Learning forgiveness in Lambeth: The F Word Exhibition at St Anselm's

The F Word Exhibition (also known as the Forgiveness Project) tours prisons, churches and other venues in both the US and the UK, to highlight stories of courage from people who have been able to forgive others after they've been wronged.  The narratives are varied, containing the extraordinary testimonies of people who are learning to forgive after living through the Holocaust at Auschwitz or people offering forgiveness to those that killed their relatives in terrorist atrocities.  But the project contains stories of ordinary people too; those that learn to forgive everyday ordinary wrongdoing.

I'm keen to promote this project because being unable to forgive others can destroy individuals and communities, and yet, without examples of others who've managed against the odds, it's much harder to imagine what forgiveness might look like.  In Lambeth, there is perhaps a greater imperative to learn to forgive.  Back in 2008, I quoted an excerpt from the South London Press in which Ashley Kemete's mother said that she had forgiven her son's killer(s) in a shooting that occurred in White Hart Street, Kennington.  That's one extraordinary statement from a local woman, especially since it doesn't look as though Ashley's killer(s) have been arrested or sentenced, but I hope it isn't forgotten

The exhibition is being held at St Anselm's Church (Kennington Cross, SE11 5DU) from 29th November to 6th December.  The comment below indicates that it will be open from 10am - 8pm at night.

Ashley Kemete - mother agreed to forgive killers

It's rare for mainstream newspapers to issue headlines about forgiveness, but I think it's vital.

In an article published by the South London Press today, Ashley Kemete's mother spoke out on how she has agreed to forgive the men that killed her son:

"As a mother I forgive the people responsible for his murder and feel sorry for their families.

God will judge them in time

We could not bear to think that another family will have to go through this heartache we have.

So what we want to do is identify the people responsible."

Ashley's dad has said that they have no idea who killed their son.

The BBC reported yesterday that the three men brought in for questioning regarding Ashley's death have been released on bail.

Three men arrested for shooting Ashley Kemete

According to a BBC article, three men have been arrested for the Ashley Kemete shooting on 17th October in Kennington.

Ashley Kemete - any more news? Also, memorial site.

As far as I can see, there's been no further announcement by police on Ashley Kemete's death. The South London Press released their own article a few hours ago, and it contains a little more information than was currently known.

It's important to remember (as one commentator on this blog pointed out last night) that the gang connections are only posited. A few people have commented that they knew Ashley as he was growing up, when he wasn't involved in anything untoward. The South London Press article adds that Ashley was shot outside his parents' flat, that his poor mother heard nothing, that Operation Trident do not know why he was targeted and that it's still unclear how many people were involved because of the panic at the time of the incident (although we know now that he was shot four times). Indeed, police say that Ashley was only on the periphery of their own general investigations.

I hope that they find out who did it soon. I can't imagine what Ashley's parents and friends must be going through.

One thing I've discovered though, whilst having a look at the Google Analytics for this blog, is that a number of people are looking for information about a shooting (in which, apparently, nobody was injured), not too far away in Gipsy Hill last night (20th October). It might be totally unrelated, and there is no news at all on the incident. (I only found out through the Virtual Norwood forum). But, there must be more people asking whether two shootings within three days of each other, only 5 miles apart could be, in any way related.

Ed: A Memorial Site has just been set up for Ashley on Gonetoosoon here.

Ashley Kemete death in Kennington

I don't have any further news on Ashley Kemete's death in Kennington, which is unusual as I was hoping that due to the number of witnesses, somebody/people might have been taken in for questioning by now. The news hasn't entirely sunk in with me yet. I know that violent crime happens all over London (this is the 5th? violent death since I started the blog), but there has been nothing in SE11 (thank goodness) for over a year, especially not gun crime.

An anonymous comment left on this blog notes:

The location of the shooting is a cul-de-sac that separates Kennings and Penwith Manor Estates. Poorly-lit and with no CCTV, it's a gift to local dealers servicing the demand from local pubs and elsewhere. Whether there are 5 gangs in the immediate location, there is a drug problem that nice parts of Kennington don't see. Police have now cleared off, and there's a shrine at the spot where the shooting took place, so it appears there's something to the gang link.

