Friday, November 05, 2004

...East London sign ...


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Originally uploaded by Pip Wilson.

... this was me leaving the scene with the sign - not nicked but taken when the building was demolished ........ not the white trainer/boots ..... all the rage they were .......


Asbo for youth who threatened television crew

Laura Barton
Thursday November 4, 2004
The Guardian
" In West Gorton, Manchester, it seemed the perfect location for Shameless, Channel 4's successful drama series about the dysfunctional Gallagher family. In the end, however, it allowed for an uncomfortable example of life imitating art.
Yesterday, Manchester City magistrates served 17-year-old Steven Birchall with a wide-ranging antisocial behaviour order for the "climate of fear" he brought to the Gorton estate.
The court heard how Birchall and his cohorts ran amok through the estate, drove a tractor on nearby open land and told a local Asian shopkeeper, "We'll beat you, smash your car and your windows".
The intimidation escalated to such a degree that the television crew were forced to call the police, who were told "the youths had persistently disrupted filming and had acted in an intimidating fashion," community beat officer PC Tracey Burns told the court."

This reminded me of ....... when I worked in East London with da boys who loved the activity, the recreation of what we may call 'criminal activity' - a TV Crew came to film me and the work we were doing. Hmmm
Their car got robbed and at the same time someone got stabbed ......... they met a place that they only read about in the papers - or saw on TV!

I remember once ...... I was walking through he club which I run and I passed a corridor and two teenagers were fighting with knives ...... I just walked on by.

The strange thing is ....... I could tell without a second glance that they were 'play fighting' and I had more serious things to deal with. It was about priorities and you may think that is weird.

When it is tough there are always things that, in an ideal world, we would not consider.
It is good to get closer to the subject before doing a a big judgement. I often felt misunderstood - not the least by some Christians who felt that if I prayed harder and read the bible more - I would be blessed - God would bless me by making all these east End kids into nice middle class church goers and we all live happily ever after amen.

When God did it- he sent Jesus.
When Jesus did it - he walked the incarnational way - feet dirty - upsetting people - dirty people - sick people - violent people - ....... and he learned ........ the 'God made flesh' came and learned first hand that he needs to get close to love... to show it

........ to be God with skin on ...

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