Speaking up for the Tottenham community

Local panel discusses ways to ‘stand up for “activate” Tottenham and bring the community together, reports Olivia Opara

The panel hosted by local group Spoken (credit Olivia Opara)

Three local organisers have shared their advice on how to activate the Tottenham community at a panel discussion hosted by a grassroots group.

Spoken hosted the panel discussion about community activation last week, featuring Bevali McKenzie, Jo Sinclair and Alisson Davy, who shared their thoughts on community activism.

Spoken is a grassroots organisation that hosts monthly events, bringing local creatives together to discuss meaningful topics, develop artistic skills and form partnerships within the community.

Community activation is about building trust and understanding by supporting people to take action on issues they care about which Bevali, a mentor, artist and holistic therapist, believes leadership plays a vital role in.

“I think leadership is being able to deal with things in an empathetic way – you need to lead by example and you should have a direct audience,” said Bevali.

She added that leadership is about connecting a diverse audience through a range of skills with leaders being open to feedback. However, Bevali pointed out the difficulties that come with being a leader as leadership can “come out of nowhere”, sharing how a past campaign pushed her into becoming one herself.

“Anybody can be a leader, it just depends on the cause and what you are fighting for.

“But we have our own visions of what a leader is and the ‘skills’ that they should have.”

Building and sustaining a positive relationship with the community is part of community activation which Jo, a business and mindset coach, believes starts with communication, collaboration and believing in the community.

“It is really about listening to the community and making sure that they are part of the manifesto. There needs to be an ongoing discussion,” said Jo.

In Haringey, there seems to be a constant struggle to maintain community cohesion and Jo highlighted the ongoing trust issues between the community and local authorities.

Bevali added: “It has always been a fight and when it comes to funding, we are all fighting.

“What is missing is collaboration and I think that we don’t even know what community means.”

Offering a solution, Alisson, a community activist and founder of Community Cook Up, said: “We need to keep organising as we still have each other – we should use our community strength.”

Lack of self-belief and the support to help people change and develop their mindset is something that Jo believes to be crucial is missing within the community.

“I don’t think that there is enough encouragement and people need to know that they can change,” said Jo.

“There needs to be a bigger push and understanding for a positive mindset and that [the community] has the power.”

For Bevali, the lack of visible culture and vibrancy is making it difficult to motivate and active the community.

“When I walk down Bruce Grove, it is depressing. When you see your area looking dull [and unclean] it is harder to bounce back,” said Bevali.

“We are walking down roads that don’t inspire.”

Offering advice for a more connected community, the panel suggested that everyone should be more neighbourly, reclaim the unused shops on the high road and open them to the community and reclaim the Tottenham “narrative” in the media.

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