Women stand tall and proud at the Carnival
My bank holiday moved from river to Victoria Park to the Streets of North Kensington and while days one and two were full of joy, I had mixed vibes at the Notting Hill Carnival.
I saw a Carnival made by women which some men were doing their best to f*** up by their mad , vicious and lewd antics.
You might be asking what I was doing there – this is also a celebration of black culture – yes? Well sort of, it’s more a celebration of black and white people getting along but you wouldn’t have guessed it from this clip.
Notting Hill Carnival 2022
Time to shut this 💩 down or move it to a field in the middle of nowhere and let them get on with it. #NottingHillCarnival #NottingHillCarnival2022 #NottingHill pic.twitter.com/kjTE54jnrx
— WheelieBinFirePatrol 🔥 (@WheelieBinFires) August 30, 2022
Man on man – terrible
We went early and left early on Monday, but in four hours of dancing, we saw nothing like violence – only the latent trouble that came (as it always does) on Monday evening.
Walking with my girlfriend under the bridge by Portobello Green you could feel the tension at 4pm. A few hours later the rapper Takayo Nembhard was stabbed to death there.
Kids walking round with litre bottles of rum , did not suggest this carnival would end well. Much rather the peaceful behaviour that comes when stoned than the kind of steaming that kids get up to when drunk in groups.
But what we did see and hear was joyous and my partner and I loved it. Carnival was back and as loud and sexy and savvy as ever.
Man on woman – terrible
But there was a new emphasis on grind that is a long way from shaking your bootie.
Well this was certainly a sight at todays #NottingHillCarnival pic.twitter.com/abqIeCM2kN
— BREAKING NEWS (@JMDCOV) August 29, 2022
Carnival is not about disrespecting anyone, especially women.
It is about women expressing themselves in their own way. We spent time in Powers Square watching women dancing with each other, to female DJs playing female artists – and it felt great.
The current domination of the British black music scene by women is no coincidence. There’s a cultural shift going on and it’s time that some of these young hot-heads who caused trouble last night got the message.
And it’s not just at Carnival, this kind of disrespect is going on all over the place – check this brave linked in post out as another example today.
Violence and disrespect towards women of any colour is not on. I’m white and male but I have the same authority in saying this as anyone else. Notting Hill Carnival is paying more respect to women – it needs to make sure all its 2m party-goers get that message.
I hope that the killers of Takayo Nembhard are found and that the victims of violence at this year’s carnival get justice. Women especially deserve justice.
