Traversing London’s financial district any time after 4pm will always be a test of one’s patience and dexterity. And here I am on a bus heading down a bursting Bishopsgate towards Liverpool Street station – my final destination. There is no greater luxury than a seat on a bus in London, but alas, today I stand. I don’t mind; it’s a glorious day that has given me pleasant time to ponder and look at my surroundings as I do.
But I ponder how the increased co-dependency of the international financial markets has changed traditional working hours and increased the span of the ‘rush hour’ to every hour there is light. ‘So is there an hour in the day the City doesn’t rush?’ I wonder. ‘Is our city inexorably prescribed to angst, the fear of task-deadlines, others’ aspirations and ‘others’ themselves?’
You see, I’m chatting to Ray Lewis tomorrow - London’s appointed ‘Crime Czar’ (officially London Deputy Mayor for Young People) - and I’m so caught in the fervour surrounding his appointment that even I’m getting carried away with what Mr Lewis can fix for me: pavements… bus routes…. roadworks… graffiti… fires... moody commuters? I’m widening Ray’s remit with every stop.
It is actually then that I realise that I, probably like everybody else, have little clue where the Deputy’s remit begins and ends. Does youth and crime not have the breadth and complexity to straddle every agenda in City Hall? I begin to fear for Ray and his beleaguered PA. (It took me two whole weeks of speaking to the answer machine to nail this appointment down alone! They obviously didn’t realise who I was!)
That aside, it seems obvious and overwhelming that Lewis is at the sharp end of a very big public wedge hammering for reassurance, deliverance and Obama-esque ‘change’ rhetoric in-between. And it feels justified: we are at a point of global socio-economic uncertainty, a time the public needs and expects more from it’s public servants (as Gordon Brown was recently found out) precisely because it feels so vulnerable and suddenly mortal.
Today’s social/ economic/ mood dynamic is profound. So profound and complex, it can lead to seemingly disparate events in America conspiring against the price of your bread and impacting on your personal welfare: You tut as you read your Asda receipt and get mugged of your change as you put your purse away. This is when the irrational becomes rational, rational becomes irrational, fear sets in where certainty once stood and a messianic figure is prayed for, to restore a sense of balance and order to the village.
‘Is this him?’ the public may have asked of Ray Lewis when his appointment was made. Others would’ve been downright cynical. Rightly so. Tory administrations are not known for their black participants so 'why-this-job-why-now' sceptics would be right to enquire.
Although there isn't much to scrutinise so far, I would say the early omens are positive - at least. The public seem to have been accepting of Mr Lewis's ebullient self-esteem, steely focus, gusto of response, and the endearing reverence for ‘Mayor Johnson’. Whether this is him they've been waiting for is irrelevant at the moment. They seem to like him - which is important at this point.
But this is a big job by anybody’s measure, even a man of the Deputy's stout frame and boot camp bullishness. There are more ways to get this wrong than right: this job comes with a lot of rope! If it was anywhere near straightforward, previous incumbents would have bottled it, produced it in China and franchised it to the world yesterday.
But Deputy Ray isn't bothered: he has a ‘what went before me doesn’t phase me’ approach to the job, which is admittedly quite refreshing. It's certainly a departure from the usual career-politician party rhetoric. He’s simply here to do a job, he’d say. But he's being naturally modest of his abilities, which he seems to prefer not to talk about. Besides, as an ordained minister, he seems to walk the walk of a man that knows he has access to the big man upstairs (not Boris), should he need immediate inspiration. Before I get off the bus, a screaming headline catches my eye:
"LONDON’S KNIFE CRISIS: A CITY’S RAY OF LIGHT".
Wow. It seems Ray's first priority should be a special phone booth on floor 8 of City Hall for quick costume changes or urgent communiqués. The city expects and has his number on speed dial! But I doubt he's fazed.
1pm Next Day: The Interview
DM: In a nutshell, could you tell me a little bit about yourself and what your role entails?
RL: In terms of myself personally, I’m a married man, three children, been married to Pamela for twenty-four years, live in Milton Keynes (so I commute in every day), and my role here at the GLA as one of Boris’ deputies, focuses on young people and opportunity. The breadth is anything from health and sexuality right through to crime and disorder. My hope, emphasis and focus will be around aspiration and opportunities. I try to tell people about the great things that young Londoners are doing as these things do not get the time [they deserve] and I’m hoping that we’ll be able to change some of that.
