I
write this from Brixton, the morning after looters smashed in my local shop
windows. The morning after ‘Gay’s the Word’ was the only shop in its street to
suffer violence. The morning after a weekend of sadness for London. I see young
(mostly) men attacking property in their own neighbourhoods. I see our
politicians on holiday and not coming home to address the problems. I see that
their neighbourhoods are well away from any signs of unrest.
I
am a white, living-middle-class, raised-working-class, Labour-voting, feminist,
lesbian, woman. And not one of these labels even begins to speak for me.
I
want change and an equitable society, and I don’t want a violent revolution to
get there. I see no evidence that any revolution anywhere has ever worked.
I
believe in dialogue and discussion and hope, and I don’t care if that sounds
airy-fairy or hippy, I care that we get on with talking to each other and
making a difference. I do that by being out to a group of 100+ fourteen-year-olds
in Enfield when I taught writing for my niece’s boyfriend’s school. I do that
by working with a local community for a pre-Olympics arts project on the south
London council estate where I was born. I do that by speaking out, sometimes to
my own detriment, always as honestly as possible.
I
don’t have an academic take on liberal values – I do have heartfelt commitment
to positive change and hope. I believe they are the same thing.
Stella Duffy's blog
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