FROM THIS CATASTROPHE MUST COME HOPE
14th June 2021 is not four years after Grenfell Tower fire for us. It feels like yesterday. The catastrophe of the fire, followed by the drip-drip daily grind and brutality of the aftermath is etched into our memory. We are trapped by it, but we refuse to be defined by it. We, and our community, need to find a positive way forward. We are trapped by the violence of the deaths and the incapacity of the systems to hear us and manage the aftermath. Looming above us, is the TOWER. Its future is now the only thing that can focus everyone on some sort of closure in the absence of any justice and bring peace. We can find a compromise….
Out of the depth of darkness that has exposed the failure of the State, the Local Council and its officers, the entire system that let down the residents of North Kensington leading to the Towering inferno of Grenfell Tower, there comes hope. Because we are resilient. Because we are defiant as a community. Because we demonstrate the will to live and breathe and fight for justice for our kin and the community day by day. We are the best of British. And we ask all to stand in solidarity with us. Preserve as much of the Tower as possible and transform it.
NATURE HEALS. GRENFELL REBORN.
The Towering Gardens of Grenfell is an idea whose time has come. It is an idea that was born perhaps from the greatest loss of all. An unborn baby asphyxiated by the toxic smoke breathed in by the expectant mother whilst sill in the womb. It is the dream of a mother and father who never got to hold their baby son alive.
“Out of this darkness there must come love, life and hope.” Marcio Gomes father of baby Logan
“There are options and we want ALL options discussed. But they are giving us no options. They are simply saying the Tower must be demolished. They want the easiest option for them. We want to preserve as much of the Tower as possible and create a new light structure around it that maintains the height so the tragedy is not cancelled. It must stand tall and a symbol of what happened. But a symbol of hope and life.” Marcio Gomes
“The Tower is not simply the charred remains of a burnt-out building. The ashes of our loved ones are in the fabric of that building. Their ashes are still stored under the building. The Tower is a symbol of survival for those who made it and a sacred place where our loved ones took their last breath. It MUST be preserved just as gutted churches bombed in the Blitz were preserved.”
Such symbols do matter and they are dotted around our country. The churches that were blitzed in the war night after night, were preserved to show resistance, resilience and hope in the face of brutality. Preserving such symbols is what gives us National character and identity. The British can-do spirit despite all adversity. This tragedy was the first, and hopefully the last BAME tragedy in this country. It happened in a diverse corner of one of the most diverse cities in the world. And as much of the remnants of it must be preserved to show who we are and that we will rise again from the ashes. We must NEVER EVER FORGET.
“WE WANT OPTIONS. THEY ARE GIVING US NO OPTIONS.” Marcio Gomes
“We know we may never get justice. We have learnt that from the experience of the Hillsborough families who fought for their loved ones for 32 years. They were white, working-class with a proud heritage, history and a defiant city and the entire world football fraternity behind them. And yet they were defeated from seeing Justice. What chance do we have? Our kin begged for rescue and their last words were ‘we can’t breathe’. This Tower, a monument to life will send a message that WE WILL BREATHE.” D.B. who lost her mother in the fire.
C4 NEWS REPORT
GRENFELL BEREAVED, NEXT OF KIN AND SURVIVORS SPEAK ABOUT WHAT ARE THEIR HOPEs FOR FUTURE OF THE TOWER.
Talk TO US
Andrea and Mario Gomes who lost their baby logan speak to News night
BBC Newsnight 14 June 2021 Emily Maitliss talks to Stefano Boeri Architect of Vertical Forests in Milan and Worldwide
Radio 4 world at one 14th june 2021
Press
Relatives of Grenfell Tower fire victims have put forward plans to turn the building into a “vertical forest”, days after the government announced it was prepared to pull it down.
Relatives of Grenfell Tower fire victims have put forward plans to turn the building into a “vertical forest”, days after the government announced it was prepared to pull it down.