DM: So is it all doom and gloom regarding our young folk as we hear constantly in the news?
One of the things that I’m really encouraged about doing this job is that I’m meeting some tremendous people across London and I hope that these things are reflected in the stuff you guys [journalists] write. There are some people out there: not known, unsung, they don’t want to be known… they are just good citizens who are trying to do something good for their communities and leave a legacy behind. I’ve met a lot of these people, young and old, black and white, and I’m really encouraged by their energy and their commitment to this capital city. These people, that I describe as a critical mass, are often the people we take for granted – but they keep our society going, they fill the gaps of social services and I’m really keen for many of the people to be mentioned, appreciated and applauded.
DM: How difficult do you anticipate your role to be, bearing in mind the papers have christened you ‘Boris’ Crime Czar’ which seems a lot of heat on one man, but how challenging do you see the road ahead?
RL: Well, the old saying goes: ‘if the mountain was smooth, you couldn’t climb it’. Although the city has great challenges, it also has a great capacity to heal itself. There are other people out there doing some sterling work. My job is to unite that, co-ordinate that, and build capacity for these organisations to create great community champions cutting young people off from a life of crime and anti-social behaviour. Part of this office’s remit is finding community groups, leaders and local authorities the resources to promote aspiration initiatives - involving education, job creation and business within the same agenda.
DM: Much has been made in the recent press of [your] views concerning ‘video games and rappers’. Surely it cannot be as straightforward as that in explaining the situation on our streets. What are the wider issues involved here?
RL: Well I cannot account for what people print, but I can tell you what I said. I said that our society has a number of problems and issues that we have to address, and somewhere amongst them are issues about the messages that sometimes come out of our video games and artists; not all from one particular genre, but generally speaking so. But there are issues [also] based around family, education, role models, masculinity and ethnicity. These are issues we need to address at the same time as looking at other influences on young people.
DM: I bumped into you at a social festival in Kennington Park. Is going to events like this part of your strategy to reach out to the communities at the grass roots?
RL: Yes, that’s obvious from the fact that we met - but what I’m really, really pleased about is that people are contacting me. They’re coming through to this office talking to me about their ideas, ideals and concerns. As you well know, there is no way I could speak to all the great people doing stuff out there – and frankly a lot of them don’t want to speak to me – but what we can do is establish a ‘prevention’ agenda; an agenda that includes a coalition of statutory and voluntary organisations. Together, we will find new ways of dealing with the issues dogging our youth culture. All the best stuff - all the stuff that changes lives (as Barack Obama once said) comes from the community upwards, and not top-down. That’s my focus.
DM: Onto a more controversial subject… what are your views on stop and search?
RL: Stop-and-Search is very important but we would not want a Stop-and-Search [policy] that was typical of the 1980s and led to the Brixton riots. Policing is a lot more sensitive now, by no means perfect, but the commissioners and assistant commissioners I’ve spoken would be the first people to come down hard on officers who abuse their position. But lets be clear about this… stop-and-search needs to be set against the a backdrop of the tremendous rise in violent crime amongst our young people. That is the backdrop of it and if we forget that history, it will affect our hope.
The young people that I’ve spoken to, the people that know I work with hundreds and hundreds of young people; the families of the bereaved and others…have all accepted and understand the reason for stop-and-search. Public confidence has been greatly affected by [this] rise in violent crime.
I had some people in the office a little while ago that were very concerned that young people were too scared to come out of their homes and enjoy leisure activities for fear of being hurt by others carrying knives. So with that in the background, we have to welcome any initiative that’s intelligent, sensitive and addresses the issue of violent crime. But it must also be matched with initiatives from the grass roots [so they] meet somewhere in the middle and address the issues that are causing and leading young people to express their disagreements in disagreeable ways.
DM: …So should members of the community feel worried by what seems like an increase in stop-and-search powers?
RL: I don’t think there has been a change in policy because the powers have been there for some time. I think what people need to be mindful of as concerned citizens, that whatever policy initiatives are accentuated, are done so with the best will in the world, and done in the best way in the world.
