Londyn how we doing me alright alright
yeah my name is Ben Bailey Smith I’m an
artist born and bred in West London but
you know before I got into show business
I spent 10 years as a youth worker
working in youth clubs in Edgware Road
in Paddington in Queens Park made a veil
set up my own youth center for the
children of refugees and asylum seekers
in in Queen’s Park so I had quite a
profound shift from working in my
community working with local people and
working with people from overseas living
beneath the poverty line it turn into
show business quite a quite a big shift
to be honest I’ve always kept one eye on
the community that I came from and last
year there was a huge tragedy and I have
to say a travesty that occurred right in
the centre of that my old stomping
grounds essentially in the fire that
engulfed the Grenfell tower causing
fascinatingly out of that fire a phoenix
arose in the shape of justice for
Grenfell which is a community layer
non-profit organisation fighting for
justice in an area where no one else was
willing to go it’s a tough fight it’s an
incredible fight it’s one I’ve been
privileged enough to see up close and
tonight I want to share with you some of
the stories from white right within that
organisation so yeah and what we have
for you is is something unique a real
piece of insight I would say – tell us
about their work please welcome to the
stage more
Samuel
[Applause]
Moira how you good thank you it’s good
to have you now
you are somebody who is from a lot
sunnier climes then then the UK but you
have lived in West London for a long
long time
how did you become involved in injustice
for growing film I became involved in
justice Granville because obviously I
lived 300 metres from the tower
I sold the fire on the night and I was
I’d been active in the community before
the fire actually fighting against
gentrification fighting against a whole
range of stuff that the bar had been
doing and I was so enraged after the
fire that I organized a demonstration
and following that demonstration I was
invited to speak at the first silent
march that was called when was that that
was cooled on I think I called the
demonstration on the Friday the fire was
on the Tuesday and on the Monday the
silent walk happened and when I was
asked invited to speak I think it was at
that point I met Yvette and Ishmael and
I thought I actually wanted to be part
of campaign that fights for justice
so Yvette Williams a co-founder Ishmael
her co-founder of justice for grenfell
you you mentioned a little about some of
the work you were doing before the fire
so you were very active within community
organization around what kind of stuff
how housing fairness around housing or
well I was part of a number of local
campaigns because we had seen the
council we’d seen the change in
demographic and the way the council was
behaving towards us as a North
Kensington community so I was part of
West way 23 which was actually fighting
for some of the resources under the
Westway which was bequeathed to the
community but was being taken away right
I was also part of the SIL Chester
campaign because right opposite
Grenville they are three towers huge
towers and the council’s plans had been
to demolish those and actually move
generations of communities who’d lived
in their huge number 1500 and so we’ve
been fighting against that I’d also been
part of save our library which had been
leased to a private school library had
been listen to the 1800s as well as
actually saving our College the local
college which I’d taught it years ago
warning tonight so they’ve been the
number of campaigns had been involved in
and so when Grenville happened in
particular because personally I’d
arranged to meet a dolphin who was part
of the Grenville action group writing
wrote that prophetic of course I
remember telling him on the news you
know blog which predicted the fire and
I’d arranged to meet him the day of the
fire the day of the fire Dave the fire
I’ve arranged to meet ed so when I woke
up to the fire in my kind of Sleepy
State I suddenly realized that actually
ed men not be alive you know which drove
me at two o’clock in the morning to
actually watch the fire so you know that
that kind of history of what we’d been
fighting against before the fire I think
instilled in me what I feel I sort of
referred to as a kind of white rage not
just as I was so angry I thought so this
is what it’s come to
after all everything that we’ve been
fighting before this is what you now do
you burn 72 well at that time we didn’t
know how many people but sure you burn
you sit a building on fire because of
you know first thing was we noticed they
were you know the cuts in the fire
service are how long it took people to
get in some of the safe safety features
which we were very very much aware of
and I think I was also enraged because
the days after the fires he was know if
of the council no you know this council
we’ve been fighting we kept running
around going where are they who is
looking after these people who’ve
actually lost their homes it’s
fascinating to think that for a minute
