August 12 marks ‘Mackem Day’, a celebration of our deep and storied heritage, and this year marks the tenth anniversary of the day when it was founded in August 2016 by A Love Supreme.
So, why’s it so great to be a Mackem and why are we so proud of our identity? Is it the unique accent and dialect? The decorated industrial heritage? The landmarks? A city steeped in history and tradition? An equally historical football club? It definitely is all of the above.
Let’s start with the accent — a dialect
that’s been developed over thousands of years with heavy influence from our Scottish neighbours to the north, the Vikings in the ninth century, the Celts and Old English.
The Mackem dialect has its own dictionary, with each unique word having its own definition and usage. The word ‘Mackem’ comes from our aforementioned industrial past, deriving itself from the phrase “We mack’ ‘em, you tack’ em”, translating to “We make them, you take them”.
This refers to the area being a shipbuilding stronghold, producing all the ships for the rest of the world to take and buy — and it’s our industrial past that makes present-day Mackems so proud of their heritage.
Sunderland was a fish and salt exporter from the twelfth century to the late fourteenth century. The Wear eventually started raising ships on its banks, and the town would become one of the biggest industrial areas in the world between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, constructing ships and mining coal that would travel across the world, supplying the British Empire and beyond.
Almost everyone in Sunderland is either related to someone who worked down the pit, worked in the shipyards or made glass — the three pivotal industrial elements that make up our modern-day city, and it’s something to be immensely proud of.
Modern-day people must celebrate their ancestors who turned this place into an industrial titan and gave us the proud city we walk in today.
When I think of home, I think of Sunderland.
After a long car journey far away from the boundaries of the city, I know I’m home when I see Penshaw Monument, Roker Lighthouse, Wearmouth Bridge or the Stadium of Light, and I couldn’t imagine this place without its landmarks that signify to every Mackem that they’ve returned home.
Sunderland AFC and the hallowed ground of the Stadium of Light is the beating heart of the city.
From the Premier League to the Championship, to League On, back up to the big time and into Europe, we’ve stood by our club, which has been around for generations, through the highs and lows on and off the pitch. With six league titles, two FA Cups and numerous footballing merits, we’ve remained one of the biggest, proudest and loudest clubs in the country.
It’s a massive privilege to be a Sunderland fan at this current moment because of the previous hardships the club endured. Our efforts in League One and the Championship have finally paid off, with a joint-record high finish in the Premier League and the opportunity to watch our lads in red and white under the lights of the European stage.
It’s great to be a Mackem because no matter what, we’ll always have our prestigious history, which is eternally intertwined in both the city and the club. A Mackem is someone who is proud of the past, present and future; someone who can withstand anything the world throws at them.
No matter how far away you are from Sunderland, you can always return, and this place will always be home.
