OUR BRIXTON - MAKE A CHANGE

A song about housing and gentrification, written by young people in Brixton. In 2015 members of the anti-gentrification community campaign 'Our Brixton' delivered free arts workshops at Cressingham Gardens Estate in Brixton. The estate faces an ongoing threat of demolition by Lambeth Council, with hundreds of residents facing displacement and homelessness. The arts workshops titled ‘The Art of Change’ included Theatre, Rap, Singing, Graffiti and Beatboxing workshops; serving to provide young people in the area with the opportunity to discuss, understand and come to terms with the changes they are seeing around them, in their community and at home.

As part of the project, workshop participants worked with Potent Whisper to write/ record this song 'Make a Change' which discusses housing and gentrification. The Our Brixton campaign then decided to work with the young people to organize a 'Youth March for Housing' and on 6th March 2016 young people took to the streets of Brixton to march for housing and, with it, their futures. The music video for Make a Change was filmed at the march.
With the new Housing Bill threatening the end of social housing, we find ourselves at a very real and very dark dawn of displacement and homelessness for one million people in London, alone. In times like this we face the realization that our political representatives do not represent our best interests and we can no longer put our trust in our so called "leaders" who sell our homes to the highest bidders. Our very survival depends on our ability to organize in our communities, as friends and neighbours, to fight for our futures and the RIGHT to a decent, affordable home!