I was at a ‘knife arch’ yesterday and I stood around for half-an-hour watching the police at work; they didn’t know I was there, but I was pleased with the way they did it. I was very pleased with their manner and their sensitivities. I spoke to a few of the young people that had gone through the arches and they said ‘this is a necessary thing to do because we know people that have been hurt – and we know people that have been perpetrators’. They also said there’s a degree of embarrassment because it does take place in public places, but all of; all of the young people I spoke to yesterday said they welcomes it as a necessary initiative!
[PT.2: I asked peope from the Positive Role Model Group on Facebook to pitch some questions to Ray:http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=12802433797&topic=4590 This part of those interviews was formed of those questions].
DM: Firstly, you mentioned positive role models and the need for them. With reference to groups such as Positive Role Models on Facebook (which has almost 500 members), do you think there is a need to get these groups and their ilk further involved in ‘the process’?
RL: ABSOLUTELY!!! [Shouted]. And now that I think of it – that has been my life’s work! That is my passion and concern! Good men and good women need to come and take a step forward. Martin Luther King once said: ‘Evil triumphs when good people do nothing’.
DM: Are we spending too much money putting kids in prison rather than investing in youth clubs or leisure facilities?
RL: I think that has started [to change]. I think that people are starting to recognise that it’s important to set the ‘first aid tent’ at the top of the cliff rather than the bottom. We want to build ‘fences’ around the perimeter [of the cliff], not have ambulances at the bottom.
So there is increasing recognition and political will, particularly from this mayor, to deal with the causes of crime and invest in the right places. I was at a meeting in Scotland Yard recently and this was the mantra: "How can we prevent? How can we invest in our young people, in our community - to stop this kind of thing happening?"
DM: Would you consider putting metal detectors in all schools and colleges?
RL: We’d certainly consider it – but I’m not sure about the word ‘all’ from a practical point of view, and a philosophical point. Practically speaking, if you keep something in a regular place, people will always find ways around it - as we know. Philosophically, it’s important we deal with the ‘causes’ and not the ‘gate’ when the horse has bolted. So going back to your previous question [‘prisons vs. youth clubs’], we need to place the emphasis on prevention.
DM: Gimmicks in politics: Too much top level spin: not enough ground action?
RL: This interview is about my ground-up approach and I think you’ll find in time, people will be talking about the ‘outcomes’ not just about the programmes - and that’s very important. I would agree that all around the world, not only in this country or this city, there is a degree of spin that takes place; I am not part of that, nor is this office. We want to speak the truth honestly – whether that’s good or bad; we want to actually use our resources to tackle the issues.
DM: So are you actually going to be speaking to the youth rather than ‘guessing’ what they want/ need?
RL: [Incredulous silence. An ‘isn’t-that-obvious’ look. I move on…]
DM: How will charging young people for carrying knives going to change the wider social factors?
RL: It won’t. I think that public confidence is one of the issues, but we are in favour of looking at the reasons why young people are carrying knives, because we don’t want to criminalise young people unduly so. But, we must be strident in our opposition to knife carrying because if you carry a knife, you’re more likely to be stabbed than if you don’t (which is a strange paradox, but we live in a paradoxical world). My job is to try and deal with some of the reasons, behind the thinking, that generates a young person to put on their jeans, put on their jacket – and put a knife in their pocket. If we can deal with that, I think by the end of this term we would have gone a long way.
DM: Well done on your achievements so far; many people will look up to you as a positive role model. Give me something positive to take back to the Positive Role Model Group.
RL: I think that ordinary people can do extraordinary things if they have a willingness to serve others. Martin Luther King once said that ‘anyone can be great; all it needs is a willingness to serve other people’. And if you’re ambition is to serve others – as mine is to serve London – then I think we can do some tremendous things.
I am not a career politician; I’m here for as long as I can do some good. When my internal drivers say to me ‘Ray, enough is enough’, and indeed when the young people that I work with tell me my effectiveness is waning, then I’ll know it’s time to move on.
[Interview by Davis Mukasa, City Hall, 1300hrs 18th June 08. Copyright protected. Contact davis@em-o.com]
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