Led by their inspiring drum corps, the congregation and supporters of Brixton’s Seventh Day Adventist church took to the streets at the weekend to highlight their concern about and opposition to knife and gun crime. Julie Connelly reports
Setting out from the Seventh Day Adventist church in Santley Street, Brixton, it was a good start to the day.
The sun was out and the march was headed by the Pathfinder Scouts’ drum band.
It led the way as the community walked from the church down Ferndale Road to Clapham North into Clapham Road, then Stockwell Road, reaching Brixton Road and ending at Windrush Square.
Onlookers were cheering and a good vibe was all around, People hung out of their windows, excited to hear the mass drumming, it was upbeat and friendly.
The procession came to an end at Windrush Square, the drummers played their parting rhythm and the community gathered round to hear the speeches.
The message was clear. The church does not expect the government to help sort out gun & knife crime, or the issues that it stems from it. The SDA believes that “the only saviour is in the hearts of people to love each other”.
Their faith is strong, and although many have been impacted personally by the tragedy of losing children, they have held on to their faith and believe this is the only answer.
The minister for the church, Pastor Richard Daly, quoted Bob Marley to start with: “The world is in trouble”. It was then and is even more so now. He spoke of local victims who were not named, but who had been killed and how this impacts the whole of the community.
A representative from a Lambeth community group made a short speech about how knife crime has become a norm and it should not be.
Others spoke of their own personal experiences and of how they lost family to knife crime. One of the speakers, who lost his son, said that “we need to embark on mind surgery and heart transformation”.
The message was that “more love and less hate” is fundamental and the time has come to reclaim our streets from the evil of knife crime.
The day went well without any major incidents. One woman who was in the area wanted to grab the mike to vent some anger.
