market, circa 1986/87 14. Teenagers Backs Against The Wall at St Johns Market, circa 1986/87 15. Sisters at St Johns Market, circa 1986/87 16. Kids Sitting on Steps of House on Grove Street, circa 1988/89 17. Boy in Black Crown, Circa 1988/89 18. Seated Woman: Pensioner in Slippers, circa 1988/89 19. Man Seated on High Park Street by Job Centre, circa 1986/87 20. Demonstrators on The Steps of St Georges Hall, circa 1985 21. Demonstrators Meeting Up on Granby Street, circa 1985 22. The Musicians: The Bojangles on Granby Street, circa 1985/86 23. Granby Street Scene33, circa 1985/86 24. Granby Street Outside Shady’s Café Scene101, circa 1985/86
25. Granby Street Scene The Frontline Three Kings, circa 1985/86 26. Granby Street Scene The Frontline33, circa 1985/86 27. Granby Street Scene Frontline Politics in The Concrete, circa 1985/86 28. On Different Levels, circa 1985/86 29. Desi and Ned: The Seated Builders, circa 1985/86 30. Police Foot Patrol on Granby Street, circa 1985/86 31. Hope Street Police Station, circa 1986/87 32. Asian Family: Representing The Diverse Community, circa 1985/86 33. Three Generations, circa 1985 34. A Woman in Cultural Attire on Granby Street, circa 1987 35. Sandon Street ‘Life Force’ Graffiti, circa 1985/86 36. Young Men Seated On Granby Street, circa 1985/86 37. Portrait of A DJ: The Russian, circa 1985 38. Frontline Soldier, circa 1985/86 39. Mr Invisible Caught on Camera, circa 1988 40. Bohemian Student with Laundry Bag, circa 1986 41. Isolated and Vulnerable Police Foot Patrol, circa 1985/86 42. The Man Dem on Steps of Jamaica House, circa 1985/86 43. The Frontline Rastas at Larks in The Park, circa 1985/86 44. Cartoon Violence: The Rise of Gun Crime, circa 1989/90
CREDITS Designed by Leroy Cooper, Helen Roughley and Richard Taylor Thanks to the people of Toxteth and Liverpool Special mention to Dorothy Thomas A Capstone Media publishing project
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FIRST EDITION © Copyright Leroy Cooper | Material not to be copied, reproduced or diseminated in any known or future communications formats without permission of Leroy Cooper copyright holder | Published 2019 CONTACT fusionmedia33films@gmail.com
Leroy Cooper understands the power of art to transform energy. Through street art, poetry, photography, painting and music, Leroy’s personal experience has become his legacy. Following his arrest in Liverpool 8 in 1981, his name has been inextricably linked with the Toxteth riots, an ironic infamy considering his lack of involvement. He wasn’t there. He made a conscious decision to channel this negative experience into something positive. This book is a rare and fascinating selection from over 200,000 photographs of Liverpool community taken between 1981 and 2018. The photographs are poignant and captivating. Leroy’s empathy is reflected in the candour of the shots.
ISBN: 978-1-5272-3696-7 A CAPSTONE MEDIA PUBLICATION
