A way out of gun crime?

GUN crime and murder among Manchester’s youth is a tragic aspect of the city’s recent history.

But while Government and media wring their hands and pontificate over the causes, people at the heart of the community are taking positive action towards the solutions.

Erinma Bell, chair of Carisma, a community organisation formed to stop gun crime in Moss Side, is warmly welcomed to MMU where she will give two lectures on ‘The Crisis of the Black Community in Inner City Britain’.

Erinma and Carisma contribute both at grassroots and to the wider debate, highlighting the links between poor environment and crime and those between crime, self-esteem and the lack of role models for young people.

An author of studies for the Government, Erinma recently found herself in the spotlight when Gordon Brown featured her in his book ‘Everyday Heroes’. The PM said that the work of Carisma had shone out as a positive response to recent tragic deaths – such as that of Jesse James in 2006.

Erinma’s two lectures at MMU will be:

- Meeting the challenge of crime and building social assets in urban Britain - Monday, February 18, 2008

- Crime and education among young black males - Monday, February 25, 2008

Both lectures will take place in Room 104, Geoffrey Manton Building, All Saints Campus, Oxford Road, Manchester from 7pm-8.45pm. The lectures are part of the 2008 Multicultural Studies evening lectures.

For more about the lectures and Multicultural Studies at MMU, contact Burjor Avari on 0161 247 1023.