I'm not clear on how a shrine points to the gang link, but I wish it didn't take deaths for poorly-lit, unobserved alleyway areas to be brought to public(?) or council (?) attention. Of course, that presumes that somebody is paying attention at all. I've often used that particular cut through from Kennington tube station (and will continue to do so), but I admit that I tend to use it before dark, because it sometimes does involve walking past groups of youths. I refuse to be intimidated by groups of people, but I can see why some people might not like it.

I've been doing a little questioning of the "5 gangs" in the area figure, quoted by the unnamed source. It seems that two things are at issue:

a) What exactly "this area" refers to. The local estate? (which is what I was presuming). Kennington? Kennington and Oval? Kennington and Vauxhall? Further out to encompass Camberwell, Peckham and Brixton, as well as Kennington? I was thinking that 5 gangs sounded too high for the local estate. However...

b) The guy who runs The Assha Project blog (a blog about a gang conflict mediation programme in Tower Hamlets) has pointed out to me that the unnamed neigbour might have been using a wider definition of "gang" than I was anticipating. I was using "gang" to refer to a group of people that routinely hang around together with some criminal intent. I wouldn't use the word "gang" just to describe some friends who hang around on the street, with no criminal intent. I realise that there is a fine line (especially because groups comprise some people who might have some criminal intent, and others who might not), but it does seem that the former involves illegal elements, whereas the latter is actually still legal. A group of friends who hang around on street corners might be disapproved of by some UK citizens, but I figure that freedom to congregate peaceably hasn't been made illegal yet. If the unnamed neighbour is using the word "gang" in this looser sense, then I concede that there may well be 5 gangs on that particular local estate.

One issue that I really appreciate the anonymous poster commenting on is drug supplies to local pubs (and I believe that Camila Batmanghelidjh brought this up in one of my favourite interviews for the BBC) when she said:

Adults - it's y'know, adults - some people who work in the city running crack dens y'know, to make extra money. And it blows my mind, because the people who ring the 'phones of my kids are city workers, who ring for their drugs. And yet they're the same people who judge these children y'know? But they keep the drug trade going.

And I was thinking that a lot of libertarian type people who don't object to taking drugs, or having friends who take drugs, might not think about the people whose hands the drugs pass through... Theoretically, in one guise, I'd be one of those people who said something like, "well, if people choose to take drugs, and they're not harming anybody else, then it doesn't bother me that they're doing something illegal". But it seems that drug-taking is harming other people, just not the people actually taking the substances in question. (This of course, raises more questions about whether any drugs should be illegal?)

Being that Vauxhall, and its numerous gay clubs are around the corner, continually fueled by newer and more ingenious ways to get high, it can't be an accident that we'll end up with shootings in the area as well. The whole supply and demand chain is on our doorsteps.

Kennington - Shooting of Asley Kemete - White Hart Street

I think I'm absolutely last on this story, as it has been covered extensively elsewhere, but a 20 year old man named Ashley Kemete was shot in Kennington, White Hart Street at 9.10pm last night.

The reports all seem to suggest that three people shot at Ashley. The Press Association have released an informative press release. The Bexhill Observer is naming locals who are putting it down to gang related violence. Apparently, there are 5 gangs in the immediate area! I have to say that I wonder whether that figure is somewhat inflated, but I don't know how I'd disprove it. I'm trying not to think about the number of people wandering around in SE11 with guns on their person.

It's a very busy place for a shooting to happen, and occured in such a populated spot that drinkers in the White Hart heard the gun shots. Various reports also mention that there were a number of witnesses, which probably means it's more likely that perpetrators will be caught.

When in the car this morning, I noticed the area had been cordoned off with tape, and was buzzing with police officers (and a lot of people talking to the police officers), but didn't suspect that a shooting had occured deep in the heart of, what is for this blog, SE11 land.

"You can talk to Trident officers on 020 8247 4553 or, to remain anonymous, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."