Moments of Hope: A Photo Gallery of Our Work

The ongoing issue of youth knife crime is growing daily, starting before the youth of today were born. It seems every action has a reaction. It seems the powers to be don’t take responsibility for their actions. 

You didn’t think that when you closed several youth centres in South London, you were going to create a problem. You didn't think that when you closed several schools in a short period of time in South London, you were going to create a problem. Where were we meant to meet, gather, unite, and familiarise ourselves with other children in the area or surrounding areas? Those youth centres were the means to togetherness and a path to unity. You didn't think that when you closed several of our schools, our supply of educational opportunities, knowing there were not enough spaces in schools at the time, would create a problem. 

I was fortunate to witness the first Brixton riots and the community's strong sense of unity. Prior to this, there was a lack of communication and trust between the community and police in the way people of colour were treated, which led to the riots. I also witnessed that, in large numbers, black people had a voice and were heard. I can't help but think the decisions that were made regarding the schools and specifically the youth centres were a means of segregation. Born from this were postcode wars, a term that I do not like to use. 

After your experience with the Brixton riots, you didn't think future generations were going to face the problems we have today. For example, the cost of living is way above the average household income. This detrimental impact to the disposable income available for the creature comforts of young people; what they aspire to have is no longer achievable. The cost of living is so high that young people at university today are unable to feed themselves after paying their bills. The average young person today could not afford to even drive a car, taking into account insurance tax and the congestion charge. The basic wage would not pay that along with the day-to-day cost of living. Young people nowadays have to adapt their lives to suit the changes created by wrong decisions. The difference in the approach in earlier days compared to the present is that there was unity in the community, regardless of race, against the common force of the system. Families within the community shared their resources with one another to eradicate the stresses of the system. This method of survival originated from back home. Until today, some still call it home—the only place where the system accounts for them before making decisions. At least there, they think of the ripple effect these decisions may have on generations to come. This system seems to be built to account for the more wealthy families and people, rather than the average family. The system is designed for the well-off to get richer and a basic family to remain the same, if not decline. Unless opportunity knocks on your door, you will not see the chance of success. The cost of living does not permit a parent to even consider helping their child along with the everyday essentials a boy or girl needs or should rightfully have in this system, which should be designed to address all levels of people, which in my opinion it does not. All this does not mean that the child should accept the situation imposed upon them regarding life changes, as children are prone to adapting to their surroundings. They have witnessed the struggles of their parents under a system that has failed them. Therefore, they will be more inclined to find other means of survival, irrespective of how people may judge their actions. It's a god-given ability to survive  

I use the example of third-world countries. Where people are starving. Children are starving. I heard many people say, “Why don’t they stop having children?” In reality, what they are saying is, “Why don’t they give up on hope and faith and let their race of people die out?” Their will and inner strength are to be commended, as under these circumstances, some races would give up or their bodies would give up. I use this as an example, not because of the conditions they live in, but because of their innate drive to survive. The disadvantaged youth live in a society that recognises the value of a person based on their monetary value and materialistic possessions. This is prominent to see in their everyday lives, and the system does not permit them to reach these levels of life. Which, in my opinion, is like dangling a sugar cube in front of a donkey to get him to walk and carry the heavy load. Children have an attitude of get rich or die trying because of the decisions made by the system in the past. 

Many of us have a soldier in our home because of the need to protect the resources in our postcode, leading to conflict. This conflict stems from young people being forced onto the streets to find means for things that we, as adults, would look at as the essentials of life. Hence the reason we now have so much youth crime and still some refuse to see the failure of the system, as it doesn’t reach their doorstep.

We need to eradicate the stress and strain on a child to provide for themselves from a young age in a society that does not permit young people of a certain age to work. This will be the first step to addressing knife crime issues, which is intense. You cannot tell a soldier to drop his weapon in the middle of a battlefield. You may wonder why I use this term for the children and young people that live in London. The reason being that our young youth are living soldier lives. Maybe 80% of them need to be addressed on a psychological level, as society has let them down by the ripple effect of the pressures some of their parents are facing. History will say that traditionally, in most cases, the men went to work while the ladies looked after the children. Alternatively, men went to war while the women looked after the children. In earlier days, it was a man's role to address the hardships of the home. Now young people are facing adult issues along with the pressure of violence on the streets. You must take into account that young people are using social media as a form of communication with the outside world. It is my belief that the input is devastating and full of negativity. Social media highlights knife crime and death all around the country. Your children see the life-threatening outside world every day on social media. They are still expected to wake up and go to school, being told to focus on their exams while seeing on social media the life-threatening world outside their front door. For them to face these situations is not acceptable. This input is damaging to a young person’s mind, forcing them to challenge themselves in ways that a young person should not have to do, regarding the fear factor of losing their life and accepting this as a part of their life. How many parents address these issues and actually check their child's rooms for weapons, bearing in mind the obstacles highlighted? No child should have to leave their home thinking in this manner, and no parent should have to send their child out the door with this in mind. You must understand that if your child leaves the house thinking in this way and accepts this as a way of life without fear, your child is no longer a child when they have more similarities to a soldier of war. The fear factor in anyone, adult or child, is a major part of the reaction to certain situations. The mental challenges can make him overcome fear, but without fear in his body, he could be very dangerous as a person, especially if he began with fear and overcame it. Soldiers are taught to do this, as are the Metropolitan Police in extreme cases and most high-security personnel. Children should not have to be subjected to this while they are still in their developing period of life, as they are made to feel and think like soldiers of war while being children. What you see on the street today is a product of the above. To eradicate this, you must remove them from the battlefield and rehumanize their mental mindset in a safe environment. 

If you want to see him smile again, remove the soldier from your home. 

M.A. Rodney 

Founder – Project Lifeline