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Okay. First and final word on CBO about Banksy.

I’m not impressed by a lot of what he does.  He is,after all,doing what kids are taught in infant school -stencilling.  As to the money he’s earning;so long as he doesn’t claim to be “fighting the filthy system from within” why not?  If he can earn money from his work so be it.

There is,in Stokes Croft,Bristol,one piece of Banksy work that has remained an amusing curio to some but to most of us living in and around the area in the 1980s it has more significance.  Before London or those other bandwaggon hopping cities like London,the city of Bristol had one of its traditional riots.  If you read Wikipedia you’ll find this entry:
“The St Pauls riot started on April 2, 1980, in the St Pauls district,
when the police carried out a raid on the Black and White Café located
on Grosvenor Road in the heart of St Pauls. It is unclear why the riot
started either due to the police ripping a customer’s trousers and
refusing to pay,[7] or they were simply attacked as they removed alcohol
from the café. The riot continued for many hours and caused large amounts
of damage including a Lloyds Bank and post office. Several fire engines
and twelve police cars were damaged along with the shops. 130 rioters
were arrested. The next day the Daily Telegraph headlined with, “19 Police
Hurt in Black Riot” and blamed lack of parental care.”

Oh really. The Black And White Cafe as anyone in the area knew was a place where drugs were being dealt.  It was notorious.  And why the riot happened is clear to any idiot who does research.  A “Black Riot” with lots of looting,personal scores in the community being sorted and,oh,yes -quite a few white idiots in balaclavas who I think were supposed to be anarchists.

But the point is not who did what and why;it is that changes had to be made socially and otherwise.  What historians call “a turning point”.

The Mild Mild West reminded those,who can remember,what happened and what it signified.  It is why that piece has never been touched.  Until now.

Some spotty arsed morons with no brains or talent for anything artistic threw red paint across it as a “statement” of moronity no doubt.  Other Banksy pieces have been “defaced” as the once angry press who now herald the “working class street artist hero” put it. These are the same press who called for Banksy to be tracked down and arrested as “a common grubby little vandal”.

It has been suggested that Banksy himself was behind the various acts of defacing.  If he was then he’d be a moron to damage The Mild Mild West as,if anyone,he should know what it means and signifies to older locals.

I always wondered about how long it would take for some imbecilic talentless tit to try to damage the piece.  Now I know.

Maybe its time I gave up on the people in this city.