... Over the weekend I went for a jog through the small park near my flat in Brixton, South London. There I passed an 18-year-old whom I mentor. I’ll refer to him as Carl. Carl was jogging too. We slowed to greet one another, then I veered north, towards Kennington. Carl stayed to complete laps of the park, which is next to his housing estate.
The difference in our jogging routes – Carl’s closed and repetitive, mine open and free – might seem unremarkable. But it marks out an invisible line of socioeconomic and racial inequality that would divide us if we hadn’t met nearly five years ago at a local community centre. I am free to go to Kennington whenever I like, but Carl is not. A territorial rivalry exists between young, predominantly black men in north Brixton and Kennington. Carl knows that by stepping beyond a certain point he is risking his life. By the age of 16 he had dodged knives. He has felt a bullet graze his ear. He inherited a constant state of insecurity from olders at a young age. He didn’t have a choice. ...
No comments:
Post a Comment