byline can be a foot in the door.” It can also help give voice to the voiceless.
Catherine Miles, a Brixton shop owner, said many residents in Brixton don’ t rely on mainstream media – or at times even local media – for information. Instead, they give and get their news through a trusted, age-old source: word of mouth.“ If you find out something, you talk to your neighbor, and so on and so on,” Miles said.“ A lot of our customers come in and tell us what’ s going on. We’ ve been here for over 14 years.”
Miles, Campbell, and other
Black residents in Brixton say the most reliable news for them is that which travels quickly from block to block because, as Motown’ s Marvin Gaye said in his 1960s R & B hit,“ I Heard it Through the Grapevine.”
Even so, Campbell is focused on changing the negative media images of Brixton, preserving the history of this community, and showcasing its wonderful, beautiful legacy through the photographs he takes of daily life in Brixton. Doing this, he said, has become his life’ s mission.
Pointing to a bustling marketplace where vendors of color sell everything from wood carvings to flowers, Campbell said,“ we have history here. And it’ s important that we do our best to try and hold onto it.” •
Alan Slingsby, Editor of the Brixton Bugle and Blog.
Two men on Street in Brixton, South London.
Micheal H. Cottman and photographer Wayne Campbell inside his photo studio in Brixton.
Michael H. Cottman is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, author and screenplay writer who is assistant for special projects and programs to the dean of the School of Global Journalism & Communication at Morgan State University.
Brixton Village Marketplace, Brixton. 23