Why Myron Yarde’s death affects us

Why Myron Yarde’s death affects us all

This young victim of knife crime went to the same school as my son. No matter how remote they may seem, teen killings spill into our lives


 ‘As soon as you heard Myron was a rapper, you probably presumed he must be in a gang. Actually, he wasn’t.’


The death of Myron Yarde, a 17-year-old boy from south-east London, may not have meant a lot to you. He was stabbed in a backstreet in New Cross on Sunday night. Police were called to the scene at 7.41pm and he was dead in hospital soon after 9pm.



Tributes flood social media after rapper Myron Yarde killed

If you’re white and middle-class reading this or (to a lesser extent) black and middle-class, you probably think that although it’s very sad it doesn’t really affect you. You might think: what a waste, nothing can really be done, it’s just poverty, it’s just poor black boys stabbing each other for whatever reason. He was a rapper, so presumably it was gang-related. So sad, another black boy dead. So sad, but move on.

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There’ll be another stabbing next week and there’s nothing I can do about it. Reading about all these knife attacks, fatal or not, does get tiring. Murder fatigue is a problem in newspapers, so much so that some news organisations have actually stopped writing about murder stories when they involve young black men or boys being killed by other young black men. This time I feel different because I have a personal connection to Myron. My son goes to Deptford Green school, which Myron attended until he went to Walthamstow’s Big Creative academy after his GCSEs. My son is a couple of years younger and only knew Myron by sight. Myron probably didn’t know him, as Myron was a seriously cool older boy. He was a successful rapper, funny and kind by all accounts, talented and on the road to stardom. Some kids in my son’s year were very excited about being in his rap videos (check them out on YouTube under his rap name MDot: they’re great). He was famous in his old secondary school, a role model, the boy that everyone wanted to be. And now he’s gone. We don’t yet know the full details of what happened, just that there was a fight between young men, and that two of them, aged 15 and 16, have been arrested.

What actually is a gang, anyway? Is it just a group of poor young black people (usually boys) who hang out together?

Maybe you send your kids to private school or grammar school so they can avoid getting involved in this stuff. But we’re all involved in London and elsewhere in the country. We’re all connected: it’s our country, our people, we should care and I do care. There are children being stabbed on our streets.

The stories you need to read, in one handy email

As soon as you heard Myron was a rapper, you probably presumed he must be in a gang. Maybe I would have done if I hadn’t had this personal connection. Actually, he wasn’t. But I guess he’ll have been connected with a “gang” at some point. His cousin or a friend will have been in a gang – you just can’t escape those connections if you’re from this part of town. My white middle-class son might be connected to the “Gs” of tomorrow. Tougher boys are nice to him and let him sit at their table at lunch when he’s fallen out with his more nerdy friends. For him they are the good guys, at least at Deptford Green, which is an amazing school.

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So there’s a big problem with the word “gang”. It makes white people switch off. I’m for banning the word “gang” being chucked around all over the place, because it’s like a code for saying you don’t need to bother about this because you’re not in a gang and neither are your children. OK, we’ve all seen Top Boy, but think about it, what actually is a gang, anyway? Is it just a group of poor young black people (usually boys) who hang out together?

It’s not like “gangs” are constantly involved in criminal activity. Most time in your gang is hanging out chatting, doing a bit of rapping and maybe occasionally committing minor crimes such as taking drugs. Why is it in any way acceptable for someone in a gang or with connections to a gang to be knifed to death?

Myron Yarde and the community grieving a lost generation

All the stories of children being murdered should be reported in full. We should all know about what’s going on, or how are we going to do anything about it? We might not have a problem with gun control in the UK as they do in the US, but knives kill too, and we definitely have a knife problem.

This is the second fatal stabbing of a teenager in London this year – a 16-year-old boy called Charlie Kutuyampo was knifed at a friend’s 16th birthday party in Woodford, east London in January. There will doubtless be many more as 19 teenagers were murdered in London in 2015, 15 of them stabbed. In 2008, 22 teenagers were stabbed to death.

