Building Britain's Future was a policy initiative launched in 2009 by the then British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. It was his government's "radical vision for a fairer, stronger and more prosperous society". One of its goals was to invest in affordable housing of the sort being implemented by the Newlon Housing Trust. This "not for profit" association is developing 537 homes in Tottenham Hale, a district in the London Borough of Haringey. A large billboard at the building site on Ferry Lane advertises this fact. On it is the Building Britain's Future logo.
Directly opposite this sign are bunches of flowers tied to a railing. It was here on Thursday 4th August 2011 that a police officer shot and killed Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old resident of Tottenham's Broadwater Farm estate. It was his death that sparked off riots across London and in other parts of England.
The destruction and despair wrought by this sustained violence represents an enormous setback for all attempts to build Britain's future. The riots have not only caused physical damage. The international image of London (and with it Britain) has been tarnished by the media attention given to the aftermath of Mark Duggan's shooting exactly 27 miles from Stansted Airport.
Who was Mark Duggan? A loving father of four who had maintained a relationship with his childhood sweetheart from the age of 17? Or a drug-dealing gangster who carried a gun following the murder of his cousin last year?
Whoever he was, he has attained posthumous fame.
The site of his death has become a spontaneous shrine, a temporary memorial and a "fatal attraction". I chose to visit the spot on the day of his funeral. The flowers were dead or dying. The messages have become indistinct. Rubbish had begun to accumulate. Most revealing is the floral tribute that probably originally read: "N17". This is presumably intended to signify the postcode of the Broadwater Farm estate where Duggan was born and grew up. The number "7" has been damaged. Was this caused by thoughtless vandalism or a deliberate act? If it was the latter, it would imply that the perpetrator was a member of a rival gang and that the floral tribute was no innocent sign of remembrance but a token of an endemic turf war.
Soon the flowers and other items will be cleared away - and with it the memory of Mark Duggan. Will a plaque be erected there one day? A statue to the fallen "martyr"? A memorial to the riots of 2011?
No. Instead it will all be forgotten. What occurred on that spot will be erased, just like the vast majority of lifestories. But traces of the past will remain - such as this blog posting. It has been motivated by the belief that we need to remember Mark Duggan and what he stood for. In doing so we will be forced to ask some difficult and distasteful questions.
Many would, however, much prefer it if we could just sweep him aside as easily as removing the flowers on Ferry Lane.
But if we do that we will have learnt nothing from the violence that erupted in the summer of 2011. Our ignorance and forgetfulness will mean that the same things will happen again and again. For it should be recalled that Duggan was three years old when the Broadwater Farm riot of 1985 broke out. His own children are also growing up under the shadow of violence and disorder. If we choose to forget Mark Duggan then his death will count for nothing except despair.
The little boy with a paper crown that I spotted on Ferry Lane deserves so much more. It is our duty to see that he grows up in a Britain with a future.
Directly opposite this sign are bunches of flowers tied to a railing. It was here on Thursday 4th August 2011 that a police officer shot and killed Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old resident of Tottenham's Broadwater Farm estate. It was his death that sparked off riots across London and in other parts of England.
The destruction and despair wrought by this sustained violence represents an enormous setback for all attempts to build Britain's future. The riots have not only caused physical damage. The international image of London (and with it Britain) has been tarnished by the media attention given to the aftermath of Mark Duggan's shooting exactly 27 miles from Stansted Airport.
Who was Mark Duggan? A loving father of four who had maintained a relationship with his childhood sweetheart from the age of 17? Or a drug-dealing gangster who carried a gun following the murder of his cousin last year?
Whoever he was, he has attained posthumous fame.
The site of his death has become a spontaneous shrine, a temporary memorial and a "fatal attraction". I chose to visit the spot on the day of his funeral. The flowers were dead or dying. The messages have become indistinct. Rubbish had begun to accumulate. Most revealing is the floral tribute that probably originally read: "N17". This is presumably intended to signify the postcode of the Broadwater Farm estate where Duggan was born and grew up. The number "7" has been damaged. Was this caused by thoughtless vandalism or a deliberate act? If it was the latter, it would imply that the perpetrator was a member of a rival gang and that the floral tribute was no innocent sign of remembrance but a token of an endemic turf war.
Soon the flowers and other items will be cleared away - and with it the memory of Mark Duggan. Will a plaque be erected there one day? A statue to the fallen "martyr"? A memorial to the riots of 2011?
No. Instead it will all be forgotten. What occurred on that spot will be erased, just like the vast majority of lifestories. But traces of the past will remain - such as this blog posting. It has been motivated by the belief that we need to remember Mark Duggan and what he stood for. In doing so we will be forced to ask some difficult and distasteful questions.
Many would, however, much prefer it if we could just sweep him aside as easily as removing the flowers on Ferry Lane.
But if we do that we will have learnt nothing from the violence that erupted in the summer of 2011. Our ignorance and forgetfulness will mean that the same things will happen again and again. For it should be recalled that Duggan was three years old when the Broadwater Farm riot of 1985 broke out. His own children are also growing up under the shadow of violence and disorder. If we choose to forget Mark Duggan then his death will count for nothing except despair.
The little boy with a paper crown that I spotted on Ferry Lane deserves so much more. It is our duty to see that he grows up in a Britain with a future.
