March against knife crime from Kennington

Photos taken in Hyde Park:





I didn't manage to take any photos of the Peace March against knife crime in Kennington Park because it was quite a lot smaller than I expected (only about 1000 people left from Kennington Park) and consequently departed on time! I only reached SE11 at about 11.30, when it was so quiet that I wondered whether they'd cancelled it!

As a result, I decided to go and take some photos of it in Hyde Park as I wanted to support the effort. Something a little odd has happened with the camera exposure so the sky appears pink. It wasn't pink, it was actually a very bright day at about 16:00.

I went to the rally, not because I thought it would prevent furthur knife crime, but because I wanted to demonstrate solidarity as a Londoner with the families of knife crime victims, and also to show that I'd like to be part of any discussion about a solution. I was hoping that I'd hear some sensible ideas about how society might come together and work at strategies for preventing crime (strengthening families, working with schools etc.). Unfortunately, I found quite a lot of the rally's rhetoric to be about "bringing back National Service". It simply doesn't make sense to me to say that "knife crime is wrong" and yet to be seen to be legitimising war through the promotion of National Service. Also, I disliked the way that Gordon Brown, who made an eloquent pre-recorded speech against knife was pretty much "booed" by the crowd. It's not so much the booing I objected to, but the failure to listen to what he was actually saying before booing him! There was a coherent message against knife crime, but I didn't feel that there was any coherent ideas about how the whole community should pull together to stop it!