August 11, 2011

LONDON RIOTS: Frontline Partners with Youth Network (FPYN) RESPONSE

What the media has dubbed “the London riots”  actually started with a young black man who was shot dead by the police. It began with a peaceful gathering last Saturday August 7, 2011; community members demanded answers related to the death of Mark Duggan, in one of many community calls for police accountability in response to ongoing police aggression.

FPYN encourages people to watch these videos and read articles with UK Youth Worker Symeon Brown from HYPE - Haringey's Young People Empowered. Symeon explains the broader context of what is happening in London, including ongoing police aggression and complete lack of community accountability, severe funding cuts to youth programming that aim to build bridges, and enormous and increasing gaps between rich and poor.

There is a larger story than what is being reported in the mainstream media that is complex and layered. This situation did not just “crop up” or happen overnight. This larger story connects to what is happening right here in Toronto. Instead of further disenfranchising our youth, how do we honour and protect their transition to adulthood so that our city is lit with their passion and creativity?  

A segment of an interview with Youth Worker Symeon Brown (areas highlighted by FPYN)

“... the whole democratic system that we are a part of is built upon this notion of consent. You consent to the state, because the state is supposed to enable you to have more freedom.  So we say we are better off with the state, and police, and property rights because this way we are better off...

...now they are saying: well actually we don’t actually believe the police are legitimate. We don’t believe they act in our interest.  We don’t believe that the government and their policies support us. We don’t believe that they are for us….therefore we are going to fend for ourselves. And we no longer see them as legitimate in our own eyes and we are going to remove our consent.  And essentially what we are seeing is them no longer consenting to the laws and the systems that are in place....  

...that has come as a result of very much being on the margins of society - on the periphery of our civic sphere and I think that what we are seeing now is the result of the socially excluded being kept in a specific location suddenly exploding rather than imploding. I think now this creates a great number of questions for us as a society and a nation.”

Videos with Symeon Brown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_scddZAulRc

http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/why-u-k-youth-riot-26240479.html

http://vidjin.com/why-did-the-tottenham-riots-happen-simeon-brown.html

Article written by Symeon Brown

“This is a time for a national reflection on how our society produced such carnage and also a call for local peace and local action.
When I watched London burn it was clear of the need for police -- good community policing accountable and united with their community.”

To read more:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/08/09/london.riots.symeon.brown/index.html

Article quoting Symeon Brown

“Mr Brown added that he hoped the police investigation into the death of Mr Duggan would reveal the truth, but said that council cuts to youth services had affected work to engage the police with the community. He said: “What I'm hoping for some truth and some honest answers – institutions that try and create that community spirit are suffering right now and this must not be forgotten.”

To read more: http://www.haringeyindependent.co.uk/news/9182455.Youth_leader_says_riots_result_of__breakdown_in_trust_/

Is the Toronto context that different?

• growing and entrenched racialization of poverty in Toronto (see: http://tinyurl.com/24aeoec),
• increasing barriers to accessing free and low cost recreation in Toronto
• lack of good and stable employment opportunities
• web of bureaucratic rules and regulations that keep people poor
• disincentives for young people to work in ‘over the table’ types of employment because it risks their family’s ability to pay the rent
• psychological trauma resulting from living in impoverished communities that are also  targeted by police
• further stereotyping of youth who live in these communities and targeting black youth who are often most easily portrayed as criminal and who largely do not participate in criminal activities

Frontline Partners with Youth Network (FPYN) works with a network of deeply committed frontline youth workers to address such issues.  In addition to providing free and low-cost training, FPYN provides frontline workers with support by creating safe spaces where their experiences and opinions are valued, recognized and heard.

Contact:  

Frontline Partners with Youth Network (FPYN)
jenny@fpyn.ca
fpyn.ca

connecting frontline workers to heal, learn and work for change