Tiffany Regis, 15

Chima Osuji, 17

Tyler McDermott, 17

Renell Charles, 16

Wazabakana Elanda Jordan Kukabu, 18

Khaled Saleh, 17

Victor Lee, 17

Leonardo Reid, 15

Andre Salmon, 18

Rahaan Ahmed Amin, 16

Claudyo Jauad Lafayette, 17

Stefan Valentine Balaban, 17

Yusuf Mohamoud, 18

Anis Omar Zen, 19

Max Moy Wheatley, 19

Elianne Andam, 15

Taye Faik, 16

These are the names and ages of all the young people who have been violently killed in 2023 in London, the city where The Africa Centre has been based for six decades. The overwhelming majority of them are of African descent. 

Last month, we were all shocked at the murder of Elianne Andam, stabbed on her way to school. Our hearts were broken. There was a lot of sending messages of sympathy and solidarity to Elianne’s family. Then the news cycle moved on to something else, and we were left with our rage, our sadness, and …? We were still absorbing the news when there was another murder.  Another life lost. Not the same circumstances, so maybe not as shocking but nevertheless, we lose another star in our firmament, as all our children are.

We need to move beyond occasional platitudes, intermittent heartache, and perpetual helplessness. There are many organisations out there doing great work to prevent the circumstances that result in violence – from mentoring to desistance activities, from rehabilitation projects to personal development and spirituality-enhancing projects. Almost all of them need our support, in cash or in kind. We ask you to please support them. We ask funders to support them. 

We ask for real bottom-up, community-led empowerment. If you would like to have a chat with a clear desire to walk out of the room with any or better solutions that would save the lives of any more young people, please get in touch. 

May the families affected by these tragedies find peace and comfort. 

Art by Ken Nwadiogbu