For far too long, the debate surrounding knife crime and the rise in youth violence has been dominated by the media, politicians and charity leaders. There has been a distinct absence of young people’s voices in the debate about the causes and the solutions of this recent and stark rise in youth violence. In response to this, Khulisa hosted a youth-led Open-Mic night and invited young people with a range of experiences to share their views on what needs to be done to tackle the recent rise in youth violence particularly in London.
On the 13th November 2018 at the Old Truman Brewery in East London, 50 guests gathered to support the young performers who each shared their perspective on the causes (and the possible solutions) to rising violence in London. This event also marked the beginning of Khulisa’s Big Give Christmas Campaign 2018, which will raise funds for Khulisa’s work in preventing young people from becoming involved in crime: the campaign launches on the 27th and more information will follow on this soon.
First up was Annie Rockson, a spoken word artist (and Development Manager at the YHFF) performed the poem ‘Dice’ which explores how racial inequality and prejudice towards young black people can limit a young person’s opportunities in life. Annie gave a powerful and thought-provoking performance, she has performed at The House of Commons, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and the first ever Winchester Poetry Festival. Her work has been featured in the National Poetry Library. and her poems are designed to empower and challenge perceptions. Understanding how it feels like to not have a voice, she hopes her poems can empower audiences to speak out and build a more positive community.
A trio of young campaigners called ‘No Lost Causes’ followed next, (Natalia, Cristian & Semi are supported by the Advocacy Academy); they shared a speech they had prepared about the link between school exclusions and crime; they argue that a lack of compassion in schools had led to a surge in school exclusions which left children vulnerable to more negative influences and that the education system is routinely failing thousands of children who do not conform to the singular version of ‘academic success’. They called for teachers to listen more, to make time to truly understand the young people in their care. They want to see an end to isolation units and school exclusions, they would promote more teacher training to support professionals to better relate and respond to young people’s needs. The campaigners highlighted the value of therapeutic support, family outreach workers and a more creative, more modern curriculum.
Following this, Sagal Gabay performed two poems: the first about Grenfell and its devastating impact on a whole community of young people, and the second was called ‘Run’ which explored a young person’s need to feel a sense of belonging. A particularly pertinent line of her poem read “perhaps you found love in guns that you couldn’t find in us.” Sagal is a 19 year old spoken word poet who has been performing for the past 3 years, she is in her second year of university and her work tackle issues of identity, particularly amongst young people from the Somali community.
Next up was Jamal Khan whose two poems “Caged Revolution” (which is about his experience of going to prison) and “Confessions Of A Weapon” which is how guns and gang-culture can provoke and perpetuate youth violence. At the age of fifteen, Jamal was sent to prison and during this time, he kept a journal which became the start of his writing journey. Jamal responded to questions about whether the prison system is doing enough to support creative talents of prisoners to enable them to have the best chance of reintegrating into the community upon release. He suggested that prisons are too volatile, too unstable to maintain even the basic level of education that is offered (which is traditional and academic rather than creative). Jamal also called for more people with lived experience to be invited into prisons, to support prisoners and share their stories in order to inspire and motivate others who need encouragement. Jamal’s debut book will be released on the 29th November and the launch will be marked by an event held at City Hall.
Finally Franklyn Addo, a journalist, rapper and youth worker, shared his very personal and moving story about witnessing the fatal shooting of a young person right outside his front door. During the Q&A, Franklyn talked of how violence is the product and culmination of years of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). He pointed towards the media and the fleeting, sensationalist reporting which dehumanises victims of crime. Franklyn called for a more humane and compassionate response to victims of crime, referencing the #saytheirname campaign in response to the continually quoting of death tolls and statistics.
Franklyn also praised the important role that youth workers play in supporting young people and lamented that their contribution is valued by the percentage of “young people reached” rather than the life-changing impact each youth worker can have on individuals and their lives. He touched on the role of the police and how decades of maltreatment and mistrust between communities and the police force would be difficult to undo quickly.
Following the positive feedback we’ve received from this event, Khulisa are considering repeating this event (possibly for a younger cohort of young people). If you’d like to be involved, if you’d like to support us in doing this or if you have any feedback to share, place contact us using info@khulisa.co.uk or leave a comment on this post.
We will soon be launching our Big Give Christmas Campaign (on the 27th November) which will feature elements of this event; please keep an eye out and share the resources if you’ve found them useful, tagging Khulisa (@KhulisaUK) and using the hashtag #BeHeard and #CuringViolence.
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