Rebuilding the Trust of the Neighbourhood in the Face of Gentrification
Behind the scenes of our Community Fun Day - the event that aimed to celebrate local businesses and diversity in Gillett Square
As a woman of colour, I wanted to celebrate my African heritage with the community and allow parents to have a good time without having to empty their pockets or compromise their budgets. My objective was for the community to meet with people like them, who had their own businesses. I wanted parents to experience eating in an amazing environment, which, without funding wouldn’t have been affordable for many of us. Usually, if I want to treat myself and eat at a posh restaurant such as Brunswick, I have to save up for a while and renounce something else . However, we should never judge a book by its colour, as the owner of the place is far from snobbish and really made an effort to help us deliver this memorable event and create a great experience for the whole community, which makes me believe that the local business owners around Gillett Square really understand the principles of humanity. Dalston is a place of empathy, which brings together what we know so that all of us , no matter if we are black or white, can enjoy our diversity on a daily basis.
Yes, it was just an idea, but this idea brought me so much joy and healing. Having councillors who look like me and who support me has eased many issues I had with black people in positions of power. The last one was when I was being assessed to get access to temporary accommodation. I had a meeting with the housing officer, and she was about 30 minutes away when I arrived in the interview room. The lady did not even apologise for making me wait. She must have been about my age, somewhere in her 40s. She was also of African descent, which is sad to say at this point. I wish I’d had to deal with someone else, with someone who didn’t look like me, or at least not with one of those gate keepers. Right at the start of the interview, the woman started talking about how she had bought her own house and how she wasn’t on benefits. When I needed a place to live with my child, I was belittled, so I had to bite my tongue, which caused trauma. Soon afterwards, a friend said something that resonated with me: if we want to work together as black people, we have to start trusting one another. Being sold by people who look like you or not being helped by people who look like you can be traumatic, and I think after this Community Fun Day , I understand why we managed to make it such a great success. Well, it's because belief does not separate us. I want my child to understand that we all have something to give and something to learn. This event, the amount of time I had to spend setting up all of those chairs and tables so the community could eat at the Sky Farm, and the fact that I wanted to support the black businesses in the square , which are the most vulnerable ones in the current gentrification climate , made me feel like I was able to give back what was once taken away. The event wouldn't have been so successful if all the parties involved hadn’t made such effort - thanks again to Cory Defoe for ensuring we got the licence in time. I have to say I am really proud to live in Hackney.
Months ago, I discussed the BLM movement with a friend (who is also black) and we talked about how we could remove some of the collective trauma (or at least some of its layers) from our lives. Of course we can’t go back in time, but what we can do is rebuild and heal ourselves. And that’s why this event was so important - because it made me realise just how nice it is to see people like me showing support to one another . Let’s try to go back to the time when black slave masters traded people of colour. Isn’t that a really traumatic memory for us as a community and even more so for us as a race?
Given my own experience being undermined by people who look like me, I can aver that such trauma does not go away. And yet, we can make something positive out of it. If the Community Fun Day has proved anything to me is that change is possible and that things do change when people who look like me start helping, supporting, and showing love and direction to one another . Thank you so much to Soraya Adjare and Grace Adebayo , who have helped me with so much, from looking at the application to ensuring all the elements were in place when we put up the event.
“Alone we can do so little, Together we can do so much”
Sorane
