Tonight I had a gun pointed in my direction at close proximity.
I'm not going to get into the intricate details for obvious reasons - the long and short of it was, someone was getting chased by people who were very serious about their intention to hurt this person and I was potentially in the firing line. I am 100% fine and I'm counting my blessings.
I've decided to blog about this and bring it to the Block because I think it's something we need to be discussing.
Obviously I don't know the situation around what happened tonight - but strongly doubt that whatever it was wasn't worth anyone's life. The f*cked up thing is, whatever the situation is, it's blatantly beyond a point of reason where the parties involved will figure out it's not worth bloodshed or jail time until it's too late.
While I reside in a part of London that has often been regarded as quite dangerous, luckily I've never seen anything even remotely on the same level of what I witnessed tonight. However, like most people I've come into contact with across the globe, I know at least somebody whose been affected by gun and knife crime on some level. People have lost their sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, fathers, cousins, friends etc either to the prison system or in a senseless killing.
A little while back I did THIS POST where I kind of poked fun fun of the "anti-knife" campaign reaching fried chicken boxes (I maintain that it's a pretty wack idea), but at the moment I'm pondering what WILL actually get people to wake up? I'm under no rose-tinted illusion that knife or gun crime is ever not going to be an issue, but I still feel a lot more needs to be done to get people (young people particularly) valuing life a lot more.
Now the media sensationalism has finished shining it's warped spotlight on youth crime and has been focused for the last year on the recession, it seems like it's something people have stopped talking about it - but many communities still need to be having this kind of dialogue. From volunteering with young people who are considered "the problem", to having cousins / family / friends who've gone and go through life in inner-city London - it's not like we don't all recognise there's something serious to sort out.
Why has such a disillusioned, reckless view on the quality of life seemed to seep further into so many people? Is it a feeling of worthless ingrained in certain people? Selfishness? A lack of faith "in thex system"? A lack of support and role models - particularly for young black men? What's going on here? And what can we do to play our little part to mend it?
Tahirah
3 comments:
I'm so sorry to hear that and it actually digusts me to think that people can't talk things out! I really have no idea how we can affect change but i hope someone has a bright idea very soon before its too late!!!
Completely agree with Remel - terrifying thing is that it's literally on your doorstep, feels like no-where is safe anymore.
The whole concept of even carrying a weapon is so difficult to understand, why do they do it???
I say send them to Iraq since they like playing boy soldiers. Some lives aren't worth saving!
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