Word on the street

by Amar Patel in ,


Hoxton Street has been a regular destination for several years now as I venture up to mentor at the Ministry of Stories behind the monster supplies shop (🤫). Its market-like atmosphere – traders and proprietors lining the stretch, all ages from around the borough rubbing shoulders – feels like a real throwback to a bygone age. And it can be a reassuring one.

I am usually in a rush, quite head down, but even I have noticed changes on the way from the overground, not least the loss of football coach and youth mentor Errol McKellar's garage on Cremer St. The carpet shop closes down, then an old pub. A craft beer spot pops up, then a handmade bike shop, both run by migrants (which becomes relevant later). A 150-year-old bakery shutters, a deli arrives in its place that has all the gourmands salivating for an overpriced salt beef bagel. Arty folk spill out of a gallery more exclusive than welcoming, a comics-themed bar lands like "pow!" Meanwhile imposing stacked apartments loom in the distance and £2m penthouses are up for grabs.

Change is inevitable in cities, as it is in life, but you do wonder whether councils, developers and planners think hard enough about what an existing community loses when they're trying to quickly lure a new one with all the mod-cons and a hefty price tag to go with it. How these different elements could/should co-exist in harmony…

What are we talking about it here? Gentrification and rising inequality, of course. And there are few better recent micro-studies of this phenomenon than photographer Zed Nelson's The Street, which I finally got round to watching the other week.

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Amar Patel

Hurting inside

by Amar Patel in ,


Belly of the Beast contains such an atrocity of state-sanctioned abuse against women’s bodies, it could be a horror film. But no, this is a documentary anchored to the real-life experience of Kelli Dillon, who was sterilised without consent while serving time at Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF).

Dillon is one of thousands (mostly women of colour) whose right to bear children was taken away from them, a choice denied under the insidious twin veil of paternalism and public interest. Let’s outline what happened to her so you can appreciate the degree of violation.

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Amar Patel

Best of the year – articles, podcasts and more

by Amar Patel in , , , , , , , ,


50 Reasons to love 2020

A list of discoveries I made while tethered to my screen. It wasn’t all bad…

CULTURE

  • Exceptional profile of I May Destroy You creator Michaela Coel by E Alex Jung. It's been a while since I have been so attuned to an interviewee – their personality, their struggle, their very being. I'll be reading this again. PS Here’s a great tip from Michaela on how to make others accountable and expose their BS. “She is eager, almost giddy, to say she doesn’t know something (even if she may have an inkling) because of the way it forces someone else to explain it to her. She has discovered that the explanation is where people begin to falter and the fissures of conventional wisdom crack wider. It may be business as usual, but is it right, is it good?

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Amar Patel