Four years after the 1981 Toxteth riots reverberated through the city in a now much documented period of social unrest there were again 'disturbances' in Liverpool 8.
Dave Clay, an L8 field worker and chair of the L8 Law Centre at the time was on the ground in Granby Street with others from the law centre and the bishop of Liverpool David Sheppard, as they were attempting to broker a way out of the standoff.
The trouble had begun earlier that day on October 1 after a group of supporters arrived for a court case involving four local black youths who had been arrested for affray.
In his book 1919-2019 A Liverpool Black History, which Dave is currently crowdfunding to have published, he gives his account of what happened next.
Dave wrote: "After two hours of battling to get a seat, the Stipendiary Magistrate, Norman Wootton, remanded the youths to Risley Remand Centre.
"This is how the youth saw an affray case dealt with. An excessive police presence, mendacity (lies) and the knowledge that the black presence was resented.
"The mood home was angry and Hope Street Police Station was a target of stones and a reminder of Toxteth 1981 events.
"This was only to be the start - by the time the youths had reached Princes Avenue cars had been overturned and set alight. The Merseyside Police decided to cordon off the area.
"By the early evening an uneasy stand off existed as youths positioned themselves behind burnt out cars on Granby Street, with Police situated in nearby Selborne/ Mulgrave Street."
Dave went down to the scene with the bishop and others in attempt to diffuse the standoff.
He wrote: "The Liverpool 8 Law Centre, of which I was Chair at the time, held a meeting ... which included the Bishop of Liverpool.
"It was decided to approach both the youth and the police. We made our way to Granby Street led by the Bishop.
"Who could have devised a better plan? We approached the youths - we all knew each other - it's a difficult situation. We tell them there is real danger."
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Having persuaded the youths to retreat if the police did first, Dave and the Bishop then approached the officers.
He wrote: "There is fear. Lights flash in our eyes. Can we talk, we are here with the Bishop, we have spoke to the group on Granby - they will leave if you pull out."
Dave said the officers initially agreed, but as he and the bishop entered Granby Street to convey the message, officers changed tactics and "suddenly they are screeching into Granby Street, down the road and along the sidewalks".
The Bishop of Liverpool, says Dave, ended up "scrambling in the dirt" to avoid the confrontation that followed and which led to 18 injuries and 13 arrests.
A week later, Margaret Simey, then chair of the Merseyside Police Committee, attended a meeting with the chief constable Kenneth Oxford, where a 1,000-signature petition was presented demanding an inquiry into police tactics and behaviour, a demand that was not met.
The struggle for the youth of Liverpool 8 against police brutality and racism continued.
The story of these and many other experiences of Liverpool's black community over the past century, including the 1981 riots, the formation of organisations such as the Liverpool Black Organisation, the Charles Wooton Centre and earlier forms of "grassroots" collective action such as the Green Jackets form the subject of Dave's new book.
Speaking to the ECHO, Dave said: "This is a contribution to Liverpool Black history. I say from the outset, this is not an academic work and it is by no means definitive, but it is my account, my perspective, from the grassroots of the Liverpool black experience."
"Although it's titled 1919 to 2019, I don't start at 1919 because there is a bigger history here. I cover the African presence in Liverpool and the issue of slavery further back because it's part of our experience, but I direct people to where they can get further information, such as Laurence Westgaph and his group Liverpool and Slavery."
While a large section of Dave's book is given over to the build up to the Toxteth Riots of 1981 and the disturbances of 1985, reflecting upon the tensions and injustices that led the youth of L8 into revolt, Dave also talks about other forms of resistance that took place, including the Green Jackets of the 1960s and 1970s and "halfpenny protests" in shops carrying out racial profiling - where groups would cause "chaos" by attempting to buy things with large bags of halfpennies until the manager emerged to listen to demands.
The development of organisations such as the L8 Law Centre, the Liverpool Black Organisation and the Charles Wooton Centre is also discussed, as well as the role of cultural community centre the Black-E and other youth groups in the area such as the Methodist Centre in helping the city's young people to find a way through challenging conditions.
Dave also describes his experiences in the city council's race equality unit, and his work addressing inequality in the education system.
Drawing on his own archive of newsletters, including Wh'happened, which he published in 1976, and the Granby Toxteth Review, which he wrote in the early 2000s, Dave is keen to ensure that experiences of grassroots activists in Liverpool 8 are laid down for future generations.
He said: "I've written this for the same reason I was doing the newsletters - to document a perspective or viewpoint of the grassroots view of the experiences of Liverpool black people - it's just my small contribution to Liverpool's black history and not definitive - I've concentrated on what I was involved with."
Dave has recently set up a crowdfunder and is also applying for funding to get the book published.
He said: "Anyone who contributes to the fundraiser can have a copy, and if you want to contribute you can contact my page Dave Clay on Facebook. I've also applied to other sources of funding, and I'm hoping to make 200 copies available for free."
"As a city with the oldest black population in Europe, this book is to say that we have long had a black perspective here in Liverpool and our lives have been in that context.
"I tend to think at my age that the young know about these things, but these are events of over 40 years ago - I've had really positive feedback from today's young people who have read it - it's an educational and emotional journey."
