How The Star Introduced Me To Salford...
I came to live in Salford in 2005. I was adjusting from working in South Africa, still returning every three months. My job was supporting children who had lost their parents to Aids, and preparing student social workers for coping with this scary epidemic.
I spent most of my time in a poor township. I was the only white person in this black community, which had previously under apartheid, only known discrimination and injustice from the white population. So you would expect the black community to be suspicious of me.
However, I was there when Mandela was voted in to be the President and, like many others, was in awe at this amazingly courageous black man, who believed in justice and equality. It was a unique time, with a unique population coping with a sad history and, suddenly, also facing the dreadful Aids epidemic.
You would not think this had anything to do with Salford and the Salford Star. But to me it did and I will explain why.
I came into contact with the Salford Star in 2006 when it was delivered through my door. I looked at this brightly coloured magazine, which shouted out to me that it was about the community. I felt empathy with its bold presentation and its eager wording for justice.
So I stopped the teenager delivering the magazines and asked her to tell me about it. She pointed back down the road to a tall lanky man, in a hoodie, and said, 'Ask him; he writes it!'.
So I met Stephen Kingston, who sprang up my steps and poured out his philosophy; his driving force. The Star was to be a 'voice for the community'. Its words would explain its needs, its frustrations and give it an opening for expressing its hopes. I understood this!
It was the philosophy I had been working with every day, although in a different community. I understood people who had frustrations and felt injustice. I saw it all around me in my job.
White people told me not to sit with the black staff at the University where I was teaching. I saw the black folk doing the menial jobs and women being called maids and adult men being called 'boys'. The black children were in separate schools and had no books. I felt angry about this callous injustice. I saw it as a waste of talent and became their champion.
From my first read of the Salford Star, I read every issue and empathised with its stories. This was the way I learnt about the Salford community and its needs, its successes and its disappointments. I recognised that the Star had an excellent journalist editor, who researched each issue and always included a comment from those involved. I admired this skill. It was real and honest. I was on its side because I understood it..
I needed to know more about this place I had just come to live in. So I also researched Salford's history and found, to my surprise, that I was living on a piece of land that was famed for fighting for equal rights. The piece of land, that I had daily walked on, was Kersal Moor; the site of the big Chartist meetings of 1838, when thousands of mill workers met to demand a vote and gain equality and justice. This was the Victorian working class community expressing its needs, just as the present day Salford Star was doing.
Interestingly, the newspaper of the Chartists was called the Northern Star, and I later learned that the Salford Star was named in its honour. I continued to get to know Salford; went to its museums and the Working Class Movement Library and gathered more friends with a similar philosophy. Throughout this, the Star was my reference point and Stephen Kingston my contact for information.
I went to the places the Star talked about, such as Barton Moss and heard about the anti- fracking campaign. I joined the rallies it publicised such as the trade union marches during the Tory Conferences. I joined ex miners when they demanded a memorial for their history and assisted the Star with that publicity. I became conscious of Salford City Council and its policies.
I felt the anger when Salford Council stopped the Star from getting potential funding from the East Salford Community Committee. This was because it didn't like what it saw as criticism from the Star. I had known this in South Africa when the Government denied total freedom to black people because it wanted to control all opinions. Of course it was on a different scale but it was for the same reason and the consequences were the same: denial of rights and restrictions on freedom of speech.
Without an income, it became necessary to put the Star on the internet. Although this change gave it a wider readership, it was not the same. It cut out some of the older readers and seemed less friendly. The Star became dependent on donations and lived with continual insecurity. Closing was forever on the books.
I became more involved with the Star at this time; often doing a bit of fund raising. Because some of these donations passed through my hands I was awarded the title of Treasurer: a grand name for a 'counter of pennies'. I was asked occasionally to write something for the Star. I was honoured to do this and felt I was making a contribution.*
In the fifteen years I have been in Salford, the same fifteen years the Star has existed, I have learnt a great deal about local politics, about local customs and about writing for a public journal. Doing a little writing for the Star gave me a feeling of belonging. I tried to connect this with my previous experiences because I could feel the similarities.
I almost feel a Salfordian! I shall miss the Star, as my early morning read and miss the opportunity to 'have my say'! I am honoured to have been a little part of this venture...
For a full background on the closure of the Salford Star see related articles...
Salford Star To Close After 15 Years – click here
A Star Is Born – click here
Salford Stars – Part 1 – click here
Salford Stars Part 2 – click here
Real Salford Heritage - Inside The Cliff Man United Training Ground - click here
The Battle of Barton Moss – click here
Nigel Pivaro Looks Back Over 15 Years of the Star – click here
Planning Scandals and the Affordable Housing Crisis - click here
Campaigns, demos and protests – click here
Guy Griffiths on the Pathfinder Demolitions - click here
What's Left and What's Worth Saving in Salford - click here
Eight Happenings That Encapsulate Salford: Part 1 – click here
Eight Happenings That Encapsulate Salford: Part 2 – click here
Guy Griffiths on the Pathfinder Demolitions – Part 2 The Human Cost - click here
How Salford City Council Tried To Stop The Star - click here
How Salford City Council Tried to Block and Discredit The Star – click here
The Salford Star Closes After 15 Years of Attitude and Love xxx - click here
* To read some of Alice's contributions to the Salford Star see previous series...
Alice In Salford Isolationland – click here and follow the links
Tales of Kersal Moor – click here and follow the links
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