BLM protester raises £3k for Grenfell victims during rally
A BRIXTON man who featured in the Black Lives Matter protests last week has launched a fundraiser for Grenfell victims and raised thousands of pounds.
Kelvyn Quagraine, 25, started the fundraiser after his protest banner honouring Grenfell victims brought fellow protesters to a stop as they remembered the 72 who lost their lives in the 2017 fire.
“I wanted to connect with what I wrote on the banner,” said Kelvin.
“I thought about the people of Grenfell and how one fire can remove the voices of so many people who would have had their versions of events.
“I wanted to march for them. I wanted to hold it in a frame to hold them up. People need to hear it and take it into account.”
The banner, which Kelvyn creatively had framed for the protest, was designed with his friend Federico Manasse.
The banner reads: “Today march for all the people in Grenfell Tower who had this moment taken away from them.”
Following the attention garnered from the banner, both at the protest and online, the pair started a Just Giving page on Monday which has already received just under £3,000 in donations.
Kelvyn and Federico went a step further to get the banner printed and sell copies of it with the proceeds going to Grenfell United. They have already received more than 100 orders.
“I’ve never done fundraising before,” Kelvyn said.
“I never thought by organic marketing we could get so many people behind it. It showed me how important these words are and how important it is for people to see their relatives are being held up.”
Kelvyn explained that the Black Lives Matter movement is linked to Grenfell because an incident like Grenfell could only happen to “people from BAME communities”.
The majority of the Grenfell victims were people from black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds, while twice as many black and Asian people live in North Kensington (where Grenfell is) compared to the rest of the borough.
As interest grows, Kelvyn and Federico plan to move their ventures into T-shirts to continue raising funds for Grenfell victims.