Violence has a nasty habit of spilling over. Every so often a white kid does get caught up in this. Funny enough there was a whole load of coverage

Результаты (украинский) 1:

Чому Мирон Yarde смерті зачіпає всіх насЦей молодий потерпілого ножем відправився в ту ж школу, мій син. Незалежно від того, як віддалені вони можуть здатися підліток вбивства розливають в наше життя "Як тільки ви чули, Мирон була репер, ви напевно передбачається, що він повинен бути в банду. Власне, він не був. " Смерть Мирон Yarde, 17-річний хлопчик з Південно Східного Лондона, можуть не мати багато важили для вас. Він був зарізаний в backstreet в нових хрест в ніч на неділю. Поліція було звернено на сцену в 7: 41 вечора, і він був мертвим у лікарню найближчим часом після 21: 00.Данина повінь соціальних медіа після репер вбили Мирон YardeЯкщо ви білий і середнього класу читанні цього або (у меншій мірі) чорний і середнього класу, ви, напевно, думаєте що хоча це дуже сумно він насправді не впливає на вас. Ви можете подумати: що відходів, нічого не може дійсно бути зроблено, тільки бідність, це тільки бідні Чорні хлопчики колоти один з одним для будь-якої причини. Він був репер, так, мабуть, це була Банда пов'язані. Так сумно, ще один чорний хлопчик мертвий. Так сумно, але рухатися далі.РекламаТам буде ще один колоти наступного тижня, і немає нічого, що я можу з цим зробити. Читання про всі ці ножем нападів, Фатальна чи ні, отримати втомлює. Вбивство втоми є проблемою в газетах, так багато, так що деякі новини організації фактично зупинився, писати про вбивство історій, коли вони стосуються молодих чорношкірих чоловіків чи хлопчики, які вбивають інших молодих чорношкірих чоловіків. На цей раз я відчуваю себе різні я вже маю особисті зв'язки Мирон. Мій син йде до Deptford зелені школи, які Мирон були присутні, поки він відправився в велика великі творчі академії після його GCSEs. Мій син є кілька років молодше і тільки знав Мирон видінням. Мирон напевно не знав його, як Мирон був серйозно крутий хлопець старше. Він був успішним репер, смішний і добрим, по всіх рахунках, талановитих і на шляху до слави. Деякі діти в мій син рік були дуже раді, про те, в його реп відео (перевірити їх на YouTube під назвою реп MDot: вони більше). Він був відомий в свого старого середньої школи, рольової моделі, хлопчик, що кожна людина хотіла б бути. І тепер він пішов. Ми поки не знаємо повну інформацію про те, що сталося, тільки що там була боротьба між молодими людьми і два з них, у віці від 15 і 16, були арештовані.Що насправді є банди, так чи інакше? Це просто Група бідних чорних молоді (зазвичай хлопчиків) які бовтатися разом?Maybe you send your kids to private school or grammar school so they can avoid getting involved in this stuff. But we’re all involved in London and elsewhere in the country. We’re all connected: it’s our country, our people, we should care and I do care. There are children being stabbed on our streets.The stories you need to read, in one handy emailAs soon as you heard Myron was a rapper, you probably presumed he must be in a gang. Maybe I would have done if I hadn’t had this personal connection. Actually, he wasn’t. But I guess he’ll have been connected with a “gang” at some point. His cousin or a friend will have been in a gang – you just can’t escape those connections if you’re from this part of town. My white middle-class son might be connected to the “Gs” of tomorrow. Tougher boys are nice to him and let him sit at their table at lunch when he’s fallen out with his more nerdy friends. For him they are the good guys, at least at Deptford Green, which is an amazing school.AdvertisementSo there’s a big problem with the word “gang”. It makes white people switch off. I’m for banning the word “gang” being chucked around all over the place, because it’s like a code for saying you don’t need to bother about this because you’re not in a gang and neither are your children. OK, we’ve all seen Top Boy, but think about it, what actually is a gang, anyway? Is it just a group of poor young black people (usually boys) who hang out together?It’s not like “gangs” are constantly involved in criminal activity. Most time in your gang is hanging out chatting, doing a bit of rapping and maybe occasionally committing minor crimes such as taking drugs. Why is it in any way acceptable for someone in a gang or with connections to a gang to be knifed to death?Myron Yarde and the community grieving a lost generationAll the stories of children being murdered should be reported in full. We should all know about what’s going on, or how are we going to do anything about it? We might not have a problem with gun control in the UK as they do in the US, but knives kill too, and we definitely have a knife problem.This is the second fatal stabbing of a teenager in London this year – a 16-year-old boy called Charlie Kutuyampo was knifed at a friend’s 16th birthday party in Woodford, east London in January. There will doubtless be many more as 19 teenagers were murdered in London in 2015, 15 of them stabbed. In 2008, 22 teenagers were stabbed to death.Violence has a nasty habit of spilling over. Every so often a white kid does get caught up in this. Funny enough there was a whole load of coverage

Результаты (украинский) 3:

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