By James Simons-
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, alongside a number of influential young grime and rap stars, poets and bloggers, have launched a campaign against knife crime in the capital of London.
The social media campaign aimed at making young people make a conscious decision against carrying a knife is hoped to touch the hearts of millions of teenagers in the capital. Former Eastender’s star, Brooke Kinsella, who lost her brother, Ben to knife crime, has also thrown her weight behind the campaign. She said :
“We need to remember that knife crime doesn’t just destroy one life, it destroys countless lives. That’s why I’m supporting the mayor’s campaign.”
Recent statistics shows that 40 young people under the age of 25 have been fatally stabbed on the capital’s streets since January , as it emerged that knife crime has risen by 31% this year. The figures are disturbing, especially when we remember that these figures do not fully represent satics for murder excerbated by gun crime. Knives are far more easily accessible than guns, and its possession in the hands of young people these days is almost a fashion. The consequences are potentially deadly, and have been for many people. Consider Brooke Kinsella, who developed the Kinsella Trust, a trust dedicated to campaigning against knife crime. The death of he brother Ben has changed the course of her life forever , she has being moved to raise awareness of knife crime and keep doing so.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan appreciates the emotions involved for the families of those lost to knife crime. He has taken this all seriously, that’s why he is here. He said:
“Too many of our young people are being senselessly lost to knife crime. It has to stop.
“We can’t solve the problem by police enforcement alone, we need to get the message across that our young Londoners are too valuable to risk their lives by carrying a knife.”
A piercing video at the heart of the campaign is to be supported by some of the capital’s most influential young social media and music stars.
Ilford performance poet Hussain Manawer and grime artists Yungun and Bossman Birdie, who hail from Tottenham, were at the launch, as well as blogger and radio personality The Slumflower.
The mayor and social media stars meet young people at the launch. Picture: Emma Youle . Picture: Emma Youle
Urban poet, Manawer, whose profile is in the process being raised as a reuslt of this campaign, told the eye of media.com that the campaign is close to his heart because of personal loss he has suffered to drive awareness and build solutions.
“I’ve known young people who have been stabbed and, unfortunately, someone who was killed due to knife crime, so this topic is close to my heart,” he said.
“Campaigns such as ‘London Needs You Alive’ give visibility to something that can break families and tear apart societies.”
Rapper Yungen said:
“I know what it’s like to be from an estate and how easy it is to get caught up in drama, and now I’m in a position to see there is more to life. I wanna share that with younger people who may have more potential than they feel they do.”
Campaigns like these are important in our society and need to continue. We need to get into the hearts of our young people. We must also understand the reasons some people carry knives and explore ways of reaching them. Some people carry knives for protection, for fear of being attacked and themselves becoming a victim of knife crime.How do we touch individuals falling under that category? First, it is important to acknowledge that majority of knife crimes begin with a confrontation or a background situation. Empowering young people to know how to address various situations and communicate diplomatically without losing face is an important skill to have. Many young people don’t have these skills, but is on the eye of media’s hit list for schools in London in 2018.
The eye of emdia.com will fully support the campaign against knife crime, and will also feature many of the grime artists and poets on our internet radio, the eye of destiny radio, a spart of our support for this campaign. We hail all those involved in this positive and potentially very productive campaign.