Blaksox: Britains first black led social movement launch 20th February 2016.

Change makers: A date for your diary book your place Blaksox launch 20th February 2016 right here.

This unique social movement has emerged from the tragedy of teenage violence on London streets and the economic exclusion that gives rise to increased rates of violence and is in the tradition of he Black Lives Matter global movement. At community meetings following the brutal murder of a number of black London teenagers, communities came together in Lewisham, Lambeth, Hackney and Haringey in a series of public meetings and marches demanding an end to the violence.

The overwhelming demand from young people was that their elders do much more to support their efforts to stop the violence in our communities.  They wanted an end to the dependency culture that saw endless grant applications for social projects. In the context of austerity it is clear that such a strategy of state funded interventions to tackle violence in our communities cannot alone solve the problem that we now face.

These are our children and it is our sole responsibility to take whatever action is necessary in order that our children can walk the streets in peace and safety and enjoy economic opportunity that is currently denied to many and makes them vulnerable to seduction into violence.  This is often a tactic for self-preservation. Young people petrified of becoming a victim of violent crime then begin to band together in the face of acute failure of police services to secure and gain their trust and confidence.

Stop and search, police brutality, deaths in police custody, disproportionate drug enforcement policies, institutional racism and the dreaded Joint Enterprise law means that calling the police is not an option for many young people.

This movement is self financed seeded with an initial donation by a community who are determined to offer a viable vehicle for change. A movement whose core funding is provided by our own communities.  Our aims are to develop youth leadership, provide expertise briefings, and offer personal development and professional accreditation training in an effort to increase capacity, deepen and broaden relations and resilience within our communities.

The organisation is attracting widespread support. just look in the number of logo's on the conference flyer.

Our social action agenda includes providing critical support for the victim’s families of teenage murder and violence.  We are seeking to assemble and fund are own team of counselors, youth workers, lawyers and advocates that can provide much-needed expertise, and the love and support for families who face this usually daunting and complex statutory agencies processing procedures that follow in the wake of teenage murder.

These processes can be frustrating and bewildering to many families. Some have financial concerns in relation to organising the funeral for their loved one. 

Some have concerns about the quality of the police investigation; some concerns about the possibility of violent retribution, some just need somebody to talk to a shoulder to lean on.

Blaksox has developed the Nine Night Project that seeks to re-establish the cultural tradition of providing pastoral care, emotional and financial support by providing nine days and nights of intensive care and support for the families of victim’s teenage murder.  We are calling on the community to do two things provide financial support to make the project happen and to donate their time to our Blaksox time back, so that we can assemble a Nine Night task force to go into troubled communities.  In addition the project will address the issue of public trauma amongst friends and local communities, schools, colleges and faith groups in a public call for an end to the violence.

By adopting a public health approach that treats violence as a contagious virus we hope to take the message into local communities in the aftermath of a teenage murder that violence in our communities is a literal deadly cancer in our midst.

Violence distorts and degrades our communities.  If there is violence on the streets is because there is violence in the home.   Youth violence cannot be separated from domestic violence, child sex abuse, elderly abuse or indeed any other form of violence in our communities.

This is a self-funded community intervention that will restore pride and integrity in our communities. Will provide much-needed critical support for the victims of violent crime and provide collective trap for but the moral consensus of both young and old wish to live in safe violent free communities.  This unique conference offers you an opportunity to become involved with people who are pursuing our paradigms shift in thinking about prioritising the lives of our young people in an effort to encourage the development of safe and secure communities