October 2007

More than just a month

By Paul Macey, Words of Colour Creative Arts Director

When thinking of what I should write about for this column, I happened across an advert in my local paper about a Black History Month (BHM) event being hosted by my local council. It got me thinking about how quickly ‘Black History Month’ comes and goes, and how little of the month’s spirit and purpose is taken on by those public bodies paid to serve us.

The event itself looked interesting and I wanted to make sure that it was in my diary. However, once I arrived at the date I knew my attendance was not going to be possible as it clashed with another event closer to my heart and was, in some ways, more relevant to the principles and legacy that underpin BHM.

The priority event was the coming together of local residents in my corner of south London, who wanted to see their local park put to better use and free of drug dealing and broken, unsafe facilities. The rundown nature of the park is a classic example of how certain communities are routinely ignored by their local authorities – ironically the same bodies that host many a BHM event. In the process they not only suffer from poor resources, but also become demonised and blamed for their own ‘failure’ to improve their lot.

Here’s what I mean. The park could be a valuable resource for people living in a densely populated, multicultural area, potentially offering a safe, relaxing and sociable environment for old and young alike. Instead it has broken play facilities, is rubbish-strewn and without toilets. It is also inaccessible to many disabled people and home to quite blatant drug dealing.

It is not a place where local people - young or old, ethnic majority or minority - feel safe, a feeling compounded by the general perception of the surrounding area being crime-ridden, run down and undesirable.

Media coverage of the area often misinforms the wider public, and our elected politicians are invisible. As a result the impression is that the old distrust the young, the white distrust the black, and fear and loathing runs wild. And yet, in recent months, a deeper more meaningful truth has come to the fore. Far from being a divided, apathetic and fearful community there are countless people who are proud of their area and determined to regenerate the park as a place of safety and leisure for all.

Founded and supported, to a large extent, by members of the black community, a local Friend’s of the Park Group has been formed and last month had its inaugural public meeting to which many people came and voiced their desire to make the park a better place. This was confirmed further in a subsequent conversation I had with Edith who attended the meeting and phoned to ask for an update. Edith, 81, is white and has lived in the area all her life. She remembers the park from her childhood to the 1990s with its bandstand and tea bar, communal garden and tennis courts and a whole range of facilities where people enjoyed their leisure.

Edith does not tell me this to hark back to the ‘good old days’, but rather to express her frustration at how the council has let things drift through neglect. Not something, she says, that they would dare to do in the “leafier, whiter suburban southern areas of the borough”.

Our group aims to reclaim the park and convince the council to re-invest. Slowly but surely – it is early days – things are happening. Let’s hope that the council recognises this modern affirmation of positivity and inclusivity, and ensures that its commitment to BHM is shown through greater deeds rather than one-off events. Edith has certainly learned this.

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