By Simmone Ahiaku
I have lived in South London all my life. It’s my hometown glory, my claim to fame and my proudest personality trait. I get my flair, zest for life, passion for culture, music, heritage and history from this space. It raised me, my friends, my family, my neighbours and some of my icons.
My pride for being a South Londoner runs deeper because I’m from Brixton. Like many London neighbourhoods though, Brixton is changing. It’s changing in ways I could have never imagined and faster than what feels stoppable.
People, spaces, places are going missing, never to be spoken about again. Replaced overnight, like they were never part of the community. My neighbours are leaving; shops, community centres, play centres, parks and public spaces are all being wiped off the map.
What does it mean when you experience loss and have nothing to show for it? How can we describe these spaces to our kids and younger generations, with them only able to visualise this through our memories and photos?
By Simmone Ahiaku