there it almost seemed like well this is
other people’s problem you know this
this is one of those situations where in
we’ve got something nasties happen in an
in an in a nasty area two nasty people
we don’t really need to know that much
about it and for a second there it felt
like it was going to be swept under the
rug and it’s fascinating speaking to
someone like you who was around working
on all these other little issues I say
little they’re not really little but you
know a number of issues that were a
problem for these residents for no other
reason it seems to me other than the
fact that they were working-class you
know and that that’s troubling and it
also says to me that this fire is beyond
its beyond one fire it there’s there’s a
whole number of stories behind this fire
and it’s incredible that justice for
gram flow is brave enough to highlight
all of those stories that you come from
South Africa right yes and you spend
some time fighting apartheid when
apartheid was pretty nice grim it was
pretty grim table days there must be a
deeper insight for you what do you see I
mean I can’t imagine I remember being a
kid in the 80s and you know we just we
didn’t buy South Africa dapples then you
know we fought apartheid through
t-shirts and badges you fought it for
real what do you see any relationship
between the fights you’ve fought before
on inequality and what’s going on I
think that actually growing up in an
unequal society it’s kind of in your DNA
you smell it you sniff it very quickly
and very easy easily
actually you want to stop you know and
that was the whole thing about actually
looking at the way the struggle in South
Africa was conducted looking at the
dignity the strength enormous strength
you know that and the degradation the
deaths that people had endured in the
interest of equality you get you realise
that it’s possible it’s a huge
inspiration you know what the way South
Africans fought for justice right but
also what’s inspirational is the fact
that actually the fight against
apartheid in South Africa was not even
though it was black people who were just
largely discriminated against it was not
something that only black people were
involved in actually you know the ANC
was a very multi racial organization and
so the kind of lessons we learn I
learned from that is that actually with
grenfell it’s not just our community
that needs to fight the scissors and
injustice against one is an injustice
absolutely well you know I feel inspired
just just hearing you talk ladies and
gentlemen please Moira Samuels [Applause]
yeah my name is Ben Bailey Smith I’m an
artist born and bred in West London but
you know before I got into show business
I spent 10 years as a youth worker
working in youth clubs in Edgware Road
in Paddington in Queens Park made a veil
set up my own youth center for the
children of refugees and asylum seekers
in in Queen’s Park so I had quite a
profound shift from working in my
community working with local people and
working with people from overseas living
beneath the poverty line it turn into
show business quite a quite a big shift
to be honest I’ve always kept one eye on
the community that I came from and last
year there was a huge tragedy and I have
to say a travesty that occurred right in
the centre of that my old stomping
grounds essentially in the fire that
engulfed the Grenfell tower causing
fascinatingly out of that fire a phoenix
arose in the shape of justice for
Grenfell which is a community layer
non-profit organisation fighting for
justice in an area where no one else was
willing to go it’s a tough fight it’s an
incredible fight it’s one I’ve been
privileged enough to see up close and
tonight I want to share with you some of
the stories from white right within that
organisation so yeah and what we have
for you is is something unique a real
piece of insight I would say – tell us
about their work please welcome to the
stage more
Samuel
[Applause]
Moira how you good thank you it’s good
to have you now
you are somebody who is from a lot
sunnier climes then then the UK but you
have lived in West London for a long
long time
how did you become involved in injustice
for growing film I became involved in
justice Granville because obviously I
lived 300 metres from the tower
I sold the fire on the night and I was
I’d been active in the community before
the fire actually fighting against
gentrification fighting against a whole
range of stuff that the bar had been
doing and I was so enraged after the
fire that I organized a demonstration
and following that demonstration I was
invited to speak at the first silent
march that was called when was that that
was cooled on I think I called the
demonstration on the Friday the fire was
on the Tuesday and on the Monday the
silent walk happened and when I was
asked invited to speak I think it was at
that point I met Yvette and Ishmael and
I thought I actually wanted to be part
of campaign that fights for justice
so Yvette Williams a co-founder Ishmael
her co-founder of justice for grenfell
you you mentioned a little about some of
the work you were doing before the fire
