Writers and Rioters
By Sophie Hardach - August 20, 2011
"Come to Hackney! It's fun!"
"Right, that's a great start. Can you think of something even catchier?"
"Hmmm...Come to Hackney! Jump for Joy! Come to Hackney! Sell, sell, sell!"
The Hackney Pirates, a brilliant literacy project in east London, was one of the less visible victims of this week's riots - their building was evacuated on Tuesday and they had to cut short their summer school workshop that afternoon, sending the children home with riot police guarding the street and helicopters circling overhead. They coped with the chaos by organising a special session about the riots (you can see some of the results and quotes on my blog). On Thursday, they calmly picked up where they'd been interrupted and let the children defend their streets in their own way: by designing promotional postcards for Hackney.
I've been volunteering with the Pirates for a few months but that session was my favourite so far. There was no hint of cynicism as the children chewed their pencils and composed their own Hackney hit list: fried chicken shops, fish&chip shops, parks, and the roof terrace and Curve Garden where the workshops are held. It was a moving reminder of the power of words.
Compare this week's headlines about Hackney: "Poverty-blighted Hackney...furious and fearful...hooded thugs on a rampage in Hackney."
And then this phrase, which one young Pirate wrote and read out loud because she felt it encapsulated what she loved most about her neighbourhood: "The atmosphere in the Curve Garden is peaceful and safe."
It also reminded me why literacy matters, and why charities matter. A lot has been written about how to prevent future riots, from bringing in the army to showing the thugs more love. That's all very well, but it's important not to forget about the children (and adults) who live in those poor neighbourhoods and who did not riot. The young Pirates could have gone out and joined the mob; instead they stayed in the garden and wrote stories about Pirate Baldy. That's not to say children are saints, far from it, but sometimes we're so busy focusing on what's broken that there's too little mention of the things that work.
As for the "sell, sell, sell" tagline...well, that threw me a bit at first.
"I like the Jump for Joy bit, but why Sell, Sell, Sell?"
She threw me an impatient look - wasn't it obvious? "Because there's the market!"
"Right, that's a great start. Can you think of something even catchier?"
"Hmmm...Come to Hackney! Jump for Joy! Come to Hackney! Sell, sell, sell!"
The Hackney Pirates, a brilliant literacy project in east London, was one of the less visible victims of this week's riots - their building was evacuated on Tuesday and they had to cut short their summer school workshop that afternoon, sending the children home with riot police guarding the street and helicopters circling overhead. They coped with the chaos by organising a special session about the riots (you can see some of the results and quotes on my blog). On Thursday, they calmly picked up where they'd been interrupted and let the children defend their streets in their own way: by designing promotional postcards for Hackney.
I've been volunteering with the Pirates for a few months but that session was my favourite so far. There was no hint of cynicism as the children chewed their pencils and composed their own Hackney hit list: fried chicken shops, fish&chip shops, parks, and the roof terrace and Curve Garden where the workshops are held. It was a moving reminder of the power of words.
Compare this week's headlines about Hackney: "Poverty-blighted Hackney...furious and fearful...hooded thugs on a rampage in Hackney."
And then this phrase, which one young Pirate wrote and read out loud because she felt it encapsulated what she loved most about her neighbourhood: "The atmosphere in the Curve Garden is peaceful and safe."
It also reminded me why literacy matters, and why charities matter. A lot has been written about how to prevent future riots, from bringing in the army to showing the thugs more love. That's all very well, but it's important not to forget about the children (and adults) who live in those poor neighbourhoods and who did not riot. The young Pirates could have gone out and joined the mob; instead they stayed in the garden and wrote stories about Pirate Baldy. That's not to say children are saints, far from it, but sometimes we're so busy focusing on what's broken that there's too little mention of the things that work.
As for the "sell, sell, sell" tagline...well, that threw me a bit at first.
"I like the Jump for Joy bit, but why Sell, Sell, Sell?"
She threw me an impatient look - wasn't it obvious? "Because there's the market!"
