inTERVIEW
‘DON’T LOCK PEOPLE
OUT OF EDUCATION!’
SET members like Nafi sah Graham-Brown
bring opportunity to some of the poorest
and most disadvantaged people in British
society. Alan Thomson reports
eacher Nafisah Graham-Brown
works in an area of east London
where traditional working class
neighbourhoods give way
to trendy urban living for
young professionals.
“This is what much of Hackney is
like,” says Nafisah, indicating the
sleek, balconied flats that overlook
a stretch of the Regent’s Canal and
the solitary, brick-built Victorian
warehouse (now off ices) squatting
defiantly next to its concrete, steel
and glass neighbours.
“People will say that much of
Hackney is on the up, but a lot of this
is due to well-educated and wealthier
incomers. The reality is that there is still
a lot of deprivation across Hackney,
and people from these communities
lack the opportunities that some of the
newer residents take for granted.”
10 ISSUE 28 • SUMMER 2017 INTUITION