so you were very active within community
organization around what kind of stuff
how housing fairness around housing or
well I was part of a number of local
campaigns because we had seen the
council we’d seen the change in
demographic and the way the council was
behaving towards us as a North
Kensington community so I was part of
West way 23 which was actually fighting
for some of the resources under the
Westway which was bequeathed to the
community but was being taken away right
I was also part of the SIL Chester
campaign because right opposite
Grenville they are three towers huge
towers and the council’s plans had been
to demolish those and actually move
generations of communities who’d lived
in their huge number 1500 and so we’ve
been fighting against that I’d also been
part of save our library which had been
leased to a private school library had
been listen to the 1800s as well as
actually saving our College the local
college which I’d taught it years ago
warning tonight so they’ve been the
number of campaigns had been involved in
and so when Grenville happened in
particular because personally I’d
arranged to meet a dolphin who was part
of the Grenville action group writing
wrote that prophetic of course I
remember telling him on the news you
know blog which predicted the fire and
I’d arranged to meet him the day of the
fire the day of the fire Dave the fire
I’ve arranged to meet ed so when I woke
up to the fire in my kind of Sleepy
State I suddenly realized that actually
ed men not be alive you know which drove
me at two o’clock in the morning to
actually watch the fire so you know that
that kind of history of what we’d been
fighting against before the fire I think
instilled in me what I feel I sort of
referred to as a kind of white rage not
just as I was so angry I thought so this
is what it’s come to
after all everything that we’ve been
fighting before this is what you now do
you burn 72 well at that time we didn’t
know how many people but sure you burn
you sit a building on fire because of
you know first thing was we noticed they
were you know the cuts in the fire
service are how long it took people to
get in some of the safe safety features
which we were very very much aware of
and I think I was also enraged because
the days after the fires he was know if
of the council no you know this council
we’ve been fighting we kept running
around going where are they who is
looking after these people who’ve
actually lost their homes it’s
fascinating to think that for a minute
there it almost seemed like well this is
other people’s problem you know this
this is one of those situations where in
we’ve got something nasties happen in an
in an in a nasty area two nasty people
we don’t really need to know that much
about it and for a second there it felt
like it was going to be swept under the
rug and it’s fascinating speaking to
someone like you who was around working
on all these other little issues I say
little they’re not really little but you
know a number of issues that were a
problem for these residents for no other
reason it seems to me other than the
fact that they were working-class you
know and that that’s troubling and it
also says to me that this fire is beyond
its beyond one fire it there’s there’s a
whole number of stories behind this fire
and it’s incredible that justice for
gram flow is brave enough to highlight
all of those stories that you come from
South Africa right yes and you spend
some time fighting apartheid when
apartheid was pretty nice grim it was
pretty grim table days there must be a
deeper insight for you what do you see I
mean I can’t imagine I remember being a
kid in the 80s and you know we just we
didn’t buy South Africa dapples then you
know we fought apartheid through
t-shirts and badges you fought it for
real what do you see any relationship
between the fights you’ve fought before
on inequality and what’s going on I
think that actually growing up in an
unequal society it’s kind of in your DNA
you smell it you sniff it very quickly
and very easy easily
actually you want to stop you know and
that was the whole thing about actually
looking at the way the struggle in South
Africa was conducted looking at the
dignity the strength enormous strength
you know that and the degradation the
deaths that people had endured in the
interest of equality you get you realise
that it’s possible it’s a huge
inspiration you know what the way South
Africans fought for justice right but
also what’s inspirational is the fact
that actually the fight against
apartheid in South Africa was not even
though it was black people who were just
largely discriminated against it was not
something that only black people were
involved in actually you know the ANC
was a very multi racial organization and
so the kind of lessons we learn I
learned from that is that actually with
grenfell it’s not just our community
that needs to fight the scissors and
injustice against one is an injustice
absolutely well you know I feel inspired
just just hearing you talk ladies and
gentlemen please Moira Samuels [Applause]
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